Governmental Apostles (10) No Authority

The ministry of an apostle is relational, not positional. Once the apostle has moved on, they can influence the leaders left behind, because they nurtured and mentored them, and then released into ministry. Apostles do not have governmental authority, they have relational influence.

Apostles do not have the authority to decide how much money will be given to another church. The decision about how much should be given to Jerusalem was decided by the individual givers in the churches in Asia Minor.

The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea (Acts 11:29).

Paul had no authority to tell the Corinthians how much to give. The size of the fund was decided when the people who gave the money tagged it for that purpose.

An apostle does not have authority to allocate money to particular needs. Paul could draw Jerusalem’s need to the attention of the Corinthians and facilitate the giving, but he did not control any funds that he could just allocate to Jerusalem.

Paul received financial support from several of the churches which he had helped the Holy Spirit to establish, but this was always voluntary. He was always gave thanks for their generosity, but he never instructed them to give him money for his support. Paul knew that an apostle did not have authority to demand money from a church he had helped to plant.

Paul was careful not to usurp authority that did not belong to him. If he had asked for money for his support, many people in these churches would gladly obey him, because they loved and respected him. Paul wanted the elders in the new churches to grow in confidence, so he refused to undermine them, by imposing his authority on the Christians under their oversight.

Centralised financing does not work. This is not surprising, because the core problem is not financial, but with the modern implementation of the apostolic ministry. The solution to the funding problems to push the fivefold ministries down to the local level, where they can be supported locally.

Governmental Apostles (9) Corinthian Collection

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians was consistent with the approach described in previous posts.

Now concerning the collection for the saints… On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come (1 Cor 16:1-2).

He did not want to be involved in organising a collection. Instead he urged each person to lay up some money each week, so that the money would be ready when Paul arrived in Corinth. There was no compulsion and each person was free to decide how much they would give. The text above implies that there was no central collection, but that each person would put aside their own store (The Greek text literally means “lay beside himself”).

Paul focussed on organising of the delivery of the funds to Jerusalem. He was able to do this because he had good relationships with the Corinthians and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.

And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me (1 Cor 16:3-4).

Paul did not want to handle the money himself. His preference was to provide a referral letters for the Corinthians, who would deliver the money. He offered to accompany them, if that would be helpful, but he did not want to get involved in controlling money. This confirms that apostles should not be handling money.

Money flows through relationship between churches. Apostles have extensive relationships, so they will support the flow of giving between communities. Paul had a relationship with both the leaders in Jerusalem and the church in Asia Minor, so he could facilitate the flow of support from one church to another.

Governmental Apostles (8) Waiting on Tables

The Jerusalem disciples apostles received clear instructions that they should keep out of the finance business.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6:1).

This problem is inevitable when the distribution of finances is centralised. The people responsible for distribution simply cannot understand all needs and assess them correctly. Some people will end up getting more than they need, while others miss out. This happens with many modern Christian foundations. Those with good connections tend to get plentiful finance, but some really good people miss out on funding.

The solution to the apostle’s problem was to appoint deacons to take care of the money. Under the guidance of the Spirit, they identified seven men to be deacons. The ministry of the deacon is an important ministry that needs to be restored in the modern church (see Ministry of the Deacon).

This experience changed the apostles approach to their ministry.

We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).

They committed to focussing on prayer and preaching. There is no mention of handling finance. This change is confirmed in their other statement.

It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables (Acts 6:2).

The apostles decided that it would be wrong for them to wait on tables. The Greek expression for “waiting on tables” is “diakonein trapezais”. The word “trapezais” means table, so one meaning of the expression is serving food. However, the word “trapezais” is also used in the gospels for the money changers’ tables (Matt 21:12, John 2:15) and the counter of a bank (Luke 19:23). This suggests that the apostles were not just resolving to stop serving food. They were also saying it would be wrong for them to manage the collection of money.

Governmental Apostles (7) Centralised Finances

A serious problem with modern governmental apostolic ministries is lack of money. Many apostles feel that their activities are restrained by lack of resources. The apostle at the centre, who is governing a region and training church planters, needs lots of money.

One solution is to establish regional finance programmes. Because these ministries function at a trans-local level, they need trans-local funding. A region finance pool is a possible solution, but it does not deal with the problem.

There are several reasons why centralisation of finances is a dangerous practice.

Centralisation of finances is dangerous at any time. Any process that gives power to a few people is dangerous. If these people fall into pride or deception, they can do a lot of harm. Trouble crept into the church through money during its very early days. The practice emerged of disciples laying donations of money at the apostle’s feet (Acts 4:35). This practice was contrary to Jesus’ teaching.

Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets… to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret (Matt 6:1-4).

Making donations to the apostles in public contradicted this command. It also led to pride and deception. The worst case was Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:11-11). The pride that came into the church through the practice of giving in public caused this couple to lie to the Apostles to make a good impression.

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet (Acts 5:1-5).

This type of incident would not occur if the church depended on decentralised giving at a person-to-person level, as described in Acts 2:45.

Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need (Acts 2:45).

Bulk centralised finance is vulnerable to spiritual attack. Small scale person to person giving is safer.

Centralisation is particularly dangerous during periods of persecution. If the government gets serious about stopping the church, it could cripple hundreds by arresting the people in charge of the money. If necessary, it could freeze the bank accounts, or clean them out. Decentralised finances are safer.

