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Vol. 3, No. 1 - January 1995
What
is the Role of the Apostle? (part two)
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Dear NRR: We have not received a newsletter since July, 1994. Please do not stop publishing same. We look forward to each issue. Where are they???????? We do hope and pray that there is no problem. We keep you in our prayers. All comments received to date have been nothing but raves, shouts and rejoicing... Please do not stop publishing this newsletter. We need it. The world needs it. The Churches need it. P.S. Please! Remember, everyone is NOT on the information superhighway. - Tom & Audrey Neely, Black Mountain, NC  If you don't get on the information superhighway, there is a good chance you are going to lose your salvation and go to Hell! Dear Tom and Audrey: I have taken a brief sabbatical this fall, in order to participate in a local political campaign. It was so invigorating: the backstabbing, lies, distortions, treachery, paranoia. It was quite reminiscent of my time in the institutional church. But my time away has served a double purpose. Now, the readers of NRR realize how utterly addicted they are to this journal. Now, they realize their bodies will begin to undergo horrible pains and contortions when deprived of NRR, just like the crack cocaine addict deprived of his fix. I knew this was going to happen, and I have felt horrible about it. I have also felt extremely guilty about all the piled-up, unanswered correspondence I have received, and the unused disks, audio and video tapes, and books now gathering dust on my shelf. Tom and Audrey, you are right when say that the world needs NRR. So it is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to announce a new doctrine, revealed to the holy apostles and prophets in times long ago, but only revealed to the world for the first time here in the pages of NRR. The new doctrine is this: if you don't get on the information superhighway, there is a good chance you are going to lose your salvation and go to Hell. And even if you don't, you will still feel like you are in Hell, because you won't be able to read NRR while you are still alive, because (sob, sob) this is the last PRINTED issue of NRR. Yes, your editor is taking the plunge into cyberspace. I have spent the last several months exploring Internet in my spare time, and I have concluded that there are several advantages to getting wired with the world. The first is the coverage. Now, I'm sending out about 380 copies at a good deal of time and expense. On Internet, there is a potential audience of 30 million people in 150 countries. There is no postage, printing, and folding. There are no limits to the amount of material that can be placed online. Interactive discussions can take place between believers continents apart. I have found a house church brother in Atlanta who is going to set up a permanent Internet site. He has graciously allowed me to put NRR on his machine. There are still a lot of technical details for me to master, but I am determined to make this thing work. So, you must please devote yourself to one task in the remaining years of your life. Get a computer, get literate, and get an Internet connection. It CAN be done. It MUST be done!
ONE MILLION DOLLAR REWARD!! For Scriptural evidence of:
In our last issue, I invited ruminations upon the role of apostles. Steve Atkerson of Atlanta writes: "To think that I gave you the New Testament Restoration Newsletter mailing list, only to have you attack my position in front of untold millions of readers! You know of course, this means secession and war. Love, Steve (true Southerner, undisputed expert in all things but especially apostles, and house church genius. Also, husband of family and former friend of Dan Trotter. P.S. - I dare you to publish this, unionist dog!!!) [Dear Steve: I love a challenge. Love, Dan] By Steve Atkerson. 1) Paul (an apostle) wrote that the church in Rome was "complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." (Ro 15:14) But who planted the Roman church? Paul had never been there (Ro 1:11-15, 15:22-24). If Peter planted it, then why was he not mentioned nor greeted in Paul's salutations (Ro 16:1-16)? In fact, Paul's boast was that he, like the Starship Enterprise, went boldly where no apostle had gone before: "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation." (Ro 15:20) Most likely this "complete" and "competent" church was founded by non-apostles, by plain, ordinary everyday Christians (like me). Luke informs us that "visitors from Rome" (Acts 2:10) heard Peter's Pentecost sermon. It is reasonable that at least a few of the 3000 converted that day were from Rome and later returned to Rome. Also, since all roads led to Rome, surely converts from the churches in Corinth or Ephesus, or Philippi, had occasion to travel or move to Rome (travel was heavy through Rome in the first century). In addition, a fourth century believer (Ambrosiaster) wrote that the church in Rome was planted not by an apostle but by ordinary Jewish believers. So what? the ministry of apostle/church planter is valuable and needed even today. It is necessary if we are to hold to NT patterns. However, this does not mean that all churches need to have been founded by an apostle/church planter to be legitimate, complete or competent (Ro 15:14). 