In this series, we’ve explored spiritual gifts and their importance in missions, in the field context, and on missions teams. In the preceding post, we dove into the word ‘apostolic,’ what it means, and why it’s important for movements.
In this post we will get more practical with the 5 essential elements of an apostolic leader and a compilation of potential characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders from 5 authors: Clinton, Hirsch, Miley, Cole, and Sinclair.
Previously, we gave a basic definition of an apostolically gifted leader as one who God has supernaturally gifted to pioneer new works in new areas. But what are those gifts? Why are apostolic leaders uniquely suited to pioneer? How do I know if the person I’m partnering with is an apostolic leader?
The 5 Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leader
In their books, these 5 authors provide various characteristics and functions of an apostolic leader that we’ve compiled at the bottom. From their writings and our personal experience, we believe there are 5 essential elements that every apostolic leader must have. (This is an expanded version of what we’ve outlined in our Be Barnabas post, What is a NAV? )
1. Big Vision – An apostolic leader has a God-given, God-sized vision that extends beyond their own church.
An apostolic leader has a God-given, God-sized vision that extends beyond their own church.
We gave a definition of a spiritual leader adapted from Clinton previously as one who receives vision from God to influence the people of God towards the purposes of God. So any spiritual leader needs to have God-given vision.
But the apostolic leader is given vision that is big – big enough that to many, it will seem impossible. They are given a vision that is beyond their own church, called by God to start a new work in a new place. Many times it is for whole regions or people groups that are not yet reached with the gospel. The apostolic leader is driven by this vision, constantly thinking about what it will take to accomplish this vision in a future-focused, big-picture perspective.
It’s the demand of Caleb who was 85 when he said, “Give me this hill country of which the Lord promised me (Joshua 14:12),” the most difficult land with the strongest opposition.
It’s the ambition of Paul to “preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation (Romans 15:20)” after he had already sparked movements of the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum.
It’s the declaration of Hudson Taylor in pursuing the interior peoples of China when no one else would go, to say,
If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a precious Savior?
Hudson Taylor
It’s the passion of Samuel Zwemer, called the Apostle to Islam, who said,
The great Pioneer Missionaries all had ‘inverted homesickness’ – this passion to call that country their home which was most in need of the Gospel. In this passion all other passions died; before this vision all other visions faded; this call drowned all other voices. They were the pioneers of the Kingdom, the forelopers of God, eager to cross the border-marches and discover new lands or win new-empires.
Samuel Zwemer
2. Risking Faith – An apostolic leader has the faith to believe God can accomplish the vision, and the faith to take big risks for God.
This God-sized vision is accompanied by a God-given faith – faith to believe that God can accomplish the vision He has given, not just through the apostolic leader but beyond them. Clinton says that apostolic leaders generally have the gift of faith to go with their apostolic gift. This gift of faith doesn’t only believe God to accomplish the vision, but is a faith to risk doing big things for God in the most difficult circumstances. It would seem obvious that if a leader receives a big vision from God, that they would have the accompanying faith, but we have seen many situations where a leader has the big vision but lacks the faith. They are hesitant, cautious, afraid to take the steps necessary in pursuit of the vision that God has given. An apostolic leader must have this risk-taking faith in order to pursue a God-sized vision.
This faith allows apostolic leaders to fail forward, as the pioneering environment is a difficult and unknown situation and will require innovation, experimentation, creativity, and repeated failure. This faith strengthens apostolic leaders to be resilient against opposition and isolation. By trying big and new things for God, the apostolic leader will certainly face spiritual warfare and resistance to the gospel among the people they are trying to reach, but they should even expect opposition from believers and peers that don’t understand what they are doing.
Many times the fruitfulness that comes from the risk and innovation of an apostolic leader can shine a light on other believers or ministry workers that can cause insecurity or comparison. Cole explains that “new approaches will always threaten the established and calcified systems left over from previous movements. It is quite common for apostles to be labeled as heretics by their peers and to be pushed out of the mainstream and into the margins.”
The apostolic leader has the faith to move forward in the face of opposition, whether from inside or outside. We have seen many apostolic leaders lose friendships, mentors, even family members who don’t understand what they are doing and why. Some of the authors mentioned an apostolic leader having thick skin, but I think that is an overly self-dependent description of their resilience in the face of opposition. It is the apostolic leader’s faith in God, to believe God for His promises, that gives them their safety against criticism, isolation, loneliness, and trial.
Unless there is the extreme element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.
Hudson Taylor
Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. Yet I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven.
St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland
3. Set Foundations – An apostolic leader is able to set foundations through establishing the systems, structures, and DNA needed to start a new movement.
