APEST

Ty Grigg and Alan Hirsch had an interesting discussion on APEST last month on Reclaiming the Mission. APEST stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher. Alan believes the church is dominated by Shepherds and Teachers and the Apostles, so Prophets and Evangelists need to be restored.

I agree with him, but the problem with Hirsch et al is that they approach APEST at too high a level. The Shepherds and Teachers are already in place of control of most churches. Adopting APEST puts the Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists into a struggle with them in a very clutter place. They cannot be slotted into the existing model, because there is not enough room at the top of the hierarchy.

There is only one hierarchy in the New Testament church: disciples and elders. We are all disciples and elders are those who are a bit more mature.

APEST is specialisation among elders. A church needs elders with balanced giftings to grow to maturity. These can only function fully when they are submitted to each other in a body. They cannot function effectively in a CEO and Vice President model.

Ty argues that these titles were not as common in the early church and did not last as long as some Christians assume. He could be right about the latter point, but saying that these titles were not used in the early church misses the points. The reason is that APEST are really verbs, not nouns. The people doing these gifts were elders, and would be referred to by that name. There may not be many references to apostles in the early church, but there was plenty of apostling going. No one is referred to as a pastor in the New Testament, but in Acts 20:28-31, there are plenty of elders shepherding and watching over the flocks in their care. Peter encourages the elders to shepherd the flock in their care (1 Pet 5:2).

The New Testament church often got eldership wrong. The book of Acts records stuff that worked, along with stuff that did not work. Although Peter had been sent out with the twelve, and provably with the seventy-two, he had difficulty getting hold of the idea that apostles should be sent out, and that he should leave Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had to twist his arm to get him to go down to Caesarea, and even then he did not stay. It took more serious persecution to get him to go out seriously.

The so-called Church Council described in Acts 15 was a real shambles. The church had just broken out to the gentiles, and the best the elders and apostles could do was give the gentile Christians a couple of rules about eating meat and blood. There was not excitement or encouragement. Fortunately, this situation was remedied by Silas and Judas on the ground when they did much to encourage and strengthen the new disciples.

Paul understood the rule of the apostle much more clearly, but even he got side tracked into going back to Jerusalem. He did not have the confirmation of the Spirit for this change of direction, and it severely truncated his ministry.

At the time when the Didache was written at the end of the first century, the church had a problem with wandering prophets becoming a pest. That is not APEST. Prophets function best in a body, submitted to shepherds and evangelist, who are also submitted to them.

Ty argues that the APEST model has been developed by practitioners, but is not supported by biblical exegesis. I disagree with this view. The problem is that most bible expositors have grown up and worship in a church that is led by a senior pastor. The pastor-manager model shapes their thinking, so it not surprising that they interpret Ephesians 4 in that context.

Ty claims read Ephesians 4:11 is about people who have been given “spiritual authority to minister the Word of God among a community of believers”. This is misleading. The passage is actually about service. Our spiritual authority is authority over sickness and evil spirits. It is not authority to control other Christians. Ephesians 4:7-16 is all about service and the body growing up together.

Church Problem

The insights in my book on Healing are primarily for Christians elders. The text of the book contains another warning to ordinary readers.

I am aware that many Christians have prayed against sickness for a long time without gaining victory. Reading this book may not provide much comfort to you. Some of you may even be left feeling condemned. The reason is that I am not writing for sick people, but for church leaders and elders. Most of the blockages to healing are problems with the church, so solving them will require changes in the way that elders fulfil their calling. In order to get Christian elders thinking, I have discussed some tough issues in a very direct way that could seem insensitive to those struggling with sickness. I apologise if this offends some, but I want a breakthrough that will prevent others from suffering.

Most of the problems lie with the church, so individuals battling with sickness will be powerless to do much about them, except challenge their elders to some serious thinking. The major issue is the general lack of faith throughout the church and no individual can deal with that on their own. Unless you are surrounded by a church or group of friends that is willing to grapple with some tough issues, the keys outlined here may not be of much help to you.

The church has left sick Christians feeling that they are responsible for their problem. Many have been accused of lack of faith. It is time that responsibility for this problem is pushed back to those who God gave responsibility for it. My reading of James 5 is that sick Christians are entitled to go to their elders and expect help.

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Elders should replicate their ministries in their disciples (i.e. produce clones of themselves). This is an extremely important principle. Every person who has developed in a ministry should be training up several people in that same ministry. In this way the ministries of the church will multiply. Multiplication of ministry is as important as multiplication of membership.

