The 95% Problem: Why Your Pulpit Might Be in the Marketplace
This post is based on a powerful sermon by my friend David Vaka, who spoke recently at the Awake Nations Hub on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. You can listen to the full message in the audio podcast above.
Here’s a truth that’s going to challenge some assumptions: everyone reading this is called to full-time Kingdom service. 100%. No exceptions.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Only about 5% are called to minister from the pulpit within the four walls of the church. The other 95%? Your pulpit is in the marketplace.
And if you’ve been church-hopping looking for a platform to preach, I need you to hear this: what if your sphere, your message, your assignment is actually out there in the Monday-to-Friday world where you spend most of your time?
The Ascension-Descension Pattern
Paul writes something profound in Ephesians 4. He starts with this picture of Jesus ascending and descending, and he tells us the purpose: to fill all places and all spaces. Not just the sanctuary. Not just Sunday morning. All places. All spaces.
Then immediately, Paul moves into the fivefold ministry—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. But notice the purpose: “to equip his people, the saints, for the work of service.”
The intent of the fivefold isn’t to create big churches full of people trained to serve within church programs. The intent is to equip the saints so that through us, Christ fills all spaces and all places universally.
We’ve built churches that pull people from the marketplace to serve the machinery of church programs. But God’s design is the opposite: equip people in the ecclesia so they can carry Kingdom authority into every sphere where they’re planted.
The Shift from Pastoral-Centric to Fivefold
The days of the pastor being the kingpin of the church are over. God is moving us from a pastoral-centric model into a fivefold ministry-oriented model. It’s been happening for a while, but people are slowly waking up.
Here’s what synergistic fivefold ministry looks like in practice:
The apostle brings governmental order and alignment with Heaven’s patterns. They see the big picture and call the church into its destiny as God’s sent ones.
The prophet connects us to God’s voice and heart, keeping us tuned to what the Father is saying right now, not just what He said yesterday.
The evangelist fires us up with passion for the lost and trains us to naturally introduce people to the King through our lives.
The pastor provides the care, nurture, and safe environment where people can grow and be healed without being coddled into perpetual spiritual infancy.
The teacher grounds us in truth, making sure we’re not just excited but also accurate in our understanding of Kingdom realities.
When these five work together, they don’t just build a crowd. They build a mobilized, equipped, deployed army that advances the Kingdom in every sector of society.
Your Mission Field Is Already Assigned
Stop looking for a crowd. You already have one. They’re sitting in cubicles around you. They’re in the break room. They’re your clients, your students, your patients, your colleagues.
Where you work from Monday to Friday—that’s your mission field. Where you spend 40, 50, 60 hours a week—God has given you people. Wake up and see the harvest all around you every day.
Your crowd is the people at your workplace.
Your podium is your Kingdom assignment—the specific purpose God placed you there to fulfill.
Your message is not your speech. It’s your deeds. It’s your life, your character, your integrity speaking louder than what comes out of your mouth.
The Daniel Standard
Here’s the standard: be 10 times better than your peers. Daniel and his friends set this bar, and it’s still the standard for marketplace ministers.
Be the best student. The best employee. The best leader. When people see you operate with excellence, integrity, and Kingdom character, they’ll start asking questions: “Why are you different?”
And that’s when you get to say, “I come from an ecclesia church that has taught us to be like this.”
Gifts and talents will take you to the mountaintop, but integrity and character will keep you there.
Chase Assignment, Not Success
Can I encourage you in this? Don’t chase money. Don’t chase success. Chase your Kingdom assignment.
When you focus on your Kingdom assignment, money and prosperity will follow. But if you chase money and everything else, you’ll deviate from the main thing.
Let the main thing be the main thing. Let your Kingdom assignment be the number one thing. That’s your podium.
The Ecclesia Model
We’re not building a church where people come and sit. We’re building an ecclesia where people come, get equipped, get sent out, and bring more people back. Then those people get equipped, get sent out, and bring more people. And the cycle continues.
This is how you build something sustainable. This is how you see genuine Kingdom advancement. Not through better programs or bigger buildings, but through quality disciples who become light and salt in dark places.
The church is not the Kingdom, but the church is the vehicle for Kingdom explosion, advancement, and expression.
When we get this right—when the ecclesia functions as God designed it—people won’t come because we ran an evangelistic campaign. They’ll come because they met someone at work who made them hungry for what they have. They’ll come because the light they saw in the marketplace led them to the Source.
Quality bringeth quantity.
A Word for the Sunshine Coast
I’m watching something shift in this region. There’s been prophetic word after prophetic word about what God wants to do on the Sunshine Coast. But prophecy without proper structure and alignment is just noise.
God is bringing order. Not control. Not religious hierarchy. But divine order where the fivefold ministry equips saints who fill the marketplace with Kingdom presence.
This isn’t about building another big church that hoards people in programs. It’s about building an ecclesia that deploys kingdom ambassadors who transform every sphere they touch.
The time has come for the Sunshine Coast to see the ecclesia church—not just hear about it, but see it manifest in power and demonstration.
Where Do You Go From Here?
If you’re in the 5%, lean into your calling to equip. Stop trying to do everything yourself. Mobilize the army.
If you’re in the 95%, stop fighting for a pulpit you’re not called to. Your pulpit is waiting for you Monday morning. Go there with Kingdom authority. Be light. Be salt. Be 10 times better.
And everyone—100% of you—understand this: you are called. You are equipped. You are sent.
Now go fill your space with His presence.
Glenn Bleakney is an apostolic leader, author, and founder of Awake Nations Global Network. He teaches on Kingdom reformation, fivefold ministry, and marketplace transformation through awakenations.org and KingdomReformers.org.
