1 Corinthians 9:22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.(NKJ)
In this subject I will cover some points on how an Apostle is prepared for ministry.
The passage above Paul is saying that he has to become all things to all men. How does an Apostle become all things to all men? It begins with exposure.
Exposure with different kinds of peoples, personalities, doctrines, church types, in fact, exposure in every area. This is necessary because the Lord will need His Apostles to serve His Bride, and we come from all walks of life.
I will point out a few things that perhaps you can identify with.
- God will expose you to different kinds of ministries.
Here is where your training ground begins. You will be in ministries that you don´t like to be in, or doing task that your uncomfortable with. You will see people minister in areas that you feel you are better qualified in. You will see other people making mistakes and you will want to scream for them to stop.
The Apostle in training may feel a calling to the prophetic, and there he or she is, working the overhead projector in the church.
I remember that I had a desire to learn how to prophesy, and I was sent to the nursery. I then wanted to be on the music ministry, and I began with turning over the music sheets on the projector. I did not know that my preparation was beginning.
All of this is extremely necessary for the Apostle to go through. God prepares you to face every area of ministry so that you will know how not to it and how to do it correctly.
Also this preparation is important so that you can identify with people in the Body.
- The Lord will put you in situations where you will fail, and you will fail miserably.
I have too many to count. This is to equip you to have a servants attitude and to remain humble in His sight.
One of the most difficult area for me was going through the different kinds of temperaments. The four types of temperaments are:
- Amiable
- Driver
- Analytical
- Expressive
I was the amiable type. I was always smiling, making every one happy, and leaving all the decisions to others. I was then thrust into becoming a driver where I had to make a stand on my goals and push through like a bulldog to accomplish my plans.
I became an analytical. I was re -doing a business website and began to examine every meta tag and every key word to make sure that I would obtain a higher google ranking. I was eliminating pages and re wording others.
Expressive, this has been the most difficult for me. I was the quiet type, but then something rose up within me where I just had to share my opinion and tell everyone how wrong they were (smile.)
The Lord will take you through these different temperament changes so that you can become all things to all people.
You will change, because the Lord will change you. It just happens, especially if your desire is to follow the call of God on your life. You cannot be complacent where you are at, you must push through.
The Lord will also take you through social preparation. Here is where the racial boundaries are non existent and there are no age differences and no class types.
If you did not feel comfortable with a certain race of people, guess where the Lord is going to thrust you next. Yes, with the race you are most uncomfortable with.
Every person is a valuable member of the Body of Christ. An Apostle must minister to people of all walks of life and view people as the same. We are the same in the eyes of the Lord and that is what the Apostle is reflecting. There is no place for racism in the Kingdom of God.
Have you gone through that type of preparation as an Apostle? Have you recognized it on your life? Does this article make sense to you? Great! I know how you feel.
For a complete teaching on the subject, purchase the Apostolic Course by Les D. Crause available at GMR Publishing
