by Steve Atkerson
Most evangelicals
reject outright the idea of there being apostles in today’s
church. This is because “the Twelve” were personally hand-picked
by Jesus to represent Him and were instructed by Jesus directly.
On one occasion Jesus told the Twelve, “He who receives you receives me,
and he who receives me receives the one who sent me” (Mt 10:40).
During the Last Supper, Jesus exclusively promised the Twelve that the
Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything
I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). Interestingly, after Jesus’
ascension, the early believers devoted themselves not to what Jesus had
said but rather “to the apostles’ teaching” (Ac 2:42); this is because
the apostles’ teaching was identical to Jesus’ teaching.
When Paul visited the brothers in Galatia, they welcomed him “as if
[he] were Christ Jesus Himself” (Ga 4:14). Indeed, the apostles
consciously realized their unique authority as Jesus’
representatives. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, “if
anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him
acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command” (1 Co
14:37). Speaking directly to the Twelve, Jesus said, “if they
obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (Jn 15:20b). It is
no wonder that few have been bold enough to claim the mantle of modern
apostleship!
However, a problem arises when one examines the NT data on the
apostles. Paul wrote that our resurrected Lord appeared to “the
Twelve” and later to “all the apostles” (1 Co 15:3-8). Are “all
the apostles” different from “the Twelve”? Mt 10:2-4 gives a
listing (by name) of the “twelve apostles” and yet 1 Th 1:1 and 2:6 also
refer to Paul, Silas and Timothy as “apostles.” Ro 16:7 evidently
refers to two more apostles, Andronious and Junias. In Ac 14:14,
Luke referred to Barnabas as an “apostle.” Finally, James (the
Lord’s brother) certainly seems to have been grouped as an apostle in Ga
1:18-19 and 2:9. In what sense were these other people “apostles”?
In Scripture there were essentially two types of apostles.
Foremost there were those apostles who had physically seen the
resurrected Lord Jesus, who had been personally chosen by Jesus to
represent Him, and who had been trained directly by Jesus for the job
(compare 1 Co 15:8-9; Ga 1:11-2:10). This first group consisted of
the spiritual heavy-weights. They were the norm for doctrine and
practice in the early church. It was they who authored or approved
all books now in the NT canon of Scripture. Whereas this first
type of apostle was prepared and sent out by Jesus, the second type of
apostle was prepared and sent out by the church and carried much less
authority (see Ac 13:1-3; 2 Co 8:23; Php 2:25). Not having been
trained by Jesus, the second type of apostle merely studied and repeated
what the first type of apostle taught (see 1 Co 4:16-17; 1 Ti 3:14-15; 2
Ti 2:2; Tit 1:5).
The word “apostle” in our English Bible is a transliteration of the
Greek apostolos. The actual translation would be something
like “envoy, ambassador, messenger, sent one” (New International
Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Brown, Vol. 1, 126). The
verb apostello carries the notion of “to send with a particular
purpose,” thus, apostolos would mean “one commissioned” or “accredited
messenger” (New Bible Dictionary, Davis, 57-60). Jerome, in
translating the NT from Greek into Latin, rendered apostolos as
the Latin root missio (the basis for our “missionary”). Did
you ever notice that the word “missionary” is nowhere to be found in an
English Bible? Yet virtually every modern church believes in
“missionaries.” This is because “missionary” is the dynamic
equivalent of apostolos. The justification for the
existence of contemporary missionaries lies in the NT patterns of and
teachings about the existence of apostles.
Thus, while there are not likely to be anymore of the first type of
apostle, modern church planters certainly do correspond to the second
type of apostle. That is, they have been sent out by the church to
evangelize and to plant churches. Church planters are truly
apostles in the secondary sense.
Granted that there is indeed a NT pattern to justify the existence of
church planters today, how should our modern apostles carry out their
ministries? Looking again to the NT, it becomes obvious that near
constant movement characterized the first apostles. They
itinerated, preaching the Gospel and organizing churches. Rarely
did they settle down permanently in one place. This is far
different from what typically goes on in contemporary missions!
Occasional training stops were made in strategic locations, but then
the circuit continued. For instance, Paul spent one and a half
years in Corinth (Ac 18:11), two years in Ephesus (19:8-10), and two
years in Rome (28:31). He managed to resist the temptation of
staying any longer. Similarly, Paul told the apostle Timothy to
“stay in Ephesus so that [he] might command certain men not to teach
false doctrines any longer” (1 Ti 1:3); but once that job was done Paul
wrote for him to “do your best to get here before winter” (2 Ti
4:21). Despite what is commonly supposed, Timothy was an apostle
to Ephesus, not a pastor there. Another example is Titus, left in
Crete to “straighten out what was left unfinished” and to “appoint
elders in every town” (Tit 1:5); once this was accomplished Titus was to
join Paul at Nicopolis (Tit 3:12).
What objectives did the early apostles have that motivated their
travels? One was evangelism. In discussing the rights of
apostles, Paul referred to apostles as “those who preach the gospel” (1
Co 9:14). Timothy was charged to “do the work of an evangelist” (2
Ti 4:5). A cursory reading of Acts will show this to be an
important function for apostles.
Another objective of those
sent out by the church was to organize and strengthen those newly
converted. This was partially the reason for the one or two year
stays. Eph 4:11-13 tells us that God gave some to be apostles “to
prepare God’s people for works of service.” Paul planned a visit
to Ephesus, but in case he was delayed he wrote instructions so that
they would “know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s
household” (1 Ti 3:15). Timothy’s job was to “entrust” the truth
to “reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Ti 2:2).
A major difference between an elder and an apostle is that a elder’s
sphere of service is permanently concentrated in one local church,
whereas an apostle’s is universal and temporary. Once an apostle
has trained and appointed elders, he moves on. From then on it is
up to the elders to teach the church and train future elders.
Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, no words recorded in Scripture are
accidental or without importance. All written there is for our
profit. Just as we ignore NT patterns for ecclesiology to our
peril, so too to disregard NT apostolic practices is unwise.
The NT pattern is for existing churches to send out church
planters who will start new congregations in unchurched areas. We
still need the ministry of such men today. These modern “apostles”
can also serve existing churches by helping ground them in sound
doctrine and practice. They serve as seminary professors on
wheels, training and equipping church leaders in their local settings (1
Ti 1:3; 3:14-15; 4:1-6, 13; 2 Ti 1:13; 2:1-2, 14; 4:1-5; Tit 1:5;
2:1-15).
Twentieth century apostles are to be servants of the church.
Though they will naturally have the influential authority of an elder
over the churches they begin, a modern apostle is really no higher in
“rank” than any elder. Modern apostles are not like the Twelve of
old. It must be remembered that the faith was “once for all
delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). No “new” teaching is
needed. No essential theology has been withheld from the
church. Thus, a church planter’s teaching must be in harmony with
the previous revelation from the Twelve. No doubt there will
occasionally arise false apostles, and because of this we must be like
the Ephesians who “tested those who claim to be apostles but are not,
and have found them false” (Re 2:2).
It is not likely that we shall ever again encounter an apostle in the
sense that “the Twelve” were apostles. However, the church always
has had and will continue to have apostles in the sense that Barnabas,
Timothy, Titus, and Epaphroditus were apostles. That is, church
planters sent out to evangelize, start churches, train and appoint
leaders, and then move on to another location.
