What is the gift of apostleship?

The term apostle is common throughout the New Testament. The twelve disciples of Jesus Christ were referred to as apostles. In a traditional view, the apostles were the official commissioners of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 10:1-4) In similar manner, the Apostle Paul describes how the Holy Spirit has given the gift of apostleship to some believers. In a broader sense, believers entrusted with the gift of apostleship are ambassadors of the gospel. (I Corinthians 12:10, 28-29; Ephesians 4:11)

The spiritual gift of apostleship, or being an ambassador, is when the Holy Spirit guides a believer to leave his or her own local area for the purpose of spreading and relating the message of the gospel to individuals in different areas of the world. An individual entrusted with the spiritual gift of apostleship feels led by the Holy Spirit to participate in mission trips, whether short-term or on a full-time basis, to different areas of the world and/or regions of a country for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God. Many churches often refer to people indwelled with this gift as missionaries.

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that not all believers are called to be ambassadors, since only some believers are entrusted with the gift of apostleship. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he asks a series of rhetorical questions – “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?” (I Corinthians 12:29 NIV) The Apostle Paul reiterates this same point to the Ephesians with the words, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up….” (Ephesians 4:11-12 NIV)

Believers who are indwelled with the gift of apostleship usually have other spiritual gifts and individual talents that help distinguish their specific type of missionary work. For example, you have missionary church builders who may be talented carpenters with the gifts of apostleship and helps. Similarly, missionary church planters are often entrusted with the gifts of leadership, pastoring and apostleship. The list could easily continue with seemingly endless combinations. So in a sense, being a “missionary” is not necessarily limited to its traditional usage of pastoring and/or teaching people in a foreign country. Rather, the gift of apostleship enables certain believers to venture outside of their local communities and utilize their God-given individual talents and spiritual gifts anywhere in the world as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, be it building/planting churches or reaching out to people in a constructive and meaningful manner that ultimately glorifies God.