Apostolic Relationships And Authority

Apostolic relationships This document describes relationships between apostles and churches. Apostles are an important gift to the church. Paul is an excellent example. In his own words, Paul says his job as an apostle is to: – – – – – – – –

Pioneering church-planting in new areas. (Rom 15:20) Not exercise authority beyond the field that God assigned. (2 Cor 10:13) Give and not take. (2 Cor 12:14-15) Lay the foundation of churches like an expert builder. (1 Cor 3:10) Appoint elders in new churches. (Titus 1:5) Warn and set an example as a father. (1 Cor 4:14-16) Rebuke and correct. (1 Cor 4:18-21) Build local churches up to perfection. (2 Cor 11:2)

Certainly all these tasks require authority. However, biblical authority is unlike worldly authority. Jesus said that leaders should be servants, and Paul said that his authority was given to build up the churches, not tear them down. Figure 1 shows how spiritual and worldly authorities are different.

Figure 1. Spiritual authority is based on relationship; worldly authority is based on position

Spiritual authority can operate only in a trusting relationship between two parties. Local churches retain their autonomy, but voluntarily submit themselves to the authority of the apostle. In return, the apostle exercises his authority to serve and give himself for the local churches. This same type of godly authority is present between church leaders and members, between husband and wife, and between

God and individual Christians. Spiritual authority is true authority, with real power that comes from God when it operates in God’s principles. Worldly authority operates based on position and organizational hierarchy. It doesn’t matter if there is a trusting relationship or not, authority is demanded by the worldly leader. Apostolic relationships that operate with worldly authority eventually need to resort to manipulation and political maneuvering in order to achieve their goals. When the leaders cannot get what they want by asking, they take what they can by demanding it.

Relationships between apostles and churches The Bible says there is one church, which is the body of Christ. However, the church can be conceived in two senses: 1. The universal church, made up of all Christian churches that belong to God. 2. Autonomous local churches that are the local representation of the universal church. The local church is what Christians interact with on a practical basis. Even though the church can be seen in these two ways, it is still one body. When someone loves and builds the local church, they are loving and building the universal church, which is the Bride of Christ. Apostles are important elements given to the universal church. They have relationships with multiple churches that have submitted to them. They serve as spiritual fathers for churches, with the aim of growing those churches up to become mature and fully autonomous. In this biblical scenario, shown in Figure 2, the Holy Spirit is the one that is building Jesus’ church. The apostle exercise spiritual authority.

Figure 2. The Bible only talks about the universal church and local churches.

Unfortunately, many times the work of the Holy Spirit is taken over by man-made organization. For example, the Protestant Reformation was prompted by God to bring His church back to biblical truths, but also left behind many man-made organizations that hold onto the name of Martin Luther or the reformed teachings of John Calvin. The work of John Wesley and George Whitefield was from God, but today left behind the man-made organization of the Methodist church. The same can be said of many other moves of God—there is a tendency for man to take over and create an organization that God does not recognize. Because these organizations are man-made, eventually they must rely on worldly authority to retain their cohesiveness. Authority is no longer based on trusting relationship between two parties, but instead becomes based on position and hierarchy. The autonomy of the local church is diluted so that the denomination, organizational leadership, or an apostolic leader makes governing decisions for the local church. Figure 3 shows how man-made organizations not only divide the body of Christ, but also rely on worldly authority to maintain their organization. Worldly authority is shown by solid lines instead of dotted lines.

Figure 3. The Bible warns against man-made organizations that divide the body of Christ.

There are two strong biblical arguments against man-made organizations in the Bible. The first is in 1 Corinthians 1-3, where Paul warns the Corinthians against dividing God’s church into those that follow Paul, Peter, or Apollos. The second is in Revelation 2-3, where Jesus rebukes and encourages seven local churches in Asia. Each of these churches is directly responsible to Jesus, not to an apostle or a manmade organization.

Conclusion Apostles are essential in the body of Christ. They are a gift that Jesus uses to build His church into the perfect Bride of Christ. They extend the boundaries of the church and act as spiritual fathers to new churches. But relationships between apostles and churches must be based on trusting relationships where spiritual authority is exercised, not worldly authority. Also, there is a tendency for new moves of God to eventually turn into man-made organization. In these situations, organizations begin to increasingly rely on worldly authority, manipulation, and political maneuvering to exercise control over local churches. Local churches lose their autonomy to an organization that God does not recognize.