Uncharted Waters Are Calling
Brian & Brenda Gibbs
A Passion for True Apostolic Ministry
The contemporaries of Christopher Columbus believed that the world was flat, and they feared to set sail beyond what they perceived to be the horizon thinking they would fall off the edge of the world. Columbus was the only man who believed that the world was a sphere and beyond the horizon a new world was waiting to be discovered. It took him nineteen years to obtain sponsorship for his voyage. For nineteen years, he suffered the agony of public humiliation for his convictions. Sixty-four days into his voyage,with only ten days of food and water left his own officers wanted to turn back. Columbus believed that truth was never dependent on the consensus of opinion.
Believers today are in desperate need of leaders who possess this same indomitable spirit to explore new horizons that will take them into greater dimensions of the Spirit. It has become popular for many in the church world to become self appointed apostles, to elevate and validate themselves without understanding the true spirit of an apostle. The word apostle in the scripture was a nautical word that was secular in origin. It was used to describe the flag ship in a fleet of ships. Usually, a fleet of ships commissioned by a king to explore uncharted territory for the purpose of expanding his kingdom. This word picture captures the true essence of the apostolic spirit. Being an apostle has little to do with possessing a title, as much as being a passionate pursuer of truth. If men study the scriptures to prove what they already know, than they are not unlike those who thought that the world was flat.
We can never discover truth if there are possibilities that we are not open to, because the mind cannot reveal what we refuse to see. We require God to explain infinite realities in a way our “flat” finite minds can comprehend. Flat thinkers want everyone to believe what they believe, whether it helps people or not move beyond what they have always known. The need to vehemently defend our beliefs is a sign that those beliefs have limited our horizon for fear that we would go off the deep end. Often we make the mistake of thinking that sincerity is proof that what we believe is truth. When our confidence is in our doctrine we have a sense of safety as long as we can protect our doctrine. There is no such thing as unbiased thought. We are all guided by preconceived ideas.
Most of us have decided how we will see God before we ever read the Bible. As a result, we simply notice the parts that reinforce our already inaccurate beliefs. For centuries guardians of particular doctrines have excluded those who disagreed, and even passed laws making it illegal to believe anything that differs from their interpretation of scripture. Jesus confronted the religious leaders of His day when He said, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14). They were blinded by their limited belief system. To break free would be risking the loss of religious approval. If blind believers are following blind leadership they may be moving, but that does not mean they are going anywhere.
In my own life as a leader, I came to a painful awareness that I had been blind to my own insecurities. I had led out of a need to be needed, as is true with so many men that wield so called apostolic authority. Submission to spiritual authority is a biblical principle that can easily be perverted and become control. I have witnessed many extremes where insecure men justify control in the name of apostolic authority, and if you challenge them, you are ostracized and labeled as a ‘rebel’. The purpose for authority is to confirm but never to control. It has been said that the person that has the greatest influence in your life is not the person you believe in, but the person who believes in you.
An example of this is something I read about T.L. Osborn, an apostle to third world nations. At the end of one of his crusades he was being escorted back to his return flight to the states, and the host began to share with him their appreciation for his ministry. They told him that the distinct difference between him and others who came from the states was that after their visits they knew how great these men were. However, following Osborn’s meetings they knew how great they were.
The litmus test of any doctrine is in two simple criteria; Does it make me love God and people? Jesus said that “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Position does not give you authority. Truth gives authority. Leaders should not concern themselves with whether people will submit to them, but will they submit to the Lordship of Jesus. Apostles simply walk where they want others to go. It is their choice to follow. The average person who comes into the kingdom is unable to trust anybody, including God. Our ultimate goal is to be like Him. And John said that when we see Him we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is (I John 3:2). We become like the God we believe in. If we see a controlling, manipulating, angry God then we become all of those things and lead others into a warped belief system.
Sadly, our message to the world has been, if you are unsaved, God hates you…if you are saved, and you live right, God loves you. Church members are made to feel that they are nothing. Even the term ‘laity’ comes from the Latin word common one. They are made to feel they know nothing, and therefore need us to teach them. Commitment cannot be legislated, it must be developed. Paul manifested the pure heart of an apostle by urging the Corinthian believers to follow him as he followed Christ (I Cor. 11:1). He was not motivated to have them follow him to satisfy his ego, but rather to lead them to the fullness of their personal destiny in Christ. He did not seek the honor of men, but in humility he admitted with all of the revelation he had received that he had not yet attained (Phil. 3:12).
Apostolic leaders today must possess a humility that acknowledges we don’t have all the answers. It will require the courage to invite others to set sail with us toward horizons that will take us to dimensions in God that we never knew existed.
Brian Gibbs,
Lead Pastor, Victory @ Sarasota
www.victorysrq.com
Related Posts
Leave a Reply
September 9, 2010