A true Apostle, when sent by the Lord is going to walk in a place where the Lord has gone before. When the Apostle arrives where he has been sent the heavens are open, signs and wonders follow the preaching of the word. They open the way for other giftings to further the work. Our example is the Book of Acts. We have the Acts recorded as a benchmark for what it is to be sent by Jesus. Miracles and Salvation are the marks of an Apostolic work. What has occurred in Jesus has sufficiently conquered the believer and knows the man is at a place where he will be able to have the Lord issue forth through his life. There would be no glory sought by this man or some kind of ministry to draw attention to what he is doing. Such was the clarity that it was Jesus who performed the signs and wonders in Acts, we hardly get reference to them when they go on to write the Epistles.
Most books believers write today draw attention to their own acts, what the Lord has done with them. The Apostles would not have one single thought that this 'all by Grace' work was anything to do with them - such was their death to self.
So who builds Whose Church?
Jesus said he would build his church (Matt 16:8). He used the Apostles to do this but only because they were the vessels he could issue forth through. The Lord was able to flow through those who had been conquered that their self will was sufficiently neutralised. Jesus builds his Church using Apostles firstly because they follow the Lord into places he has been first. That this didn't last long after their death is a matter of significant writings but for now let's examine what happens if believers just go and plant churches while not being Apostles.
It follows that the world needs Apostles to plant churches because they 'clear the air' for a supernatural work to be done. If men and women attempt to plant churches without this preparation and sending it is simply a work of man.
"But what's wrong with starting a Church, God blesses Churches." Of course God blesses Churches because he loves people. However Acts is our blueprint. I have demonstrated:
- The Apostles (sent ones) began the church after Pentecost
- They had been sent by Jesus in what we call 'The Great Commission."
- Apostles have a long preparation time which the bible documents for the majority of sent ones
- Signs and wonders were the mark of the sending (Acts)
I am not suggesting churches that have not been started by Apostles or have not seen signs and wonders are false or somehow demerited. All I can present is the Biblical data that underlines Apostolicity as vital to the explosive days of Acts. I want to suggest that there are extremely few true Apostles who have endured the excavation of the heart to be truly sent by the Lord. The church has taught for years that we should all rush out and 'do something' for God. It is an unconquered life that attempts these things as well as poor teaching from church leaders.
The Final Reckoning
Based on the reasoning observed in this three part writing I fear many believers have assumed upon the Lord and stepped out into works that are not Apostolic. It appears we have lost the sense of our utter foolishness to think we have the tools to break open the heavenlies by 'planting a church.' We all have to appear before the Lord and give account for what we have done.
Forbid me Lord from anything that tells me I can step out in your name without you going first. I want Jesus to issue forth through me into this world. Death to my creativity, ingenuity, innovation and genius. Come and ransack my self will Lord. Death to self! Death to self!
Gary Ward
" There would be no glory sought by this man or some kind of ministry to draw attention to what he is doing." Could it be that those who do seek glory and recognition for themselves are the ones who keep others from coming to Christ or does the Lord work through those people also?
ReplyDeleteGary, you asked me to expand on my comment. First, let's clarify when I say 'church,' I mean the traditional, worldly, unbiblical definition of church, OK? It has been my experience in churches and other religious organizations that what may have started out as being the leading of the Lord unfortunately ends up being about glory and recognition of the people for what they are doing. Pride takes the place of humbleness. From my interaction with these groups over the years, for many, many years my thoughts were, "If this is what being a Christian is all about, then I don't want any part of it." Even though I had very little Biblical knowledge or understanding, I knew that there was something more. So my question of do these glory and recognition seekers keep those who are seeking the Lord away? I don't have statistics, however, I do believe that there are many like me who have/had been turned off by this and it makes my heart so weary. It seems that way too many who have spent a good amount of time in studying scripture have missed the whole point of a close and personal relationship with our Savior and use their years of study as their idol or works achievement. In other words, the study of the Bible becomes their focus and then they label themselves as teachers while coming across as having arrived and having nothing more to learn. In my (not so humble) opinion and experience, this is what is keeping people from seeking salvation. It saddens me.
ReplyDeleteNow on the other hand, does the Lord work through these people? Yes, of course He does. (and that is another story)
I look forward to your response. :)
Good points well made. The thing is Shari is that the Lord is soooo patient and he works with what he can. The church through history has picked up several artificial additives some as early as the Early Church fathers who came after the Apostles. The pattern for meeting together was not what we have today. It was simple: People ate the Lord's supper together with brothers and sisters. this was the family of God. That this format changed brought so many issues and one of them is that leaders can be above other people in hierarchy. This plays into the human desire to be in charge of others. Sounds awfully like satan when he wanted to raise his throne above the almighty doesn't it? I think many leaders want to avoid this scenario but are forced on a pedestal by westerners who have been reared in 'rank' since childhood and can see no different. I've also met leaders who absolutely relish being over others but will never admit it. I've been in that place where people look to you and see you as 'man of God.' its very seductive and I'm glad the Lord dragged me out from that lot. Im still vulnerable to the attention adoration and applause of public ministry. Some would say that is my personal weakness but I think it's the human condition.
ReplyDeleteThat glory seekers are stopping people getting saved is complicated. I know glory seekers who have big churches. People get saved! The problem is that they get wrapped up in church matters and these things begin to define their Christianity. They get diverted from a personal and vibrant (challenging) walk with the Lord and Sonship gets bypassed for industry. Going to be taking a lot about this in this blog. Make sense? Do share these on your social network outlets Shari :)
Perhaps I should read the first two installments of this topic before commenting. However I'm having difficulty containing my excitement over the relevance and timeliness of this post. Thank you Shari K. for posting to facebook.
ReplyDeleteGary, while I don't feel qualified to illumine the topic further, I do have a request for continued posts. We know how that humility requires constant maintenance, especially when self-promotion is nearly forced down our throats as the only way. How can ministers of already established assemblies and ministries which have run ahead of the Lord and planted a church (perhaps for personal glory's sake), now conform to the Lord's will and repent of "glory seeking"? How can they best offer themselves to the Lord as repentant, Spirit-led servants after the fact?
Sheldon, I think many go ahead of the Lord and do works because they have good intentions! They see need and try to meet it. There are those however who do fall in love with themselves and maintaining the affair is the ministry!
ReplyDeleteFor those who recognize they have acted out of a vision statement, desire to help God or generally felt they had to go ahead and express a calling it is very likely the calling was there in the first place and like Moses, they have 'murdered an Egyptian.' Moses stepped out to help the case for freedom for his people too quickly. For those with people in their church who have done this they need to embark upon a 3 - 5 year program to have the church return to Apostolic practice and the teaching towards this can be gradually introduced into the fellowship. In America there have been thousands of Pastors who have just resigned and become 'just a brother' in a small biblical group. Radical. However it is more than just changing the way to meet, it is a heart revolution for the believer. Helpful?
Bless you Sheldon.
ReplyDelete