Prophets in the early church

As we begin to read the story of the church in the Book of Acts we find prophets among them. The first story involving prophets was at the young church in the city of Antioch. Here the message of Jesus had spread through the Gentile population of that city and a powerful church was started among them. A team of prophets came down from the church in Jerusalem to minister to them. One of these prophets, named Agabus, prophesied about a great famine that was coming. The outcome of this prophetic ministry was a dynamic outpouring of help for the Jewish background believers living in Judea who were suffering great poverty. (Acts 11:27-30)

The next time this church in Antioch is spoken about we find that prophets are now a part of the church’s leadership team. It is in this context that by the Holy Spirit prophetic revelation is given to send out Barnabas and Paul into the apostolic work God was calling them to. This was the launching of an incredible wave of church planting out from that church into other nations of the world. (Acts 13)

As churches multiplied among non-Jewish peoples in many different places, a controversy arose among some of the Christians with a Jewish background. They still were arguing that these non-Jewish believers should be called to submit themselves to Jewish laws and practices as a part of their commitment to Jesus. A council was called in the church at Jerusalem to settle this issue. There it was determined that it was not God’s plan for these new believers to have to take on Jewish religious laws and customs as a part of their commitment to follow Jesus. Some men where chosen to carry this instruction to the churches and make sure all understood clearly this foundational apostolic teaching. Barnabas and Paul, who were apostolic, were sent along with two prophets, Judas and Silas. So this important ministry among the churches was to be carried out by a team of apostles and prophets. (Acts 15:25-33)

Prophetic leaders

It becomes clear that prophets had a vital role among the churches of the Book of Acts. These men were leaders. Paul says in the Ephesian letter that the Ascended Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry. (Eph. 4:11) Every church needs exposure to all these gifts Christ has given to his church in order to be fully equipped to fulfill the mission of Jesus and grow to full maturity as the people of God.

John Maxwell tells a story of a tribe in Central Asia who had a curse they would use on their enemies. They would say, “May you stay in one place forever.” May this never be the case for God’s people!

Healthy leadership

To be a healthy church leadership team is to never stop learning. Strong teams are never static but always growing and developing in order to be more effective in ministry.

Team members are willing to take risk in innovation. We are ever learning in order to be more effective in propagating the gospel. This means each leader is to be a learner. We are to read the bible, observe videos, the internet, etc. in order to be a listener and to stay current. Every person we meet has the potential to teach us something. John Maxwell notes, “The greatest obstacle to discovery isn’t ignorance or lack of intelligence. It’s the illusion of knowledge” (J. Maxwell, Leadership Gold, p.127).

The leader models

The team leader will model learning and growing to team members. He does so by reading, attending conferences or retreats that aid learning, networking with others in order to learn. As a leader, you must train others for ministry. Expose yourself to a wide variety of information (i.e., not only theology books but TV, movies, music, etc.). We observe diverse information to be a more effective team in order to reach today’s world.

John F. Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensible of each other.” To lead as a team, every team member must be a continual learner.

Jesus commanded the Apostles to go and make disciples. They instinctively went and planted churches. Church life is the key to discipleship and creates an alternative culture where heavenly values can be formed on earth. Getting the church right is therefore a vital issue and one which should constantly stir and motivate us.

The purpose of Paul’s letters was not to teach theology but to mold behavior in and through churches that lived in the light of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and enthronement, and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is possible to be objectively orthodox, but fail to live the life that God wants. So, although we do not undervalue doctrine, we emphasise the kind of church life that good doctrine properly observed and embraced should produce.

You’ll never walk alone

It is virtually impossible to live the Christian life alone. It was always God’s purpose that we should work out our discipleship corporately. The good health of the local church is, therefore, imperative, and we have tried to develop local churches living inter-dependently and focussed on world mission.

It is important for the local church, cared for correctly by its own elders, to embrace its own autonomy. Free from denominational constraints, it must nevertheless be aware of its inter-dependence on other churches and the vital role of trans-local ministries working among the churches in ongoing relationship.

This lack of independence has helped to establish the strong ‘family feel’ associated with Newfrontiers. When recently in South Africa we met people from Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Dubai, the UK, Australia and the USA – just a sample of our Newfrontiers international community. Evan Rogers’ infectious worship-leading resulted in a surge of shared joy, soon followed by intense corporate intercession. Enjoying fun (ie rejoicing!) before the Lord doesn’t inhibit our ability to cry to him in zealous prayer together. Laughter and longing happily combine. Love, joy and zeal easily co-habit.

God-centredness

God-centredness must characterise our churches. So much modern religion is man-centred, celebrating man’s skills, insights and personality. Although church planters can by nature be entrepreneurs, seeing openings where others see only problems, they must beware the danger of self-sufficiency and overcome the tendency to despise team work, finishing up as loners. Even the most faith-filled leaders need close friends and companions. The powerfully anointed David was so encouraged by Jonathan and supported by phenomenally gifted lieutenants.

