Monday 19 September 2011

Apostles

Not everyone who goes out and wins souls and starts gathering them is an apostle, evangelist, or pastor though. I feel conscientious about the importance of really knowing what our call is before attempting to stand in a particular ministry office. I'm almost certain some have tried to plant a new church, when perhaps they were gifted to hold public revival/refreshing meetings. I'm almost certain others try to plant a new church, when what they perhaps could be doing is establish an outreach ministry. Or become a missionary. Or fulfill whatever ministry they have while remaining connected to their church and its pastors. We can be slightly wrong about our calling, and hence, about our objective. It can make a difference! We can think of ourself as a pastor or apostle all we like, but if it isn't our call and gift - if we weren't actually meant to leave our church - or if we are meant to encourage the people attending our meetings not to think of our meetings as a church but rather to encourage them to find a church - if we get that wrong, it is going to have an affect. (I'm not necessarily saying these things about anyone in this Thread, but about others whom I have met over the years. I don't know the circumstances of everyone in this Thread. I'm speaking generically, rather than specifically about anyone in this Thread.) I would say when a person who starts a new work does happen to be a genuine apostle, that it is still nonetheless God's pattern for the church to eventually be handed over by the apostle and then led by permanent, resident pastors rather than by the apostle. The apostle will, by nature of his apostolic calling, eventually spend most of his time away from the church, fulfilling his apostolic calling. It's the pastors who will stay with the flock more permanently. If the founding 'apostle' instead remains permanently in the church and never places it in the hands of pastors and never travels on, then it may be that he is really a pastor rather than an apostle. If he is really a pastor, then the work will flourish - because that's his true calling, and because God planned that pastors and not apostles would be the permanent leaders of local churches. In such a case, I would call the founding 'apostle' a pastor, rather than an apostle, even though he may also be an apostle in a sense. Pastors stay - apostles move on. If the founder of the work is not called to be a pastor yet remains in charge of the work, my obsevation over the years is that the work begins to dwindle, and often I've seen them eventually close down completely - even though the founder may have been a gifted apostle. It's because God's pattern is for pastors - not an apostle - to eventually govern the church. Apostles usually aren't called to pastor permanently. Another thing I've seen happen is that a founding apostle recognizes he isn't a pastor, so he appoints pastors to work under him - yet he himself remains in charge, almost like a senior-pastor. I still have not seen this work. The apostle acts really no differently to how a 'senior pastor' acts in a regular church. It keeps him away from his apostolic calling. The pastors in effect become puppets to the apostle. They are never really free to be responsible to directly to God for the flock, but responsible instead to their 'apostle'. Eventually the pastors develop precisely the same frustrations they had in their regular church before they left. I haven't seen it work. To me, a true apostle hands the church over to pastors, and moves on - thoroughly moves on - or at least, thoroughly lets go. Thereafter, it is the pastors and not the apostle who have the responsibility for the day-to-day running of the church. At that point the relationship between apostle and pastors becomes a voluntary one. The apostle may visit the church from time to time - but the pastors don't remain as puppets on his strings. He handed it over. It's like a father visiting his adult sons. A father doens't barge in without knocking. His sons have grown now to be the heads of their own houses. But the sons honour their father and voluntarily welcome him in when he visits. If an apostle doesn't reach that type of relationship with the pastors he appoints, then the work is still in its infancy, in my opinion. I've been watching these scenarios play-out for three decades. I could be too coscientious - or, this might be helpful.

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