Author: Chris Jefferies

I live in the west of England, worked in IT, and previously in biological science.

Partying with an evangelist

Think of an evangelist as first and foremost a ‘people person’. They get their energy from being in the crowd. They love to talk, they smile and laugh a lot, they’re fun to be around, they tend to be party people.

A street party (Wikimedia)

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7 – activating church

A street party (Wikimedia) -Click images to enlarge

When apostles and prophets have done their stuff it’s high time for evangelists to join in. I don’t want to push the idea of a sequence too far; ideally we should be aiming for a situation where all the APEST gifts are operating simultaneously and abundantly, all at the same time. I’ve been using the analogy of building a house where apostles lay foundations and prophets make sure the structure is straight and true, but it should be very clear from Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church that all of the gifts need to work continuously. Unlike a house, when foundations are laid once and the stonework is raised once, for church to function as Jesus intended these are ongoing requirements. It’s not just urgent repair work as in Corinth, but it’s a living process of constant adjustment and calibration.

Following the apostle and prophet articles, the focus this time is on the gift of an evangelist – what it looks like, how it arises, how it affects a person who is expressing it, and how the rest of us can relate to it, support it, and, as an expression of church, benefit from it. Next time we’ll examine the gift of a shepherd in much the same way.

No room for wriggling

We all have this gift to some degree. You cannot be like Jesus without having some level of evangelist about you, so you can’t wriggle out of it completely. Jesus is the origin and source of all the gifts we’re discussing. If you believe him and follow him then Christ is in you. And if the perfect evangelist is in you then you are going to reflect that at some level. You may or may not be evangelical, but you will most certainly be somewhat evangelistic in character and nature.

We need to know how to recognise an evangelist, and that’s really not too difficult, but before I consider that I’d like to clear up a common misconception that can cause some confusion. There’s a (mistaken) understanding among many Christians that evangelists go out and convert people from whatever they currently believe. But that’s not quite right. It’s apostles who are called to go out and start new churches, very much following in Paul’s footsteps. But evangelists have a slightly different role. The Greek word is euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον). It’s a word of two parts εὐ which means ‘good’ hence a eulogy is a good word, and αγγέλιον or angelion meaning ‘messenger’, we get our words ‘angel’ and ‘angelic’ from this same Greek origin. So an evangelist is a ‘bringer of good news’, not only in the narrow sense of someone who preaches the good news but more in the sense that an evangelist is someone who is good news.

Think of an evangelist as first and foremost a ‘people person’. They get their energy from being in the crowd. They love to talk, they smile and laugh a lot, they’re fun to be around, they tend to be party people. Hence this article’s title Partying with an evangelist. Evangelists draw people in – ‘Come and have a drink with us.’Have you tried this amazing dessert?’ ‘Fantastic dog, what breed is it?’ ‘You’re looking really happy, it’s so good to see that’. They like to tell stories and will probably have everyone in stitches, and if you have a story they will want to hear it and will find comfortable ways to draw it out if they can. People gather around evangelists in a very natural way, and before long an evangelist will be telling them about things Jesus did in their lives, or asking them if they’ve ever met him in a meaningful way themselves.

An undemanding and comfortable gift

Where the gift of evangelist is operating, you’ll find a group of people who are both engaging and engaged. That’s why it’s such an important gift for joy, balance, and growth of the church (ekklesia) the called-out community of Jesus in a place. If we could only grasp and use this gift more fully, church would be the popular, local place for everyone to gather (not just believers). As always, Jesus has all of the gifts in a fullness we can never completely express. In part, that’s why the crowds followed him everywhere he went in Judea and Galilee – he was and remains really, really Good News! But I think I’ll leave Jesus as the fullest expression of the APEST gifts for a later article after we’ve worked through shepherd and teacher.

For now it’s enough to grasp that evangelists are about good news, not only in the message they bring but also in who they are (remember, who you are is far more fundamental than what you do).

