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An International Center for Indigenous Christian Leadership
Strategic Leadership Alliance
Apostolic Strategy:
Key to Local Leadership
I used to often wonder why Jesus spent only 3 years in ministry on earth before delegating all the
responsibility to the seemingly ill-equipped and often unreliable disciples to preach the good news and
disciple the nations.
Again, Paul never stayed in one place more than 3 years when doing his missionary or apostolic work
according to Acts of the Apostles. This was also true with most apostles in the early church.
Until recently, I had not paid much attention to these apparently irrelevant issues but now I am realizing that
there are very important and strategic reasons behind how Jesus and the apostles operated in missions.
Some of the important reasons for the itinerant apostolic strategy may include traveling to where the
unreached are, or avoiding capture in a hostile or repressive environment.
However, the most important reason why the early church’s missionaries (apostles) were constantly on the
move was to raise up truly empowered indigenous leadership in the newly planted churches, which in turn
helped initiate massive people movements that continued the drive to multiply churches exponentially.
When the church at Antioch had been started by the scattered believers from Jerusalem, Barnabas (and then
later, Paul) were sent or brought to Antioch to nurture the church. However, after the prophets and teachers
were raised up, the Holy Spirit prompted the leadership at Antioch to set apart the founding leaders,
Barnabas and Paul, to be sent out as second-generation apostles to preach to the unreached (it looks like
the Holy Spirit was trying to challenge the sedentary apostles in Jerusalem to move out!).
Ever since this very strategic commissioning at Antioch, the apostles, particularly Barnabas and Paul,
became itinerant missionaries staying at one place just long enough to preach the gospel, start churches,
and raise up indigenous leaders. They did this by giving them real ownership and leadership opportunities
— even though they were often young and inexperienced leaders like Timothy and Titus!
This strategy required a leap of faith on their part by trusting in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit to
move on in a timely manner as Jesus had done. I believe they did this also so that the new leadership
would not be too dependent on the missionaries (apostles) for leadership and resources.
Furthermore, the long-term
absence of the apostles from the newly planted churches provided opportunities for the indigenous
churches to apply the Bible. This made the Bible more relevant to church life in their Greek or Roman
settings. This was much better than trying to just copy the Hebrew forms of church life and doctrine.
Finally, continuing leadership training was done strategically through visitations and correspondence.
Perhaps they realized that, due to their exceptionally strong leadership qualities, the apostles’ prolonged
presence might have worked to the detriment of the newly rising indigenous leadership .
In the final analysis, it is obvious: key to world evangelization is implementation of the apostolic strategy. ♦
By LGZ, Messenger (April 1, 2002).
Book Reviews
Key to Local Leadership
I used to often wonder why Jesus spent only 3 years in ministry on earth before delegating all the
responsibility to the seemingly ill-equipped and often unreliable disciples to preach the good news and
disciple the nations.
Again, Paul never stayed in one place more than 3 years when doing his missionary or apostolic work
according to Acts of the Apostles. This was also true with most apostles in the early church.
Until recently, I had not paid much attention to these apparently irrelevant issues but now I am realizing that
there are very important and strategic reasons behind how Jesus and the apostles operated in missions.
Some of the important reasons for the itinerant apostolic strategy may include traveling to where the
unreached are, or avoiding capture in a hostile or repressive environment.
However, the most important reason why the early church’s missionaries (apostles) were constantly on the
move was to raise up truly empowered indigenous leadership in the newly planted churches, which in turn
helped initiate massive people movements that continued the drive to multiply churches exponentially.
When the church at Antioch had been started by the scattered believers from Jerusalem, Barnabas (and then
later, Paul) were sent or brought to Antioch to nurture the church. However, after the prophets and teachers
were raised up, the Holy Spirit prompted the leadership at Antioch to set apart the founding leaders,
Barnabas and Paul, to be sent out as second-generation apostles to preach to the unreached (it looks like
the Holy Spirit was trying to challenge the sedentary apostles in Jerusalem to move out!).
Ever since this very strategic commissioning at Antioch, the apostles, particularly Barnabas and Paul,
became itinerant missionaries staying at one place just long enough to preach the gospel, start churches,
and raise up indigenous leaders. They did this by giving them real ownership and leadership opportunities
— even though they were often young and inexperienced leaders like Timothy and Titus!
This strategy required a leap of faith on their part by trusting in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit to
move on in a timely manner as Jesus had done. I believe they did this also so that the new leadership
would not be too dependent on the missionaries (apostles) for leadership and resources.
Furthermore, the long-term
absence of the apostles from the newly planted churches provided opportunities for the indigenous
churches to apply the Bible. This made the Bible more relevant to church life in their Greek or Roman
settings. This was much better than trying to just copy the Hebrew forms of church life and doctrine.
Finally, continuing leadership training was done strategically through visitations and correspondence.
Perhaps they realized that, due to their exceptionally strong leadership qualities, the apostles’ prolonged
presence might have worked to the detriment of the newly rising indigenous leadership .
In the final analysis, it is obvious: key to world evangelization is implementation of the apostolic strategy. ♦
By LGZ, Messenger (April 1, 2002).
Book Reviews
- Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization (New York: Doubleday, 1995).— An entertaining book
for the laymen which is also a good case study of how even an extremely barbaric people can be
transformed by the gospel to play a critical role in saving a civilization. The Irish were evangelized by
the apostle to the Irish, St. Patrick, who was a Romanized Briton—of a Celtic people in Britain—to
eventually rise as leaders in saving some
of the “Latin” civilization by transcribing and preserving books and manuscripts during the European
dark ages. As most histories are, the book is partial towards the Irish in exaggerating their role in
saving the world.
Samuel Hugh Moffett, A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. 1 (New York: Orbis Books, 1998).— A first
major work of its kind in shedding light on the often ignored history of early Asian missionaries in
Asia. Its focus on the Syrian & Persian missionaries who established bases and churches in the
present day 10/40 Window (Middle East, India, & China) is very enlightening.
C. Peter Wagner, Apostles and Prophets: The Foundation of the Church (Ventura, CA: Regal Books,
2000).— An easy reading for the average believer. I was hoping to find some apostolic missions
strategy in it, but disappointingly, the book is about establishing 21st century church government
which would be led by newly instituted offices of modern day apostles and prophets. Rather than
discussing apostolic missionaries, the book primarily deals with church politics. Aside from naming
himself as an example of a modern apostle, his book makes you think about his proposition that the
new apostles and prophets are the double-edged sword of the 21st century church hierarchy.