There are to be no debts amongst us, not only because we pay them off but because we forgive them. When I lack the means to pay I become dependent on your willingness to forgive. Jesus is our example in this. He is the ultimate debt payer and forgiver.
Money
This is a copy of an article I wrote back in October 2012, you can still see the original if you like.
Money (click images to enlarge)
We’re going to see how much we can draw from a single occurrence of the phrase ‘one another’. I think Romans 13:8 is the particular example I should take.
Here it is in context, verse eight is picked out in the centre…
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.
8 – Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
There’s a wider context too, that we need to bear in mind. Paul first writes about civil government, making it clear that goverments are there because the One who is Authority puts them there. They have a function and a purpose, we must submit to them.
Then come the verses above.
And finally Paul writes that time is short, we need to act now while we still can. Jesus is returning – soon! We need to be found ready and obedient and already covered by him. Romans 13 is relevant in its entirety. We should read this chapter often and let it sink deep into our hearts and minds!
But in verse eight, Paul makes three statements.
Don’t let any debt remain.
Continue to love one another
This fulfils the Law
What does he mean? He is not simply saying that I should pay off any debts I owe. He is saying that I should allow no debt to stand. He is saying I should pay my own debts but I should also, if necessary, pay yours. The important thing about debt is that it is paid, the effect is the same no matter who pays.
Jesus paid my debt so if I want to be like him I will pay yours. And Paul is not writing merely about money, he has just explicitly used the words respect and honour as well. These things apply to one another as much as (or more than) they do to governments.
There are to be no debts amongst us, not only because we pay them off but because we forgive them. When I lack the means to pay I become dependent on your willingness to forgive. Jesus is our example in this. He is the ultimate debt payer and forgiver. We are called to be like him in our dealings with one another.
Will I pay my monetary debt to you? Will I forgive your debt of money to me? But also (and often harder) will I pay the respect and honour I owe to you? And will I forgive you if you disrespect and dishonour me? This is the nitty-gritty of not allowing any debt to remain.
If I continue to love you I will indeed pay and forgive in all situations where debt might remain. Love will cause me, compel me to cover every kind of debt. If not, do I have love at all?
And it goes further yet! Paul writes that there is one debt that should stand, the ‘continuing debt to love one another’. Love is not just for today but also for tomorrow and for tomorrow’s tomorrow. I owe you love and that is a debt I cannot pay off. Love goes forward without ceasing. ‘Faith, hope and love remain’, writes Paul, ‘And the greatest of these is love’. Love remains, even in the kingdom of heaven, especially in the kingdom of heaven.
So, just as love is the fulfilment of Torah, so love is the fulfilment of civil law and indeed every kind of law. If I truly love I will not be able to commit any sin at all. The fact that sin remains is just a clear sign that love is not yet complete in me.
Let’s go forward in our lives understanding that love remains and is greater than anything else. And let’s remember who ‘one another’ means. It’s not limited to the church.
Jesus made it pretty inclusive. What begins with brothers and sisters becomes all encompassing. Love the Father, love one another, love your neighbour, love your enemy. My love is to extend out and become fully inclusive, not in any way for club members only. ‘One another’ is just a starting point, the nursery slopes of loving.
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Since Jesus is the best example of all five APEST gifts, it makes good sense to look to him for guidance in using them. I’d say read the gospels and notice the things he did and the things he said. Pay particular attention to the way people responded and try to work out in each case which of the five gifts were active.
APEST (Diagram from What is APEST) – Click images to enlarge
Having looked at each of the gifts of service individually, we’ll check them one by one to see if we can find them active in the life of Yahshua (Jesus). Does Jesus himself demonstrate these gifts, and if so how? Let’s also bear in mind that if he worked through these special gifts 2000 years ago, we can be quite confident that he still does today. His character doesn’t change; he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Each section begins with an Alan Hirsch quote which we then examine in the light of the character and nature of Christ himself. But before we do that, I want you to understand that all these gifts are equally important and equally valuable. There’s no hierarchy here, though there is a sequence. Apostles prepare the ground for prophets, who prepare the ground for evangelists, who prepare the ground for shepherds, who finally prepare the ground for teachers. At this point, the young gathering (or church) will be ready to begin sending out apostles and the cycle repeats.
You’ll find the quotes on Alan’s What is APEST? page. The tests are not expensive and I recommend them for both leaders and anyone with an interest in the topic.
Apostle
APOSTLES extend the gospel. As the “sent ones,” they ensure that the faith is transmitted from one context to another and from one generation to the next. They are always thinking about the future, bridging barriers, establishing the church in new contexts, developing leaders, networking trans-locally. Yes, if you focus solely on initiating new ideas and rapid expansion, you can leave people and organizations wounded. The shepherding and teaching functions are needed to ensure people are cared for rather than simply used.
Is Jesus an Apostle? He did not merely extend the gospel; he originated it! Was he a ‘sent one’? He was and remains the Sent One, bringing faith and truth from the presence of the Father sharing it freely here in the physical realm of Earth. If that is not transmitting faith from one context to another, I don’t know what is! Did he think about the future and bridge barriers? Just think of the old picture of Jesus as a bridge or plank crossing the gap between heaven and earth.
Did he establish the church? (I will build my church). He developed leaders (his disciples) and he networked trans-locally (the Samaritan woman at the well, healing the Centurion’s servant, raising Jairus’ daughter, calling Lazarus out from the tomb, and discussing truth with the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilatus). It would be really hard to argue that Jesus is not apostolic!
Prophet
PROPHETS know God’s will. They are particularly attuned to God and his truth for today. They bring correction and challenge the dominant assumptions we inherit from the culture. They insist that the community obey what God has commanded. They question the status quo. Without the other types of leaders in place, prophets can become belligerent activists or, paradoxically, disengage from the imperfection of reality and become other-worldly.
So, is Jesus also a prophet? Most certainly! Does he know the will of the Father? Way better than anyone else in history (you’d better believe it.) Is he particularly attuned to Yahweh and his truth for today? Most emphatically! Does he bring correction and challenge the dominant assumptions of his culture and of our own? He insisted (and still insists) that we obey what the Father commands. When did he not challenge the status quo? Certainly he does these things fully, wholeheartedly, and tirelessly. Jesus is, indeed, the greatest prophet of all time – by far.