On the more serious side

But there’s more to be said about the gift of evangelist. This gift to the body is not just about fun and being attractive and welcoming. Evangelistic people have a heart to welcome people, but they know the welcome should have the purpose of bringing people into Christ’s presence. They are passionate about this goal, but they also know they must bridge the huge gap that exists between ekklesia and the prevailing culture of the society beyond (and often it seems beyond the reach of) the church. But they also know that their particular gift can reach across that divide far more easily than the rest of us might think. Because the first step in reaching a person is to become a trusted friend.

The evangelist is propelled forward by a desire to see people come to know and trust Jesus and every opportunity to communicate the truth spurs them on. The evangelist may become impatient with slow processes and tend to be stronger at drawing in new believers than they are at discipling or teaching, those processes are not where their strengths lie.

In conclusion

One of the take-home messages from this article on the gift of evangelist is that we need to lighten up in church life and activity. We need a reputation of being the best and most sought after place and community in town! If this is not the way of things you may be lacking the gift of one or more evangelists. They’re there among you, but perhaps they’re regarded as lightweights, not learned enough, not Bible scholars or great preachers, not serious. Yet one of the reasons ordinary people avoid church is that it seems to be far too serious, dull, boring, a place for serious, dull, boring people. If this is how people see your church (or your small group), maybe you need to find the evangelists and apologise for suppressing them. Instead, invite them to lead a meeting or two, ask them to show you how you, too, could lighten up a bit. And if visitors are among you, for whatever reason, give the evangelists a bit of freedom.

This may not be the easiest of messages to hear, particularly because it is so rarely expressed or understood. Church was never meant to be a dull, hushed and deadly serious endeavour. Party food smells a great deal better and more exciting than the polish on Victorian church pews!

See also:

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You might also like:

JDMC study guide
Groups and group size
Jargon and the Holy Spirit

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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

See and hear with a prophet

Gratitude demands taking hold of whatever is being offered, unwrapping it, and finding out what it is for and how it works. It also involves actually trying it out, taking it for test runs, expressing it, seeing how others react to it.

An empty property

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6 – activating church

An empty property (Click images to enlarge)

We considered the gift of an apostle last time, so now we’ll look at the gift of a prophet. And let’s be clear, once again I’m not writing about an individual person here, we’re going to focus on the gift itself – what it looks like, how it arises, how it affects a person who is expressing it, and how the rest of us can relate to it, support it, and, as an expression of church, benefit from it. Next time we’ll take a look at the gift of evangelist in the same way.

Making it real

As with each of the service gifts, let’s begin by reminding ourselves that we all have this gift to some degree. You cannot be like Jesus without having some level of the prophetic. Some will have a high level of this gift, some may have it at a relatively minor level. And in all of us it will exist alongside various mixtures of the other four APEST gifts. But whatever the level – low, medium or high – the source remains the same, it always springs from the nature and heart of Christ himself. He provides all of the gifts as he thinks fit. Make this real for yourself, personally. Jesus has carefully chosen and bestowed these five gifts on you in whatever proportions will enable you to play your part in his ekklesia, his called and appointed community. He is special, but he has made you special too; whatever happens in your life, never forget that.

Remember that a gift requires activity from both the giver and the receiver. A gift that is offered but not taken is no gift at all; it never fulfils it’s purpose. Gratitude demands taking hold of whatever is being offered, unwrapping it, and finding out what it is for and how it works. It also involves actually trying it out, taking it for test runs, expressing it, seeing how others react to it. And to properly receive it you should also hug the giver, tell them how much you love their thoughtful gift and tell them how much you love them, the giver, too. That’s not a big ask when Jesus is the giver!

