“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” (Ephesians 4:11). Apostle literally means one who is sent forth in ancient Greek. It has the same etymological roots as the word epistle. God gave us apostles because He can't always come Himself in person to testify of the divine mission of His Son Jesus Christ. For one thing, in-person visits from our Heavenly Father would scorch away any seedlings of faith burgeoning inside of us. The Lord has to give us time and space to adjust to our ignorance and our unbelief and develop within ourselves the desire and exercise the faith to believe in Him and His plan and to strive to become more like Him. But He doesn't want to leave us completely lost and alone while we are figuring all of this out. For this reason, He has sent forth special messengers, heralds who have developed the faith and spiritual strength to receive a special witness of and relationship with Jesus Christ but still remain flawed and imperfect humans who know in a very real sense what it is like to have faith and fear and hope and doubt. Apostles started where we are but they have gone on ahead and now have been sent back to show us the way in a manner that does not rob us of our chance to grow our faith. If we have ever asked ourselves if God loves the world so much and it is in so much trouble, then why doesn't He send anyone to help? Then maybe we need to ask ourselves if we are truly giving heed to the advice and counsel and warnings of the Apostles who have literally been sent to us as their title implies. I hope we will not turn away the emissaries, the messengers, the heralds, the Apostles of the Lord.
