In Acts 9:10-16, a “disciple” named Ananias is instructed by God in a vision to go and lay his hands on Saul of Tarsus that he might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is given the exact address where Saul is residing and is told that Saul is praying.

Ananias obeys and when he enters the house, he makes clear to Saul that this is no social call or friendly visit. He does this by his use of the word apostello, which is the verb form of apostolos. He said to Saul, The Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came has sent (apostello) me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17).

Apostello is distinguished from pempo, the more general term for “send,” in that, like apostolos, it emphasizes the authorization of the sent one by the sender. By using apostello, Ananias made clear to Saul that he was there on an apostolic assignment from the risen Lord who had just appeared to Saul.

Ananias’s obedience to that one apostolic assignment changed world history. It also reveals the very fluid and functional nature of apostolic ministry, for there is no evidence that Ananias functioned in apostolic ministry apart from this one situation.

Apostolic Ministry is an Assignment from the Risen Lord

There is also no evidence that Ananias occupied a church office. He is only described as a “disciple.” All apostles are disciples. It is disciples—committed learners and followers—who receive apostolic assignments.

For example, the twelve disciples of Matthew 10:1 become the twelve apostles of Matthew 10:2 by virtue of the apostolic assignment they they are given by Jesus. They are given exousia by the Lord to preach, to cast out demons and to heal the sick in His name. They are then sent forth by Jesus as His authorized representatives to speak and act in His name. These twelve disciples are now also apostles by virtue of the commission they have received from the Lord.

The Twelve did not cease to be disciples after they became apostles. Interestingly, after 10:2 Matthew drops the word “apostle” and uses the word “disciple” for the Twelve throughout the remainder of his gospel. This would indicate that apostolos was not seen as a permanent office or position into which one was placed, but a specific work to which one was called or a particular assignment that one was given.

This also indicates that genuine discipleship is a prerequisite for authentic apostolic ministry.

The Hebrew Background for the Greek Apostolos

It is best to see the apostolic in terms of “Divine assignment” rather than church office, for it seems clear that apostles in the New Testament do not derive their authority from an office but from the Lord Himself. Commenting on this, the monumental Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says,

We are thus prevented by the sayings of Jesus Himself from trying to deduce from His authorization for word and action an official congregational office fulfilled in terms of law. To be precise, we should not use the word “office” at all in this context; we should speak of commission in the sense of authorization which is limited in time and space, and which is conditioned materially rather than personally, as in the Jewish concept of saliah. (Hyatt, Apostolic Leadership, 28).

The Hebrew word saliah, mentioned above, is most likely the word used by Jesus and those first apostles. They would not have used apostolos for they were not Greek-speaking Jews. Being natives of Israel, they would have spoken both Aramaic and Hebrew, for the Hebrew Scriptures were read in the synagogues every Sabbath. They would have been very familiar with this term, saliah, which was later transformed into apostolos for a Greek-speaking audience.

In first century Judaism, the saliah was a legal, commissioned representative of another, acting in a sort of “power of attorney.” A saliah could even represent a bridegroom in a marriage ceremony and the one who had sent the saliah would, thereby, become legally married. To receive or shame the saliah was to receive or shame the one who had sent him. The rabbis summed up the basis of the saliah in the oft-quoted statement, “The one sent by a man is as the man himself.” (Hyatt, Apostolic Leadership, 25).

Like the saliah, the one distinguishing characteristic of the New Testament apostle is the authorization of the “sent one” by the sender. When Jesus sent out the Twelve in Matthew 10:1, He assured them that, He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent me (Matt. 10:40). The commissioning of the Twelve in this passage has obvious parallels with that of the saliah

The saliah was often a trusted slave who had no personal agenda of his own. His only purpose in life was to please the master who had sent him and to carry out his will. The institution of the saliah was well in place by the first century and most certainly provided the background for the apostolos of the Greek New Testament.

An Apostle is a Disciple on Assignment

So, even though an apostle will exercise authority and influence, it is a mistake to relegate apostles to being CEO type leaders of churches and denominations. An apostle is a disciple who has received an assignment from the risen Christ. It may be an assignment to go and minister the word of God to one individual, as in the case of Ananias; or it may be to bring a neglected truth to the attention of the entire body of Christ, as in the case of Martin Luther; or to establish and raise up new outreaches and congregations, as in the case of Paul.

Whatever the assignment may be, the focus will be on the One doing the sending and His assignment, not on the one who has received the assignment. John G. Lake, whom many consider to have been an apostle to South Africa, got it right when he said,

The modern conception of an apostle is usually that he is a big church boss, but that is not the conception Jesus left. An apostle was not to be a big boss, he was to be like his Lord—a servant of all (Hyatt, Apostolic Leadership, 22.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, Apostolic Leadership, which the late Dr. Vinson Synan called, "A great macro history."