As we’ve mentioned, the apostolic leader is called to the pioneering environment, where there isn’t a successful playbook that they can follow. Paul said he does not want to build on someone else’s foundation because apostolic leaders are foundation setters. They create and cultivate the DNA, systems, and structures that are required for new movements to catalyze. Many faithful servants of God will have an apostolic passion, vision, and faith, but perhaps will lack the giftings and skills to see the breakthrough needed to multiply.
The process of what some people call the “Core Missionary Task” drawn from Acts is relatively clear – enter a new area, share the gospel, make disciples, plant churches, and develop leaders. Rinse and repeat to see multiplication. The difficult part of this is figuring out how to do each of these things.
For example, Paul frequently entered a new place by going first to the synagogue to share with Jews or God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1, 17:1, 10, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8). With this approach, he was able to find people ready to hear the gospel and plant a house church that would be his center of operations for that city. Similarly, he created and adapted different methods of sharing the gospel, discipling, planting churches, and developing leaders for different places and different situations. The underlying principles and DNA of multiplication were the same, but he was gifted and in-tune with the Spirit’s direction to create the systems and structures that would multiply in each context.
When goers are sent to unreached places, the scope of the task can be overwhelming. Even if we can successfully adapt to living in a new culture and learning language, the challenge becomes learning how to create and contextualize effective methods for the process of multiplication. How should we enter new places and find spiritually interested people? What’s the most effective way to create interest and share the gospel? What methods of discipling would work among new believers in this context? What form should church take? What does a leader look like in this culture and how should we most effectively develop them? These questions are difficult enough without the complexities of trying to figure them out in a completely foreign culture!
The apostolic leader is gifted to generate new ideas, create contextualized applications of biblical principles, and are not afraid to fail in trying them. However, when the apostolic gift is missing, we find that movement practitioners can run into the same obstacles over and over again, unable to figure out a way to move forward.
This is why we believe that the outsider’s role is to find a National Apostolic Visionary leader to partner with. The National part because they understand the culture, and the Apostolic part because they will be gifted for the work. It’s best when the insider is the apostolic leader, but if the apostolic perspective is involved somewhere in the work – insider, outsider, coach, or from the harvest – there is an increased chance for multiplication.
Beyond just the initial foundations of gospel sharing and discipling, further foundations will need to be set by the apostolic leader including cultivating a multiplying DNA, establishing theological foundations, guarding against heresy and opposition, and ultimately cultivating networks and environments where other ministries can emerge.
4. Develop Leaders – An apostolic leader is able to recruit and develop leaders.
Another key function of an apostolic leader is the ability to raise up leaders – to identify, attract, recruit, develop, release, and send leaders out.
As a biased San Antonio Spurs fan, I believe Gregg Popovich is the greatest NBA coach. It’s evidenced not only by the championships and wins, but by his coaching tree – the number of players and coaches that have been produced under his mentorship. Pop is undoubtedly a great leader developer.
The Apostle Paul’s leadership tree is bigger and more impactful. In the New Testament we see him associated with Timothy, Silas, Titus, Priscilla, Aquila, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, Trophimus, Junia, Andronicus, Lydia, Jason, Titius Justus, Dionysus, Damaris, Crispus, and many more. Paul and Barnabas raised up local elders in every place that they started new work (Acts 14:23), as well as journeying with an apostolic band of co-laborers like Timothy, Titus, and Silas. He had a constant lens of identifying, attracting, and recruiting leaders.
I would say that Paul was a “machine” of leadership development, but that would only capture his output and not the posture in which he developed leaders. He says in 1 Thessalonians 2 how he was affectionately desirous for them and cared for them like a nursing mother (7), and how he exhorted, encouraged, and called them to walk in a manner worthy of God like a father with his children (11).
The apostolic leader has a unique ability to attract leaders. We’ve lost count how often people have said to our partner, Mint, “I want to be like you! Can you disciple me?” There’s a constant stream of people coming in and out of her home base in northeast Thailand, to be trained, developed, and modeled for, before being sent out as church planters to new provinces and coached toward further multiplication. Mint, almost aggressively, releases authority and sends out new leaders. She doesn’t keep them around to help her local ministry grow but empowers them to hear from the Lord to start new ministry. This last aspect is a critical indicator of whether someone is an apostolic leader – the push to release authority over leaders and disciples to multiply. Some great leaders may attract and develop leaders well, but ultimately keep them in-house to grow their own ministry. The apostolic leader’s vision will compel them to release and send out leaders. We pray that Mint’s leadership tree will surpass Pop’s and maybe even Paul’s!
5. Surrendered to God – An apostolic leader is surrendered to God, willing to give everything toward the vision, and prioritizes intimacy with God above all else.
From our experience, this 5th element is the most critical and can be the biggest barrier to an apostolic leader stepping into what God has for them.
