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Contrasting Church Apostles from Apostles of Christ
Apostles
of Christ do not need or desire to live a life of extreme luxury and opulence -
their spiritual and psychological needs have already been met through their
deep and abiding relationship with Christ. They have been so satisfied with
living with the person and presence of God that they count all things as dung
compared to knowing Him - their greatest desire in life is to fellowship with
Him, meditate on the scriptures, and serve God’s people and Kingdom - they live
in simplicity, are content with little and are not driven to pursue material
possessions and pleasure
Joseph
Mattera
I heard a great prophetic teacher (Thamo
Naidoo from South Africa) mention in his message that there is a difference
between apostles of churches and apostles of Christ.
He said that while there were many apostles
of churches, there were only very few true apostles of Christ on the earth
today.
That one statement exploded on the inside of
me and gave me much illumination.
I had never heard anyone make this
delineation before, but it makes a lot of sense to me. The following is what I
have unpacked in the scriptures since Thamo made this statement.
Essentially, the word apostle means a person
who is sent to represent another, whether a king, kingdom or entity like a
church.
First Corinthians 12:28 teaches that God
places first in the church apostles, since they are sent by God to represent
Him in a city to pioneer a beachhead (a church or ekklesia as shown in Matthew
16:18-19) for city transformation.
Apostles are the “sent ones” who
represent the essence of what the church vision or mission is all about.
In John 17, Jesus constantly referred to the
fact that He was sent by the Father to the world, which is one reason why
Hebrews 3:1 refers to Jesus as our Apostle.
Jesus was God’s Apostle sent into the world
to redeem it.
In Revelation 22:14 we see the term “the
twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
There will never be another apostle added to
that list since there were only twelve.
However, it seems evident (at least to me)
that Paul was also an apostle of Christ, which means this general category was
not limited to merely twelve in total.
Paul qualified his apostleship not only by
planting churches but also by seeing Jesus (1 Corinthians 9:1), which means that
apostles at this level must have experienced a dynamic encounter and intimate
walk with the Lord.
In the New Testament there were dozens of
people identified as apostles.
It is my view that since Paul was an apostle
of Christ his apostleship transcended the churches he founded.
Although Paul did not found the church in
Rome, he was respected enough by the general body of Christ that he was able to
write the letter to the Romans with apostolic weight and authority as if he was
the one who planted it.
Hence, apostles of Christ garner a high level
of respect beyond the borders of their own church networks, even though they
would never attempt to supplant the authority of an apostolic leader who is the
founder and/or leader of another network (unless there was heresy or a gross
violation of biblical ethics).
Also, Paul warned that there were some who
were masquerading as apostles of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13), which probably
means that this term (apostle of Christ) was used to identify some significant
apostles who were not one of the original twelve.
Furthermore, in 2 Corinthians 8:23 Paul
identified some as “apostles of the churches” (not “apostles of
Christ”) which I believe refers to the fact that these leaders only had
limited recognized apostolic authority related to representing a particular
constellation of churches.
Since apostles of Christ directly represent
the Lord Jesus, they have a burden and calling for the whole body of Christ
and/or a large expression of the global body of Christ.
Apostles of Christ are also trans-cultural,
trans-generational, and are more loyal to the Kingdom of God than to a specific
geopolitical affinity.
The following are ten characteristics of
Apostles of Christ
1. Apostles of Christ Build the Kingdom
Oftentimes, church apostles are just focused
on their local church and/or their network or denomination.
One of the reasons is because their
assignment is limited to those works they personally oversee or have founded.
They do not have the grace or leadership capacity
to go beyond their particular church system, doctrine and/or culture.
On the other hand, apostles of Christ have an
ambassadorial call that transcends any one church, movement or denomination.
Hence, even if they try to focus on one group
or movement, God will constantly pull them into other church communities and/or
nations to build apostolic foundations related to doctrine or kingdom life.
2. Apostles of
Christ are Not Hierarchical
Generally speaking, church apostles can be
caught up in titles, measures of influence within their movement, and/or church
politics.
Apostles of Christ do not personally crave
titles (they will use them when appropriate) and do not need institutional
church structures to validate their ministry or calling.
3. Apostles of
Christ Don’t Strive for Recognition
Philippians 2 teaches us that Jesus made
Himself of no reputation.
Apostles of Christ are often hidden and do
not seek public attention, since they are already rooted strongly in their
identity as sons of God and have no innate need for public acclaim.