Towards the end of his ministry, Jesus is clear that the temple will be destroyed and he foretells the misery and horror of those days, this done privately, just speaking with the disciples, but when these events unfolded in 70 AD under the Roman commander Titus they would have remembered his description and would have been confirmed and encouraged that he had the same prophetic spirit as the old testament prophets themselves. (Luke 21)
And Jesus had the same upward connection to the mind of the Father as well as the horizontal concerns about justice in the world that the old testament prophets regularly displayed.
Evangelist
EVANGELISTS recruit. These infectious communicators of the gospel message recruit others to the cause. They call for a personal response to God’s redemption in Christ, and also draw believers to engage the wider mission, growing the church. Evangelists can be so focused on reaching those outside the church that maturing and strengthening those inside is neglected.
Jesus is a recruiter par excellence. He called and worked intensely with a small group of close followers, he spoke to multitudes, but closely taught just a few. He is the evangelist, calling for a personal response from many individuals and not merely growing the church, but founding it in every sense worth considering. If you want to know what an evangelist is like, check out Jesus!
By the time Jesus teaching was complete and the time came for his death, resurrection, and a return to the Father’s presence, his disciples had understood him clearly and fully enough that the four gospel accounts could be written from what had lodged in their memories. They may not agree in every detail or always have precisely the same sequence, but that makes the four accounts more real and no less believable.
Shepherd
SHEPHERDS nurture and protect. Caregivers of the community, they focus on the protection and spiritual maturity of God’s flock, cultivating a loving and spiritually mature network of relationships, making and developing disciples. Shepherds can value stability to the detriment of the mission. They may also foster an unhealthy dependence between the church and themselves.
In what sense is Jesus a shepherd? He’s rightly described as ‘the great Shepherd of the sheep’. He is strong on nurturing and protecting; that was true as he moved among the people in first century Israel, Galilee and Samaria, healing the sick, feeding hungry crowds with abundant fish and bread from almost nothing (making very little stretch a very, very long way). He cared about wine running short at a wedding. He was the greatest of caregivers for his community.
He protected his followers, shielding them by giving everything he had, even his life. And he taught them to bring them to spiritual maturity so that after he returned to the Father, they’d be able to carry on his work once they had received his Spirit from above.
Jesus had a wide network of followers well beyond the eleven men that he closely trained. There were so many that he touched and discipled amongst Samaritans, Romans, Greeks, even members of the Sanhedrin. He valued stability, but not to the detriment of his mission.
Teacher
TEACHERS understand and explain. Communicators of God’s truth and wisdom, they help others remain biblically grounded to better discern God’s will, guiding others toward wisdom, helping the community remain faithful to Christ’s word, and constructing a transferable doctrine. Without the input of the other functions, teachers can fall into dogmatism or dry intellectualism. They may fail to see the personal or missional aspects of the church’s ministry.
And it’s not just a matter of explaining things more clearly or studying the meaning of Hebrew or Greek terms. It’s much more helping people through those ‘I just don’t get it’ moments until they suddenly cry out, ‘Oh, now I see!’ The teaching gift sparks revelation. It’s very clear in the gospels that his disciples had these moments of revelation, over and over again as Jesus taught them. He understood the truth and he understood their difficulties in grasping it. He communicated truth and wisdom more fully than anyone else could ever do. He is the teacher of teachers – quite literally. He did it by explaining, by asking difficult questions, by highlighting mistakes as they occurred, and by telling good stories. He also taught without words, by setting good examples.
Jesus taught his disciples, but he also taught the crowds. Here too his teaching went way beyond words and ideas, often he’d share a parable like the Good Samaritan that reached directly into minds where words alone failed to penetrate. This kind of teaching gift cuts through misconceptions and breaks into parts of our being that seem to be based somewhere other than the grey matter in our brains. There are facts and there is understanding; they’re two different things. Jesus cared deeply about both.
And when the wealthy, or the Pharisees, or the Temple priests needed a bit more than a word to pitch them over the edge from not comprehending to fully understanding, Jesus would show them what the Father’s heart was like – ‘Don’t stand on street corners praying where everyone can see you, go quietly into your own room where only the Father sees you and pray there.’ And sometimes there’d be a spark of comprehension. It might only be one person amongst a group of proud scoffers, but it’s so worth it when even one person sees the light and understands a previously hidden truth for the first time.
In the round
Since Jesus is the best example of all five APEST gifts, it makes good sense to look to him for guidance in using them. I’d say read the gospels and notice the things he did and the things he said. Pay particular attention to the way people responded and try to work out in each case which of the five gifts were active, sometimes it may be more than one. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes harder to discern.
You’ll see the gifts working (and described) in the New Testament letters as well, look out for them there as well.
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Jesus taught his disciples, but he also taught the crowds. Sometimes his teaching went way beyond words and ideas, often he’d share a parable like the Good Samaritan that reached directly into minds where words alone failed to penetrate.
Students and teacher (Wikimedia) -Click images to enlarge
The final APEST gift we need to consider is the gift of teacher. Just like the other gifts, the teaching gift is there for the building of the church, does not act in a controlling way, but is a life-bringing and helping function in the life of the church and the individual parts of it.
Where a teaching gift is active there will be a clarifying service at work. Confusion and misunderstandings will be swept aside. Decades, even centuries and millenia of mistakes and misunderstandings will be exposed and brought out for fresh examination. Teachers cannot sit still or take a back seat where they detect error of any kind.
What is the most fundamental definition of a teacher? It must be something along the lines of:
A teacher is a person who helps younger or less experienced people to grasp and excel in an idea or a process that they have not previously met or mastered.
The photo at the head of this post, and my words in italic above may make you feel the teaching gift is about extending knowledge. But that’s not quite what the gift of teaching is all about. The distinction is critically important so read this carefully… The spiritual gift of teaching has little to do with imparting knowledge, it has everything to do with growing character.
I just don’t get it!