The apostolic leader lives and labors out of surrender to God. In Romans 1:1, Paul describes himself first as a “servant of Christ Jesus”, and secondly “called to be an apostle.” It is out of his life belonging to Christ that his calling and ministry as an apostle flows.
Pioneering new works in new areas comes with unique challenges and complexities. But as we mentioned before, it also comes with unexpected opposition, isolation, failure, spiritual warfare, sin, and pride. Even the most driven personalities with big vision will find themselves battered and broken down in pursuit of the apostolic calling.
Paul describes being “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). At some level, it’s true that all believers and all leaders will encounter suffering. But I think Paul’s example is that the apostolic leader is particularly tested through suffering. As we learned during our cancer journey, the thorn given to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 is to bring Paul to a point of suffering and surrender and weakness. That weakness is given to humble Paul from his pride so that he can receive true resurrection power for the apostolic calling!
When faced with suffering, trial, and sin, the apostolic leader responds in surrender. They hunger for deeper intimacy with the Lord. They find their safety, strength, wisdom, and perseverance for the difficult work from Jesus. They seek His voice for the pathway to breakthrough. They understand that prayer and intercession is the work, and are unceasing in prayer for the churches as Paul was.
We’ve seen more than a few leaders with the first 4 elements fall to moral failure, burnout, pride, and isolation. To reframe Matthew 16 for movement practitioners – What will it profit us to gain ministry fruit but lose our own souls? Without surrender, it is impossible for leaders to fulfill the vision that God has given them.
One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.
Elisabeth Elliot
Missionary life is simply a chance to die.
Amy Carmichael
In the next post, we’ll give some identifying indicators of an apostolic leader, and talk about how to partner with and develop an emerging apostolic leader.
Table of Apostolic Characteristics & Functions from 5 Authors
This is the compilation of the characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders from the authors we’ve referenced. A disclaimer that not everyone gave neat and tidy lists of characteristics and functions, and that these categories are a paraphrase of complex ideas from each author around the apostolic leader. Even if there isn’t an ‘x’ by a certain author for a certain category, they very well could mention that characteristic outside of their lists. If this is a topic you find important or interesting, I’d encourage you to read their books! I also put the lists / summaries of characteristics of each author at the bottom from which this table was created.
| Clinton | Miley | Hirsch | Cole | Sinclair | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics / Personality | ||||||
| Called to start new works in new areas | x | x | x | x | x | 5/5 |
| Faith to trust God in unclear situations; Not afraid to pursue risk and fail forward | x | x | x | x | 4/5 | |
| Multi-gifted / Jack of all trades to be competent in multiple areas | x | x | x | x | 4/5 | |
| Don’t fit the mold / contrarian / willing to break with traditional ideas | x | x | x | x | 4/5 | |
| Resilient against opposition and failure; thick skin | x | x | x | 3/5 | ||
| Leads out of spiritual and relational, not necessarily positional, authority; models relationship with God as a spiritual parent | x | x | x | x | 3/5 | |
| Has spiritual insight of the church and its purpose to multiply | x | x | x | 3/5 | ||
| Hunger for deeper relationship and intimacy with God / surrendered to be used by God for His purposes | x | x | 2/5 | |||
| Can have character immaturities: e.g. critical, impatient, overextended, overassertive, overcontrol | x | x | 2/5 | |||
| Vision for the future and the ‘big picture’ that is beyond their own church or group | x | x | x | 2/5 | ||
| Passion / drive for reaching the unreached; holy dissatisfaction with the status quo | x | x | 2/5 | |||
| Ability to generate new ideas for pioneering / unknown situations | x | x | 2/5 | |||
| Forceful personality to lead forward / can be difficult to get along with | x | x | 2/5 | |||
| Functions | ||||||
| Attracts other people / other leaders; develops leaders | x | x | x | x | 4/5 | |
| Set foundations, systems, and structures for new movements | x | x | x | 3/5 | ||
| Guard the DNA of the movement in multiplication and theology | x | x | x | 2/5 | ||
| Cultivate networks of movements in vision and strategy | x | 1/5 | ||||
| Create environments where other ministries can emerge | x | x | 1/5 | |||
| Intercede for new and old works | x | 1/5 |
Lists and paraphrases of characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders
Robert Clinton – 1 and 2 Timothy: Apostolic Leadership + Unlocking Your Giftedness
- A strong sense of call by God for establishing new works.
- An equally strong confirmation on the part of the leadership of the local church of which he/she is a part.
- A forceful personality which can trust God to do what is necessary in unusual situations in order to establish authority for God’s work.
- Usually will be a multi-gifted person having one or more other leadership gifts beyond apostleship.
