Apostolic Leadership
"People often come to me and ask me to pray for them, that they would discover God's will for their life. I already know God's will for their life: heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, cleanse lepers." — Bill Johnson
In the 4th chapter of the letter of Paul to the church at Ephesus Paul writes that God gave "the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
Looking at Ephesians 4:12-13, Paul outlines four main roles these gifts have in the church. First, to equip the members of the church for the work of the ministry. Second, for the building up of the members of the church. Third, to bring unity of faith and knowledge to the church. Fourth, to bring maturity to the church so that each member can bear and express the full resemblance of Christ.
The clear role that God has given to the APEST gifts is to teach and instruct the disciples of Christ to "grow up" into Christ. Considering this perspective, we can logically conclude that the ultimate goal that God has for His sons and daughters is for them to become like Jesus, not to become an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, or Teacher.
These gifts are simply nothing more than a role that Christ has given to an individual son or daughter to teach, instruct, and model the ministry of Jesus to His church until each member of His Body can fully represent Him in the work of the Ministry: to bring the world into an encounter with the person of Jesus and to make them disciples.
God's goal isn't to create amazing Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers. His ultimate goal is that they would utilize the gifts He gave to them to work together with the Holy Spirit to form Christ within His church. He's growing sons and daughters, not professional ministers to carry a title.