Check back soon for Part 2

Throughout the Bible we encounter the presence of prophets among the people of God. The first person in the Bible to be called a prophet is Abraham. Interestingly this happens in the rather unflattering story in Abraham’s life when he and Sarah travel into the land of Gerar and Abraham purposefully deceives the king of that land into thinking that Sarah is simply his sister when in fact she is his wife. After King Abimelech took Sarah as his own the Lord intervened in her behalf by visiting Abimelech in a dream in order to keep him from sinning by having sex with Sarah. (See Genesis 20)

Then the Lord instructs Abimelech to go to Abraham and return to him his wife. After that he is told to receive prayer from Abraham because he is a prophet! Abraham does pray for Abimelech and God’s judgment averted away from him and all his household.

A prophet?

How is it that Abraham is called a prophet in this story? It certainly cannot be based upon his wonderful performance and actions here. This answer to this question lies in the relationship Abraham has with God and this relationship is purely the result of God’s gracious calling upon his life. God had spoken to Abraham and revealed himself to him. It is on this basis alone that Abraham is called a prophet. It is on this basis alone that Abraham is able to intercede for Abimelech.

A notable thing in this first story about a prophet in the Bible is its cross-cultural nature. Here Abraham, who has come into relationship with the Living God as a result of God’s revelation of himself to him, is speaking with a pagan king who has not enjoyed this relationship in the same way (although it seems like Abimelech was doing better in character development than Abraham at this point). Through Abraham’s coming to him he has begun to know this gracious God of Abraham. This encounter with God is not based on Abraham’s performance but on the very nature of the God Abraham has come into relationship with. This is the first thing in the Bible we learn about what a prophet is!

Prophets in the OT

The presence of prophets and prophecy in the stories of the Bible is seen as a sign of God’s blessing and presence among his people. The writer of the Book of Lamentations speaks of the dark days after God’s judgment fell on the city Jerusalem. God’s hand of blessing was removed from the city because of the rebellion and sin of the people. One of the indicators that God’s Presence was no longer there in blessing was that the prophets no longer received any vision from the Lord. (Lam.2:9) The lack of prophecy was a sign of God’s disfavor.

The Second Century AD, Christian apologist, Justin Martyr used this same understanding about prophecy in his dialogue with a Jewish rabbi named Trypho. In his attempt to convince him that Jesus is truly the long awaited Messiah and that now the people of God are those who put their trust in him, he said to Trypho: ‘from the fact that even to this day the gifts of prophecy exist among us Christians, you should realize that the gifts which had resided among your people have now been transferred to us.’ (from St. Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho; Chapter 82)

My guess is that there are a lot of Christians, including Christian leaders, who got married for the wrong reasons. We can all think of one main reason Christians get married; starts with an S and ends with an X. To be fair the Bible is not in opposition to the hurry up offense when it comes to marriage (1 Corinthians 7:9), but at some point, all Christian couples need to come to grips with the mission of Marriage or else a lifetime of disappointment awaits.

Unmet expectations

Most, if not all, of the marriages that fail do so due to unmet expectations. “I thought we were going to fall deeper in love everyday? We didn’t.” “I thought you would continue to pursue me and date me? You didn’t.” “I thought I would be the only one you would be sleeping with? I’m not.” In Ephesians 5:21-33, Paul gives us the clearest explanation of marriage in the New Testament. And in his writing we get one clear expectation, both spouses will be changed. The reality is, if you embrace Paul’s explanation of marriage, you will never have unmet expectations.

Reflecting Jesus

Paul likens marriage to Jesus’ relationship with the church. The church is not perfect, however, Jesus is working on it and through it to one day bring it to himself spotless. At the center of Jesus’ relationship with the church is covenant. His commitment to His bride is unparalleled.

The Hebrew word Ahava means “to give love, or a love of the will”. It’s not about emotion, it’s an action. It’s present when two people see each other clearly, good, bad, crazy, sane, rich, poor, and they choose to love each other no matter what. This is covenantal love. It says, I’m not going anywhere. This is how Jesus loves us: but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Defining the mission

So what is the mission of marriage? Marriage exists to show the world how much a perfect God loves an imperfect people. So conflict is not a bad thing in marriage, it’s how the conflict is handled and resolved that matters. Butterflies are not a bad thing in marriage, but what speaks volumes is when the butterflies fly off and your commitment still stands. As people observe your marriage they get to see unconditional love, forgiveness and respect. This gives you a platform to say, Jesus has an even more perfect love for you.

