Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Apostles Today’

The subtitle reads: Biblical Government for Biblical Power (Regal, 2006). When we bring back apostles to lead the church today, we will see mighty moves of God. Let’s look into this thesis.

As I noted in my earlier reviews of another Wagner book, Dr. Wagner (d. 2016) was highly educated and trained in church growth principles. He was an excellent researcher in the literature. He was a missionary to Bolivia for many years with a traditional denomination. Then he gradually dropped his cessationism (someone who minimizes or believes gifts have ceased) and became a continuationist (one who believes they continue). I give him full credit and respect for his service and heart for God. He comes across as a sincere seeker of him.

I already wrote two other reviews, which are very long.

Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Churchquake’

Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Apostles and Prophets’

I covered his theses in those books, and this one rehashes and slightly clarifies them. Therefore, I do not need to spend as much time on this review. I will quote some ideas here and there and explain why his book once again swings and misses.

The book is mercifully small in dimension and few in pages (149 pages).

Let’s begin.

Review

In a section titled Second Apostolic Age, in Chapter One, he tells us why he chose to label the movement the New Apostolic Reformation:

The term for the new wineskin that God has provided for these churches [African Independent Churches, Chinese House Churches, Latin American Grassroots Churches, and US Independent Charismatic Churches] is the “New Apostolic Reformation.” It is a “reformation” because we are currently witnessing the most radical change in the way of “doing church” since the Protestant Reformation. It is apostolic because the recognition of the gift and office of apostle is the most radical of a whole list of from the old wineskin. And it is “new” to distinguish it from several older traditional church groups that have incorporated the term “apostolic” into their official name. (p. 9)

He had said in his 1999 book Churchquake! that he came up with the term back then, and here he elaborates and clarifies it.

Next, his section on the scriptural foundation for bringing forward the office of apostle to right now is brief–too brief (pp. 10-13). One could even call it shallow. For me this shallow exegesis is the fatal flaw in his central thesis, as I explain below in my own definition.

More importantly, he offers one definition and one description of what apostles do and who they are.

First the formal definition:

An apostle is a Christian leader, gifted, taught, commissioned, and sent my God with the authority to establish the foundational government of the church within an assigned sphere of ministry by hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches and by setting things in order accordingly for the growth and maturity of the church and for the extension of the kingdom of God. (p. 27)

He says that this is a “bare bones” definition. True, which explains why it is too vague to shed any light on what true apostles are and their roles. Any pastor who plants a church or any non-apostolic, generic leader could fit the job requirement. His definition is too broad.

Now for the description, which he put in a bulleted format (p. 147):

Having seen Jesus
Performing signs and wonders
Exposing heresies
Planting new churches
Imposing church discipline
Ministering cross culturally
Taking back territories from the enemy and converting it to the kingdom (p. 147)

That list is closer to the NT definition, as I read things. However, a charismatic pastor or elder could perform some items on the list, like signs and wonders and exposing heresies and imposing church discipline. And the other ones, like church planting, could be done by an evangelist. So the one quality of the apostle that most people cannot do is the first one–seeing Jesus. This explains why Dr. Wagner says the list is only what some apostles do, not all of them.

In contrast, he says that his list of twelve items beginning on the previous page (pp. 146-47) can be done by all apostles, but the items are so vague that any charismatic pastor or elder or generic leader could carry out the description.

So I have to ask myself: why such a broad definition and description that any generic church leader could do? The biblical definition (see below) of an apostle is so restrictive and stringent that probably all men (and women) who lay claim to Wagner’s broad definitions and descriptions could not fit the bill. They are not qualified per the narrow NT definition.

Throughout the book, Dr. Wagner also defines apostles in numerous lists, but once again, the fatal flaw is that any generic leader could claim to perform the items in the New Apostolic Reformation. No wonder apostles are popping up everywhere now.

Could it be that Dr. Wagner has a vested interest in broadening the definitions and descriptions of an apostle so that he and countless others can now claim the title and keep his and their movement alive? I’ll leave the question open.

This is clearly not God’s movement–to restore the title and activities of apostles to us today, a Second Apostolic Age, in such a confusing mishmash.

After I have read his three books, I conclude that Dr. Wagner had no mandate from God to gin up this new movement. It is yet another novelty from another church growth consultant, but a serious and damaging novelty.

In Chapter Five, titled, The Power of a Title, he urges, undeterred, that all apostles today must push the title, even beyond the adjective apostolic. The church must get used to the title, after a while, so it no longer seems strange to them. Therefore, don’t shrink back from the noun apostle! Put it in the front of your name. Apostle Wagner. Go for it! He is pushing his movement too hard

In a section in Chapter Six (p. 83), he recounts the story about his own apostolic decree. Mad cow disease was spreading somewhere in Germany, where Dr. Wagner and his wife were travelling, They were not able to splurge at a local steakhouse, which was their custom, so he used his apostolic authority and decreed that the disease would stop, on October 1, 2001. A month later a friend told him that the disease had stopped on September 30, 2001, a day earlier.