And it’s not just a matter of explaining things more clearly or studying the meaning of Hebrew or Greek terms. It’s much more helping people through those ‘I just don’t get it’ moments until they suddenly cry out, ‘Oh, now I see!’ The teaching gift sparks revelation. Hold on to that thought as you continue reading.
Jesus taught his disciples, but he also taught the crowds. Sometimes his teaching went way beyond words and ideas, often he’d share a parable like the Good Samaritan that reached directly into minds where words alone failed to penetrate. This kind of teaching gift cuts through misconceptions and breaks into parts of our being that seem to be based somewhere other than the grey matter in our brains. Often, we express this as heart even though that’s biologically incorrect. But our languages are full of heart-based expressions – heartfelt, avoir le cœur sur la main, heart-stopping moment, sich ein herz fassen, good hearted or a heartless act. There are facts and there is understanding; they’re two different things, we tend to think of facts being in our heads and understanding being in our hearts.
When the wealthy, or the Pharisees, or the Temple priests needed a bit more than a word to pitch them over the edge from not comprehending to fully understanding, Jesus would show them what the Father’s heart was like – ‘Don’t stand on street corners praying where everyone can see you, go quietly into your own room where only the Father sees you and pray there.’ And sometimes there’d be a spark of comprehension. It might only be one person amongst a group of proud scoffers, but it’s so worth it when even one person sees the light and understands a previously hidden truth for the first time.
As always, community really matters
It’s still like that in the church today. There are many who don’t see the truth but now and then a light comes on for someone – Ding! Anyone with a teaching gift loves it when that happens. Understanding is like a staircase, each step makes the next one possible when the right time comes. The teaching gift enables the teacher to recognise that right moment and drop in the necessary grain of truth so that it makes a deep and long-lasting difference.
Look again at the photo at the top of this article, these are not strangers interacting, they are people who know one another, a teacher and his pupils, they care about one another, they are engaged in conversation, they are happy and comfortable together, the entire class is a kind of community. In the church environment we should all be learning from one another every time we meet. Some people have a gift for making things clear. Make sure you encourage them as much as possible.
Building the body of Christ
Jesus told his followers, ‘I will build my church’. He doesn’t want you and me to build it, but he does pour out gifts upon us so that we, together, can contribute something essential and useful. There’s an abundance of brotherly/sisterly love amongst us when we all pool our different gifts. And that in itself is a secret that has been lost during church history. We need to fully grasp that secret – we all have gifts and we do far better when we share them, recognising them in one another and encouraging one another by saying what we see. This will never happen if we keep thinking only in terms of individual people and individual gifts. We, together, are the body of Christ.
Don’t think in terms of a tyre here and a seat there. A gear lever and a rear view mirror. Understand that thinking about a car is very different from merely thinking about the different parts of a car. You can travel quickly over long distances if you have a car, but if you have only a tyre and a seat you’ll go nowhere. Building a car means recognising the pieces and putting them together in right relationship. Building community and church needs exactly the same skills and understanding.
A big mistake
There is one big mistake frequently made in mainstream churches today, OK, there are many mistakes made, but I want to highlight this one in particular because it’s very widespread and very harmful. It’s also an easy and natural mistake to make.
Many well-intentioned teachers don’t teach Jesus, instead they teach the Bible. Jesus is very much present throughout the Old and New Testaments. But teaching people to memorise or study verses may do little to help them grow in character or grace. Instead we need to bring Jesus himself into one another’s hearts and minds and be changed by his presence. We need to grow in love and in joyfulness, we need to be rooted in his peace, reflect his patience and great kindness and goodness, become faithful as he is faithful and develop the kind of self-control that never criticises and never directs anger or disappointment at the brothers and sisters.
We simply cannot be built on the foundation of Christ unless we come to know him well, so we’re not looking for technical knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, or deep Bible studies. Instead we need to know Jesus as our dependable, older brother, to recognise that he is always present and how to help one another find him again when we lose sight of him. We need to learn that the fruit of the Spirit is more fundamental than the gifts of the same Spirit, but that we need both to function as Jesus fully intends his church to do. ‘I will build my church’.
That’s it for this part of the series. Next time we’ll consider Jesus, the source of these gifts of service. Can we see all five APEST gifts at work in him? What can we learn from him in this regard?
See also:
I wanted to provide links or articles about the topic, just as I do in most of my posts, I looked at a load of stuff but nothing seemed to jump out for me, I didn’t hear Jesus whispering, ‘Yes, put that item in’. In the end I felt there were two videos I should include. Neither of them is specifically about the gift of teaching (though they both mention this gift in passing. Both of them are about the five APEST gifts as a whole. They are both interviews. Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole have both pretty much dedicated themselves to studying , teaching, and writing about APEST. My feeling is that I should link to these two interviews, so here they are.
I’ve met and spoken briefly with both Alan and Neil, and and I’ve heard them both speak in meetings several times. And I trust them to reveal something useful to you, so have a listen.
APEST, Interview with Alan Hirsch – YouTube (Follow Baptist Church)
APEST, Interview with Neil Cole – YouTube (Cynthia Anderson)
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No gardener would know her name, and in that moment she recognises his voice. She cries out ‘Rabboni!’ (‘Teacher!’) and reaches to grab him, perhaps just an arm, more likely a full hug. Her misery and grief fall away immediately, replaced by astonishment and joy. But Yahshua says, ‘Don’t hang onto me because I have not yet gone up to the Father.’
Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)
10:1-10 – It’s now the day after the Sabbath, and the normal work of the week could begin. But this was not a normal week. Jesus’ disciples, family and friends would have been subdued, grieving, and wondering how things could have gone so wrong, so suddenly. But there were still practicalities to be dealt with and today was the first day when those tasks could be done.
Early, well before sunrise (Sabbath had ended at sunset the day before) Maryam Magdalitha (Mary or Miriam Magdalene) walked to the grave where they had laid Yahshua’s (Jesus’) body, wrapped in strips of cloth with a separate piece of linen for his head. The first thing Maryam noticed, probably from some distance away, was that the heavy stone that closed the grave had been rolled away to one side. Panicking, she didn’t go any closer but must have been horrified; turning round she ran back to Shimon Kepha (Simon Peter) and Johanan (John) and told them the conclusion she must have jumped to, that someone had removed the body and she didn’t know where they’d taken him.