I started dating my wife 15 years ago. I can still remember the first time we held hands. We were in a move theater and I thought I was going to explode! My heart was beating fast, I felt light headed, and my goal was to not throw up on her. But today, when we hold hands, I don’t have those feelings. What I do have though is a deeper, more robust love for her. We have thirteen years of marriage, three boys, lot’s of fights, lot’s of great times, lot’s of disappointment (for her mostly), and knowledge that we are more committed now to each other than we were back in that movie theater.

Christians, especially leaders, often think that a good marriage is one that lacks conflict and friction. Obviously a marriage full of romance and righteousness would be better, but let’s get real for a moment. Conflict and friction are opportunities for change and to show the world how Christ’ love works. Suppressing conflict and friction could be a sign of insecurity in the marriage. “If I confront them on this, they will leave me, or be cold toward me.” A secure love allows for blemishes to be brought to the forefront so they can be “washed” and worked on.

God wants to create a culture of communities that reflect who He is and His intention. The Trinity is a culture. The Triune God is building a community that reflects that culture of love, community, healing, salvation, and purposeful intention to that end. God is a culture-creating God.

Church reflects God

The church is to reflect God’s culture. The apostle John mentions how Jesus revealed the nature of God to the 12 disciples as he wrote to Christians in his day. This community experience what to be shared with and experience by others. "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us – we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." (I John 1: 1 - 4)

Each church is a culture of its own within the larger culture of society. The church leadership team is intentional in creating this culture. This culture is a reflection of the culture of the team. How the team is with each other is what they desire the church to become. The team leader models to the team those qualities desired for the church. The team in our local church models a relational culture of vision, purpose, grace and diversity.

Theoretical to practical

How do you communicate this culture? The local church does so through its activities, themes, values, structures and visuals. We live a image-oriented world so we need to be visual. Express our community values by media and printed materials. We are to communicate by word and example. Have people testify who are living this out among you. Music reflects your church’s culture. Our music must reflect the visionary culture you want expressed. For example, hymns of the Reformation grew out of the Calvinist movement. Vineyard Church’s music reflects their paradigm.

Leadership plays a key role in building a church’s culture. The church becomes a culture that reflects the culture of the team. The team is called to create a culture that reflects the mission God has for that church. May it be one that always glorifies God and fulfills His call for us to make disciples of all nations.

Definition

The teacher is someone who has a proven, anointed, effective and consistent gift of teaching God’s word. He is also able to develop others in their teaching gift. There is reason to believe that Paul referred to the pastor / teacher as one gift, so whether you agree with that or not, it is hard to imagine a pastor that can’t teach, or a teacher who is not pastoral!

How could I develop into being a teacher?

In an earlier blog in this series we looked at the ‘motivational’ Gift of Teaching from Romans 12. An Ephesians 4 teacher is simply someone with a mature and anointed teaching gift. So, the way to develop into an Ephesians 4 teacher is to focus on developing the Gift of Teaching and see if God promotes you to the office of a teacher. Here is a repeat of the earlier blog on the Gift of Teaching:

A Definition of the Gift of Teaching

The Gift of Teaching (Romans 12) is the special ability that God gives to people to explain and apply the Bible, in a way that helps others learn easily, enjoyably and effectively. It is a per-requisite of being an elder/pastor (1 Tim 3:2&9 and Titus 1:9-16). The ‘person’ gift of the Teacher mentioned in Ephesians 4 would be a person that has a very mature and recognized gift of teaching.

Examples from scripture

• Neh 8:8:

‘They read from the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read’

• Acts 18:24-28:

‘Apollos was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the scriptures…he spoke with great fervour and taught about Jesus accurately… he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.’

• Peter in Acts 2 and Paul later in Acts exhibit the gift of teaching from Old Testament scriptures.

• Jesus: referred to as the Great Teacher in Mt 23:10.

• Heb 12:26-28: Teachers are those who (1) Read scripture (2) Explain it (3) Apply it to our lives.

How will I know if I have this gift?

You will enjoy research, study and reading, but you will also be a gifted communicator. You will be concerned for biblical accuracy and context. When you discover a new truth, you will long to pass it on to others. You will get great satisfaction out of someone ‘getting it’. The best teachers are those with both good content and good delivery. People will tell you that they enjoy the way you preach/teach/lead the bible study. People will be pleased when they find out it is you who is preaching/teaching. Please note that some people are excellent researchers and very studious but are no good at delivering the truth to others. These people are better off serving someone who is good at the delivery side of things by researching and writing books and so on. Also remember that there are different capacities and types of this gift, so not everyone will be suited to the same teaching context. Some people thrive on small, interactive groups, and others on preaching to large groups.

How can I grow in this gift?

Pray for more of it. Study diligently. Seek out a mentor to learn from with the same attitude of Elisha in 2 Kings 2:2-9.

This is the 3rd in a series of 7 things apostles do. View the other posts by clicking here.

Apostles lay a good foundation in churches

Paul specifically described his ministry thus: 'by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder'.

