Thoughts about apostolic ministry

In recent years, there's been a lot said and written about the ministry of apostles in the church today. The traditional view is that only those who saw the risen Lord Jesus - either in the flesh, or like Paul in a vision - qualify as "apostles". More recently, many Christians have come to accept that there are current-day apostles whose ministry is planting new churches or overseeing existing churches. I have been reflecting recently about the nature of apostolic ministry. It seems to me - looking at the Bible and at what is happening in the churches - that there are several different functions or facets of apostolic ministry. Rarely are all the facets seen in one man - most apostolic men have more than one, but few possess them all. These functions include planting individual churches - some men have the passion, gifting and facility to start one church and then move and plant another, and then move and plant another, and so on. Another function is stirring up vision, energy and faith for mission, whether in the UK or abroad - this is the restless spirit that is always looking to the "regions beyond."  Another function is being a father to church leaders. Another is oversight of existing churches, whether sorting out foundations or identifying areas for growth and progress. Another function is uniting churches into a common goal and purpose, often by travelling among the churches.

 

As I said, a few men have the gifting and capacity to be or do all of these things. The apostle Paul was one. There have been a few others, through the course of church history. But my guess is that there are not many men who can do all these things. Most people that we recognise as "apostolic" will probably only have the measure to do some of them. Which means that we will need apostles working together, and working together across the churches, if we are to get the benefit of the whole gamut of apostolic ministry. And it probably means that any one church will not find all that it needs by being overseen by one "apostle" - rather we will need to be exposed to ministry from several apostolic men if we are to go on to maturity.