Shimon and Johanan set out running to the tomb and Maryam was right behind them. Johanan ran fastest and bent over and looked in through the low opening and saw the linen strips inside, but didn’t go in. Then Kepha arrived and just went straight into the tomb; he saw the linen strips as well, and also the head cloth. Then Johanan went inside the tomb, saw the same things, and believed.
What’s the significance of this? The author, very likely Johanan himself, explains in verse 9 that they didn’t understand from the Bible that Yashua had to rise again from death. This is not surprising. The Bible mentioned here is what we call ‘The Old Testament’. It was the Hebrew Bible or a Greek translation of it, and the passages that suggested the Son would die and rise again are scattered around in the books of various prophets, the Psalms and elsewhere and are always straightforward (though more so in hindsight). The opportunity for hindsight was only now beginning to open. Yahshua had explained some of this to them. Johanan, who was a close friend of Yahshua and a deep thinker had seen him die and now made the mental leap to understanding that for Yahshua death was a temporary affair. He’d said he’d return from death, and he wasn’t here in the grave anymore, somehow he was alive again! Johanan got it immediately. Kepha, a more down-to-earth and practical person did not, at least, not just yet. The two of them didn’t seem to worry about Maryam in her distress, but no doubt deeply distracted themselves, turned back to the city and the place where they were staying.
10:11-18 – Maryam, still crying in grief, now finally looked inside the tomb herself and saw two people, one sitting where Yahshua’s head had rested and the other at his feet. Seeing the tears rolling down Maryam’s cheeks they asked her why she was crying. The use of the word ‘woman’ here seems to us rather strange, perhaps unkind, perhaps distant and rather aloof. But it was a normal way to address a woman at that time, much as we might still say to a man, ‘What’s the matter, man?’, ‘What’s up, chap?’ or ‘You OK, mate?’ or just ‘What’s the problem? So let’s translate this the way we might say it today. Think in terms of these two angels saying, ‘Why are you crying?’ or ‘Why are you crying, Lady?’ And she tells them, through her sobs, ‘They’ve taken the Master away and I have no idea where they’ve put him.’
Turning round, she saw a figure standing outside the tomb. We know the tomb entrance is low so she’s unlikely to see the person’s face until she is outside, and with tears in her eyes she may not be seeing anything very clearly.
In fact, it’s Yahshua, and he also asks, ‘Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’ She assumes it’s the gardener who perhaps looks after the nearby olive trees and asks him, ‘If you’ve moved him – tell me where he is and I’ll go and get him’.
Yahshua, seeing how confused she is, says only one word. He appreciates how blurred her vision is so he simply speaks her name.
‘Maryam’.
No gardener would know her name, and in that moment she recognises his voice. She cries out ‘Rabboni!’ (‘Teacher!’) and reaches to grab him, perhaps just an arm, more likely a full hug. Her misery and grief fall away immediately, replaced by astonishment and joy. But Yahshua says, ‘Don’t hang onto me because I have not yet gone up to the Father. Instead, go now to my brothers and tell them that I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my Elohim (Gods) and your Elohim’. And right away, off she went to tell them.
Why did I write ‘Gods’ in the previous paragraph, not ‘God’? Because ‘Elohim’ is a plural form in Hebrew, the singular is ‘El’ or ‘Eloah’. Plurals are sometimes used to stress importance and power, Queen Victoria used ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ – ‘We are not amused’ instead of ‘I’m not amused’ In the Hebrew Bible ‘Elohim’ is a plural noun but when referring to the Almighty it takes singular verbs, As if Queen Victoria had said, ‘We am not amused’. In Aramaic it is ‘Elah’ or ‘Alaha’ allied to the Arabic ‘Allah’. We shouldn’t miss the significance of this, there’s a hint of threeness here. The Father and the Spirit are ‘up there somewhere’ while Yahshua is still ‘down here’. He plans to return to be with them, and later he will send the Spirit to come to live in and among his followers. Two thousand years later, the Spirit is still here in and among Yahshua’s followers. The Spirit is entirely capable of being ‘up there’ and ‘down here’ simultaneously.
And why did he tell Maryam not to cling to him? Perhaps he’s simply saying that the most urgent thing for him now is to get back to be fully in his Father’s presence because only then can he send the Spirit, someone they need in them as soon as possible. In a hostile and confusing world any delay in the coming of the Spirit will leave the disciples vulnerable and without direction. Maryam can help by taking the news that Yahshua is alive back to them right away. Clinging to Jesus is natural but only benefits one person while leaving the many feeling lost, distressed and confused. I think Maryam understood this right away because she heads back to the city immediately without another word.
It’s also significant that Yahshua appeared to a woman before he appeared to any of the men he’d been teaching for three years. In Jewish tradition scribes taught village boys to read and memorise the Old Testament Law. Girls were not taught these things. And Rabbis (Teachers) would take men as disciples, but not women. Yahshua broke tradition by teaching both men and women, and he now chooses to appear to a woman first. This is a lesson that church understood at the beginning, but forgot for 1900 years and has begun to relearn very slowly over the last seventy or eighty years.
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They took down the body and followed the Jewish practice of spice embalming and wrapping it in linen strips. Very short of time before sunset, they found a newly-carved tomb nearby and laid the body there, Matthew’s Gospel suggests it was Yusuf’s own tomb.
Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)
19:31-37 – Because the following day was Shabta (Aramaic), Shabbat (Hebrew) or the Sabbath (English), it was an important day of rest. Shabta began at sunset on the previous day and ended at sunset too.
19:38-42 – So any tasks that needed to be done on Shabta would have to be completed before sunset the previous day. That’s why the Jewish leaders asked Pilatus to take the bodies down from the crosses before nightfall. Normally, bodies would be left to decay on the crosses and the corpses would be consumed by rats or by birds over the following days and weeks. But if it was necessary to remove them earlier, the Roman custom was to break the legs. It could take up to three days for a healthy, fit individual to die following crucifixion. Because a person on a cross would have to use their legs to lift their body to inhale, soldiers might be ordered to break the legs so the prisoner would be unable to breathe and would die within a few minutes. The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the criminals either side of Yahshua as both were still alive. But a spear in Yahshua’s side proved that he was dead, not just holding his breath and staying very still.