Governmental Apostles (6) Staying at the Centre

Jesus told his apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. Once they received the Holy Spirit, they were meant to go out into Judea and Samaria and the ends of the earth. By staying in Jerusalem after they had received the Holy Spirit, they gradually morphed in governmental apostles.

The Book of Acts shows the Holy Spirit guiding the church. Things went best, when Christians followed his voice. The apostles often got things wrong, and had to be corrected by the Holy Spirit. Here are just a few examples.

1. The Holy Spirit had a dreadful job getting Peter to go to Caesarea to share the gospel with Cornelius and his household. Luke takes a whole chapter to describe the incident. Peter had a vision. The Holy Spirit spoke to him. The prediction of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled (Acts 10:19-21). Even after all that, Peter launched into his sermon by saying that it was against his law for a Jew to associate with a gentile. While Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit interrupted and filled the people so they spoke in tongues.
   
   Peter did not have a clue about what the Holy Sprit was doing in Caesarea. If he had been in control of this situation, the gospel would not have gone their. However, the Holy Sprit worked with hard to get Peter on track. Holy Spirit guidance triumphed over the mistakes of a key apostle.

2. The apostles appointed Philip to be a deacon, but it soon became clear that the Holy Spirit has more important work in mind for him.

   Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there (Acts 8:4-5).

   Philip was called to be an evangelist.

3. Paul made Timothy get circumcised in a bout of people pleasing.

   Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area (Acts 16:3).

   The circumcision party soon became a thorn in Paul’s flesh, so this incident pleasing man not God was a serious mistake.

4. Two apostles, Barnabas and Paul, disagreed over Mark. The Holy Spirit got his way and both Mark and Timothy became key evangelists.

5. Paul wanted to go into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not allow him. The Holy Spirit had to send a vision to get him into Macedonia (Acts 16:7-9).

6. Paul planned to visit Spain. He intended to visit Rome on his way there.

   I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there (Rom 15:24)

   I will go to Spain and visit you on the way (Rom 15:28).

   The Holy Sprit had different plans. Paul ended up as a prisoner in Rome and never got to Rome. However, his desire to visit Spain cause him to write the letter to the Romans, which was what the Holy Sprit really wanted from him.

The Acts of the Apostles are really the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Things went well when people followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. Things did not go so well when the Apostles did their own thing. This shows the risks of apostolic government. The more power that is given to governing apostles, the more serious this risk will be.

When individual Christians ignore the Holy Spirit, they do not do much harm. When an apostle with governing authority misses the Holy Spirit’s leading, terrible harm could done. The good news of the gospel is that every believer can be taught and lead by the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit guidance is far safer than Apostolic leadership.

Governmental Apostles (3) Modern Forms

Once they have planted a new church, the next step for a person with the apostolic calling is to establish a training centre for church planters. They will use their experience to develop training materials and programmes. The graduates of the training school will no longer fit in the churches they came from, so the apostolic leader will have to organising church planting opportunities for them.

Sending out highly-trained, but inexperienced church planters in teams that have never worked together always leads to problems. The apostolic leader will be respected by the trainees, so they are the best person to sort out any problems. The person with an apostolic calling could soon have responsibility for a number of churches across a broad region. Governmental policies will be developed to manage and control these churches. In a few quick steps, a church planter has morphed into a governing apostle.

The governmental approach to apostleship will never be as effective as the local multiplicative approach. The best people are clustered at the centre, which can cause ego problems. Inexperienced people are pushed out to edge where the greatest problems emerge.

No matter how good the people at the centre; no matter how much money flows in; or how effective the training; or the effective the governmental management, governing apostles will be less effective

Governmental Apostles (2)

The false form of apostleship is governmental apostles.

Governmental apostles have a regional focus. They stay at the centre and direct the action from there. Some commentators liken apostles to generals, because they each command a chunk of God’s army. When a modern apostle oversees all the pastors in a region of in a group of churches this is referred to as apostolic government. Apostolic government is seen as essential for restoring the church.

Governmental apostleship has emerged in the modern church because no place has been found for the fivefold ministries at the local level. Every church is lead by a pastor, so there is no room for the other ministries. To find a role, prophets have had to become itinerant consultants. Evangelists have been forced into travelling ministries that operate independently. Apostles must function at a regional level, because there is no scope for their ministry at a local level.

Governmental Apostles (1)

There are two approaches to the apostolic ministry. The most important is Local Apostles.

Local apostles operate at neighbourhood level. They focus on planting neighbourhood churches and multiplying their ministries by mentoring potential elders on-the-job.
When an apostolic team plants a neighbourhood church, they will focus on discipling a few people with potential to become leaders. Once these people are mature enough to take over as elders, the apostolic team will be sent out to a new neighbourhood to start another church.

As apostles multiply their ministries, the church will grow rapidly. Paul demonstrated this approach, but it is not widely used in the modern world.
Local apostles are guided and led by the Holy Spirit. They will live at the cutting edge, so they can deal with problems as they arise. Correction at the local level will be provided by local prophets.

Local apostles multiply their ministries through on-the-job replication. This leads to rapid growth. In the following diagram, on apostolic team has multiplied their ministry into twelve apostles and twenty-five churches. The best people have become apostles working at the cutting edge.

A full description of the way that local apostles operate is contained in the Apostolic Way.