Seeing and hearing are words we focus on when we think of the gift of a prophet. But these words can easily mislead us as they have to do with eyes and ears whereas the prophetic gift is much more to do with spiritual awareness. Because of this it might help to think in terms of prophets communicating Papa’s thoughts and nature to anyone who will listen. Sometimes that’s about Father’s character, sometimes it’s about his heart or his will, or his purpose. It might sometimes involve a message from him to the church, to a particular person, or to the world in general. Prophecy tends to be declaratory. Because they are in touch with the heart of the Father, prophets are often very sensitive to wrong attitudes; things that he hates will be things the prophet also detests.

A demanding and uncomfortable gift

Prophets are highly sensitive to and outspoken about unjust behaviour, unjust words, unkindness and untruthfulness. They always point up to the Father too, to his character and nature and presence. They declare peace and long to see brothers and sisters living in peace. They want all people to be at peace with the Father in heaven and with one another. Prophets can make people feel uncomfortable, too much truth can be hard to assimilate and difficult to deal with. A prophetic person may seem to be over-demanding, pointing church towards Jesus too firmly, insisting on change right now. A half-hearted prophet is a contradiction in terms, they want to see change and they want it right away, not tomorrow or next week! So where a prophet is at work, and the hearers pay attention, people should be growing more Christlike in their thoughts and actions towards one another, towards Father, and towards the world. And because Jesus is sacrificial in nature, a growing willingness to be sacrificial will grow in and among the community that is church as well.

We should also think about how the gift of prophet fits with the gift of apostle that we considered before. First apostle, then prophet, wrote Paul. We saw previously that Apostle comes first, not in importance but in sequence, so in what sense does the gift of prophet come next? Well, if an apostle has been at work there will be an excellent foundation laid upon which church may be built. And the prophetic gift helps us build straight and true; standing firmly on the foundation already laid. In the early days of church construction it would be easy to come unstuck, a lot of people might be doing the best they can but without the ability to distinguish between what seems good (but might be unhelpful) and what is truly in line with Father’s vision and purpose. Having a prophet or two acting like plumblines and right-angled set-squares reveals where a wall is not quite vertical or a corner not at ninety degrees. And these details will matter as the structure grows in height and complexity, so prophets do indeed come after apostles though both are of equal (though different) importance and value.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?(1 Corinthians 12:27-30)

Notice that the quote from 1 Corinthians above is different from the list in Ephesians 4 that we looked at in the post on apostles. There’s a reason for that and we’ll investigate it later, but the first two items in the list are the same. Apostles first, then prophets. The paragraph below is copied from the previous part of this series. It bears repeating because it is so important.

Our mistake is to think that these are special roles that most of us are not called to. But the truth is subtly different. All of us have all five of these gifts, but to varying degrees. I might be strong in one and you might be strong in another. Most of us are reasonably strong in one or two, few of us are strong in all five. So what does that imply for his locally gathered people, the ekklesia (church) in a particular place. It implies that any gathered group of believers will have all five of the gifts in differing amounts – we will lack nothing! But it’s the togetherness in the church that ensures we lack nothing. We all need to do our bit.

So let’s get on with the process

Think again about the process of building a house, and how all the building skills and trades are required for success. We need apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to build a local expression of church. And all are present wherever people are meeting regularly with Jesus and hearing his call to go and make disciples, baptise them, and teach them to do everything that’s needed for the next generation. All five are present, but sometimes they are not active. And that’s usually because we don’t provide room for them.

Remember that ‘Church’ on Sunday and ‘Small group’ on another day are both fully ekklesia, they are both communities of people called out and following Jesus. All five of these gifts of service should be fully present and working every day in every size of community. If they are not, something is seriously wrong and we need to rethink our paradigms and change our approach. We are all required to carry out Jesus’ orders in the great commission and we will need all five gifts to be active in order to fully hear that commission, let alone carry it out.

