Apostleship and Followership

1 Corinthians 12:25 sums up the central concern of the chapter: "that there may be no division in the body." The general theme of the chapter is the unity of the body of Christ, the church. Paul had been writing to the Corinthian church because some of the church leaders had created a division as a result of their apostasy. Paul's mission was to bring healing through the teaching of right doctrine to the church. He was now explaining that the building blocks of that unity are the spiritual gifts that have been given to God's people. The building blocks are a set. If the set is broken, the unity of the church is broken. When all of the pieces are working, we have one set. But if a piece is missing or broken, we have less than one set.

As with a human body, the various parts work together to make the body whole. Each part has a unique function, and without that function the entire body suffers and is thrown off balance. No function is more or less important than another. They are only different. If your little toe hurts, your whole body limps.

Paul found that the Corinthian church was limping and that limp was the impetus for Paul's next major concern—the care and maintenance of the body. Paul introduces the idea of care and maintenance in the latter half of verse 25, "that the members may have the same care for one another." The lack of unity or wholeness in the church results in both additional sin and pain. And just as in the human body, the pain is not the real problem, it is a symptom of the problem, a symptom of sin. Pain provides a warning signal. If the cause of the pain is not resolved, increasingly serious consequences will unfold. The lack of unity produces corporate pain in the churches. Paul will deal with this pain in two ways. First, he will address the prevention of corporate pain. And second, he will address its care and treatment.

Why was this an issue? Because the Corinthian church was limping. Was the whole body broken? Were all of the members in pain? "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Corinthians 12:26). The Corinthian church had a migraine headache. Some of its leaders were out of whack, and were not seeing straight.

Paul's point was that it wasn't just a problem with the leadership, it was the whole body that was in trouble. Yes, leaders are important. They provide key functions in the body. But without followers, leaders are nothing. Leaders can only lead if followers follow. When followers don't follow, leaders aren't leaders. So, when Christian leaders don't lead in the right direction, Christian followers should not follow. That means that Christian followers must know which leaders to follow and which direction is the right direction to go. Trusting church leadership is good, of course. But Christians must do more than simply trust their leaders. They must be Bereans. They must know god and know Scripture.

The Bereans "were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). The Bereans not only received the leadership of their leaders (preachers), but they honored them by making sure that what they said and did were in line with Scripture. The Berean followers honored their leaders by testing their leadership against the biblical model.

Some people might think that such testing was not a function of trust and honor, but of doubt. Some people might argue that it was a lack of trust that caused the Bereans to check what they heard from their leaders against Scripture. And that may be partly true because, knowing Scripture, the Bereans knew the reality and extent of sin. But when their leaders were proven to have provided genuine biblical leadership, leadership that was in conformity with Scripture, that leadership was doubly honored because the Bereans had erased all doubt as a result of their own examination. Leaders that passed the muster were worthy of honor, and those who didn't were corrected or abandoned. Thus, the body of Berean followers were not led astray by errant leaders. The followers gave legs to the right leadership and cut the wrong leadership off at the knees.

Blind followership is as bad as blind leadership. Jesus warned, "if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" (Matthew 15:14). The corollary of Jesus' warning is that if the blind try to lead the sighted, it is the obligation of the sighted to keep them both out of the pit. So, if you can see, if you are not blind, then your obligation is to avoid the pit, and to help others do the same. The Berean followers insured the strength and veracity of the Berean leaders. Contrary to popular opinion, the real strength of the Christian church is not in her leaders, but in her followers. Followers always get the leaders they deserve. So, an increase in the quality of leaders requires a corresponding increase in the quality of followers. There is a application of this to both civil and religious politics that is rather distressing, but you will need to make that application yourself. Lord, have mercy.

If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one leader suffers, all suffer together—members and leaders. So, to avoid suffering, each part must do its job, and the job of Christian followers is to examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so, to be like the Bereans. Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were "the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27). Each individual member had a role to play, a function to perform. Each follower must examine the Scriptures, to be "diligent to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10). Worthy leaders will not be threatened by that role. Rather, they will be strengthened and honored by it.

There are no Christian spectators. This is why spectator worship is such a crime against the Spirit! Worship that treats the congregation as spectators trains Christians to be blind followers. The congregation must participate in worship, not just watch. Remember that true Christian worship is more than what happens on Sunday mornings. Worship is a way of life. Worship is a matter of bringing all your life to God as a sacrifice of daily living. Worship is the exchange of our personal worthlessness for the worthiness of Christ. The gift of Christ's worthiness is freely bestowed upon the unworthy, and produces a life of worship, not just a life that goes to church.

Paul goes on to list various gifts that are essential to the church. "God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:28).

An apostle is a delegate; specifically an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ. The traditional understanding is that apostles were responsible for writing the New Testament. Miracles were associated with their ministry. Miracles provided a method of evaluation or proof of their calling, their ability to speak accurately for God.

The purpose of miracles in the Bible was to establish the authority and authenticity of God's prophets, known here as apostles. The purpose of biblical miracles was not the blessing of the recipients of those miracles, though the recipients were indeed blessed. Miracles were the traditional way of identifying and authenticating God's prophets, and to give glory to God. The purpose of the prophets—the apostles—was to produce the Bible, to set God's Word straight by producing the New Testament.

So, with the closing of the Canon, it has been traditionally understood that the age of miracles was passed—not because God could not perform any more miracles, but simply because their purpose was complete. In the light of Scripture, miracles are no longer necessary. God's Word has eclipsed them. Miracles are like flashlights in the dark. But in the light of day, flashlights are no longer necessary. Flashlights still work, but in the light of day they don't provide any significant help.

Thus, the role of the apostles ceased with the closing of the Canon. The New Testament had been written. But in the First Century Corinthian church (and in other churches) the production of the Canon was in full swing. The apostles were busy writing the New Testament. And the writing of the New Testament was the number one job of the Christian church at that time. So, Paul rightly listed it first in his list of gifts.


------

Author of many Christian books over the past 25 years, Phillip A. Ross founded http://www.Pilgrim-Platform.org in 1998, which has lots of information about historic Christianity. He published Arsy Varsy -- Reclaiming the Gospel in First Corinthians in 2008, which demonstrates the Apostle Paul's opposition to worldly Christianity. Ross shows how Paul turned the world upside down.