2) An apostle's main job is to establish a gospel beachhead in an unevangelized area, disciple the converts, appoint elders and get out of town! When I say "get out of town," I don't mean "abandon." The new churches were not left to their own devices. Before leaving, Paul stayed in Corinth two years, Ephesus three years, and Rome two years, all the while nurturing and training the converts. If Paul himself didn't stay in a city, he sometimes sent his associates instead. Paul went into Macedonia, leaving Timothy in Ephesus to squelch false doctrines. Titus was left in Crete to "straighten out" what was "unfinished" and to appoint elders. Failing the opportunity to send a personal representative, Paul wrote letters of instruction and encouragement to the churches he had planted. Some of these letters survived to form a large part of our New Testament. As a new church matures and sprouts elders, the church planter's influence/authority begins to decrease (much as a father's rule over his maturing son). The apostles pronounced an area evangelized once one tiny house church was established, and then they left town. How could they declare their work done unless they expected the house church to grow and multiply on its own (like yeast leavens dough)? Thus, though the initial church in a city may have been the result of an apostle's work, the rest of the house churches in that city (and its surrounds) were the result of the natural multiplication of the original fellowship. 3) A "non-twelve" apostle is no higher in "rank" than any elder/pastor/overseer. He is just almost just an elder on wheels, sent out by and accountable to the church that sent him. Elders "stay put" and oversee a local congregation; apostles (by virtue of their commission) are mobile. The elders of an established church are responsible to perpetuate and expand the local work and don't (locally) need apostles. The apostle's ministry lies in those areas where elders are scarce or non-existent. 4) In sum, to say that only a church planter can start a church is to say that only an evangelist can evangelize, only a person gifted to teach can teach, only deacons can serve, etc. It also misses the point that apostles labored in new or undeveloped areas (primarily). Once elders were appointed, the apostles work was largely finished and the baton was passed to the elders to continue the work in that area. The big difference between America and the Roman Empire is that many American cities are already evangelized, already have believers in them, already have an established church. Our relationship to an apostle is much like that of the believers in Rome was to Paul. As they did, we must read his letters and order our lives and churches accordingly. Today's apostles can help us in our evangelism and assist in the training of elders. We need modern apostles, but are not dependent on them. Even without them, we can become "complete" and "competent." To say that only a church planter can start a church is to say that only an evangelist can evangelize, only a person gifted to teach can teach, only deacons can serve, etc.
A second church that was begun apart from apostolic preaching was the church at Antioch. (Acts 11:19-21) This congregation was comprised of people who were converted through the preaching of those "which were scattered upon the persecution that arose about Stephen. (Acts 11:19). There were no apostles in the group that initially preached at Antioch. Acts 8:1 says that all the believers in Jerusalem had fled "except the apostles." Now let me balance the above statements by saying that in both of these cases apostles helped set the churches in order after they were birthed. It is also significant that most of the churches described in the New Testament were, indeed, planted by apostles. But the two cases I have cited here clearly indicate this methodology (i.e., apostolic church planting) does not constitute an unbroken "you-gotta-do-it-this-way" pattern. Let's not become holier than God by forcing an unscriptural encumbrance on the church. I Cor 3:11 says Jesus is the only foundation of the church; but Eph 2:20 says the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. As we have shown, this latter Scripture cannot mean that churches are "built upon the apostles" in the sense that they must be planted by an apostle. The proper harmonizing of these two passages probably is in the fact that the message of the apostles (i.e., justification through Christ, the lordship of Christ and the final judgment by Christ) is foundational to the life of the church. The faithfulness of the original apostles in teaching the church by precept and example those things which Christ had commanded lent Divine authority to their ministry. Methinks that this "if-she-warn't-planted-by-an-apostle-she-ain't- legitimate" mentality is not only unscriptural, it's also inefficient (insofar as it actually hinders the Great Commission). The average intelligent "non-apostle" who adopts this mindset will be logically reluctant to go "everywhere preaching the word" (as in Acts 8:4) lest a bunch of people get saved and he become guilty of inadvertently founding an "invalid" church. In addition to cutting the nerve of personal evangelism, this mistaken notion blinds the eyes of its adherents to the moral and doctrinal flaws of those who say they are apostles and are not. The compulsive need to validate a congregation's existence by tracing her inception to an apostle will cause such churches to become uncritical of those manipulative "apostles" who speak with an uncertain sound, make merchandise of God's people, and foster in the churches an ongoing spiritual dependence upon these wanna-be apostles rather than Christ. To question the validity of these men's apostleship would be to question the validity of the church's right to exist. The church doesn't need but one Mediator to justify her existence. WARNING!! The Surgeon General has just been fired by the President for talking about stuff not nearly so disgusting as what's in this journal. DIALOGUE... Dear NRR: It is a joy and a hoot to get your wonderful little paper every month! I will leave D.T.'s church planter question to the deeper theological musings of my husband. But I wanted to just suggest that after Acts tells us what happened in the early years, much of the remainder of Scriptures instructs us on how to get