Apostolic Teams
There is much talk
within the body of Christ, regarding the role of apostles and in
particular the role of apostolic teams. Indeed many would argue that
the office of apostle is no longer relevant and was dispensed with
after the first apostles and the sealing up of scripture! That is an
interesting superstition, but has absolutely no biblical
foundation;
Ephesians 4:11-13
states
'And He Himself (Christ) gave some to be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for
the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for
the edifying of the
body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ'.
These ascension gifts, more commonly called five
fold ministry gifts, are gifts of Christ, not to men, but to the
church. According to Verse 13 of Ephesians 4, they are to
remain in place
'till we all come to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ'. I believe it would be very difficult to argue
that the church of today has reached this state of perfect unity and
oneness in Christ.
It is the belief of this
ministry that not only are apostles and apostolic teams relevant,
they are absolutely essential if the church is to function according
to the mandate of Christ. Having said this, it is not my intention
to debate the relevance, or otherwise, of modern day apostles,
within the context of this article. The purpose of this article is
to provide some basic guidelines to those church leaders who embrace
the apostolic ministry, and believe their church would benefit by
working with an apostolic team.
SERVANT
NATURE:
The fundamental
and most basic
requirement of ALL
apostolic ministry is to serve, not to be served. Apostolic team
members are not to serve their own agenda or personal ministry, but
are to firstly serve The Lord, secondly to serve those The Lord has
appointed over them within the body of Christ, and finally to serve
those to whom The Lord would send them.
Jesus is the role model for all
apostolic work. We must always reflect the servant nature of Christ in
everything we do. “Most
assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor
is he who is sent greater than
He
who sent him”
(John 13:16).
When ministering to a
local church, visiting teams are to serve the pastor/leadership of
that church, not the congregation. It is the pastors responsibility to
serve the flock. It can sometimes be tempting to reach out to an
individual, providing advice, counsel etc. Even though the motive may
be pure, this should be avoided, unless requested by the pastor, as
this could well lead to future conflict.
Please allow me to cite Paul's
statement in 1 Corinthians 4:1 "Let
a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of
the mysteries of God". This
aligns with the way Paul refers to himself in the beginning of his
epistles: He regards himself as a bond-slave of Christ. This should be
the heart of all true apostolic ministry teams working with
the
local church. They must
be willing to be true servants by serving and assisting churches and
leaders in progressing the vision The Lord has given those leaders. It
is not the function of these teams to force their own ideas and dogma,
but to be respectful of the ministry and calling of those to whom they
are sent. I recall saying to the pastor of a local church recently,
“it is not my role to tell you what to do, but to assist you in doing
the things God has told you to do”. I believe this is the way our
thinking should be focused. The only way apostolic teams and local
church leadership can fulfill
the purposes of God is through right relationship, with each party
displaying love for and respect to the other.
GODS
WAY OF BUILDING HIS CHURCH:
The
challenge facing the body of Christ today, is not how to invent new
ways, of making the church relevant to the twenty first century, or
discovering the latest ‘how to’ program. Our challenge is to
recapture the vibrant life and mobility of the early Church
described in the book of Acts.
A fundamental part of the early church was the equipping and
releasing of apostolic teams.
These early New
Testament teams provide us with a clear pattern for the establishment,
building, oversight and development of churches and various regional,
national and international missions.
Apostolic teams may have
regional, national and international responsibilities within the
Kingdom of God. In the ministry of the apostle Paul, we find him
spending extended periods of time in one location, in order to facilitate the
purposes of God in that place.
He was in Ephesus for three years
(See Acts 20:31).
We also find him traveling and writing letters to various churches in
many distant places. In addition to church
planting, which is traditionally seen as the primary role of apostolic
teams, there are a number of ways these teams can provide practical
help to established local churches and particularly to the leadership
of these churches. Some of the ways apostolic teams can assist the
local church are as follows:
EQUIPPING:
An integral part of the
renewal God is bringing to the church is the restoration of the five
fold ministry gifts to the body.
