When considering the 5 gifts of Christ to the church listed in Ephesians 4:11 it often seems to me that the outcomes are more important than the actual title. And yet the outcome of the Apostle has it seems been misunderstood.
Each of the gifts is given to the church for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. It looks like this:
- The pastor should equip the saints to be pastoral,
- The evangelist should equip the saints to be evangelistic,
- The prophet should equip the saints to be prophetic,
- The teacher should equip the saints to be teachers,
Surely therefore the Apostle should equip the saints to be apostolic, but most believers when asked say that they are not apostolic believing that apostolic is a description of the apostle rather than the outcome of being led and influenced by an Apostle.
Perhaps the problem is that you have not found ‘your’ apostle yet but even then you can find your apostle in the first Apostle: Hebrews 3:1. Jesus is the SENT ONE, the first Apostle and every other apostle after him should equip the saints to be apostolic. In other words that the saints are sent from heaven to earth to make earth look, sound, believe and behave like heaven.
So if Jesus is your personal savior, then you are apostolic as you will be influenced by him and want to live like him.
Whatever your position in the church you are apostolic, it doesn’t make you an apostle but it is the purpose of the gift of Christ to the church.