The Church in Ephesus was said to have tested those who claimed to be apostles and discovered that some of them were not, but were in fact liars. Well done, Ephesus! This church ends up getting a reprimand for lack of zeal and fire, but not for this particular apostle-testing activity. No, to see men, and now women, who bear this title is an honorable calling and should persist to this day.
Unfortunately, not all congregations or cities have a Paul, a Timothy, or a John to apply the test. Those three men were among the initial leaders of this Greek city. We should not call them pastors in the normal sense, because now they were first and foremost apostolic. His job was to settle down and move on. They taught their people how to discern what a true and false apostle was as part of their education.
We have snippets of the information they were spreading, primarily from Paul, the level-headed, fully qualified apostle who helped lay the groundwork not just in Ephesus but in a number of other churches, and to a greater degree, for the New Church. Church of the Testament as a whole. I think his direction can still be followed.
Unfortunately, the word of Paul has to clash with the word of the modern disciples who call themselves apostles. I recently heard one of those men say 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 one to think that an apostolic teaching in our day might have to be obeyed over a similar teaching from a first century leader.
I know that I would deny such a thing. I would say that the cardinal doctrines have been established and do not change. Not all “apostles” 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 stake. Women in leadership. Holiness (Did I say “minor”?). Music / worship.
Consider the season, say our apostolic friends. Consider the movement throughout the church toward this or that position. Move accordingly. Don’t be left behind.
Rome said 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 to the apostles. The church is a living thing, they told us. Go with the flow. Don’t cling to first century books when we now have apostles.
What happened in Rome is a tragedy.
What is happening between us today? Are there really apostles we should follow in this new season? Are there apostles at all?
Before we categorically dismiss them, we have to deal with the missionaries. A name that is not in the Bible, if there ever was one. But most groups that send missionaries would fight for their right to be missionaries.
Simple solution here. Change the Latin word missionary to the Greek equivalent, apostle, and you see that there are truly apostles in the church. Are sent. They preach the gospel. They establish churches all over the world. Sounds pretty apostolic to me. But nobody wants to use that term because of the implications. If these men are truly apostles, they have authority …
Well, in their service countries, they wield this power. But no one claims to have an authoritative teaching right over 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 even he was not an apostle (!) Is recorded in II Corinthians. He hints at the following requirements, though no list is given, regarding pastors and deacons. It seems that an apostle is someone called directly by Jesus Christ and therefore men cannot set rules for them. Therefore, there is no such list for 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, as when the Spirit publicly called Paul and Barnabas in Antioch.
Requirement number two is undoubtedly signs and wonders. A man who is not working miracles can be an excellent saved brother, teacher, pastor, but probably not an apostle. Hmm. That limits the field. I mean people who literally lay their hands on the sick and watch them recover. Open your blind eyes. Make the deaf hear. Cast out demons. Do you know someone like that? I mean, have you seen the miracles yourself?
3. That is something else. An apostle should not recommend himself. The proof is in power. Not your words.
4. You will probably not charge money for your services.
5. You will be persecuted, yes, hated! Even by much of the church! Sentenced to death. Cleaning the world. Dirt, they will say.
Paul says that it was so with the true first century apostles. 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. It made a clear difference. Not to say that we should not suffer. But these men, and they were all men, suffered first.
No, second. Jesus suffered first. Then he appointed a group of men to suffer next, like Christ, in leadership. They were to pass the baton on to other leaders who would bear the pain they suffered.
At some point 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 murder. Obviously these were not true apostles.
What brings us back to the present moment. Where are these true apostles today? Are they leading us to the cross of Christ, or to some fascinating new teachings about Christ? Are they calling us to die or live up to it? Are they committed to the original apostles first or to their own agenda? Are they supermen in their natural strength or are they weak men filled with the power of God? Are they specimens of male humanity, or do they have a thorn in the flesh that shrinks us when we are around them?
So tired of the fake in my own life, in my church, in my world. God gives us the truth. Give us your men. And give us grace to follow them.