Called and Sent

 Job 11-12; Acts 15-16

“Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: ‘Unless you are circumcised…As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.’”

Acts 15:1; 16:4

When leaders teach through their own authority what they feel is important, they can undermine the health of the Church. The Pharisees, who came from Jerusalem to Antioch to teach the Gentile Christians their understanding of circumcision, did so without the blessing of the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem Church. Apostles are ‘sent ones’. By definition, they are under authority. When Paul and Silas traveled throughout Asia, they delivered the decisions of the Jerusalem Council. They were sent with a message. 

Sometimes Christian’s send themselves and rely on the assumed authority of their culture or traditions. This is not enough. In Christ’s mission work we must be both called and sent.

“Lord Jesus, I pray for both the boldness and the courage to obey your call and for humility and submission to authority within your Church in order to live out your mission wisely.”