I just finished reading Rick Renner’s Apostles and Prophets. It was recommended on a Facebook page by an apostolic leader whom I love and trust, and with whom I have related for over 30 years. Rich Renner has had astonishing success in the Russian-speaking world, beginning with Moscow.
A Defense of Five Fold Ministry
The book was very long and difficult for me to finish. It was 734 plages. The greatest aspect of the book was his great defense of five-fold ministry and the continued role of apostles and prophets today.
Rick Renner and the use of Greek Language for Interpretation
One feature of the book was an overwhelming emphasis on the Greek language. I was drowning in Greek! Sometimes this produced very good insights. Sometimes it needed correction. There were two corrections I would make. James Barr’s Semantics of Biblical Language is one of the classics in biblical hermeneutics, or text interpretation. In it, Barr criticizes an error of some who seek to use Greek in their exegesis. Words have a range of possible meanings. The translator knows that word range and seeks the best word in the translation as the center of what the original writer intended. Yes, there is somewhat of a word range that can be helpful, but we must not overdo it. The writer of the biblical text is not implying that the whole word range is to be read into the meaning of the text. In the same way, when we read an English paragraph, we do not assume the intended meaning of the word range of the English word which a comprehensive dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary can give us. Sometimes Dr. Renner slips into this error and overwhelms us by reading too large a word range into the meaning. One other point that should be noted. The Greek of the New Testament has a Hebrew language context. Some have called this Judeo-Greek. So we could use less reference to Greek writers and more to biblical Hebraic backgrounds for understanding.
Paul as the Model for what An Apostle Is
If the book was titled Paul and His Apostolic Ministry, I would not take issue with the content. This is the greatest presentation of the apostolic ministry of Paul I have ever read. The depth of Paul’s sacrifice, his empowerment, and his apostolic suffering are presented with great power. However, Renner then assumes that the meaning of being apostolic is having a ministry like Paul. It is to be pioneering in new fields like Paul, suffering, and manifesting signs and wonders in confirmation like Paul. He does credit Paul’s oversight role in his congregations but does not credit the level of difficulty that oversight over such vast distances with limited transportation presents. Yes, Paul has other team members that make reports.
The primary weakness is not recognizing that Paul speaks of the signs that confirmed his apostleship, but is not saying that all recognized must have the same level of signs. And the signs include the success of his fruit. Indeed Mark says that miracle signs will follow all believers and Renner notes such signs with prophets and evangelists. In my view, of course, there should be a supernatural confirmation of some kind for an apostolic call. And some like Augustine of Canterbury and St. Patrick had ministries that looked very much like Paul’s. One also sees this in the ministry of H.A. Baker, the grandfather-in-law of Heidi Baker among the Tibetans and the Ka Do tribes in Southwest China.
Apostolic Ministry and the Early Church
However, we do need to expand the idea of who is an apostle by referencing the early church. By the end of the New Testament period, apostolic functions of oversight and expansion practically had to be given to regional apostles who were called bishops. One sees this with the messengers of Rev. 2 and 3, the leaders of regional churches or city-wide congregations with multiple meeting places. They lead the presbyteries of the cities. Yes, their leadership produced continued expansion. This was very early and was seen as apostolic ministry. Think of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, and Ignatius. Some of these knew John. When I look at Church history was Luther apostolic, or Wesley or Zinzendorf? In my view, of course, they were. Renner’s view of who is an apostle is to me for narrow.
Effective Trans-local Leadership
The center for me is trans-local leadership that produces kingdom expansion and with a presbytery gives oversight. It can be regional with an apostolic central church with an apostolic pastor. The idea of Kingdom expansion is really crucial, or the association becomes led by managers. There is an anointing to raise leaders and expand. One can move to be the on-sight pioneer but also be apostolic by training and sending others. Prophetic confirmation of an apostolic call is important to me. Let us not forget that Paul pointed to the people as proof of his apostolic ministry.