Potential evangelists will tend to be drawn to the evangelist. Potential prophets will be drawn to the prophet. Potential pastors will be drawn to the pastors. They will learn all that they can from them. Each elder in a church should be developing some people who have potential to develop into a similar ministry. They should be training someone to replace themselves, if they are called to leave. Jesus said that everyone who is fully trained is like his master (Luke 6:40).

One test of the quality of a church is what has happened to a person who became a Christian in the church three years earlier. Are they functioning in a ministry (Jesus disciples were)? If they are not, then the church is not functioning correctly. Is there a development path for the new Christian? Can they expect to be functioning in a ministry within three years? This should be normal. (People who come to Christianity with severe problems may take longer to grow to maturity, but they should be on the same path).

The ascension gifts are for equipping others. The best way to be equipped for a ministry is to learn off someone who is further on, as Elisha learnt his ministry by following Elijah. An elder is just someone who has been serving Jesus a little bit longer, so new Christians should attempt to start where they left off. Elders should desire to see those who follow them go further than they have.

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New Testament churches are led by elders.

Elders as apostles
Some elders are apostles. The apostle John saw himself as an elder (2 John 1; 3 John 1). The apostle Peter also called himself an elder (1 Pet 1:1; 5:1).

Elders are prophets
Some elders are prophets. Judas and elders were elders in the church in Jerusalem, they were also prophets.

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers (Acts 15:22,32).

One of the elders who prayed for Timothy was quite likely a prophet.

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you (1 Tim 4:14).

There were prophets among the elders of the church in Antioch.

In the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul (Acts 13:1)

Elders as pastor-teachers
Most elders will be pastors-teachers. There were teachers among the elders at Antioch. Paul referred to elders who work at teaching.

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is... teaching (1 Tim 5:17).

He also said that elders must be able to teach.

Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach (1 Tim 3:2).

Peter described elders who are also pastors (shepherds).

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers. (1 Pet 1:1,2).

Paul challenged the elders at Ephesus to shepherd the church of God.

From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church… Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood (Acts 20:17,28).

Elders as evangelists
Some elders are evangelists. Paul spoke about elders who specialise in preaching.
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is

preaching

... (1 Tim 5:17).

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The most important thing that elders do is submit to each other. They are often talented leaders, who do not find it easy to submit to others. They will often have very different personalities and giftings. Pastors do not find it easy to submit to prophets. Apostles do not enjoy submitting to people who are more settled.

Elders will not find it easy to submit to each other, but it is important that they do, for their own spiritual protection, and to provide an example for others. If they are not willing to submit to each other, they cannot expect other Christian to submit to their oversight.

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The Letter to Timothy lists the qualifications of an elder. The standard is high, but the reason is different from what we often think.

The common view is that elders must be of good character, because they control the church. Paul’s words are used as a checklist for deciding who is good enough to be given so much power. It is assumed that elders need to be of good character, because they have power and authority.

The opposite is true. Elders have no power and authority over the church. They need to be of good character, so that that younger Christians will freely submit to their oversight and welcome their advice on how to hear and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Unless they have good character, people will not submit to elders them, no matter how long they have been Christians.

If apostles need to appoint elders, because they are moving on to something new, they should not look for people who tick the boxes on the character list. They should look for Christians that people in the church love, trust and submit to, because they are kind and wise, and authenticate what they are already doing by acknowledging that they are already acting as elders.

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Authority Organisation
Most business organisations are authority organisations. The Roman army was the epitome of an authority organisation. The centurion that came to Jesus understood this well. He could tell a soldier what to do and he would follow the instruction without question (Matt 8:8-9). He knew that if he disobeyed his commanding officer, he was dead.

In a business organisation, the directives of the CEO are followed without question. A few people may ignore the wishes of the CEO and do their own thing, but they will not last long in the business.

In an authority organisation, it is normal for the people to implement the directives of the CEO. He may delegate some decisions, but these will always be made within the policy boundaries that he has already established.

An authority organisation is very efficient at getting things done, because everyone in it is on the same page.

Relationship Organisation
The church is a relationship organisation. Members are commanded to love one another. They are required to submit to each other. The only authority comes from the outside, from Jesus, through the Holy Spirit.

No member of the church has authority to tell others what to do. If elders want other people to do something, they must persuade them. For example, Paul wrote letters that gave advice to many people, but they were free to ignore it, and sometime did. He often suggested things that other leaders should do, but he did not have authority to make them do what he wanted. The people that Paul wrote to trusted him, because he had watched over them when they were young Christians. They respected his wisdom, so they took his words seriously. However, Paul never controlled anyone else in the church.