If I’m not expressing something of all these gifts, and if I’m not hearing and seeing them all in others, regularly and often, then I’m either in a deficient environment or I’m not paying proper attention. I need to examine and change either my position or my activity (or both). Assuming apostles and prophets are being heard we now have a straight and true structure of living stones standing firmly and safely on a foundation called Jesus the Messiah. It’s ready for use, it’s fit for purpose, but it’s empty inside. In other words it’s fit and ready for the gift of an evangelist, the third in Paul’s list of the five gifts of service. (Eph 4:11-13)

Why are Paul’s two lists of gifts different?

I mentioned earlier that we’d investigate this puzzle. Since apostle and prophet are the first two in both lists, it hasn’t begun to matter yet, but soon it will. It will help to read Ephesians 4 in its entirety to remind yourself of the context in which Paul mentions these five gifts of service.

Evangelist is next in Paul’s list because the empty structure needs to be filled with people. Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians is about the community after it’s been filled with people, it’s more about the gifts needed to keep things on track, an important list for an ekklesia that seems to have been in danger of derailment followed by a serious crash. Paul compiles a different list because there’s a different need, these are gifts for keeping things going and correcting errors. These people needed the apostolic and the prophetic to straighten and strengthen the existing structure. Then they need teaching, they need a bit of a miracle and they need healing and helping and guidance. Paul wrote his letter to them to provide these very things, but he knows that all the resources needed are right there in the spiritual gifts of the Corinthians themselves too, if only they will stop squabbling and pay proper attention to one another.

Perhaps this is why Paul doesn’t mention the gift of evangelist in the Corinthian list. The ekklesia in Corinth doesn’t need filling with more new believers, it needs straightening out first and it needs recalibrating. It never hurts to ask ourselves the same questions, does our church or our small group need straightening out and/or recalibrating?

A new house

The photo at the top of this article shows an empty house, here it is again. This is a second-hand house as it happens, not a newly built structure. But that doesn’t matter, you don’t need a brand new build to feel the excitement and hope of moving into a new place and converting it to a home where the family can live and love, work and play, eat and drink, and invite visitors.

See also:

I have struggled to find much that I can recommend on the gift of prophet in the church today, there is certainly a good deal of nonsense out there. So instead of some links, here’s a video of Alan Hirsch speaking about the fivefold APEST gifts (including the prophetic gift). Have a listen, see what you think. It’s short, less than five minutes.

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You might also like:

The city on the hill
JDMC study guide
Jargon and the Holy Spirit

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Come on in!

The simplest and cheapest way to travel would have been to walk, and people often did exactly that. For an example look no further than the old story of Dick Whittington.

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Image of the day – 188

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

Click images to enlarge

This photo was taken in Cirencester, peering in through an entrance to a courtyard beyond. If you are familiar with the town, I wonder if you know where this is? *The answer is at the bottom of the post.

There’s an invitation in this photo

That’s why I called it ‘Come right in!’ There seems to be an unspoken welcome here. What appeals to you most in this picture? Is it the warmth of the light? Or perhaps the sparkle of the decorative lights at the far end? Or the open doors beckoning you to enter? In days of yore, this double doorway might have allowed a horse to be brought inside for stabling, feeding, watering and grooming to recover for use the following day. The carriage would have remained on the street outside.

‘Days of yore’, this funny old expression is a poetical way of saying long ago. ‘yore’ is an Old English word closely related to the modern word ‘year’. So the sense is ‘in the days of years ago’. There’s a large garden at the back of the hotel, with a lawn scattered with tables and chairs, a lovely place to eat and drink with friends or family in the summer months. I imagine the horses sometimes being turned out to graze in a grassy field here, what a treat for them!

Shelter for travellers

Travelling on horseback or by horse and carriage was a slow affair, requiring regular stops for meals or to shelter for the night, and that’s why the old routes between towns in Britain are liberally scattered with pubs, inns and hostels. Practically every village of hamlet would have had one and towns would have had many more. They’re not hard to spot, although these days many have been converted to other uses.

