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The Church or the Holy Spirit?
The sending out of Saul and Barnabas The scripture most often quoted in support of this idea of the local congregation sending out the missionary is: If you read vs. 1-3 without verse 4 you may get the idea that they were sent out by these other leaders. However, it is not only the context that shows the Holy Spirit rather than the church sent them out. There are four Greek words that indicate the action here clearly. The first is the expression translated "set apart" in verse two. It comes from the Greek ajforivzw or aphorizo {af-or-id’-zo}.You can find it in the Strongs' Concordance under number 873. It means to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate especially to appoint, set apart for some purpose Saul and Barnabas were the evangelists who built up the congregation at Antioch and now they are being called to a different function. The second word is translated in the expression "have called" of verse two. This is the Greek word proskalevw or proskaleomai {pros-kal-eh’-om-ahee}. It can be located in Strongs' under number 4341 and means to call to one’s self. Christ and the Holy Sprit are said to call to themselves those preachers of the gospel to whom they have decided to intrust a service having reference to the extension of the gospelThe important thing to note here is that it was through the Holy Spirit that Christ called Barnabas and Saul unto Himself. It was not the church or the congregation that called but Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit. The third and fourth words are different in Greek, but translated the same in English. This does not mean they are almost the same. In fact they are quite different. It is simply a reflection of how the same English word can have different meanings. In verse three, the word translated "sent" in the expression "sent them off" is ajpoluvw or apoluo {ap-ol-oo’-o}. It can be referenced in Strong's under the number 630. It meansto set free, to let go, dismiss, (to detain no longer) as in to bid depart, send away. or to let go free, release as in a captive i.e. to loose his bonds and bid him depart, to give him liberty to depart. or used of divorce, to dismiss from the house, to repudiate. It does not imply the commissioning and sending out that some people claim from reading the English only. In fact it implies the opposite. It implies the release from a commission. The church at Antioch let them go. In verse four we find the word that many people want to read into verse three. The word ejkpevmpw or ekpempo {ek-pem’-po}, Strong's number 1599, means to send away, send forth.Here we see a sending with authority, but it is not the church doing the sending, but the Holy Spirit. This is not a precedent showing that the congregation sends out the missionary, to the contrary, it sets a precedent that the Holy Spirit sends out missionaries.
The Council at Jerusalem The second scripture used in search of a New Testament precedent for the congregation sending out the missionary, is the account of the council at Jerusalem. It can be found in the 15th chapter of Acts. Here Paul and Barnabas made a report of their activities and received public acknowledgment from the other Apostles that the Gentiles could become Christians without keeping the whole of the Old Testament Law. The key issue is whether the leaders in Jerusalem acted out of their unique office as the Lord's Apostles or out of their role as the leaders of the sending congregation in Jerusalem. If they acted as the apostles of the Lord, then this sets no precedent applicable today, because that office was unique to those men. If however, they acted out of their role as the congregational leaders of the mother body, then the precedent is set that some congregations rule over others. This raises the question "Which is the mother church today?" We cannot assume the one with the money is the mother, because the book of Acts only records the Jerusalem church receiving funds from the Gentiles. There is no report of them sending any funds out. If we take this approach authoritatively, then the mother church must be the oldest, which would put all the American congregations as subordinate daughter congregations. The end result is Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Coptic theology. This forces us to either embrace Roman Catholic theology, which means missionaries will be sent out by the Vatican, not the local congregation. Or we can view this as an example where the Apostles acted in their unique office. In which case it sheds no light on the sending of missionaries today.
Copyright 1999 Chris Hart |