Removing Yahshua from the cross
Yusuf min Arimathea (Joseph of Arimathea) was a secret follower of Yahshua and later, probably by then already late afternoon, he was joined by Naqdimon (Nicodemus), who brought the necessary materials. Both men were members of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious council), both followed Yahshua despite the high risks involved, both would have known and been known by the disciples. They took down the body and followed the Jewish practice of spice embalming and wrapping it in linen strips. Very short of time before sunset, they found a newly-carved tomb nearby and laid the body there, Matthew’s Gospel suggests it was Yusuf’s own tomb.
Like those who had seen Yahshua die, Yusuf and Naqdimon must also have thought that this was the end of everything, that for all his amazing teaching and wisdom, this was the end of the ministry of Yahshua bar Yusuf (Jesus son of Joseph, as people generally believed him to be). They would not have understood yet, despite his teaching, that he was also, and far more significantly, Yahshua bar Yahweh! He was, and would remain, the Son of the Eternal Father.
*This Mormon discussion is interesting as it describes Jewish burial practices in the first century CE in some detail. It’s also downloadable as a PDF.
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Although used by pre-Roman societies, crucifixion was one of the worst experiences the Romans could inflict on a captured enemy, a violent and vicious criminal or a traitor. Remember the reluctance of the scared Roman Governor and the insistent demands of the angry Jewish High Priest that this terrible execution must go ahead.
Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)
19:25-27 – It’s impossible to imagine the horror of death by crucifixion. The shame of hanging naked in front of family, friends and strangers is hard to grasp in a society where nakedness was deemed utterly unacceptable. Add to this the extreme pain of the body’s full weight supported on heavy nails driven through wrists and heel bones (the feet were nailed from the side, one each side of the central wooden post) and the exhausting effort of getting enough air into the lungs – muscles continuously straining (despite the extreme pain) to lift the body enough to breathe. More recent studies suggest that an inability to inhale was not normally the cause of death. Also used by some pre-Roman societies, crucifixion was one of the worst experiences the Romans could inflict on a captured enemy, a violent and vicious criminal or a traitor. Remember the reluctance of the scared Roman Governor and the insistent demands of the angry Jewish High Priest that this terrible execution must go ahead. We discussed those factors last time.
Family
Yahshua’s mother (Mariam), his aunt Mariam and Mariam of Magdala (three Mary’s in total) were there in front of the cross as he suffered, and also one of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, usually thought to be Johanan (John). If that’s correct we’re reading the words of an eyewitness. Yahshua, seeing them there before him and thinking of them more than about himself (as he always did) tells John that from now on his mother is John’s mother and tells her that John is now her son. In this way he is taking care that both of them will be cared for in their sorrow and their longer term needs (both practical and emotional).
The death of Yahshua
Making sure that the Old Testament writings were fulfilled was important and was one way to help people understand that Yahshua was who he claimed to be. It was especially useful as a way of reaching the Jewish teachers of his day. Yahshua was aware of this even as death approached and remained committed to such fulfilment, in this case of Psalm 69:21. So he called out, ‘I’m thirsty’. After drinking from the sponge they held up for him, he said, ‘It’s done’, lowered his head and died.
And the little group of friends, family and followers in front of the cross must have thought this marked the end of his mission, the end of his purpose, and the end of everything. They couldn’t know it yet – but they were so very mistaken.
See also:
Crucifixion (WARNING, graphic and disturbing) – Wikipedia
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Such lofty characters were dangerous and had unexpected powers over ordinary mortals. You did not want to mess with them. The moment he hears that Yahshua might be the son of the Jewish god he becomes seriously scared.
Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)
19:1-7 – The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilatus (Pontius Pilate) perhaps thinking he could get away with a lesser punishment than crucifixion, decided to turn Yahshua (Jesus) over to the Roman troops to be ridiculed and severely beaten. In this he was seriously mistaken, the Jewish authorities were not going to accept anything less than the death penalty. Pilatus twice told them that he could find no cause for any legal charge against Yahshua. There was no breach of Roman law here, but the Jewish religious leaders saw a huge and unsufferable offence against their religious traditions. What was a Roman Governor to do in the face of this? His job was to maintain Roman rule, to put down rebellions, make sure taxes were paid and that peace prevailed in his province.
It’s worth mentioning here that Rome had no problem with local kings and kingdoms. Herod was a king, client tribes and kingdoms throughout the empire were tolerated, even officially encouraged. A claim to be ‘King of the Jews’ or ‘King of Judea’ was not in and of itself an offence against Roman law or government. At the time of Yahshua’s trial and official innocence under Roman law, local kings were widespread in Gaul, in Spain, in Germany and in North Africa and the entirety of what is now Turkey. The Roman Emperor ruled over kings and kingdoms, peace (the Pax Romana) was required everywhere and a Roman Governor in each province was held responsible for keeping that peace. Herod Antipas ruled Samaria, but Judea had no king at this moment. Archelaus had ruled Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea but he’d been deposed by Roman direct rule due to poor government and mismanagement. We can, I think, be sympathetic towards Pilatus, who had to prevent violence and uprisings in his Provinces of Judaea and Samaria. If his verdict of Yahshua’s innocence was going to cause a riot or some kind of violence he would have to make a difficult choice, either calm the protest by crucifying this innocent man who claimed to be the Jewish King, or forcefully put down the growing crowds calling for the death penalty. The Bible passages about these events make his dilemma very clear.
Verse 7 is notable. Romans were religious people with gods of their own and temples in every city. Like the Greeks they had traditions and stories about super powerful men being sons of this or that god. Such lofty characters were dangerous and had unexpected powers over ordinary mortals. You did not want to mess with them. The moment he hears that Yahshua might be the son of the Jewish god he becomes seriously scared. He’s just had the man beaten and mocked.
19:8-16 – In verse 8 he goes back to check, and in verse 12 we’re told he wanted to set Yahshua free. So now Pilatus is afraid of an angry crowd that includes senior Jewish religious leaders, and also terrified that he’s dealing with the son of a powerful god. If he allows a riot to develop he’ll be in trouble with the Emperor, if he executes this man he’ll be in trouble with a god! The only way out is to transfer the responsibility to others; and that’s exactly what he sets out to do.
