Apostolic Intelligence and Practice for the 21st Century Church
As Christianity navigates the complexities of the 21st century, the need for a distinct approach to church structure and mission becomes increasingly apparent. Unlike the prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, or didactic views, the apostolic approach is perhaps the least understood yet the one most needed if we are to advance the cause of Christ in our time
The urgency of adopting this distinctly apostolic viewpoint is underscored by startling trends observed in national census data right across the Western world. For instance, projections from Canada and Australia suggest that by 2050, the number of people self-identifying as Christians will be near zero. The UK and Europe display an even steeper decline, with the “nones” — those identifying as non-religious —already well surpassing those who identify as Christians. Even the United States, a bastion of Christendom forms of Christianity, though slightly behind, follows a similar downward trajectory.
These statistics should not only alarm us but also activate our deepest apostolic instincts. It ought to awaken a latent form of the church that is waiting to be activated by the Spirit of mission. Apostolic ecclesia, characterized by its mission-oriented, transformative nature, is crucial in reversing these trends. It challenges traditional, often static church models by embracing dynamic, scalable, and inherently pioneering approaches. This form of church moves beyond conventional boundaries, driven by the imperative to adapt and contextualize its mission across different cultural settings.
Critics often debate the legitimacy of such movements, citing deviations from traditional church models, such as those outlined in Mark Dever’s highly reductionistic and institutional “nine marks of a healthy church.” These critiques, however, overlook the essence of the New Testament church and the transformative impact of apostolic communities, which are more akin to the high-impact, multiplicative movements seen in the global south today. One wonders whether the NT church itself would have passed muster on Dever’s criteria.
Even more horrifying perhaps is that some might even run Jesus out of town if He appeared in one of their churches because he doesn’t fit their highly procrustean criteria for that makes for ‘church’. God help us!
Make no mistake, the apostolic church is not just another form of ecclesia, but rather it is the quintessential expression of the Jesus movement.
- They are by nature missional—they move because they are defined and ordered by mission and not simply ministry. [They are not static but dynamic]
- They are made to scale and to be passed on [they are able to reproduced by as many people in the movement as possible]
- They push to the frontier—geographic or cultural [they are inherently pioneering by nature]
- They are adaptive because they are contextualized for different settings [‘incarnational mission is the mother of adaptive ecclesiology”]
In conclusion, the apostolic form of church is not only necessary for the advancement of Christianity in our contemporary world but also essential for reinvigorating the global Christianity. In exploring and embracing Apostolic Intelligence, we are not merely adopting a new strategy; we are returning to our deepest roots, to the very essence of what it means to follow Christ in a rapidly changing world. In our opinion, the apostolic framing of things is vital as we seek to understand and engage with the challenges and opportunities of spreading the good news of Jesus in the 21st Century.