The foundation of truth we lay, according to New Testament practice, is essentially a story and not just an analysis of theology. When people understand the overall story and their part in it, they are on a good foundation. The world-views of many cultures are essentially narratives, and the only way of replacing one worldview is by taking on another narrative...teaching this big narrative of scripture is very important in laying good foundations.

But there are also some core values that Paul taught as part of this essential foundation for local church life.  Some of these include:

• The church as the people of God, understanding who we are in Christ by the grace of God.
• The church as a family, expressing this in loving relationships with one another.
• The church as a people devoted to God, expressing this in corporate worship and corporate prayer.
• The church as a Spirit-filled community, experiencing the presence of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit together.
• The church led by a team of elders/pastors anointed and appointed by the Holy Spirit.
• The church as a missional community, reaching out locally, regionally and internationally.
• The church as the agent of the kingdom of God, expressing this  through individuals and families living in a godly way in the world, and through the church community together serving the wider community around them.
• The church as a suffering community, understanding that opposition and suffering come as a result of following Christ in this world."

Look out for more posts that will expand on these foundational values.

Adapted from David Devenish's book, Fathering Leaders, Motivating Mission (p48, 102, 119-120)

Leading Among Friends

God is the God of unity in three persons. Within the Godhead is a flow of love and unity with and an absence of competition and jealousy. From among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit comes action to extend this fellowship of love to all creation.

Reflecting the Trinity, team-led churches are participatory and relational. Teams are comprised of people who are respected and gifted for service. Working together, they collectively pool their gifts for a single purpose. They are not a collection of individuals but a group working together collectively.

The Team Leader

The team leader has a key role in bringing the team together relationally as participators in the vision and mission. The team leader is not the “big banana” over all the “lesser bananas.” Indeed, the team leader’s task is not to shape the other team members into his own image but to help facilitate relationship, love and commitment among the team. He takes responsibility to ensure the team members build relationships with one another and not just with him. Some ways to facilitate this include retreats, lunches, team-building exercises, vision “jam sessions”, as well as praying and playing together. Relationships within the team are built on trust, which requires time together.

A principal goal to create a participatory team means the team leader takes responsibility to initiate a team process that results in giving away responsibility. The successful team leader has an attitude that they do not need to make all the key decisions nor assign all the key jobs. The team member knows that they don’t know all the answers and that each one needs the other members of the team. The team leader will draw out team member's feelings and frustration. There needs be a vulnerability and honesty. Building this kind of team requires energy, nurturing, maintaining relationships and a significant investment of time. As with any valuable endeavor, true friendship is worth the effort as it reflects the loving God we serve.

Definition

While we are all called to pursue the spiritual gift of prophecy (1 Cor 14:1), and while some of us will have more of a God-given prophetic temperament, God raises up some people with a proven, anointed, effective and consistent prophetic ability. The Old Testament is loaded with prophets, but a fine example of a New Testament prophet is Agabus:

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11:27-30).

After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, `In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” (Acts 21:10-14)

How can I develop into the office of a prophet?

Follow the teachings and principles laid out in the earlier blogs about the gift of prophecy and ‘being prophetic’, and faithfully serve the church with your gift. If this is an office that God has for you, he will promote you in due time by others recognising your growing gift.

Prophets will bring weighty words

Prophets will be able to bring the full range of prophetic words, but will be unique in that they will bring weighty words that can shape a whole church or region of churches. For example, the prophecy of Agabus regarding the famine was weighed and acted upon by the leaders in Antioch, including Barnabas and Paul. The group of prophets seem to have been sent by the Jerusalem church and it led to a corporate response in a well led and well taught church.

Prophets should be accountable

Luke describes the prophets who went to Antioch as ‘from Jerusalem’ (Acts 11:27). It is important to know where prophets come from and whether they are recognised as prophets at home base.

Prophets should operate in submission to apostolic ministry

Paul tested those who claimed to be prophets by whether or not they recognized his apostolic doctrine and practice: ‘If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored (1 Cor 14:37-38).

Prophets should not be insecure and melancholic

Dave Devenish writes:

‘Sometimes prophets are described as being insecure or easily suffering rejection or having melancholic tendencies, but we will be hard pressed to find that consistently in scripture, although Jeremiah and Elijah did have some ‘bad days at the office’. We need to see what is lack of sanctification or unresolved personal history and what is genuinely prophetic sensitivity. It is particularly difficult though for prophets if what they say is ignored or not commented upon which may in fact be because we agree but have not told them! Sometimes living with a future picture that has not yet been fulfilled or listened to can be frustrating for a prophet. However Silas seems to be a model of balanced, patient leadership to which we should encourage prophets to aspire.’

Prophets will operate in the other revelation gifts (discerning of spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge) and often in the gift of healing as well.