In the end, the Jewish leaders lie to Pilatus to force him to act. They tell him to his face that he is no friend of Caesar if he allows Yahshua to live since anyone claiming kingship opposes Caesar. As I explained above, this is patently incorrect; there are kings in many if not most Roman provinces, ruling with the local Roman governor on Caesar’s behalf. But the direct threat to Pilatus is being spoken openly and he acts in the clearest way possible. He sits on the judgement seat and tells the Jews plainly, ‘Here’s your King‘. He speaks the truth. Their reply is brutal and final, ‘Take him away. Crucify him‘.
And Pilatus hands him over to the Roman troops.
19:17-24– The Roman troops took charge and Yahshua carried his cross to the nearby Golgotha (Skull Place) where he and two others were crucified, one either side of him.
Pilatus’ notice attached to Yahshua’s cross stated the truth – ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. The chief priests grumbled about these words, telling Pilatus, ‘Don’t write “The King of the Jews”, but “he claimed to be King of the Jews”. Responding grumpily, Pilatus told them, ‘I wrote what I wrote’. Pilatus understood who Yahshua was better than the senior Jewish clerics!
The soldiers took Yahshua’s clothes, sharing them out amongst the four of them. It would be a pity to waste them, perks of the job. They drew lots for his undergarment as it was woven as a single piece and they didn’t want to tear it. He hung naked on the cross until he died.
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The need to accept one another as beloved brothers and sisters will start to seem more important than having this or that position accepted. The body will work together better, there will be less confrontation and more building going on.
Shepherd and sheep (Wikimedia) -Click images to enlarge
Continuing the flow of church life and growth, where evangelists have been at work there will be a gathering of people following Jesus to the best of their ability; some will be absolute beginners. There are bound to be some difficulties and rough edges: some may come off track, stop coming to meetings and drift away. There may be disagreements, even angry arguments. There will certainly be differences of opinion and misunderstandings; friction and differing perspectives. And there may be some who will say, ‘Don’t go that way, come this way, it’s a much easier path.’
Where there is someone with a strong shepherding gift, all of these issues will be addressed, usually in straightforward, kind and helpful ways. People will be encouraged to understand alternative points of view even though they may strongly disagree. Those who wander away will be visited, given an opportunity to explain difficulties, ask questions and be encouraged even if they decide not to return. The need to accept one another as beloved brothers and sisters will start to seem more important than having this or that position accepted. The body will work together better, there will be less confrontation and more building going on.
Although Paul’s greatest gifting may have been apostolic and he was strong also in the prophetic, you can see the shepherd in him as he shows concern for the Corinthians who were losing their way. And I can imagine James, speaking about the widows and orphans saying, ‘Hey, these people need your help and love too. You’re watching them suffer and doing nothing to show them you care about them.’ Shepherds are always alert and ready to intervene when there’s a need.
We’re at a strong disadvantage here in Britain, our agricultural history has shepherds but no tradition of leading sheep. Instead our custom is to round them up and drive them in the way we want them to go. We use sheepdogs to help us frighten the sheep into submission. Take a look at the photo in this article, the shepherd is in front and the sheep are following, that would not happen in the UK, or in France, the USA, Australia or New Zealand. The photo is from Poland where some shepherds work like the traditional pastoralists in Israel and Arab nations. When Paul writes about the gift of a shepherd he’s not thinking about rounding up or driving a herd of anxious and scared sheep with the help of a descendent of the wolf family! There may be difficult moments where someone with a shepherd gift has to act very firmly to protect someone else from continuing unkind, selfish or unthinking behaviour, but hopefully these will be rare exceptions.
Why follow?
So why do sheep follow a shepherd? It’s because the shepherd knows what the sheep need, and the sheep know that the shepherd knows what they need. What do sheep need? They need grass to eat, water to drink, and safety from predators. Sheep are far from stupid, they soon learn that the shepherd will take them to green pastures, streams of living (ie flowing) water, and if a predator comes close the shepherd will drive it away.
And that, my friends, pretty much describes the gift of Shepherd in the life of the church. If you are a gift of Shepherd in the church nobody will be afraid of you. They will know from experience that your habit is to lead them to places where they will be able to thrive and grow in peace and safety. Places where they will be fed truth and have access to the living water, and that every kind of predator will either be won over or chased off.
Do you have this gift?
Yes, as with apostle, prophet and evangelist, we all have this gift to some degree. You cannot be like Jesus without having some level of shepherd about you. Jesus is the origin and source of all the gifts we’re discussing in this series. If you believe him and follow him then Christ is in you. And if the perfect Shepherd is in you then you are going to reflect that at some level.
Psalm 23
This famous Psalm sums it up really well. If you have a well-developed and deep gift of shepherd you will be a living example of Psalm 23 in action. The psalm describes how you will make the people around you feel.
How the gift of shepherd has been misunderstood
In the 20th and 21st centuries the word ‘pastor’ has been used (or misused) to identify people who may (or may not) have a shepherding gift. Often it is used to mean something like a manager or director – as if church is a sort of business enterprise. A Pastor in this sense is heavily loaded with many duties. He is the person where the buck stops – financially and managerially. He (for it’s usually a man) is expected to fix every problem, and solve every issue. The Pastor may have a team under him, often described as elders, people he can delegate to, call on for help when needed, and share the responsibilities with. Neither the pastor nor the elders will necessarily be shepherds in the sense I’ve outlined in this article. Some of them might be, but much of their time and effort is likely to be spent on management tasks.
Meanwhile any true shepherds in the congregation may not be identified, and might struggle to fulfil the role Jesus has bestowed on them. It’s a double-bind, in which shepherds and those who need the care of a shepherd are both frustrated.
Check the Daily Meditations link below to see some of the thoughts of a shepherd’s heart. Next time, we’ll take a look at the gift of teacher, that will round off APEST for us:
Apostle Prophet Evangelist Shepherd Teacher
After thinking about the teaching gift, we’ll take a look at how all five APEST gifts can be seen in the nature and teaching of Jesus himself.