4. Apostles of Christ are Not Driven by
Money
Apostles of Christ have so much faith in
their assignment from God, they trust God will provide all their needs as long
as they are in His will.
They do not go to a place to minister only
because the offerings are good but will go only where the Lord is leading.
Paul said he did not peddle the word of God
for money (2
Corinthians 2:17)
and the apostle Peter warns shepherds not to minister for dishonest gain (1 Peter 5:2).
Although I believe those who labor in the
word full-time are worthy of double honor and should make a living from the
gospel (1
Timothy 5:17; 1 Corinthians 9:14), the bottom line for apostles of Christ is
the will of God, not material gain.
5. Apostles of
Christ Lay Down their Lives for the Gospel
All of the original twelve apostles (except
John) as well as the apostle Paul were martyred for the gospel.
As Jesus laid down His life for the sheep (John 10) those who represent
Him are willing to die daily (Revelation 12:11; Acts 20:24; Galatians 2:19-20) whether it is to
their own will or to literally lose their lives.
6. Apostles of Christ Have a Servant’s
Heart
Apostles of Christ are unassuming, do not
have an entitlement mentality, have a servant’s heart, and do not lead with a
top-down autocratic approach like the rulers of the Gentiles (Mark 10:42).
They mimic Jesus’ words when He said that the
greatest in the Kingdom is the one who serves (Mark 10:43-45).
7. Apostles of
Christ Have Divine Influence and Calling Beyond their Network of Churches
Although the apostle Paul strove not to
preach where Christ was already named (Romans 15:20) his greatest epistle was to the
church at Rome, where he endeavored to go in spite of the fact he was not their
founding apostle.
Paul had vast influence way beyond the
primary sphere of activity he was focusing on (Read 2 Corinthians 10:10-14).
His influence has even reached to us 2,000
years later through his inspired New Testament writings.
Since apostles of Christ represent the Lord
Himself, by nature they have to be trans-national, trans-cultural, and
multi-generational and have a desire for Kingdom advancement, not just the
enlargement of their church networks.
8. Apostles of
Christ Have an Intimate Walk with God
Since apostles of Christ have to represent
Jesus and not merely a church or denomination (of course all believers are
called to represent Christ but apostolic callings have a greater measure of
responsibility), they are obligated to know God intimately and walk in His
presence and power.
All of the original twelve apostles walked
with Jesus personally for more than three years before they were launched into
their ministry, and Paul the apostle had a personal encounter with Jesus on the
road to Damascus (Acts
9).
All true apostles of Christ will have a
driving passion to know God and to make Him known.
9. Apostles of Christ Endure Great
Hardship
Paul validated his apostleship by the immense
hardships he endured, not just by signs and wonders and church planting (2 Corinthians
11:17-12:8).
Paul said (1 Corinthians 4:9) that apostles live
like those condemned dying in the arena (or have the sentence of death upon
themselves).
This kind of apostolic leader must have the
capacity for high-stress leadership combined with the kind of emotional
maturity to deal with all kinds of difficulties that the average person could
never endure.
10. Apostles of Christ Live in Simplicity
Apostles of Christ do not need or desire to
live a life of extreme luxury and opulence.
Their spiritual and psychological needs have
already been met through their deep and abiding relationship with Christ.
They have been so satisfied with living with
the person and presence of God that they count all things as dung compared to
knowing Him (Philippians
3:8-14)!
Their greatest desire in life is to
fellowship with Him, meditate on the scriptures, and serve God’s people and
Kingdom.
Consequently, they do not need to drive the
most expensive cars, live in the largest houses or make a huge salary in order
to be satisfied in this life.
Consequently, they live in simplicity, are
content with little and are not driven to pursue material possessions and
pleasure.
After seeing these 10 traits, we can see how
there are only very few apostles of Christ in this world. May the Lord raise
more up in these days so the body of Christ can fully advance!
Dr.
Joseph Mattera is an internationally-known author, consultant, and
theologian whose mission is to influence leaders who influence culture. He is
the founding pastor of Resurrection Church, and leads several organizations,
including The U.S. Coalition of Apostolic Leaders and Christ Covenant
Coalition. Dr. Mattera is the author of 12 bestselling books, including his
latest “The Jesus Principles,” and is renown for applying Scripture to
contemporary culture. To order his books or to join the many thousands who
subscribe to his newsletter go to www.josephmattera.org.
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