A relationship organisation finds it much harder to get things done, however that does not matter, as getting things done is not the primary objective, because loving one another has eternal significance.

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The concept of a CEO/Pastor does not exist in the New Testament. Funnily enough, the role of the pastor is missing as well.

Most English translations mislead with the use the noun pastor. The word pastor is actually a transliteration of the Latin word for shepherd. The role of a professional pastor is modern concept so the Greek language did not have a word for it. That does not matter, because the New Testament concept is shepherding, as in a shepherd caring for a flock of sheep (in a traditional way, not with a four-wheeler motor bike and sheep dogs).

Apart from references to Jesus, the word for shepherd is only used once as a noun, and that is Eph 4:11, where it refers to a gift and not a role. When not referring to Jesus, the word shepherd is used as a verb, ie as an action word, not a naming word. And the subject of the sentences that use shepherd as a verb is the elders (eg 1 Peter 5:1-2). Therefore, shepherding is an activity that elders do, it is not a separate role in the church.

The New Testament does refer to a “head shepherd” (1 Pet 5:4), but that is clearly a reference to Jesus. The prefix often translated as head or chief, just means the fisrt in order of rank, so it could be validly translated as Senior Shepherd. So, those who call themselves Senior Pastor are dangerously close to claiming a title that belong to Jesus.

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Elders exercise oversight.

This is an important role, because the enemy is always prowling around looking for someone to devour. False teachers and deceivers will try to lead Christians astray.

Oversight is not control, so elder exercise oversight in two ways.

1. They should always pray for those whom the Holy Spirit has placed in their care. They can join together to stand against the spiritual forces that are attacking the flock.

2. If Christians have chosen to submit to them, they can also give advice, but they will know that their advice can be ignored, They will not demand to be obeyed or respected. Good elders give advice in a way that does not make people depend on them Their goal will to be teach believers to listen to the Holy Spirit and receive his advice. They may sometimes challenge behaviour or attitudes, but they will need to be care careful they are worried about the same thing as that the Holy Spirit is worried about. Otherwise, they will be warning about the wrong things.

The elder’s role is mostly praying. When they get the opportunity to go beyond that because a person has submitted to them, they are limited in what they can do, because they are not seeking control, and because they do not want to create dependence. They are always pointing to Jesus, and pushing people to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey his voice to follow Jesus.

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Elder, pastor (shepherd) and overseer (often transliterated as episcopal and misleadingly translated as bishop) are not separate roles. In the following two passages, Peter and Paul mixed them all up together.

From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them… Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood (Acts 20:17;28).

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ…, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness (1 Pet 5:1-2).

Elders care for people like a shepherd. They exercise oversight over Christians to protect them from evil. These different expressions are all part of the same role.

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A body is not controlled from the centre.

• The brain does not tell the heart to beat. It keeps on beating, even when the brain is senile. The brain cannot stop the heart from beating.
• The skin replaces itself when it needs to be replaced. It does not wait for instruction from the brain.
• The blood produces antibodies when an infection is present.
• When I sit the wrong way and cut off the blood circulation to my leg, it will not function, even though my brain decides to stand up.

If all the part of the body waited for the brain to them what to do, the body would be dysfunctional. The body functions better when all the part of the body do what they were created to do. This also applies to the body of Christ.

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The only statement made about governance in the New Testament is that Jesus is Lord of Lords and head of the church. He has authority over the church. There is no record of him delegating it to anyone else. God expects those who belong to Jesus to obey him.

Jesus words are clear.

If you love me, keep my commands (John 14:15).

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me (John 14:21).

These verses raise an important question. How does Jesus exercise this authority. He gives the answer in a verse that is sandwiched between the two just quoted.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17).

The gift of the Spirit makes it possible for the church to obey Jesus.

The Holy Spirit knows God’s will, so he can tell us what Jesus wants us to do. We do Jesus will by obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. We do not need another authority or intermediary to tell us what to do.

Jesus has not given the Holy Spirit authority over the church. He can only tell us Jesus will, and leave it to us to decide if we will we obey it. He can speak to us, but he cannot make us obey his words.

We give the Holy Spirit authority, when we chose to obey his voice, but we can withdraw that submission at any time by choosing to ignore his leading. That removes his authority.