- Ability to face new situations.
- A clear understanding of the nature of the church and its purpose.
- A personality which attracts people to follow.
- A person who can sense what God wants to do and is not afraid to try.
- A drive from within that cannot be satisfied apart from seeing people presently unreached being reached and included in a community of God’s people.
- Initiating new works of God, especially the planting of churches. (Paul & Barnabas, Acts 13; Paul Acts 16,18)
- Appointing Leaders – leadership selection (Paul & Barnabas do on fist missionary journey; Paul does on all his mission trips; Titus in Crete; Timothy in Ephesus)
- Laying foundations & overseeing these new works/churches – Leadership development; Teaching; Sending workers to solve problems, help develop leaders, teach and help followers mature. (Paul does this in Phillipi, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome & Crete)
- Serving as spiritual fathers and mothers. Paul sees himself as a father to his churches because he was the catalyst who brought them into existence by the Gospel. As their spiritual father, he retains the right to step in and intervene in communal affairs when he perceives they have deviated from the essential truths of the Gospel.
- Interceding for works, both new and old – carrying a burden for the works they initiate, resulting in intercession; release of spiritual power in situations (Paul does this for the churches he established.)
- Managing Crisis/Combating heresy – problem solving; correcting and stabilizing a deteriorating situation; Paul does this somewhat in Corinth and Crete and much in Ephesus.
- Resourcing new ministries and old ones – Resourcing apostolic ministries; mobilizing help to needy church situations (Paul & Barnabas in Acts 11; Paul in 1 Cor and 2 Cor)
- Contextualizing the Gospel to cross-cultural situations – applying truth to complex cultural situations
George Miley – Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations
- They want to take on new initiatives.
- They have their own ideas of what they want to do.
- They easily influence people and gain a following.
- They do not fit the mold. They color “outside the lines.”
- They have a genuine hunger for a deeper relationship with God.
- They show impressive spiritual insight.
- They have noticeable areas of character immaturity.
- They are broad in their horizons and think beyond our church.
- They thrive on doing things that are challenging and risky.
- They claim loyalty to our church, yet seem critical and impatient.
- They tend to become overextended in their commitments.
- Is like Jesus (Heb. 3:1).
- Is a servant (Luke 22:24-27)
- Is tested (Matt. 4:1).
- Renounces his own life (Matt. 16:24-25).
- Walks in humility (Phil. 2:5,8)
- Is familiar with a sense of personal weakness (Luke 22:41-44).
- Carries spiritual authority with gracious restraint (Luke 23:34). Models the life of love (John 15:12-14).
Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim – The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century
- Seeding the DNA of the gospel and the church by pioneering new ground
- Guarding the DNA of the Gospel and Ecclesia Through the Integration of apostolic theology
- Cultivating translocal, fully networked movements through vision, purpose, and the management of meaning
- Creating the environment in which the other ministries emerge
- An ability to invent the future while dealing with the past
- A willingness to break with traditional ideas and methods
- An ability to play multiple roles at the same time e.g. Paul as planter architect foundation layer ambassador partner
- High tolerance for risk
- A need to be different while supporters want the pioneer to be the same
- An understanding that many want the pioneer to fail
- Internal freedom to explore
- Sense of holy dissatisfaction
- Capacity for ideation
- Ability to take on risk
- Permission and the space to experiment
- Dogged resiliency
Daniel Sinclair – A Vision of the Possible: Pioneer Church Planting in Teams
- People readily catch their vision and feel led to join in.
- They have gifts of Bible teaching and leadership.
- They can be quirky and sometimes hard to get along with.
- They can have thick skins and hard heads. They tend (right or wrong) to not back down very easily—on anything!
- Areas of the flesh can include self-confidence, overassertiveness, and independence. When this is the case, you can see the Lord taking them through a process to grow in these areas toward greater fruit of the Spirit and total dependence on Christ.
- They want to have a good handle on everything in the ministry. This can seem like a tendency to overcontrol.
- They tend to become overextended in their commitments.
- Desire to pursue the impossible
- Desire to pioneer where others won’t or can’t go
Neil Cole – Primal Fire: Reigniting the Church with the Five Gifts of Jesus
- They are sent out to new people and new places.
- Apostles lay a foundation in a region or people group.
- Apostles are architects of multiplying methods – strategy / catalyze / systems.
- Apostles are custodians of DNA – guard against heresy.
- An Apostle is a planter of the gospel and of churches.
- An Apostle is a spiritual parent – model for others, relational authority.
- An Apostle is the scum of the earth – face a lot of opposition because they pursue new things.
- An Apostle’s authority is relational and results-oriented.
- An Apostle is at least competent in all the other roles – but can be tempted to be isolated and do it all themselves.