|
|
|
|
ApostleApostleROM 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Meaning of the word Apostle
DiplomacyWhen people divide into groups at work, in politics, in church or wherever, rules need to be defined on how these groups will interact with one another. It does not have to be written rules, but soon at least unwritten rules will become apparent. This is what diplomacy is all about. Look at a traditional church with a lot of young people. They want a certain type of music, but the older people want another type of music. So they develop rules. The evenings are normally set out for the youngsters with a band etc. but the organ is used in the morning services. And so unwritten rules are created, a governance structure in which there are ambassadors for these unwritten rules - ambassadors for the old, existing unwritten rules and ambassadors for the new rules. These ambassadors are normally self-appointed and they also normally create divisions among people that do not see these rules as critical to the success of the church. They often concentrate so heavily on their cause that they forget that the worship is supposed to please God and not sections of the congregation. God does not care whether we have drums or organs, as long as we work together in harmony, loving one another as He loved us. When the church goes to a camp, they normally have a women's camp and a men's camp. You can instinctively feel that this specific division is wrong, as God intended man and wife to be one, now they are divided into separate groups. This division is so bad that we actually have to have different camps for men and women. This is made even worse when they get a man to come and talk to a woman's group! So, once again, unwritten rules are created with their own ambassadors representing their cause. When the Romans came (and this was written in the time of the Romans), diplomacy took on a totally different meaning! Rome issued commands that people had to obey with. We now had the situation where there were three rulers, each with their own instruction: Romans obeying the Keyser, the Jews obeying the church leaders and the Christians obeying God. So, when the Bible was written, it was written in this sense that Apostles were ambassadors for a new kingdom (the Kingdom of God) where new rules and regulations were valid. This is why Jesus kept on saying "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand". What He was saying was that people had to get a different mindset, as there was a new kingdom on earth that had rules that were different from the ones normally communicated - see Repentance So if we look at the church today, an Apostle would be somebody who is willing to go to the rulers of this world and explain to them in a formal forum how the rules of this new kingdom works and how people should interact with this new kingdom. I am not talking about people praying, interceding etc. on behalf of the government. I am also not talking about the fact that we as Christians are not afraid to bring the Gospel to anybody, whether they are the president of the country or not. I am talking about the people who sit in Parliament and discuss laws, rules etc. with the rulers of this world. So, if you have a Christian political party in your country, the chances are that all your Apostles are sitting in Parliament. You do not have to be appointed by a local church either. God invites you to become one and you can accept that or not. The big difference between Christians and the other groups are that we are not afraid that their kingdoms will overcome ours. We have read the end of the Book and we know who is going to win. So our Apostles in government can act like conquerors because they know how this will all end. Who appoints an Apostle?
It is also important to note that these Apostles are not appointed by local churches. They are invited to become Apostles by God. Apostles are not Apostles of a church that is sent out to represent the church. Apostles are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. It is therefore the Leader of the kingdom of God that has to send them out. The local churches do not even have to recognise the calling of an Apostle on a person's life. The problem is normally that "Apostles" nowadays are seeking sponsorship of the local churches. It is then that the local churches have to ensure that this person has actually been called by God. Then the whole thing of submission, covering etc. comes into play. Bible schools are set up to train Apostles, but what actually happens is that people are trained to become like the church running the Bible School. People are normally not trained to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey. They are taught to listen to the Senior Pastor and obey. This makes things all nice and orderly and nobody has to fear that God might do something unexpected in their lives. And so many churches start off with a bang and then just fizzle out or become a normal traditional church. Looking at the beginnings of powerful movements like the Methodist Church and the Salvation Army and where they are today, is a case in point. The difference between the ambassadorsWhen God calls, He also equips. It will therefore be extremely strange if an Apostle has to look to a local church for sponsorship while God actually did the calling. As we see in Gal 1:21-24, Paul was unknown to the local churches. He did not need their approval or sponsorship. They had only heard of the things that happened and Paul preaching the faith and they glorified God. In diplomacy circles people are elected by democratic vote while in some countries they take their authority by brute force. In the Christian world, they are invited by God to become ambassadors. In the world people keep their positions by making alliances (even with the enemy as long as they can maintain their positions), while for us, we have our positions regardless of how many churches and or Christians vote for us. Political ImmunityIf we have a look at Microsoft Encarta '97, we find that political immunity only started in the 16th Century. Therefore Paul could not have known about this and political immunity was therefore not part of the Apostle's benefits. What this means for us is that although we are from another kingdom, the rules of this kingdom still applies to us. But to what extent? This world has many rules and laws. Some are made my man, some are those that have been given to us as "laws of nature". God does not want us to break the laws made by man. Not because it will effect us, but because it will offend them. If we offend them, how can they listen to our message of hope and grace? I was working at a petrochemical factory where we made petrol from offshore gas and condensate. We were not allowed to smoke in the factory due to the fumes that could be ignited. So the management decided to built smoke huts in safe places for people to take a break and have a smoke. To have this smoke takes about 5 minutes. I then asked the question whether I could read my Bible while the others were taking a smoke break. At first they thought I was making a joke. Then they started moving around uneasily and said that this was actually for smokers only. Can you see my point? The whole idea is that these smokers were wasting the company's time while smoking, but I was not allowed to "waste" the company's time reading the Bible. Is this fair? No, but Jesus wants us to adhere to these rules, however stupid they may be, so that we do not offend the people who do not understand the ways of God. However, we were given permission by the Head of our Government to overrule some laws.
We are not really from this world and neither are we from this worldly system. Nothing about us should be natural. We can tell mountains to move, people to be healed, dead to be raised, trees to wither and die and even get people born again into this kingdom that we are from. We can ensure that people no longer go to hell when they die, but that they go to heaven. An Apostle Need not be Full TimeThere is always the misconception that you can only work for the Lord if you are in full time ministry, I.e. your salary is being paid by Christians. Paul was not in the full time ministry although he often got money from Christians in one church to minister to Christians in other churches.
Paul was not burdensome on the church of the Corinthians. We are sometimes taught by other Christians that we will one day go into the full time ministry if we obey God, serve them like Joshua served Abraham, if we attend church regularly or some other scheme in which they are trying to get you to submit to them. Paul states that this church was no different than other churches and that they were not inferior to any of the other churches - except that he (Paul) did not ask them for any money. He then goes ahead and asks the church to forgive him that he did not treat them like other churches by asking them for money, as he was more interested in them than in their money. In today's world, the churches have started to show the signs of the end times, where people will gather around them people who talk like them and think like them, people who are tickling their ears. Already we hear church leaders state that they do not have to listen to the congregation, because God knows who the leaders are and He will talk to them first. They have not grasped the fact that every person reports directly to God and that God could use every individual for His purpose whether this person has been recognized / appointed by the church or not. Being an Apostle means being part of the five-fold ministry. Their purpose is to bring the body of Christ to maturity so that the body can do the work God has planned for them to do. The purpose is not to make the church of God dependent on them so that they can be sure of a salary and an old age pension. Being an Apostle means that signs and wonders will be part of their ministry. Their job is to represent the kingdom of God within the other kingdoms. |
|
Send mail to
johan@maartenspro.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