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Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he said that all authority had been to him (Matt 28:18). Jesus never delegated authority over members the church to elders or apostle. The only authority that he gave to elders and apostles was authority over sickness and demonic powers. He gave them authority to heal the sick and cast out demons (Luke 9:1). He did not give them authority to control Christians or tell them what they must do.

Leaders of the modern church seem to be absorbed with authority over the church. I wish that they showed the same zeal for authority over sickness and demonic powers.

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In the world, authority comes from top, being delegated down through the hierarchy. The people in a business organisation exercise the authority that has been delegated to them by a manager, whose authority has been delegated from the CEO. Staff are accountable to the CEO, through their manager. Accountability and authority go together.

In the church authority comes from the bottom, when people freely submit to more mature Christians that they love and trust. They submit to elders for their spiritual protection. Christian elders are given authority by the people who submit to them. They gain authority through character and gifting, not from position and appointment. If the elder loses the plot, the people who have feely submitted to them are free to withdraw their submission. When that happens, the elder loses their authority.

This is why submission is more important than authority in the New Testament. Voluntary submission creates authority, so without submission there is not authority.

On the other hand, Christian elders are accountable to God for the people he has entrusted to them. Elders will have to give account on the judgment day for their oversight of the people who have freely submitted to them.

This is totally different from the business world. God has made Christian elders accountable, without giving them authority. They have to earn their authority by demonstrating wisdom and love, before they can exercise it. If they become harsh and controlling, their authority will quickly disappear.

In the world, authority and accountability go together. One comes with the other. In the church, leaders have accountability without authority. That really raises the bar.

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Governance and authority are a big deal in modern churches, yet the New Testament is strangely silent on these issues. The concept of governance is not mentioned at all. Most references to authority relate to worldly governments (Acts 26:12: Rom 13:3) and to demonic powers Eph 6:12; Col 2:15; 1 Pet 3:22). References to the authority of church leaders are missing.

The business world has a fairly standard model of governance and mangement. A board of directors provides governance and oversight. It makes strategic decisions and appoints the CEO, who is usually becomes a member of the board.

Under the CEO, there will be several divisional managers or vice presidents. The divisional managers will have operational managers reporting to them. The number of management levels varies with the size of the organisation. The CEO is tasked with the management of the business.

In the business model, the CEO has authority delegated by the board and is accountable to the board. The various managers have authority delegated down to them and are accountable to the CEO through the manager in the hierarchy above them. Authority and accountability go together and come from the same source.

Most modern churches, just copy this model, but change the names to hide the similarities. The CEO is usually called the senior pastor or apostle. The Board of directors is often referred to as a board of elders, leaders committee or oversight team. The divisional managers and operational managers are given religious names, but their status is much the same, even if they have different roles. Their authority and accountability is delegated by the senior pastor.

We need to understand that this is the world’s governance model. If a church is going to operate a series of large programmes, with a big budget and professional and/or trained staff, it probably has to adopt this model. However, it should not pretend that this is a biblical model.

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Eph 4:9-16 is an important passage about leadership in the church. Christians have tended to apply it to three different situations.

1. Management
Modern churches will often have a large paid staff. Someone will have to take responsibility for managing this team of people and organising their activities. This chief executive role is usually taken by the pastor. Eph 4 has nothing to do with this rule, because the church in Ephesus that Paul was writing to did not have a full-time professional staff.

2. Governance
Modern church control some very large and expensive assets. The governance of these assets will be important.

3. Growing the Body of Christ
Ephesians 4 explains how a body of people is built up and grows into the fullness of Christ. It is about people being joined and linked together through strong relationships. It is about the body being strong as each part does what God has equipped it to do.

The ascensions gifts have nothing to do with staff management or church governance. Applying them in that context produces confusion.

The gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers can only find their fulfilment in a body of believers that is bound together by love.

Elders

The issue of female elders is one that really gets Christians stirred up. To resolve this issue, we really need to set aside our modern experiences with elders and have a totally fresh look at New Testament teaching on eldership. The things that I write about eldership in my book Being Church Where We Live do not make sense, if they are applied to eldership as it operates in most churches today.

The problem is that in the modern church, eldership has become a “power” role. Becoming an elder gets you onto the committee that controls the church. Elders decide how the money is spent, who will be employed, who will get to preach, what programs will be run, and a whole lot of other stuff. In some churches, the elders even get to sack the CEO (woops Pastor).

This is totally wrong. Jesus was adamant that in his kingdom, leaders would not control people but would serve them (Mark 10:42-45).

