[building A Powerful Church To Thrive In A Time Of Crisis] 04 – The Apostolic: An Integrated And Corporate Church, Part 1

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MARCH 25TH 2009

Prophetic Brief Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century

Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis – Part 4 The Apostolic: An Integrated & Corporate Church (1)

In these issues we are dealing with the changes produced by the apostolic reformation in the churches joined in divine purpose. The following 5 characteristics are present in churches which are building in the reformation. The one in bold font is dealt with in this newsletter: 

1. De-emphasis upon the validity of personal blessing and ministry driven by individual preference, and an emphasis on building and architecture

2 . A m o re i n t e g ra t e d Church that has lowered the boundaries of individual ministries and changed how leaders approach ministry 

3. Greater level of impartation, authority, strength, and ranking within the churches, making them more able to fight and more able to stand strong in crisis. 

4. Apostles bring an ability to execute what was spoken by the prophets, thereby creating a more effective stewardship of the prophetic word  5. A greater demand to see beyond the shapes of the natural into the intents and mind of God

Nations exist in a “balance of power” in which there is a constant ebb and flow of nations growing or declining in power relative to one another. This competition for influence and resources has been heightened by the global economic crisis, yet the nations are discovering that they cannot survive without one another. For example, China’s savings fueled American debt and consumerism, but China could not be too upset at America’s profligacy since many of the products being purchased were made in China. Recently the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, indicated that he was officially worried about the nearly $1 trillion in Treasury debt owned by his country: “I request the U.S. to maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China’s assets,” Wen said at a press briefing in Beijing last week in language that in the world of diplomacy is the equivalent of shouting in the face of your international colleague. The next day, U.S. officials declared that “there is no safer investment in the world than in the United States”, and Barack Obama forecast that the U.S. would be able to notably reduce its debt in the years to come. If the Treasury notes decrease in value then China is out vast amounts of money, so it is in their interest that America’s economy stabilizes even while they compete for influence. Despite interconnectedness and interdependency, the nations will continue to thrust one another and exist in a continual state of fracture, brokenness and competition – but it should not be so in the Kingdom of God. • A more integrated Church that has lowered the boundaries of individual ministries and changed how leaders approach ministry Ecclesiastes 4:8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless—a miserable business! (NIV) The second characteristic of those churches building within the apostolic reformation is a more integrated and

interconnected reality. Within the world of apostolic reformation, God has rearranged the landscape of the Church and moved us towards a more integrated reality of church life in which multiple churches exist in deep relationship with one another based on their mutual joining to an apostolic source, and He has empowered us to depart from places of individuality and singularity. As churches discern that they have a corporate purpose that transcends their individual community, they are moving towards authentic relational joining between an apostle and other ministry leaders which results in shared life, common operations and a more distributed and equalized spiritual burden carried by many. I was driving through Cairo a few years back and my host told me that things were very unique in that city in that a small mosque was built in close proximity to a large, prominent one. I replied that this condition was not really unique, and relayed the story of one of our churches which was given the old First Baptist building downtown when they built a new facility on the main highway. While that may seem beneficent and it did in fact help our church out, it was born out of competition between First Baptist and First Assembly, which had recently moved out of the old downtown and built a large new facility. The new Baptist facility was right across from the new Pentecostal one, and it just happened to be about 100 square feet larger.

Apostolic Networks The Biblical way to share Divine purpose is through apostolic networking, within which there must be no wrong measurements of success (large congregations), and zero competition between ministries, since that would be precisely the same set of dark values that drive relations between the U.S. and China. What joy is there if I succeed but my brother has failed, especially when I had the power to help him? Within a healthy and correct apostolic network there is a strong sense of mutuality, corporateness and functional oneness. It is impossible to define success outside of partnership, and it is futile to possess purpose alone. These realities change how leaders now approach ministry. In the past a pastor had to protect his church from elements that would destabilize or harm the people, MARCH 25TH 2009

Ecclesiastes 4:8 (NIV) There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless—a miserable business! but in the context of relationship leaders are now able to build a church with porous walls. The idea of porous walls indicates resource flowing in and out of the church with the wider network in a symbiotic way that produces divine purpose. Porous walls can only work based on the correct exercise of authority by apostolic leadership, so the issue of trust is key. If we use the example of Ahab coveting Naboth’s vineyard, we can see how damaging it is to the advance of the Kingdom for those with large giftings and anointings to breach the trust and ravage the fields of their brothers. The Kingdom can never be furthered by aggressive thrusting and competition. The focus of an apostolic leader must never be gathering churches in order to substantiate his profile as a global apostle, or to create a large financial base of support for his ministry. The safest place to live for Naboth must be next to the king, and the safest place for a church must be within the emplacements of a strong apostolic leadership. Individual ministries which exist within an apostolic network have made their walls more porous and become increasingly safe and secure at the same time. Likewise, the purpose for a church joining an apostolic network cannot be to “get stuff” from the apostle which elevates the church. Every pastor or senior elder must discover the apostolic relationships God has ordained them to be joined to, there is no example or mention in the Word of God of churches which existed apart from definition brought by the apostolic. The Kingdom must be owned jointly for it to be blessed by God, which requires leaders to come to a place of personal death, which includes movement away from positions of selfinterest, insecurity and fear. In order to impact the nations, the individual strength of churches must be leveraged into global power by the existence of real community and actual cohesion among the various churches and entities. This cannot be legislated or imposed, and the authority of an apostle within a church ends when the Senior Elder’s heart is withdrawn or they choose to depart from the apostolic grace.

