After Pentecost: The Disciples DeployedSample

A Common Mission 

God chose Saul, a murderer and persecutor of the early Church, to advance the truth of the Gospel among “the Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel,” territory He’d not yet allowed the early Church or the apostles to enter. Having already proven themselves faithful in every task assigned to them, the apostles could have given in to jealousy over God’s giving such a challenging and potentially glorious assignment to a recent enemy of the Church. Instead, after they were sure Saul’s testimony of salvation and regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit were genuine, the apostles let Saul join them as they came and went, teaching and training him just as Jesus, the Son of God, had taught and trained them, lowly sinners who’d once been enemies of God as well. 

Understanding the disciples better than they understood themselves, Jesus took every opportunity to remind them that the Kingdom of God was about service, not power, urging them to demonstrate God’s grace and mercy in their interaction with others. Every time they showed symptoms of pride or arrogance over something God had done through them, Jesus set them straight. He reminded them that they were just sinners saved by grace, their power came from God, and their mission was to advance the Gospel, not show off or impress people. 

It took the apostles a while to understand—they were still discussing who would be greatest in the Kingdom as late as the last supper before Jesus’ arrest—but they finally got it. After the day of Pentecost, seemingly unimpressed with themselves, the apostles were willing to delegate responsibility, share authority within the Church, and welcome new leadership into the Church from the outside, things people who operate in the flesh don’t do. 

In a letter to the early Church, Peter would later challenge church leadership to serve with humility, live as examples worth following, and let God do the exalting, or lifting up, if/when he saw fit. 

What about you? Do you demonstrate sincere humility when God chooses to work through you? Through others? Do you trust God to divide and assign responsibility correctly? Are you willing to support and invest in those whose assignments seem bigger or more exciting than your own?