along with fellow believers. God's word is contemporary - we might as well be living in Corinth. Are our problems with pagans? Hardly! Our deepest hurts and struggles are with believers (or are they just preaching Christ our of selfish ambition?). My point is just that the whole struggle is the whole point. The Bride (which ain't ready) is being made ready as we look for the Kingdom not made by hands. Your sense of humor is a downright spiritual gift. May Christ continue to bless you and give insight. - Kathy Sanford, Carlsborg, Washington Dear NRR: I must say NRR has given me more hope about home church and has helped me believe that I am not crazy or out in left field somewhere. I sure hope no mainline pastors see that you said you have decided tithing was a racket to finance the church system. If you do, your life won't be worth 5 cents. - Frank Hendley, Ansonville, NC Dear Frank: NRR makes no representations or warranties concerning your craziness, or about what field you are playing in. - DLT Dear NRR: One issue I am battling to reconcile with the house church structure is the Biblical commands for the silence of women. Can you help me with this? - Dieter Thom, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Dear Dieter: Yes, I can help you. You need to contact the world's leading authority on the silence of women, Mr. Steve Atkerson, of Atlanta, Georgia. I have his phone number and address, but unfortunately, he can not currently be reached at home, because he is hiding out from his beautiful wife Sandra, who accidentally heard Steve's last teaching on the silence of women. When, and if, Steve surfaces, I will let you know. -DLT
I want to give a retrospective analysis of the last year and one-half. I published the first issue of NRR in April, 1993. My goal was to get to a hundred subscribers and test the reaction. I was not sure anyone would like NRR because of its radical nature. I was quite surprised to see the favorable response. I decided to go for two hundred, then three hundred subscribers. With rare exceptions, readers loved NRR. Then I became overwhelmed with logistics, and I realized that I could not keep publishing with my money and time limitations. I decided to take several months off. To my surprise, I received about three request a week to be added to the mailing list, even during those months when I was not publishing. The requests were usually accompanied by kudos, raves, tearful pleadings to keep publishing, etc. (OK, I'm exaggerating a little). After toying with the idea of doing a book based on NRR, I decided to go to the information superhighway. I am convinced that ideas have consequences, and often the consequences occur decades after the insertion of the ideas into people's consciousness. When NRR gets on Internet, it will (hopefully) be there for decades. I also intend to open up house church newslists, bulletin boards, etc. This will take time to have an effect, but I predict within two decades or less, house churches will be everywhere. In fact, twenty years from now, I bet there'll be so many house church wannabe's that the purity of our ideal will become corrupted by those with a movement mentality, and by those who want to co-opt the truth of what we're doing, and integrate it into the system. Hopefully, NRR will still be there, involved in the battle. For the present, however, I realize we have an awful long way to go. In my mind, one major problem we have is trying to use the idea of house church for something else rather than simply knowing the Lord and his brethren. In the last year and one-half, I have run into house churchers who are into British Israelism, signs and wonders, left-wing Catholic Worker politics, right-wing U.S. Taxpayer Party politics, the "doctrines of grace," the "manifested sons of God" doctrine, Mennonite pacifism, "Christian hippieism," Christian feminism, Christian survivalism, and soul-sleep. What all this has to do with the Lord's church has escaped me. Another problem plaguing us, I believe, is that we get hyper when someone whose vision of the church is not quite the same as ours. I think of the widely-varying reactions to Gene Edwards. Some house churchers idolize him, and some feel like its their God- given duty to warn the brethren about his craziness. Another example is ex-charismatics, who can't quite get used to the idea that non-charismatics can have church, too. (And there are non- charismatics just as bad the other way, too.) We need to lighten up, and learn to enjoy each other. But let me leave you (at least all of you who will not do God's will and get on the Internet) with an expression of my gratitude to you and my intense satisfaction of my experience with NRR. I just got a letter, too late to publish, which stated that the writer, having received a copy from a friend, "laughed himself silly." Well, I, too, have laughed myself silly for the last year and one-half. It's been a blast. I regret not being to publish all the articles that were sent (especially several great ones by Adam Zens). I regret not being able to answer all the mail and phone calls that came in. It just got to be too much. I want to think all who did contribute articles, and I especially want to thank Les Buford for all the copying work he did, and especially for the encouragement to keep going. We are going to have another House Church Conference in Clemson, SC in May, 1995. All of you will receive a letter giving the details. Until then, so long... I'll see you in cyberspace! |
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You may send your opinions, flames, weighty observations, etc., to
Dan L. Trotter
work e-mail:
dtrotter@pascal.coker.edu
home e-mail: dantrotter@yahoo.com
Since 09/30/00 this number of people have ignored the Surgeon General's warning and have read this thing, resulting in gosh knows how much mental and emotional trauma: