How Biblical is the New Apostolic Reformation? How well do the claims of its adherents harmonize with Scripture? For example, are apostles now being restored to rule or govern the Church? Is New Testament church order being now established for the first time since the early centuries? Is it Biblical for individuals to wear "apostle" as a title in front of their name? Can women serve as apostles? These are just some of legitimate questions that are being raised by this movement. These questions, however, must be addressed in the light of Scripture, not merely from esoteric experiences and sensational ideals. Discussed below are 5 current, popular misconceptions about apostolic ministry that do not coincide with the testimony of the New Testament.
Misconception 1:
Apostles (Along with Prophets) Are the Foundation of the Church.
This is, no doubt, the most serious misconception and is based on a faulty reading of Eph. 2:20 where Paul tells the Ephesian believers that they are being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets . . . This is popularly understood to mean that individual apostles and prophets are the foundation of the Church. In the Greek, however, "apostles and prophets" is in the genitive case, the case that shows possession. It is like saying "the car of John Doe." Although the car and John Doe are related, it does not follow that the car is John Doe or that John Doe is the car. In the same way, it does not follow that the foundation is identical with the apostles and prophets or that the apostles and prophets are identical with the foundation. Paul is actually referring to the foundation that is laid by the apostles and prophets as is borne out in his 1st letter to the Corinthian Church; a church he, as an apostle, had founded.
In 1 Cor. 3:10-11, Paul refers to his founding of the church at Corinth and says, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. What foundation did Paul lay for the church in Corinth? He says in vs. 11, For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. The foundation of the apostle Paul in Corinth was Jesus Christ.
This coincides with Jesus response to Peters revelation of Him as the Christ, the Son of the Living God in Matt. 16:13-18. The Greek word for Peter is petros and, with a play on words, Jesus says to him, You are petros (a small rock or pebble), and on this petra (a large massive stone) I will build my Church. The foundation on which Jesus said he would build His Church was not a little rock like the apostle Peter, but the massive foundation stone which is the revelation of who He is, i.e., Himself.
There is an old hymn entitled "The Churchs One Foundation" The first stanza begins, "The Churchs one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord . . ." Those who would lay a foundation for the Church other than Jesus Christ are in serious error.
Misconception 2:
Apostles Are to Govern the Church.
According to Matt. 20:25-26, apostles are not rulers over Gods people, but servants to Gods people. Jesus presented this new and radical model of leadership to the 12 apostles when they were vying for, what they thought would be, positions of authority in the kingdom. Jesus explained that in His kingdom leadership would be characterized, not by governing, but by serving. The Greek word used is diakonos and it referred to one who served or "waited on" another. John G. Lake, a modern apostle to South Africa, said, "The modern conception of an apostle is usually that he is a big church boss, but that was not the conception Jesus left. An apostle was not to be a big boss; he was to be like his Lord--a servant of all."
Diakonos is Pauls favorite word to describe his own apostolic ministry. To the Corinthians who were putting himself and Apollos on pedestals and forming cliques around them, he rhetorically asks, Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but servants (diakonoi) through whom you believed. Paul thus saw his ministry in terms of responsibility and service rather than office and power. Hans Kung, an expert in New Testament Greek, says,
In the New Testament, not only is the word "hierarchy" consistently and deliberately avoided, but so too are all secular words for "office" in connection with church functions, as they express a relationship of power. Instead of this, an all-encompassing term, diakonia, service (really "serving at table"), is used, which can nowhere evoke associations with any authority, control or position of dignity and power (Kung, Christianity: Essence, History and Future, 321-22).
Tony Campolo has said, "Of all the temptations that the clergy have, the seduction of power is the most pronounced." (Campolo, "Power vs Love," New Day (April, 1990): 12). It may be that the temptation of power is the area where the news apostolic movement is most vulnerable.
Misconception 3:
God is Restoring Apostolic Government to the Church.
No such order or government is either delineated or prescribed in the New Testament. The New Testament writers, in fact, show very little concern for church offices and organizational structure. This is why New Testament specialist, Dr. Gordon Fee, says that the New Testament is full of surprises, "but none is so surprising as its generally relaxed attitude toward church structures and leadership." He and others point out that, excepting Phil. 1:1, Paul never addresses himself to a leader or group of leaders in any of his letters to the churches (Fee, Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics, 120). Even in Corinth where there are so many problems, Paul appeals to the entire congregation rather than to a specific leader. Paul is obviously concerned with people, not programs.