In New Testament, eldership is not a power ministry. First, elders as a group do not have many decisions to make. Every couple of years, they may need to decide who to send out as apostles. If someone really loses the plot, they may decide to cut them loose, but that should be rare. If the church is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, there will be very few decisions for elders to make. Most of the situations that need committee decisions in our modern churches simply will not occur.

The main task of the elders is to ensure that every Christian grows to maturity, and to ensure that Christians build relationships with each other in a way that will allow the body to function effectively (Eph 4:7-16). This task is simply not done in the modern church, because it is assumed that these things will happen automatically if the people hear a good sermon each week. The great irony is that in place where it is being done, this role is mostly being undertaken by women, because the male elders are too busy at their committee meetings.

In the New Testament, eldership is mostly discipling less mature members of the church. NT elders have no power or control over those they are discipling. What happens is that a new Christian will submit to an elder and accept correction and guidance from them and give them authority to pray in agreement on their behalf. This is a voluntary relationship. The person who has submitted can walk away at any time. The elder earns the privilege of speaking into their disciples’’ lives by their love and service. This is the way it was with Jesus. The disciples submitted to him, because they loved him, not because someone had appointed him as an elder. Judas (probably permanently) and Peter (temporarily) were free to withdraw their submission to Jesus when they chose. Jesus never once said to his disciples, “You must submit to me, because I am you elder”.

There is a place for appointing elders, but this is just recognition by the other elders and the church of what the person will already doing. An apostle would be unwise to appoint a person as elder, who does not have new Christian asking for their guidance and correction. The elders cannot make people submit to a person they appoint as elder.

In the New Testament, eldership is primarily a relationship ministry. That means that it must be based on healthy relationships.

Once we understand that eldership is relationship ministry, the sex, age issues disappear. A young man of 25 would be unlikely to submit to a man of 90. He would want to submit to someone younger, who understood the issues he faces in life. A 40 year old male elder should not want a 25 year old single woman submitting to him. He would be better to encourage her to submit to a more mature woman.

Jesus was modelling the discipling of new followers by living and working together. He did not have any women among the twelve disciples. This was not because women cannot be disciples, but because it was not appropriate given the intimate relationship he had with his those he was discpling (Dan Brown could really go to town).

Authority and Submission

We need a totally new understanding of submission and authority. Authority in the church is different from authority in the world. In the world systems authority comes with a position. Appointment as a sergeant gives a soldier authority to tell the members of his platoon what to do. When a person gets promoted to a supervisory permission, they get control over the people they supervise. The owner of a business gains authority over the people employed in the business. A policeman has authority to make people do what the law requires.

Pastors and elders often assume that they have a similar authority. They think that they have authority to tell members of their church what they should do. This is wrong. Christians are required to obey the Holy Spirit. Pastors and elders should not expect Christians to obey them.

Authority in the church does not come from an appointment to a position, but through relationships. It does not come with a role, but through being trusted. A person becomes an elder when Christians who know their character begin to trust their wisdom.

Christian submission is not like the submission of a grunt to a sergeant. It is not for guidance. The Holy Spirit is already providing them with guidance, so a Christian does not need an elder to give them instructions about what they should do. The believer committed to obeying the Holy Spirit when they accept Jesus as their Lord, so they cannot obey someone else as well.

Christian submission is different from worldly submission, because its purpose is protection against error. Christians submit to an elder by giving the elder permission to speak in to their life. They grant their elders permission to challenge them, if they are making a bad decision or taking a wrong action. The elders will know the Christian well, so they will notice any mistakes.

Elders have authority ask the tough questions, that no one else will ask. The elder may ask, “Did you pray about that?”, or they will say, “That does not sound like the Holy Spirit to me”. Elders must know their disciples well enough to see their hidden mistakes, and they must love them enough to challenge them, even at the risk of losing their friendship.

Many Christians fall away when they make a bad decision or slip back into persistent sin. This often happens, because no one loves them enough to challenge them, at the time of their first mistake. Many Christians watch other believers and see their mistakes. Elders are different because they act on what they see. The best protection for a struggling Christian is a challenge from a wiser person who understands and cares about their struggles.

Elders do not have authority to give instructions to people who submit to them. Their only authority is to watch over the believers who relate to them and challenge their mistakes. Elders also have authority to encourage believers. They will look for openings for each believer to fulfil their ministry and encourage them to take them up any opportunities that arise.

Trust builds authority comes, but control destroys it. Elders gain their authority through their relationships, not through their title. Wisdom and kindness increases the authority of an elder. Domination and control will diminish it, because believers will walk away. Authority disappears when relationships fail.