Through these ministry gifts,
training for local church ‘body’ ministry is beginning to receive a
much higher emphasis/priority within the local church. This becomes
increasingly valuable when we decide to pursue the five-fold model of
leadership we read of in
Ephesians 4:11.
Most local churches do not
have all five dimensions of Christ's leadership in fullness.
Therefore it can be very beneficial to augment existing gifts within
the church. A local church can draw on their relational apostolic team
to supplement these gifts for a season of transition. At the same time
these teams can assist local leadership in the recognition, equipping
and release of these gifts to the body. In addition, apostolic teams
can assist the local church by providing appropriate training and
practical equipping of leaders and emerging leaders. It is the belief of this ministry
that there should be one primary mission for apostolic teams working
with a
local church community. That is to work alongside (not over) local
church leadership in helping unify, edify, equip and mobilize the body
of Christ, in order that the great commission may be fulfilled.
“Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” Amen
(Mat 28:19-20).
INTERCESSION:
Paul usually begins his
letters by reminding the churches that he is praying for them. In
Galatians chapter four, he reminds the church that he labors in prayer
and service until Christ is formed in them. He had a daily concern for
churches and their leaders. In Ephesians he is praying that the church
may come into the full expression of Christ their Head. It is at
the place of prayer and intercession that all apostolic ministry
begins!
IMPARTATION:
"For I long to see you in order
that I may impart some spiritual gift to you,
that you may be
established”
(Rom
1:11). Interestingly here, Paul states the church will be
established through charismatic gifts and not just by lofty doctrine.
Paul includes in the middle chapters of the Epistle that it will take
the Spirit and the Word to establish the local church. Paul later
reminded his spiritual son, Timothy, that he must not ignore the
spiritual (charisma) within him which was bestowed (imparted) on him
through the laying on of the hands of the presbytery and of Paul
(see 1 Tim 4:14 and 2 Tim1:6).
The impartation of the
gifts of The Spirit, to the local church, is an important and vital
function of apostolic ministry teams. Impartation by the laying on of
hands (normally accompanied with prophecy) can extend to the releasing
and ordination of leadership within the local church. Before we can
impart gifts to others, we must be able to clearly demonstrate that we
ourselves operate in the particular gifts we wish to impart. We can
not impart what we don’t have! This is the most important reason why
any team sent out must be selected after much fasting and prayer. When visiting a local
church and particularly if we are visiting this church for the first
time we will not know the gifts The Lord needs to release to that
church. We can take comfort in the knowledge that GOD DOES KNOW, and
providing we earnestly seek Him, He will separate and release the
people He knows are able to fulfill
HIS purposes.
While they were worshiping the
Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and
Saul for the work to which I have called them"
(Acts 13:2). This fasting and prayer should
not be restricted to the members of the team, but should involve the
whole sending church.
CONSULTATION:
Apostolic teams can provide
counsel, affirmation and encouragement to local leadership and local
churches. This includes the sharing of insights and strategies for
more effective ministry and for problem-solving. Often confirmation
and direction are released into churches through this covenantal
consultation.
EVALUATION:
It is always beneficial to
have periodic evaluations in our lives and ministries. From time to
time we need to take our spiritual and ministry temperature! Since it
is difficult to evaluate ourselves and be objective, this is where
apostolic teams come in. Most would agree that prevention is better
than cure! Some maintenance along the way is better than continual
crisis management.
TRANSITION:
The apostolic team can
step in and assist a local leader and/or a local church through
transition. For example, Paul sent Tychicas to replace Timothy at
Ephesus in order that Timothy could take on another assignment for Paul (see
2
Tim
4:11-12).
Transitions can be caused by encouraging or discouraging circumstances
and it is good for local leadership to know there are experienced and
seasoned ministers who can walk through these situations with them. Apostolic churches are
working
churches. The success of
apostolic churches will not be measured by how many fill our
auditorium, but rather by how many have we sent to gather in the end
time harvest.
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