Apostolic Leaders see the whole city and are called by God to design ministry that activates the every day believer to carry the mission of God forward.
[This is part of our Blog Series Page. Check out the other Blog Series here]
What is an Apostle?
This is a series unpacking the role of an apostle and trying to give it some more language and familiarity. Each posts unpacks one word that defines the apostolic calling.
The Apostolic vocation in the church as noted in Ephesians 4 is very important to me personally and vital for the Kingdom of God as it continues to move forward.
What makes the Apostolic vocation extremely important is the fact that it is the primary role in charge of pushing forward the mission of God.
The Apostolic function of the church is responsible for pushing forward the mission of God and designing the way the church carries that out. These are our primary catalysts, visionaries and risk takers in the body when it comes to advancing the mission of God. We need them and we need them fully empowered!
But Apostle is a buzz word these days.
- At the very worst, it is a negative word, associated with crazies who have distorted the vocation and defined it in unhelpful and unhealthy ways.
- At the very best it is being activated day by day as a legitimate vocation in the church and we are seeing the mission of God screaming forward.
However, the majority of people and churches are somewhere in the middle, and they just don’t talk about the Apostolic vocation much. Its just not a word you would find in those people and churches language or leadership.
[This is part of our Blog Series Page. Check out the other Blog Series here]
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Definitely agree with the “A.P.O.” beginning definitions so far! Looking forward to reading the other descriptions as you use the word “apostle” as an acronym to define their function. I am glad there is a growing excitement around the Ephesians 4 text and the recovery of APE’s in our churches, but I just hope “apostolic” doesn’t become the next buzz word like how “postmodern”, “emerging”, and “missional” all were not that long ago… Of course I know language creates culture (and vice versa) but these are very much fluid terms that people can toss around loosely without having a complete understanding of what they mean and how they are being used. Hopefully this series will help others in identifying and embracing their equipping roles. Thanks for sharing!