Dr. Wagner assures us that he did not have this power in himself to decree something like that, but he did say his decree was by virtue of the authority of his apostleship and listening to the Spirit.

However, it is a mystery to me that the disease had stopped spreading the day before his apostolic decree. Therefore, his decree had nothing to do with it. Dr. Wagner is claiming a miracle that was not caused by his decree. Sorry to say, but he is confused about this.

Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?

Now we turn to a smoking gun, as I see things. Dr. Wagner writes:

I want to make it clear that my research methodology is not philosophical or theological (in the classic sense) nor exegetical or revelational, but rather phenomenological. I am not saying that any of these methodologies is right or wrong. Phenomenology clearly is not superior to exegesis. It is merely my personal choice. (p. 77)

To me, exegesis is the only right method, when the goal is to establish a movement built on a biblical ministry gift. The movement must be rooted in a careful exegesis of the NT. Defining an office so broadly just by observing appearances (phenomenology) is dangerous. As noted, apostles are popping up everywhere.

Another fatal flaw is the methodology of jumping from the study of Scripture to the title. For example, just because I study and copy King David’s kingship principles does not make me a king of Israel or even literally royal. Just because I study Paul’s apostleship in the epistles and Acts and emulate it does not make me an apostle or apostolic. Studying and implementing numerous leadership principles in Scripture does not confer the literal title king or apostle or governor (Nehemiah), maybe except leader, broadly defined. For apostleship, other factors have to come into play; the main one is actually being a pioneering missionary and church planter in unevangelized areas, just like Paul and Barnabas were, in Acts 13-14.

Thus Dr. Wagner’s phenomenological method has led to confusion in the global church. People who really are not apostles are now claiming the title. They are going beyond their assigned commission.

And now let’s define apostles biblically, as I see things.

New Testament Apostles

At this link here:

Do New Testament Apostles Exist Today?

I concluded that the NT describes only these apostles. I cannot find where the broad definition of modern apostles fit.

Here is a summary list of the kinds of apostles:

1.. Jesus: he is the sent one from heaven and commissioned by the Father. He is the Apostle of his church.

2.. The twelve: they form an exclusive class. They were foundational. They became itinerant, after leaving Jerusalem. They are also called the “apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14)

After their time in Jerusalem, establishing doctrine and planting the church there, they became missionaries. Even Peter traveled outside Jerusalem to preach the gospel (Acts 9:32-10:48). No doubt other apostles did too, even much like evangelist Philip did (Acts 8:5-13; 26-40), even though their travels were unrecorded in Acts.

3.. Apostles of Christ: Some of them were foundational; Paul, Barnabas, James (Lord’s brother), and Silas?, Andronicus and Junia. They were itinerant, possibly except James

4.. Messengers of the churches: they were sent out by the churches to deliver messages and letters and establish order, under apostles and the sending churches.

The first three are out of reach for anyone today. The fourth one may not appeal to modern apostles because it takes away their “extraordinary authority.” “Apostles” today. must also meet the additional criteria under IV and avoid the bad criteria under VI.C and D, here.

10 Apostleship

Fulfilling these stringent requirements is extraordinarily rare. They must not see themselves as foundational, either.

The one factor that unites all of them is that they were on the move. Even Jesus crisscrossed Israel, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, building his early movement (“The Son of Man has no place to lay his head”; Matt. 8:20). Do apostles today want to be itinerant missionaries and plant churches, living in discomfort and deprivation that comes from an unsettled life? Do they meet the other criteria?

In Paul’s day, super-apostles were claiming they had authority, while Paul was supposed to take a back seat to them (1 Cor. 3:10; 2 Cor. 11:5, 13; 12:11). Let’s hope that today’s apostles are not becoming these super-apostles by setting up their own authority outside of being missionary church planters in unevangelized areas!

In reply to the super-apostles, Paul said that he may not have been an apostle to other churches, but he was surely an apostle to the Corinthians, in whose city he was the first to plant a church (v. 2; cf. Acts 18:1-18a). Therefore, 1 Corinthians 9:2 teaches that this requirement of being an apostle is to be a church planter by breaking brand new territory and is necessary for today, at a minimum (Rom. 15:20).

And so in today’s churches, missionaries might be able to claim to have an apostolic title on some level, but they better be pioneering missionaries. Therefore, if you want to see apostles in action, just read about Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13-14. They went into unreached areas.

Check Out What Two Genuine Apostles Did and How They Lived: Close Look at Acts 13-14

There are 3.2 billion people who have never heard the gospel. Plant churches in those areas, and then come back and claim your title of apostle.

Worst of all, today’s apostles are setting themselves up without a commission from the Lord and without reading Scripture more carefully. If they were to read it more carefully, they would deny the title. “I’m not qualified. I’ll just be a pastor.” Or “I’ll just be a teaching elder.” Now they are self-appointed to have “exceptional authority” (pp. 22-23) or in the previous two books “unusual” or “extraordinary” authority without earning it, just like the super-apostles in Corinth.