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We talked with Matt and learned a bit about him, but left him there in the bus station. At home I discussed the situation with Donna and we decided to drive over to the bus station in the morning and bring him home. Matt was not as easy as Emily or Ash, but much less of a problem than either of the Davids.
Twice while we were living in Yatton, Judy and I had invited people to come and live with us, coincidentally they were both called David.
One David (Davey) was trapped in a bad relationship with another man in Bristol. He was also a drug addict, but he was mild mannered. I don’t recall how we met him, I think he might have phoned our number as we had a second entry in the phone book as the contact number for Horsecastle Chapel. Davey was hoping a church in a village outside the city of Bristol might help him break free of his difficulties and move on from his past. He was at least looking in the right direction (church) and I took him several times to meetings at a house nearby where some of our old friends were meeting regularly. It didn’t end well for Davey, although he was with us for a number of weeks, perhaps even a month or two, and although he was interested in hearing about Jesus and trying to follow him, in the end his past life had a stronger call on him and one day he just disappeared, we thought to return to the bad situation in Bristol that he’d wanted to break free from. There was nobody in our little circle of friends in Yatton who had the experience or knowledge to really help him.
The second David (Dave) was from Newcastle, he was an unkind, mocking kind of person, very demanding and uncompromising. After a short stay with us, he made it very clear that in his opinion we were rather deficient by comparison with the church in Newcastle that he had left. In the end he began an affair with one of our friends. She and Dave left the area, her husband ended up having to work full time as well as looking after the children and the family home. This was a disastrous failure for which Judy and I felt at least partly to blame. I phoned the pastor of the Newcastle Church (which turned out to be Pentecostal); he was sympathetic but told me that Dave was a very difficult challenge and had left under a bit of a cloud. After these two experiences I was not inclined to invite people to come and stay again for some years, though aware that as followers of Jesus we are supposed to be willing to help people who are lost, hungry or without shelter. But Papa had other plans and found ways of easing me into inviting people to stay.
St Neots
After Judy’s death, marrying Donna, and beginning a new job in a different part of the country, when a New Zealand friend (another David) decided to return to New Zealand earlier than planned, Donna and I were happy to give a room to his daughter Emily. She needed to live in the UK just a few more weeks to finish her A levels and qualify for UK citizenship and this in turn would allow her to work later anywhere in the EU. Emily got her citizenship so has that dual nationality – British and New Zealand. But her hopes to return for work in Europe were later shattered by Brexit. Emily was an absolute delight as a house guest; she is now married, has a medical degree, and is living and working in New Zealand.
The next house guest was Ash and later his three children from time to time for short visits. Ash’s marriage had fallen apart and he was in a difficult and stressful situation. He met one of our Small Group members through an on-line dating site and when we heard he was looking for somewhere to stay and had to leave his flat near the Welsh border at short notice, Donna and I offered to help. I met Ash and his Dad who had also driven up to provide more car space and between us, we got everything into the three cars. Ash proved to be resourceful, he quickly found temporary work that he could do from home to cover his costs and soon enough found a full time job. He moved into our Small Group friend’s flat and they later married, but things went very pear-shaped in the end. Ash had a very tough time but he never lost his willingness to work hard and do whatever was necessary to win through in every situation. Ash was another success story and a pleasure to share our home with. Emily and then Ash were two people used by Papa to draw me back into a willingness to invite others. Donna also enjoyed their presence in our home so she was also ready and willing to consider more.
The next house guest was Matt. On 5th January 2014, my friend Sean and I had taken hot soup and bread rolls into Huntingdon and found Matt in the bus station there, it was a popular haunt for the homeless as it was well heated and out of the rain. We talked with Matt and learned a bit about him, but left him there in the bus station (along with a flask of soup and the remaining bread rolls). At home I discussed the situation with Donna and we decided to drive over to the bus station in the morning and bring him home. Matt was not as easy as Emily or Ash, but much less of a problem than either of the Davids. At this time I was learning about the APEST gifts to the church and was involved in some of the Newforms meetings organised by Peter Farmer in Nottingham. I had begun writing JDMC as an APEST primer text and I took Matt and another friend, Kevin, to one of the Newforms meetings. After some difficulties Matt eventually left us, but continued to be involved in the coffee shop meetings I’d started. He brought us a mix of difficulties with some hopeful and helpful aspects from time to time.
On 21st August 2015, Peter and Dadka came to stay with us, using our spare bedroom. Donna and I already knew Dadka from the Open Door Small Group we were part of, sometimes meeting at our house. Peter and Dadka were Slovakians and Dadka’s mother also lived in St Neots. They were still with us when we sold our house in order to move across the country to Cirencester in the Cotswolds. In the end we pretty much had to throw them out in order to redecorate their bedroom, they were very reluctant to leave but push really had come to shove. They’d known for a long time that we needed to empty the house, but were not good at dealing with deadlines. Dadka had been a heroin addict but very much to her credit decided to give up the habit and was determined enough to succeed. We helped by providing all the necessary aids, and we also managed to get them an offer to stay at a nearby Emmaeus Community facility in Carlton, not far from St Neots. However, they turned the offer down at the last moment. In the end they returned to Slovakia and we’ve lost touch with them.
We learned a lot through making these attempts of welcoming strangers with a variety of needs into our home. Donna and I are wiser now (it comes through experience) and I understand that welcoming people with difficulties will always work better for a community of, say, ten or more people than it will for a single household. The early church held everything in common and supported one another socially, financially, and in dealing with difficulties. That depth of support was something we lacked and I do believe the community aspect is something we need to recover if we’re to be truly successful in following Jesus. We need to demonstrate and model community in a world that is largely forgetting what that looks like.
Making a start with APEST
This was an important time in my church journey during which I began to understand much more about the patterns of life and ministry within church. The practical aspects were being lived by Peter and Marsha Farmer and their friends in Nottingham and around the UK, much of the background theory was being understood and taught by Alan Hirsch and others in the USA and elsewhere. I’d already learned a great deal from people like Alan, Michael Frost, Tony and Felicity Dale, an online email community called the Koinonia Life Discussion Forum, Paul Young (author of ‘The Shack’), Peter and Marsha Farmer (Newforms) and many other people trying their best to live church community life more fully including the Community of Celebration and the Fisherfolk. Taking all of this together along with what I was experiencing in St Neots and previously in Yatton was illuminating, very encouraging, and frankly character-building.