Joint Ownership For such apostolic networks to function, there must be a radical disconnect from a sense of personal possession, and a disavowal of the incorrect claims of “my people”, “my ministry” or “my anointing”. Leaders must demonstrate death to self by refusing to own anything that God

gives them, and not be personally invested in their own success. The requirement of the Kingdom is for a radical sense of disconnection from ownership of anything. People have to be led from a place of singularity and isolation to a place of community and corporateness. It is this issue of incorrect ownership that was addressed by Jesus when he dealt with the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:23-26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (NIV) The response of the disciples (they were greatly astonished…who can be saved?) indicates they knew something other than finance was being discussed, because there are not many rich people. The principle being taught by Christ is that any claim we make on personal ownership will prohibit us from entering the Kingdom of God. Said another way, whatever you own will kill you. This is true for owning that which is positive and good, such as the ministry God gave us or the anointing and abilities of the spirit in our lives (this is my ministry, these are my people, this is my prophetic destiny). It is also true of ownership of negative or damaging things that people are unwilling to let go of, such as their pain or their offense (this is my pain, I have a right to be offended when they treated me unfairly, I have an opinion in the matter and I am correct). A person who insists on owning their own ministry will die in the solitariness of their gifting. One who insists on owning the pain of betrayal will die without experiencing the redemption of real trust and mutual dependence. One who owns their sense of rightness in a conflict will never see true reconciliation. A church which owns their right to be autonomous will live and die within the limited scope of that Senior Elder’s calling, never realizing what could have been if they had given themselves to the wider purpose and expanded capacity that comes via authentic apostolic relationship.

Within the world of apostolic reformation, God has re-arranged the landscape of the Church and moved us towards a more integrated reality of church life in which multiple churches exist in deep relationship with one another based on their mutual joining to an apostolic source, and He has empowered us to depart from places of individuality and singularity. As churches discern that they have a corporate purpose that transcends their individual community, they are moving towards authentic relational joining between an apostle and other ministry leaders which results in shared life, common operations and a more distributed and equalized spiritual burden carried by many. The Architecture of the New Prophetic Dimension A revolutionary new look at prophetic reality as it exists in the 2 1 s t ce n tu ry church. get this book>

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www.scottwebsterministries.org © 2009 Scott Webster Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

MARCH 25TH 2009

Key Issue

Corporate Productivity

Matthew 21:33-43 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. 38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. The parable is directed towards Israel’s rejection of the Kingdom of God, but the truth it conveys is for any who insist on their right to possess their inheritance singularly. It certainly applies to the church today. Rather than embrace their responsibility to be a light to the nations, Israel demanded exclusive ownership and they refused to give away the benefits of the Kingdom to others. There are key principles here regarding mutuality and corporate productivity.

1. Fruit possessed individually is deficient and those that produce it will be rejected.

In verse 34 we are told that servants were sent to collect the fruit produced during the harvest, yet, in verse 43 Jesus declared that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” The fruit produced by the tenants was not accepted because it was not willingly shared, so in the mind of God strident insistence on singularity renders the fruit as barrenness and is equivalent to aborted purpose. Corporate ownership means not only investing in others, but inviting them to own what you have built. If singularity is the greatest danger, we must identify and deal with every issue that prohibits clean connection: Pride & presumption of rank, insecurity, being too personally invested to give it away, desire for personal profile, etc. Among apostolic networks or Kingdom entities, there is a need for real partnership and joint ownership, which means not only investing in others, but inviting them to own what you have built.

2. Collaboration and corporate ownership are the essential aims of the Kingdom of God.

The purpose for planting the vineyard and supplying it with everything necessary for successful cultivation was to “rent it out”, or share it with others. God refuses to possess anything singularly, extending partnership to the ruler-ship of His vast domain (Rev 3:21). In the parable the landowner who supplied everything necessary for fruitfulness, then invited partnership. He planted the vineyard, built a wall around it, and put a watchtower in it. The parallel with a specific church is clear: God is the one who authorizes a church to exist (planting of the vineyard); He protects the work and secures people’s hearts (building of the wall), and God is the one who graces leaders with wisdom and understanding to shepherd people’s lives (put a watchtower in it). Those who insist on possessing their lives and ministries singularly are in the deepest recesses of error since they are not the originator of any Kingdom qualities which they claim as their own.

3. Disregard for our brothers is contempt for God.

The refusal to build corporately with our brothers indicates deep hatred for God. John made it clear that we cannot say we love God who we can’t see if we don’t love our brother who we can see (1 John 4:20). There is a direct parallel between our commitment to building mechanisms of shared life, mutuality and collegiality with one another and the true nature of our joining to God. Death to self, refusal to possess purpose alone and commitment to the welfare of our brothers are qualities which indicate correct relationship with God.

© 2009 Copyright by SWM, copy and duplication without permission is prohibited.

Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension • Activating The Capacity To Build • Obeying The Command To Finish

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