It wouldn’t always have been necessary to pay for accommodation, friends or family along or near the route would have made travellers welcome and on dry, warm, summer nights it would have been possible to pull off the main roads and sleep outside or in the carriage. The simplest and cheapest way to travel would have been to walk, and people often did exactly that. For an example look no further than the old story of Dick Whittington. In Roman times there were parallel systems for official/military and public use. Every 30 to 50 km (a day’s journey) there were mansiones or official stops with good accomodation, fresh horses, dining areas, and perhaps even baths. And between these were mutationes, (literally ‘changes’) for a brief stop, a fresh horse, and perhaps some refreshments but without overnight facilities. Non-official, privately run facilities included cauponae and tabernae, some of these were a bit rough and disreputable, some were well appointed with courtyards, kitchens, and decorated dining rooms. Several modern English terms come from these words – mansion, mutation, and tavern are notable.

The Bible is usually regarded as a religious book, but it’s also a good historical source as well. Read the book of Acts, for example, to get a good idea of what travel by land and sea was like 2000 years ago. See for example Acts 28:11-16 where a place near Rome called ‘Three Taverns’ is mentioned (Tres Tabernae).

* It’s the Corinium Hotel in Gloucester Street, once the Corinium Court Hotel.

See also:

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

You might also like:

The old Woolmarket
Castle Street
A grand old house in Cirencester

Travelling with an apostle

We use the word ‘see’ in two very different ways – seeing with our eyes, but also seeing with our understanding. Do you see what I mean? And in that latter sense all believers have ‘seen’ Christ. Jesus himself made this clear to his disciples when he commissioned them in Matthew 28:19–20.

People shopping

5 – activating church

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People shopping (Click images to enlarge)

I’ve been thinking recently about who I am and what I do and I’ve been writing about those themes here on Journeys of heart and mind as you’ll know if you’ve been reading along.

The articles are not particularly about myself, but more about the principles. And if you’ve been reading the blog for quite a long time you probably also know that I’ve written in the past about the so-called APEST gifts – apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, and teacher. These are not so much gifts to particular people, they are better described as gifts of people to the church. And in that sense I feel it’s high time I tried to convey more fully to my readers the nature of these gifts and the people who carry them and use them in the work of building and sustaining church life. As the church has aged over the 2000 years since Jesus was leading his disciples around Galilee and Judea, much has changed. Some of the original nature of church has been lost through a process of the encrustation of traditions and the discovery of ‘better’ ways of doing things. The APEST gifts have been one of the greatest of those losses.

We can’t do without these gifts, church doesn’t function well without them, yet most of the people who consider themselves to be part of church don’t understand them, don’t recognise them when they’re active and don’t value them. How can we value something we don’t understand?

So I’m going to attempt a pen portrait of each of these gifts, starting with apostle. And let’s be clear, I’m not proposing to write about an individual person here, I plan to write about the gift itself – what it looks like, how it arises, how it affects a person who is expressing it, and how the rest of us can relate to it, support it, and, as an expression of church, benefit from it. And next time we’ll take a look at the gift of prophet in the same way.

I used the ChatGPT AI to collect and organise some background information before writing this article. You can see the information it provided if you wish.

AI can do some great spadework, but it can’t think or make judgements, and it cannot respond to the Holy Spirit, so now we need to draw our own conclusions. I’ll explain what I think, and why.

First we need to give some thought to the difference, already mentioned, between the thinking, judging and responding to the Spirit that’s unavailable to AI. Also, AI has no experience of what it’s like to be in a church environment. Paul said that the gifts of people to the church involve first apostles, then prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

In particular, let’s consider the idea that an apostle is someone who has seen the risen Christ, been directly commissioned by him and is sent to found and oversee communities. Does this allow for people in our generation to be apostles?

The answer to that, in turn, depends on what we mean by ‘seen the risen Christ’. We use the word ‘see’ in two very different ways – seeing with our eyes, but also seeing with our understanding. Do you see what I mean? And in that latter sense all believers have ‘seen’ Christ. Jesus himself made this clear to his disciples when he commissioned them. We are to do what the original twelve were told to do.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19–20)

Notice particularly that Jesus says ‘teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’. The word ‘everything’ here includes going, making disciples, baptising them and teaching them to do everything I commanded you’. This is a down the generations command, we can’t escape, we shouldn’t want to escape, this is Jesus’ command to us, to you, to me.

