Matthew 28:18-20, MARK 16:15-16, Luke 24:45-48 and Acts 1:7-8 all record what has been called the “great commission,” and John 21:8-11 describes a symbolic catch of fish which has the same purport. This “commission” to preach the truth about Jesus Christ worldwide was initially given to the eleven surviving apostles on a Galilean mountain top, even while some of them still “doubted” that the person in their midst was really their risen Master (Matt. 28:17).
Who else could the instruction to preach have been given to at that time? No one doubts that “the eleven” were meant to carry it out. But very many followers of Jesus in the 20 centuries since then have deduced that ordinary baptised believers are excused from any responsibility to actively preach the gospel, at least beyond their own immediate circle. Evangelism and worldwide missionary work, it has been said, either ceased to be required at all after the apostles died, or all preaching must be controlled only by ecclesiastically ordained or self-appointed councils, committees or individuals who, as we say in the Caribbean, “run things.”
Acts 8 totally refutes this notion. As a result of persecution following the martyrdom of Stephen, “all except the apostles were scattered. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (1,4). How strange: the very men entrusted with the mighty task seem to have left it to everybody else!
“Each one teach one”
Holy Scripture and contemporary secular history agree on the scale, the mode and the achievements of the Christian expansion of the first and second centuries of our era, that is to say, how Christ’s followers carried out his instructions. The facts are irrefutable, frankly acknowledged even by the enemies of the truth. This expansion was based upon a principle that was used very successfully by one Caribbean Ministry of Education to foster literacy: “each one teach one.” Within 35 years of Jesus’ ascension to glory, networks of ecclesias believing and preaching “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” were vibrantly established in at least 24 national provinces of the Roman Empire, at least five independent nations beyond its confines, and with some exploratory preaching activity ongoing in several more.
History and tradition indicate that, after the initial reluctance of Acts 8, “the twelve” did eventually spearhead Bible mission activities in some quite far-flung countries, including the apostle Andrew in barbarous Scythia (now the Ukraine), and the apostle Thomas in distant idolatrous India. But by and large the apostles both as individuals and as a group shared their role with others in both preaching and pastoral work during their lifetimes. Evangelism in the apostolic age was not organised from Jerusalem, Antioch or even Rome by a special cadre of preachers and pastors. As Jesus foretold, it grew “spontaneously” from a tiny mustard seed into a great tree (Mark 4:31-32).
The model, Thessalonica
We know exactly what the model of organisation was. Within a very short time of the founding by Paul, Silas and Timothy of the ecclesia in Thessalonica, the capital city of Macedonia, all three could write in this way to “the church of the Thessalonians:”
You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere! (I Thess. 1:7-8).
It is evident that in the apostolic age missionary work depended greatly on the initiative of individual members, including sisters. When Priscilla and Aquila heard a visiting preacher in Corinth, “they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26). There is no evidence at all that Priscilla (who is named first, you may notice) was asked to do what she did by any missionary organisation. Sponsorship of preaching by individual ecclesias under providential guidance was a characteristic mode of operation. Antioch – itself a relatively new “mission” ecclesia – “placed their hands on” Barnabas and Saul and sponsored what has been called the “first missionary journey” – quite erroneously so, in fact, since several ecclesias had been established independently in the province of Cilicia before that time (13:3; Gal. 1:21).
It may be that the missionary founding brother of an ecclesia had some semi-official supra-ecclesial authority, at least for a short while. But it is most striking that in the one very serious case when use of such authority might have been justified, it was deliberately not used (II Cor. 10:7-12). This decision was because an “appeal by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” was far, far preferable (v.1). It was because Jesus had urged that an authoritarian attitude be replaced and superseded by one far better: Show proper respect to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers (I Peter 2:17).
Antioch, refugees from persecution
The case of Antioch is quite fascinating, as it reveals some of the secrets of success of the early Christian missionary endeavours. There is, in fact, almost a 21st century Christadelphian touch to it. The ecclesia was established by refugees from religious persecution. Clearly, they did not need the apostles’ or anyone else’s sanction to do this, for “the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” The ecclesia in Jerusalem, hearing about this development, sent Barnabas to Antioch. Was the purpose of this visit to direct the new brothers and sisters, and issue instructions from mission headquarters? Luke tells us in Acts 11:23: “When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” That is how the brotherhood has been designed by the Lord Jesus, its head, to operate. Just like that.
Acts 15, “council” or “conference”?