John Wesley, who as an Anglican minister initially held to the episcopal form of church government, found his views refined in the fires of the 18th century Methodist revival, which he spearheaded. Through his diligent study of the New Testament and after observing the Holy Spirit raise up powerful ministries from the ranks of the common people outside the Anglican Church hierarchy, he declared that "neither Christ nor his apostles prescribed any form of church government" (Wesleyan Theological Journal, Spring-Fall, 1988, 116). In his classic work, The Primitive Church, Professor Burnett Streeter asserts,
Whatever else is disputable, there is, I submit, one result from which there is no escape. In the Primitive Church there was no single system of church order laid down by the Apostles. During the first hundred years of Christianity, the Church was an organism alive and growingchanging its organization to meet changing needs. Uniformity was a later development (Streeter, The Primitive Church, 267-68).
In the 1970s a number of Christian leaders, including well-known teacher Bob Mumford, were talking of reviving and restoring the New Testament Church. One day he heard the Lord say, "Bob, to have a New Testament church you must have New Testament people." Mumford suddenly realized that they were wrongly preoccupied with establishing an outward form, when God would have them focused on helping and facilitating His people. He realized that "Church" would not be found in an organizational structure, but in a living, functioning body of Spirit-filled believers bringing glory to Jesus Christ.
Misconception 4:
"Apostle" Is a Title to Be Worn in Front of the Name.
There are those today who call themselves apostles who are not apostles, and there are those who do not call themselves apostles who are apostles. At no place in the New Testament is "apostle" placed in front of someone's name as a title. Although Paul often identifies himself as an apostle in the introductory part of his letters, in normal conversation he was never known as "Apostle Paul." Paul refers to himself numerous times in his letters and always by his name, "Paul." When he refers to other apostles, such as Peter, James or John, he does so by merely mentioning their name, and never with any title in front.
In Acts, Luke mentions Paul by name more than 120 times and not once does he say "Apostle Paul," but merely "Paul." In 2 Peter 3:14, Peter refers to our beloved brother Paul. In Rev. 1:9, John the apostle, in his letter to the churches, refers to himself as your brother and companion in tribulation.
This obvious avoidance of titles is understandable in light of the words of Jesus in Matt. 23:6-12 where He warned his disciples about adopting titles that would set themselves apart from other believers. For some, feeling important is obviously more important than following the New Testament pattern.
Misconception 5:
Women Cannot Be Apostles.
This misconception is based on two faulty assumptions: (1) that apostles govern the church and (2) that women cannot function in governing roles. This misconception is also tied to a superficial interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 that fails to consider the historic situation of this letter and the fact that the Greek word, authentein, which is translated "authority" in this passage is not found anywhere else in the New Testament.
This misconception becomes completely untenable when one realizes that Paul recognizes a female apostle in Rom. 16:7. Greet Andronicus and Junia, he says, who are of note among the apostles. Junia is a feminine name and was recognized as a female apostle for the first several centuries of the Churchs existence. The famous church father of the 5th century, John Chrysostom, exclaimed, "Oh how great is the devotion of this woman, that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle."
Concerned by the presence of a female apostle, some have tried to argue that the name is Junias, which is male. However, every ancient Greek manuscript, without exception, has the feminine Junia rather than the masculine Junias. In addition, the male name, Junias, is unknown in antiquity while the female name Junia is quite common. The evidence is overwhelming. Women functioned as apostles in the New Testament Church. To exclude women from apostolic ministry is to ignore the clear teaching of the New Testament.
Conclusion
The apostolic movement is a blessing in that it is forcing the larger Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, of which it is a part, to consider the role of apostles in the Church today. However, the leaders of this movement must continually interact with Scripture and those outside their own camp so that the blessing does not become a curse. Those on both sides of the issue need to listen to one another and, above all, avoid an elitist attitude. Only then can the modern movement avoid the pitfalls of similar movements in history and remain on the foundation of that original apostolic witness and teaching that is found in the New Testament.
(This article is derived from Eddies latest book entitled Thinking Biblically About Apostolic Ministry.)