Requirements for the apostolate
It was said of the Church of Ephesus that they had tested those who claimed to be apostles and found that some of them were not, but in fact liars. Well done, Ephesus! This church ends up receiving a rebuke for lack of zeal and fire, but not for this particular testing activity of apostles. No, examining the men, and now the women, who bear this title is an honorable calling and should persist to this day.
Unfortunately, not every congregation or city has a Paul, a Timothy, or a John to apply the test to. Those three men were among the early leaders of this Greek city. We should not call them pastors in the normal sense, because they were already above all apostolic. His job was to settle down and move on. They taught their people how to discern what was a true and false apostle as part of their education.
We have bits and pieces of the information that they were spreading, mainly from Paul, the fully qualified and sensible apostle who helped lay the foundation not just for Ephesus but for a host of other churches, and to a greater degree, for the New Testament church as a everything. I would think that his address can still be followed.
Unfortunately, Paul’s word has to collide with the word of modern disciples who call themselves apostles. I heard one such man say recently that the apostles must be followed in every generation because the seasons change. Although this particular brother is solid in the Word, his statement would lead you to think that an apostolic teaching in our day might have to be heeded on top of a similar teaching by a first century leader.
I know he would deny such a thing. He would say that the cardinal doctrines have been established and do not change. Not all “postles” today would. But it is not the cardinal doctrines that concern me at the moment. It’s a lot of minor issues that seem to be at play. Women in leadership. Holiness (Did I say “minor”?). Music/worship.
Consider the season, say our apostolic friends. Consider the shift throughout the church to this or that position. Move accordingly. Don’t get left behind.
Rome used to say things like that. Rome allowed the pagans to enter with their falsehood and corrupt the church of the first centuries. A completely new organization was formed. He took over the political world of his day, but was Christ calling and sanctifying a people in this way?
The bishops of Rome were now said to be successors of the apostles. The church is a living thing, they told us. Go with the flow. Don’t cling to first century books when we have apostles today.
What happened in Rome is a tragedy.
What is happening between us today? Are there truly apostles whom we should follow in this new season? Are there apostles at all?
Before we rule them out categorically, we have to deal with the missionaries. A totally not-in-the-Bible name if ever there was one. But most groups that send missionaries would fight for their right to be.
Simple solution here. change the latin word missionary to the Greek equivalent, apostle, and you see that there are truly apostles in the church. they are sent. They preach the Gospel. They establish churches all over the world. Sounds pretty apostolic to me. But no one wants to use that term because of the implications. If these men are truly apostles, they have authority…
Well, in their countries of service, they exercise this power. But no one claims that he has an authoritative teaching right to the Body in general, as some of the other apostles claim.
Enough. Better now that I simply give the standards that Paul gave for all men who would call themselves apostles/missionaries/envoys.
Paul’s response to the challenge that he was not even an apostle (!) is recorded in 2 Corinthians. He hints at the following requirements, although he does not give a list, for pastors and deacons. Objections by which it seems that an apostle is one called directly by Jesus Christ and, therefore, men cannot set rules for them. Therefore, there is no such list of apostolic leaders. Fair enough.
Let’s make that requirement number one: Called by Jesus. Paul said that several times, right? It is not an imaginary call to the inner man, mind you, but a clear call to the body confirmed by a miraculous encounter and/or confirmed by the gifts of the Spirit, like when the Spirit publicly called Paul and Barnabas in Antioch.
Requirement number two is undoubtedly signs and wonders. A man who is not working in the miraculous may be a good saved brother, a teacher, a pastor, but probably not an apostle. mmm. That limits the field. I’m talking about people who literally lay hands on the sick and watch them heal. Open blind eyes. Make the deaf hear. Cast out demons. Do you know someone like that? I mean you’ve seen the miracles yourself.
3. That’s something else. An apostle does not praise himself, nor should he. The proof is in the power. Not his words.
4. You probably won’t charge money for your services.
5. Will be persecuted, yes hated! Even by much of the church! Sentenced to death. The scum of the world. Dirt, they will say.
Paul says that it was so with the true apostles of the first century. We “ordinary” believers have often thought that all of these things apply to the whole Body, when in fact Paul often spoke of himself and the apostles when he mentioned such things. He made a clear difference. He does not mean that we should not suffer. But these men, and they were all men, suffered first.
No, second. Jesus suffered first. He then appointed a group of men to suffer next, like Christ, in leadership. They had to pass the baton to other leaders who would endure the pain they endured.
Somewhere along the way it became an honor to be an apostle, a privilege for a few. And people began to fight for that honor, and even to kill. Obviously these were not true apostles.
Which brings us back to the present moment. Where are these true apostles today? Are they leading us to the cross of Christ, or to exciting new teachings about Christ? Are they calling us to die or to live it? Are they committed first to the original apostles or to their own agenda? Are they supermen in their natural strength, or weak men filled with the power of God? Are they specimens of male humanity, or do they sport a thorn in the flesh that we cringe at when we’re around them?
So tired of the false in my own life, in my church, in my world. God give us the truth. Give us your men. And give us grace to follow them.