But if a movement or network leader is not apostolic, then which term should we use to describe him?

The answer is leaders in Romans 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28.

As to Romans 12 8, BDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, defines the term leader as follows (edited to fit this format): (1) “To exercise a position of leadership, rule, direct, be at the head (of)“; (2) “to have an interest in, show concern for, care for, give aid.” The first definition fits v. 8 here. Nearly every translation says leads or leader or leadership. One says administrative ability. Older ones say ruleth or rules. An older one even says sovereign (!). (Source).

In 1 Corinthians 12:28 the Greek word has been translated as follows: guidance, guides, administrators, administrating, administrations, governors, government, organizers, organizational gifts, managers, and of course leaders and leadership.

Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and 12:28

Gifts of the Spirit in Romans 12:6-8

See this post especially:

Observations on New Apostolic Reformation and Christian Nationalism

Therefore, let’s narrow down and reserve the term apostle only for pioneering missionaries who plant churches in unevangelized regions. Networkers or movement leaders or those who exercise general leadership in organizations or denominations in America or other gospel-saturated regions are not apostles or apostolic. You can pick the terms listed above to apply to these leaders. Not even church planters in evangelized areas are apostles. They are probably pastor-evangelists.

Don’t casually dismiss the two terms Paul offers us and hungrily claim the confusing title of apostle or apostolic.

Maybe the name of the movement or network Dr. Wagner and other promoters of this apostolic revolution are looking for is something like these: the New Leadership Reformation or the New Leadership Revolution. The only problem with these suggestions is that in their books they denigrate these two perfectly biblical gifts as nothing more than managerial, administrative paper shufflers who get in the way of apostles.

One other area of restrictions. In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus we have a prolonged job description of church governance, particularly in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. (On p. 78, Dr. Wagner said maybe the epistles should be called “apostolic epistles,” not “pastoral epistles.” Of course he is wrong because the title apostle is used only five times in the epistles and applies only to Paul. In contrast, elders are the main leadership focus of the pastoral epistles.)

In no place in the pastoral epistles do we read that visiting apostles led the church. Paul was the church planter in Ephesus, so as their apostle he oversaw the church, but he did not instruct Timothy to appoint more apostles. He was to appoint elders of the highest character. And the elder who works hard at preaching and teaching are singled out.to receive double honor (1Tim. 5:17).

Moreover, in Acts 20:17-38 Paul summoned the leaders of Ephesus. Did he call for any apostle? No, he asked the elders to meet him southward, along the Aegean Sea, in the city of Miletus. Overseers (= elders) and deacons governed (that is, served) the church at Philippi (Phil. 1:1). Paul commissioned Titus to complete what was left unfinished and appoint elders (not apostles) in every town on Crete (Titus 1:5-9). And he commissioned Timothy to do the same in Ephesus, including male and female deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-13).

Conclusion

As I see things, Dr. Wagner has gone off the rails because he did not correctly define what an apostle is. His methodology was flawed. His book is sowing and throwing the church into confusion (though Wagner’s book cannot take the sole blame).

After reviewing Dr. Wagner’s three books, I believe he made things up as he went along, particularly his definition of apostle. I conclude that he did not have a mandate from God to push the New Apostolic Reformation on to the global church. The NAR does not come from God, but from the minds of innovative men, big dreamers and visionaries, looking for yet another new thing, a novelty, the latest fad and trend. American church leaders, especially of the charismatic variety, look for the Next Big Thing, and this constant search is misguided.

Therefore, anyone who claims the title apostle or apostolic must drop the title immediately, unless he can prove he has been a missionary who planted churches in unevangelized areas, like Paul and Barnabas did in Acts 13-14. Self-denial is mature and humble, and so is following Scripture more carefully. Choose the way of humility and listen to Scripture.

To repeat, biblically the title apostle does exist today, but it is limited to missionary and pioneering endeavors in unreached areas or mere messengers or couriers.

Bottom line: Apostles = Missionaries who plant churches in unevangelized areas.

If anyone belongs to the International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders or the US Coalition of Apostolic Leaders and does not fit the strict NT definition of apostle, he must unsubscribe immediately.

Another bottom line: I can in no way recommend this book, except for researchers who need it to expose the apostolic restoration movements.

Finally …..

I have observed four men of God who stepped outside of their lane and fell. They got too big for their simple calling. Watch out for others like them to fall.

Paul wrote: “We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us …” (2 Cor. 10:13, NIV).

I’ll leave it there.

Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Apostles and Prophets’

Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Churchquake!’

Review of Joseph Mattera’s Book ‘The Global Apostolic Movement and the Progress of the Gospel’

Observations on New Apostolic Reformation and Christian Nationalism

Observations on the Early Vineyard Movement

Analyzing the New Apostolic Reformation

Calling Leaders by Name to Repent

Don’t Make Excuses for Unsound Christian Leaders

New Testament Restricts Authority of Modern Prophets

Do New Testament Prophets and Prophecy Exist Today?

Do New Testament Apostles Exist Today?