After reading a number of books about the topic and trying some things out in practical ways, I felt the need for an accessible, lightweight and introductory study guide to help people work through the basic ideas together in small communities. I called it Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church or JDMC. It’s a free download from Journeys of heart and mind. It’s still being downloaded regularly, perhaps 10 or 12 times a week on average. Visit the article JDMC in the See also: section below if you’d like to read it or use it in a study group. The title is the pattern followed in the early church, though today we often change the sequence. We tend to begin with a church that is already established, send out missions, usually in other parts of the world, and feel we should ‘disciple’ the church members (even though disciple is not a verb, but a noun) and all too often we forget to include Jesus. The correct sequence is to share the great news about who Jesus is and what he does among the many people in our society who do not yet know him, show them how to join us in following him (becoming disciples), help them to fulfil the same mission (going out into the world telling people about Jesus and helping them make more disciples), and then get the new believers meeting and living as communities of Jesus followers. It begins with Jesus, and it ends with church. The free use of spiritual gifts (and the APEST gifts in particular) is essential for this process to succeed.
A mix of patterns
The Open Door Small Group we were in towards the end of our time in St Neots was a real example of this kind of community. We didn’t live together, but we cooperated a lot and not just one day a week, we were all good friends and accepted our differences as mostly positive things, recognising that our different strengths and weaknesses complemented one another so where one had a lack another might fill it. This experience too, added to the mix of discovered and lived patterns that I now believe to be truly essential for a deep and true walk through life in company with Jesus and a group of his followers. It’s something the church has a desperate need for, but rarely understands. It’s really something we have forgotten over the eighty or so generations since Jesus called his first disciples on the shore of Galilee. We need to get it back, and because we live in a time of civilizational churn and change we need to get it back urgently.
How did we lose it? By processes of dilution, encrustation, lack of imagination, a lost sense of purpose, and a grasping after power over simple love, and of position over simple gifting, and trusting ourselves more than we trust Jesus and his Spirit. We haven’t thrown it all away, at least not just yet. But we’ve rejected a lot of precious truth and replaced it with our best attempt to find ways that are less demanding and make it possible for us to swap challenging situations for more comfortable ones, to replace struggle with laziness. And, perhaps most damaging of all, we have accepted easy lives where we don’t even have to think daily about our motives or our willingness to follow Jesus in both attitudes and actions.
We have learned to judge as a form of self-defence because we don’t like being judged, and we’ve learned to run from effort because like lazy schoolchildren we prefer to avoid the work required.
Cirencester
And so the time came to move from St Neots to Cirencester. We packed our stuff, Donna drove over first with our cat, Erin. I saw the final items loaded on the removals van and then drove to the new house in our small, second car. Donna and Erin were already there, and we used the enclosed porch as a catlock: open the front door and enter the porch, check the cat hasn’t snuck in as well; after depositing her back into the house or confirming her absence from the porch, open the door to either the back garden or the street and leave the house. Pretty soon we discovered Cirencester Baptist Church and decided it was the best choice in town. We looked at the Small Group options as well but found our first option was not meeting during the summer and would be unavailable until September. In the meantime I began meeting with another CBC Small Group and became quite friendly with some of the people there, but it was frustrating for me to be so immersed in Bible study and prayer but with little or no opportunity to use spiritual gifts or talk about APEST and other matters. It felt like playing a piano with most of the black keys missing so being able to play in at most two or three keys. Very limiting.
In the autumn we joined the original group we’d had in mind, but Donna dropped out over time and for several years I was involved with both groups as one met on Tuesdays while the other met on Thursdays. More new friends and a bit more freedom in the meetings this time, I felt; so I stuck with the second group and still meet with them most Tuesdays. But I still want to use my gifts more fully and I’m not entirely sure how to move forward. But I know that Jesus knows and will lead me in whatever direction he chooses for me. I must wait to see what that will be.
So, what does Jesus think?
This is where the chickens come home to roost. If we asked Jesus about church today in Britain (or indeed, almost anywhere) what would he say about it? Would he commend us? In most cases, I don’t think so. He might ask us where we think he fits in to all that we are doing. He might re-commend us to pay attention to what he has commanded us. He might re-command us to go out and do everything he commanded the disciples, to teach people everywhere to fulfil everything he commanded us (and them) to do.
Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:16-20)
Where are we failing? Everywhere! We do none of the things he wants us to do. At best we watch while priests, vicars, pastors and elders do these things while the rest of us are spectators. The standard church seating arrangement announces and ensures that; but Jesus is our authority and we are all called by him to go, make, baptise and teach.
When did we lose our way?
Almost at the very beginning. Think about Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, the people there were already a derailment of what Jesus taught and commanded. Paul wrote to try to get them back on track. We, too, are a bit of a train-crash. We need to hear what Paul says, and especially we need to hear what Jesus says. Sometimes it seems almost too late for us. But it’s not too late, despair is not the way forward for us, obedience is. The only part of the train that still stands on the tracks is Jesus himself, all the carriages and trucks lie scattered and broken where they fell. We need to repair and rebuild according to the original design and plan, then get everything properly back onto the track behind Jesus and every part connected to him and to one another. And then, when Jesus moves we will all move in the right direction because the track is firm and ensures that the entire Matthew 28:16-20 train follows him, moving in the right direction.
Signals and points
Railways also need signals and points (switches if you’re North American). Sometimes the train should pause to avoid a collision, and sometimes we need a change of direction. The Holy Spirit, (the Spirit of Christ) provides both control and direction. Once the train’s back on the track and moving we must pay attention to the Holy Spirit for both safety and direction. He will tell us, ‘Wait a moment, I’ll tell you when to start moving again’ or he’ll say, ‘The track divides here, we’re heading left (or right)’. We ignore his guidance at our peril. Having been restored following a train-crash, believe me – you do not want to provoke another one.
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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) -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!
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Journeys of Heart and Mind 
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