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Apostolic Ministry and the Poor
by Martyn Dunsford
Hedge End, Southampton, UK
 Imagine the scenes the original apostles witnessed as they followed Jesus around. See the crowds of harassed and helpless people pressing in on him, seeking help, hope and healing, and observe the astonishing compassion that Jesus constantly demonstrated towards these poor people!
Well-versed in the Old Testament Scriptures, they understood that God is not indifferent towards the poor and afflicted, the victims of injustice and those powerless to help themselves. But now they were witnessing what this really meant; they were seeing perfect love in action as the healings and miracles multiplied.
The poor clearly had a special place in Jesus’ affections. They really were precious to him and he set a magnificent example of how they should be valued and cared for. This issue is so close to the heart and character of God, as demonstrated in parables like the sheep and goats (Matt. 25) and the good Samaritan (Luke 10) which were shockingly radical, challenging traditions and religious prejudices and preferences. Attitudes and actions towards the poor expose the true state of people’s hearts before God and reveal the sincerity and reality of faith in King Jesus. It would seem that this was one of the main ways in which these disciples were being prepared by Jesus for future apostolic ministry in the early church.
Apostolic Injunction – Remember the Poor
To the apostles who walked and talked with Jesus, care for the poor was clearly a central feature of their ministry in the Jerusalem church. There was such a remarkable application of Jesus’ teachings and example under their apostolic leadership, that it was noted that ‘there were no needy persons among them’ (Acts 4:34). They did not view care for the poor as a project they might or might not engage with. Naturally and without question the needs of the poor were attended to as a normal part of church life, alongside teaching, prayer, meeting together and worship (Acts 2:42-46).
When Paul came on the scene they were careful to work through with him the important issues pertaining to the recognition of his apostolic ministry, such as the content of his gospel, evidence of God’s working in his ministry and his calling to the Gentiles, to authenticate the grace of God given to him to be an apostle. In this context they particularly wanted to ensure that he would ‘remember the poor’ which Paul was already doing and would eagerly continue to do (Gal. 2:1-10). This apostolic injunction emphasises that this is a significant aspect of apostolic ministry.
Apostolic Example
The apostle Paul was personally committed to helping the weak. At times he supported himself and his co-workers through the work of his own hands, and then gave to the poor (Acts 20:34–35). Although he had a right to receive church support, and did so at times, he made every effort not to be a burden on church resources or dependent on them (2 Thess. 3:8–9). He then taught others to follow this example by living productive, hardworking lives to provide for their own daily necessities, and then to be in a position to share with those in need (Eph. 4:28, 1Thess. 4:11, Titus 3:14).
In all the pressures of apostolic ministry Paul always remembered the poor. The essence of his apostolic faith was a determination to accomplish all that God had called him to do, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’. In times of need he was not going to be deflected through lack of resources; in times of plenty he was not distracted by the temptation to relax (Phil. 4:12-13). His focus was not on money but on doing what God had called him to do, and through it all he was careful not to neglect the poor – what an example!
Apostolic Foundations of a Local Church
Care for the poor should be a significant foundational feature of church life. The aim of apostolic teaching is to establish believers firmly in the grace of God, which impacts the overall life of the church in terms of its practices and priorities. Care for the poor should be taught and modelled in such a way that believers will understand and embrace God’s heart for the poor so that compassion, faith and generosity characterise the life of the church. A rich stream of God’s grace can run through the heart of the church if believers engage in activities, both spontaneous and organised, to bless the poor.
Apostolic appointment and ongoing influence on church leaders will encourage them both to take up a pro-active responsibility to engage the church in caring for the poor and also to develop a wise and mature approach to handling the complex issues that inevitably arise. Such issues are sensible stewardship of the church’s resources, and assessing what is fair and what might be discriminatory against some people, such as was apparently the case with the Grecian Jewish widows in Acts 6.
Apostolic Family of Churches
The New Testament churches clearly had strong relational links with each other fostered by the apostolic teams that ministered to them. Paul made sure that they knew about the needs of the poor in other churches both in their own country and further afield. He arranged special offerings through the churches of Galatia, Macedonia and Achaia for the poor in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8 & 9). This was not just about money; the word is not even mentioned in these chapters. It was about the grace of God being outworked in the lives of these local churches. The space given to this in the epistles, and the attention given to the practical details, indicate that this was a priority of apostolic ministry.
Paul was also concerned about the issue of equality between the churches so that, quite appropriately, assistance would flow in the direction of greatest need. Who better than apostles with their wider knowledge of different situations to make godly assessments and to be credible when appealing for help on this basis of equality?
Apostolic Extension – Reaching the Nations
The New Testament apostles fulfilled the Great Commission by preaching the gospel in new unreached places, gathering the new believers and discipling them as they established new churches. It was the poor who would have responded most readily to the gospel and who would have probably constituted the largest group in a church. However, there is no suggestion in Acts that there was ever a particular apostolic strategy to reach a specific group of people because they were poor. In fact Paul seemed to prioritise reaching major regional cities rather than the poorer rural areas.
However, there are remarkable incidents recorded in Acts where care for the poor is the significant factor that opens the door for Peter’s apostolic ministry and a gospel breakthrough. Both Dorcas (Acts 9) and Cornelius (Acts 10) had such a reputation, in the latter case across the most resistant cross-cultural barrier of the day, Jew to Gentile. It would seem that compassion for the poor is so in tune with the heart of God that it is not surprising to see such sovereign and supernatural works of God in contexts where it is taking place. Apostles should be alert to the grace of God at work in preparing people and opening doors for the gospel in this way, even if it is not a planned apostolic strategy of theirs.
Apostolic Reproduction from among the Poor
The poor are not just a category of people who always need to be on the receiving end of assistance. God wants to set them free from the curse of poverty to become self-sufficient and then go on to help others. The poorest of the poor are also created in Christ Jesus to do the good works God has prepared in advance for them to do (Eph. 2:10). Has not God chosen those who are poor to be rich in faith and inherit the kingdom (James 2:5)? We can expect the redeemed poor to be at the forefront of those who not only inherit the kingdom but preach it and demonstrate it among the nations.
How in keeping with the ways of God will it be to see an army of foolish ‘have nots’ and ‘are nots’ raised up to demonstrate His glory on the earth (1Cor. 1:26-28).
The poor are not only to be embraced as dear brothers but to be highly regarded as equal partners and co-workers in the apostolic mission of the church to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel. The more we reach out to the world’s unreached peoples, where the vast majority of the world’s poorest people live, the more we can expect God to raise up apostolic leaders from among the redeemed poor. Let’s be ready to recognise them, release them and resource them. |
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