So are we all apostles? The shocking answer is yes, we should all be prepared to be apostles.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Our mistake is to think that these are special roles that most of us are not called to. But the truth is subtly different. All of us have all five of these gifts, but to varying degrees. I might be strong in one and you might be strong in another. Most of us are reasonably strong in one or two, few of us are strong in all five. So what does that imply for his locally gathered people, the ekklesia (church) in a particular place. It implies that any gathered group of believers will have all five of the gifts in differing amounts – we will lack nothing! But it’s the togetherness in the church that ensures we lack nothing. We all need to do our bit.

Why does Paul say first apostles – most important perhaps? No, we are all important. Think about the process of building a house. First you need the skills and knowledge of foundation makers, then you need bricklayers, next roofers for the roof structure and then tilers to make the roof water tight. Then double-glazing people for the windows and external doors, carpenters to fit internal doors and partitions, kitchen fitters, plumbers, electricians and so on. Which of those are most important? The foundation layers?

No! You need them all to build a house, And in the same way you need apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to build a local expression of church. And all are present wherever people are meeting regularly with Jesus and hearing his call to go and make disciples, baptise them, and teach them to do everything that’s needed for the next generation. All five are present, but sometimes they are not active.

What does an apostle look like?

Don’t expect apostolic people to look different from anyone else; to identify the apostolic person you need to watch what they do and what drives them. Apostles are all-rounders, and for very good reason. Because they are driven to go out they need to have some level of competence at all five of the gifts of service. Until a new community of Jesus followers has been formed the other gifts will not be available, so as the one who goes out and teaches people to follow Jesus, the apostle has to provide a bit of prophecy, evangelism, shepherding and teaching. You can see this clearly in Paul’s life. As you read through Acts, Paul stops in one new town after another, acting in all these ways. But one of the things he is doing is noticing the gifts in other people and encouraging them to start using those gifts for themselves.

One identifying feature of apostolic people is that they go out, start something in one place, then go out again and start somewhere else. They have very itchy feet! And that’s usually because we don’t provide room for them. They build churches, then move on. They’re not interested in making the house cosy and comfortable, they don’t bother with carpets or furniture, the newly built house (or church) has inhabitants who will do all of that. So you could say an apostle is about structure, nor decor. But because good structure is important to them they’ll often come back for visits, to check things are still on track. Paul did that a lot.

Aiding and encouraging apostles

These people need support, sometimes in terms of money or practical help, and definitely in terms of encouragement. It’s good to ask them where they have been, who they’ve been meeting with, and what they plan to do next.

Listening to apostles

They’re here to help you grapple with problems concerning church structure and difficulties that may arise. Apostolic people can be very forthright in pointing out issues a local church may not have noticed, consider how Paul intervened when widows or orphans were not getting the help they needed or when he saw people gossiping or not focusing on things in the right way. Apostles tend to be sensitive to things that are not quite right, sometimes they may seem a little rude or pushy, but hear them out and take what they say seriously.

People shopping (Click images to enlarge)

The photo at the top of this article shows shoppers in Western-super-Mare, here it is again; few of these people are followers of Jesus Christ, most of them are unaware of him or follow other faiths. Many are too busy to talk. What are we doing to reach them or engage them? We need to find effective, apostolic ways to do it – try the links below for some ideas.

See also:

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You might also like:

The city on the hill
JDMC study guide

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

ChatGPT on the word ‘apostle’

To provide some basic background for my article ‘Travelling with an apostle‘, I used the AI tool ChatGPT. In case you’re interested here’s the prompt I used (in blue) and the result returned by the AI. I then wrote my article, not based on the ChatGPT output, but informed by it. It’s easy to use to research any topic and can be a big time saver.