Acts 15 is a very embarrassing chapter to the apostate churches. Nearly every Bible has an uninspired heading The Council at Jerusalem. It was nothing of the kind. Every one of the 24 occasions when the word “council” is used in the New Testament it has a nasty connotation: the purpose of convening it in every case was wicked. The apostolic brotherhood did not have “councils.” In Acts 15, there was a very serious issue, and it was dealt with in the spirit of Christ, which is the spirit of love. The steps were: first, visiting delegates from Antioch “were welcomed by the [Jerusalem] ecclesia, to whom they reported everything” (v.4); then “the apostles and elders met” and there was “much discussion” (v.6-7); finally, the “whole assembly” was involved directly in the proceedings and in the decisions taken (v.12). The policies adopted were not the fiat of a “council” or board of directors. The “judgement” of James was offered to the “whole church” for approval and implementation (v.22). Cumbersome? Humbling to the flesh of would-be leaders? Indeed, but that is the way of Christ, the only way he will approve. Unless his “commission” to preach is carried out in love, it is worth nothing (I Cor. 13:1-3).
How can we reconcile this scriptural approach with “councils” whose every decision, however important, is made without any brotherly input from those ecclesias and brothers and sisters who are directly affected?
The way of Christ or institutionality?
Following Jesus’ teaching, including his humbling principles of turning the other cheek, forgiveness, reconciliation, evangelism and ecclesial organisation, is not easy. It involves self-sacrifice and self-abasement. Human nature being what it is, it is evident that big, tightly organised, multi-national organisations can radiate an aura of success.
The Christadelphians
Christadelphians are called to a very different spirit. Brother John Thomas insisted: “We have no professional lecturers. The word professional carries pretension and honour with it, which are both alike foreign to the simplicity and the modesty of the house of Christ, and forbidden by the Master thereof. Every justified person, irrespective of office, is authorized to preach, and therefore to immerse.” When he was a physically tired old man in his 60’s, he could still write to a dear friend and brother in Scotland, “I have not been specially called to go and cry aloud and spare not, yet I do it earnestly. It is the duty of everyone that can do it, to do likewise; for the commission is, ‘Let him that heareth say, Come’.” When asked why we do not have a special cadre of missionaries like other churches, Sister Jane Roberts expressed the same principle: “Every Christadelphian is a missionary.”
Ecclesial autonomy
Ecclesial autonomy does not mean the absence of inter-ecclesial cooperation or activity. Far from it. The fact that we will ultimately be saved as individuals rather than because we are prominent members of a denomination does not mean that we cannot and do not share the wonderful blessings of loving ecclesial and inter-ecclesial fellowship. Quite the opposite. Consensus, not direction, is our strength. Diversity in unity is our greatest appeal and challenge to the world. We are, and are seen to be, intelligent individuals with varying temperaments, not clones. Every single historian who has examined the Christadelphian body has been amazed that we have no pope, archbishop, chairman, or synod — and not even a headquarters. The principles of Jesus Christ do work when they are followed faithfully!
A carnal or an apostolic spirit, which is it to be?
The apostolic spirit is perfectly clear from II Corinthians 3:2: “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” Our divine brotherhood is not a secret society, or a large corporation, whose inner workings are known only to a small group of initiates in a board room. A brother or sister in Christ, whether Australian or Albanian, British or Byelorussian, Uzbek or Ukrainian, has totally “renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Cor. 4:2).
The value of plurality
There is strength and energy in diversity. For 50 years and more a happy plurality of individual and combined efforts have shared the worldwide work of the brotherhood in fulfilling Jesus’ “commission” and reaped the blessed fruits: Gospel Publicity League, Gospel Proclamation Society, Christadelphian Advancement Trust, Christadelphian Bible Mission, Christadelphian Bible Mission of the Americas, Australasian Christadelphian Bible Mission, Advancement of Scriptural Knowledge, Christadelphian Mission to Israel, Auxiliary Lecturing Society, the Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation, and many others. None of these has ever been a threat to any other. Inter-organisational jealousy and envy have no place. Let us pray for many more like these to arise while we have time. We also enjoy a range of interesting magazines telling us about God’s work on earth. We give thanks to Him for them all.
It is our belief that thousands, indeed hopefully a majority, of brothers and sisters worldwide are shocked, dismayed and deeply troubled about a recent trend toward the notion that all preaching should be done by councils and committees which meet in secret. We want these things to be done by brotherly hands stretched across land, sea and air, led by teams of willing volunteers from within and among all the 126 nations of the world where Christadelphian lightstands exist in 2003, and among which the spirit walks. In this way it will be truly a brotherhood–wide enterprise in which the Lord of glory will be pleased to participate.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One