What Is Apostolic Ministry Today?

In this session, David focusses on what the ministry of Apostles is today and how they function in practice. 

FOUNDATIONAL APOSTOLIC MINISTRY TODAY  |  Session 2 -  What Is Apostolic Ministry Today?

1/ Introduction

• • In the first session, we established a Biblical foundation for apostolic ministry today.
  • In this session, I want to focus on what the ministry of apostles today is and how they function in practice. However, I need first to establish another foundational principle.

2/ Family context of the church and church movements

• • This is a concept not much understood or given attention to in the church where we are now used to organisations, denominations etc.

• • God is Father – from him all fatherhood/every family derives its name.  (Eph 3:15).

• • God’s plan to bless the world was by choosing a man and his potential family.  The purpose was to bless the other families of the earth. Gen 12:3 “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (or “clan”) later promises e.g. Gen 22:18 “nations” through “offspring” or “seed”.

• • Fatherhood was even relevant for the Son, Jesus who is described prophetically as the “Everlasting Father”.  He took his disciples under his care even though he was a young man.

• • Paul refers to Timothy as “my dear child”.  He says to the church in Corinth that “you do not have many fathers”.  His fatherly advice for Timothy’s health.

• • The need for fatherhood for churches and leaders has probably never been more apparent. 

• • Even what we would see as references to “doctrine” were also references to “relationship”.  They devoted themselves to the “apostles teaching” – this was not just a systematic theology but the teaching of people they know and had relationship with.

• • This lies behind the Scripture in Ephesians 2:20 “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”. 

• • “Hence the ‘apostles and prophets;’ move into His former role, not as the foundation upon which the church is erected, but as foundational for its existence at all…  It is decidedly plain from the larger context of the letter (3:1-7, 4:11-16) that apostles and prophets are not ‘offices’ upon which the organizational structure of the church is built, but are, as in 1 Corinthians 12-14, ministries that are necessary for the founding (therefore ‘foundational’) of the church as well as for its subsequent growth into a healthy and mature community of faith”.  Gordon Fee.

• • Paul described himself both as a father and mother to the church in Thessalonica.

• • Being fathers to leaders and churches therefore is a key part of apostolic ministry.  It is very far from being the denominational leader or the “top of the pyramid” – it is not just a question of what has been called apostolic covering but a fatherly relationship.

• • The function is needed.  There is a cry from many leaders for genuine fathers.  There is a need for those who lead and motivate in world mission.  There is a need for those who can lay good foundations in churches. 

3/ So what do Apostles do?

• • Apostles bring understanding of revelation concerning the overall purposes of God in the earth as a foundation for church life.  Paul describes this in his feedback to the Ephesian elders as teaching the “whole counsel of God”.  We will come back to this when we look at the apostolic foundations. Revelation of God’s big plan is important for apostles and prophetic ministry – so, don’t major on minor issues.

• • They lay a foundation in churches.  They may plant them themselves or others may plant following their teaching e.g. Paul in Ephesus with the whole province of Asia, but apostles are responsible for the foundation laid.   “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”  1 Cor 3:10 (ESV).  Paul knew he was responsible to lay the foundation, he knew the foundation had been laid and the Corinthian church knew who had laid it.  We will return to what that foundation is in a later session.

• • Breakthrough into new cultures or new spheres of ministry.  I wouldn’t want to be absolute about this but apostolic ministry in my view does not simply mean caring for other churches but has a breakthrough element to the gift.  This may be a focus more on the example of Paul rather than the 12 but that is a more relevant example to us now because the 12 were unique as witnesses to the life of Jesus.  Even with the 12 there was the idea of being sent to new places.  Even though when churches were scattered; at first the apostles remained in Jerusalem, we know from some Biblical and other traditional church history that they did travel. 

• • They bring contextualised wisdom.  Apostles do not try and reproduce churches that look exactly the same in every culture.  Rather they appreciate the different cultures and seek to see churches that reflect that culture as well as challenging its strongholds.  This is why in the New Testament different answers seem to be given at different times to the same questions – actually it was a different emphasis according to the context e.g. food offered to idols.  Furthermore, there were different issues facing Gentile churches compared with Jewish churches.  Each New Testament letter as well as speaking general truth, applied to the context to which that letter was written.

• • As we have seen apostles become like fathers to the churches and to the leaders of those churches (or “older brothers” etc depending on context).  Paul’s pattern of life in Ephesus seemed to be in the morning working as tent maker, at lunchtime teaching the whole counsel of God in the Hall of Tyrannus and the evening going from house to house like a father demonstrating his life as well as his teaching.  In that he became pattern for how the Ephesian elders should relate to their churches.

• • Apostles therefore provided ongoing care for churches, and for the leaders, “pastor to the pastors” (even though ministry not primarily pastoral, the shepherd heart should be the foundation of all leadership in the church).

• • Apostles involve the churches in the movement in the wider mission to the unreached regions of the world.  Paul announced to the church in Rome that one of the main reasons he was coming there was so that they could be involved in his ongoing mission to Spain.  The word used there “propempo” means “provide resources”.  It may well be that the Roman church provided financial and personnel resources to Paul in his ongoing mission – or at least that was the intention. They also encourage local churches in fulfilling the missional vision God has given to them.

• • Apostles are very concerned for the poor.  When Paul met with the other apostles in Jerusalem to have his own apostolic ministry confirmed, there was one condition laid upon him by the other apostles – that he should always remember the poor.  This was probably even the context of his visit to Jerusalem at that time.

• • Apostles have a Kingdom mentality – cf Paul’s teaching,  Acts 20:25.  How Acts begins and ends. So, not just church life in the church gathered but scattered everyday into the world.

• • Appoint team leadership in churches.  This is a very important part of apostolic ministry.  Again, it can be sometimes difficult when things are small and there are not many suitable people but it is the New Testament practice and we are perpetuating something that is less than Biblical if we simply appoint one pastor for each situation and don’t appoint teams.  Team/plurality is not just a good Western idea (though some Western teaching on team is not relevant in every culture), it is rooted in the nature of God himself as Trinity and in Scripture.  In the New Testament people were sent two by two.  Paul in Acts 14 and in his instructions to Titus in Crete said, “appoint elders (plural) in every place”.  Even if it is not yet possible to appoint elders in a new situation (distinction between elders in Ephesus and elders in Crete in 1 Timothy and Titus), there still needs to be plurality until the church is ready to have elders.  There is often a battle for this, particularly when it is in a culture which has not been much impacted by the gospel or where one person, top down leadership is the cultural expectation.  That expectation is good in that such men are expected to be fathers and take loving and caring responsibility but is often weak in terms of reflecting New Testament anointing and patterns of leadership.

• • Where the foundation has not been laid well, then apostles need to be involved in checking the foundation and making up what was lacking e.g. Samaria. 

• • The effects of an apostolic ministry into in a church are:
    • The foundation is properly laid or straightened out.
    • Local eldership is established in the church. Note that was a priority for Paul and Barnabas – Acts 14:22-23. Note: What is necessary to establish churches – “teaching the faith”, warning re persecution and the Kingdom of God and establishing elders – churches then became what we call “autonomous” though may continue to be served by travelling apostolic ministry.
    • The church is caught up in an apostolic mission to reach the nations and therefore to support the onward sending of the apostle and his team.

© David Devenish

What Is Apostolic Ministry Today? - Foundational Apostolic Ministry Today - Broadcast - July 2021