To try it yourself just visit chatgpt.com, it’ll open in a new tab.

My Prompt:

Explain what is meant by the word ‘apostle’ and how the meaning or interpretation may have changed over time.

ChatGPT’s response:

The word “apostle” comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος (apostolos), and its meaning has both a linguistic history and a history of interpretation shaped by theology and church practice.

1. Original Greek meaning

In classical Greek, apostolos meant “one who is sent out” — a messenger, envoy, or delegate. It derives from the verb ἀποστέλλω (apostellō), meaning to send off or to dispatch. The term could be used in secular contexts for:

  • a naval expedition or fleet
  • an official envoy or ambassador
  • a commissioned representative sent with authority

The key idea was authorized sending — someone acting on behalf of another.

2. Use in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the word takes on a more specific religious meaning.

a. The Twelve Apostles

Most prominently, it refers to the Twelve chosen by Jesus (e.g., Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13). Here, an apostle is:

  • personally chosen by Jesus
  • commissioned to preach and teach
  • given authority to act in his name

In this sense, “apostle” becomes almost a technical title. The Twelve symbolize the restoration of the twelve tribes of Israel and serve as foundational witnesses to Jesus’ ministry and resurrection.

b. A broader missionary sense

The New Testament also uses apostolos more broadly. Figures like Paul, Barnabas, and possibly Junia (Romans 16:7) are called apostles. Paul emphasizes that his apostleship comes from being sent by Christ, not from human appointment (Galatians 1:1).

Here the meaning expands to:

A commissioned messenger of Christ sent to establish and guide communities.

This sense highlights mission and authority, not just membership in the Twelve.

3. Early Christian development

As Christianity spread, the term evolved further.

a. Apostles as foundational witnesses

By the late 1st and 2nd centuries, “apostle” increasingly referred to the original generation of eyewitnesses to Jesus. Apostolic authority became linked to:

  • authentic teaching
  • continuity with the original witnesses
  • the foundation of the church

This gave rise to the idea of apostolic tradition and later apostolic succession — the belief that church leaders inherit authority through an historical chain tracing back to the apostles.

b. Narrowing of the term

Over time, many Christian traditions restricted the title to the earliest figures. In much of Catholic, Orthodox, and traditional Protestant theology:

  • the apostles are a unique, unrepeatable group
  • their authority is foundational rather than ongoing in the same form

4. Later and modern interpretations

a. Missionary and honorary usage

In later centuries, “apostle” was sometimes used honorifically, such as:

  • “Apostle to the Gentiles” (Paul)
  • “Apostle to Ireland” (St. Patrick)
  • “Apostle of Germany” (St. Boniface)

Here it means an exceptionally influential missionary, not a member of the original apostolic circle.

b. Contemporary Christian movements

Some modern Christian groups, especially in charismatic and restorationist movements, use “apostle” for contemporary leaders who are seen as:

  • church planters
  • spiritual overseers
  • pioneers of new ministries

This reflects a return to the broader New Testament sense of sent ones, though it is debated among Christians. Many denominations reject applying the title to modern figures, arguing that apostolic authority was unique to the early church.

5. Summary of the shift in meaning

Across time, the meaning of apostle has moved through several stages:

  1. Classical Greek: a commissioned envoy or messenger
  2. New Testament (narrow): the Twelve chosen by Jesus
  3. New Testament (broad): missionaries sent with Christ’s authority
  4. Early church: foundational eyewitnesses and guarantors of tradition
  5. Later usage: honorary title for great missionaries
  6. Modern movements: active leadership office in some churches

The constant thread is authorized sending, but the scope of who qualifies — and what authority they carry — has been interpreted differently depending on historical and theological context.

If you like, I can compare how different Christian traditions (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and charismatic) specifically understand apostles today, or look more closely at how Paul defended his apostleship.