They do not mind taking risks and facing possible failure because of the reward of seeing God’s Kingdom grow.

by Brian Sauder

Article 7 in the Apostolic Series

We have all benefited from pioneers. The Wright brothers were pioneers in aviation. Alexander Graham Bell was a pioneer, and now we have global communication. Elon Musk is a pioneer in electric cars. We can identify pioneers in nearly every sphere of society.

In the same way, apostles are pioneers. They have fresh strategies. They do not mind taking risks or experiencing failure because of the reward of seeing God’s Kingdom grow. This is in contrast to the general church population, which does not generally like to take risks. For the most part, they (we) value security and safety. But apostles will always push for expansion.

The 2020 Challenge

In 2013, DOVE International was a network of 250 churches. As Larry Kreider and the DOVE International apostolic team prayed, they felt the Lord directing them to declare the vision to believe God to grow from 250 churches to 1,000 churches by the year 2020. This became known as the 2020 Challenge. It started with some prayer initiatives; then came the task of creating strategy.

DOVE was at 250 churches, and the amount of time remaining was seven years. What if each church could plant another church in three and a half years? That would bring the number to 500 churches. Then…what if each of those 500 churches could plant another church in the next three and half years? That would bring the number to 1,000 churches in seven years. It was a practical, believable way for all of DOVE International to see the fulfillment of this vision. This strategy took a big vision and broke it down into bite-size pieces for all to embrace. The DOVE leaders from around the world picked up on this vision. Some nations set their own goals as a part of the larger vision.

By the year 2020, DOVE had grown to 1,060 churches. Amazing! Did it actually happen according to the strategy of each church planting one church, and then another? No, it did not. But this strategy allowed leaders to align their faith in agreement with the 2020 Challenge and move in unity toward the end goal. In some cases, entirely new nations opened up to DOVE. This brought numerical growth. God honored the faith and unity around the clearly articulated vision.

Pioneers are Catalysts

A pioneer is a catalyst. Pioneers cause things to happen. They do not sit back and wait for things to happen. They initiate. They preach new truths and birth new churches and ministries. When I say new truths, I am not referring to truths that are not in the Bible. Rather, these are truths that the church has lost focus on or not paid attention to for a while. This reformational truth brings the church back to a more biblical perspective.

It is important to note that every move of God in the past has had a pioneer. We can call them frontiersmen, pathfinders, trailblazers, explorers, forerunners, or innovators. Pioneers initiate, instigate, set in motion, start the ball rolling, take the first step, take the lead, break the ice, institute, inaugurate, found, establish, set up, lay the foundation, introduce, launch, and usher in.

The commission that Jesus has given us demands that we penetrate every region and territory with the gospel. This requires a pioneering spirit and pioneering abilities. Pioneers are usually men and women of extraordinary courage, talent, vision, and ability. They are able to succeed in the face of overwhelming odds.

I love Paul’s “go for it” mentality as he tells the Corinthian believers he would try anything to win people to Jesus.

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Become like a Jew? Sure. Become like a Gentile? Sure. Paul’s “whatever it takes” approach demonstrates the Great Commission mandate of an apostle. An apostle feels like he or she alone is responsible for the entire Great Commission. Of course, they know that the entire body of Christ is working together, but they are motivated by an intense personal mandate. It often comes from a personal call from the Lord. In the book of Galatians, Paul emphasizes that he received the gospel from Jesus directly and not from the other apostles. As evidence, he offers the following.

“I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ…when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:11-12, 15-19).

This personal mandate from the Lord was so strong Paul was dissatisfied with the meager results he was getting while preaching the gospel to the Jews. In Acts 18, we find Paul ministering in Corinth during his second missionary journey. Paul came to Corinth from Athens, which was about forty-five miles away. Paul preached in the synagogue every Sabbath. When the Jews did not respond in significant numbers, Paul decided to take the message to the Gentiles. He immediately started to see more fruit. Although his ministry resulted in the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, he is primarily known as “the apostle to the Gentiles.”

The pioneering spirit is apostolic. God always desires to do new things, and He will use apostolic people to do it. Apostolic people have the ability to persevere in the face of opposition. They have the strength and mentality of a pioneer. Pioneers have a breakthrough anointing. They are able to break through fear and other obstacles that keep people from advancing.

When the apostolic gifting becomes the principle anointing of the church, it will set the tone and set the pace. The church will begin to have a certain vibrant flavor. This anointing will affect everything we do: our prayer, worship, preaching, teaching, and overall ministry. Newness causes the church to be attractive.

You might ask why the church needs newness. It is because with each generation, culture changes and society advances. New strategies based on the historical truths of the church are needed to impact the present-day world. God is raising up new apostles in each generation who are focused on reaching their generation. This keeps the church from becoming outmoded and outdated. It keeps the church relevant, yet without compromise of biblical truth. We will talk about this more in future articles.

We can notice that the apostolic mindset constantly leans toward future development. Apostles lead with vision, while the pastoral mindset is more geared towards the ongoing well-being of the flock. That of course is not a bad thing in and of itself, as long as the pastoral leaders stay connected with apostolic leaders who will help them not lose sight of the long-term vision while using their nurturing gifts. As for apostles, they need to include a solid pastoral component in their team because pastoring is an area in which they are typically weak. Apostles are usually free to admit this is the case.

I have heard Larry Kreider say many times, “I am not a counselor. If you come to me for counsel I would just say ‘get over it’ and ‘let’s get on with the Great Commission.’” Of course, Larry is a wise leader and has walked with pastoral counselors on his team that provided people with much-needed pastoral care. His wife, LaVerne, is especially strong in this area. This combination of giftings brought balance and a great amount of encouragement into the DOVE movement. Leaders especially need care and nourishment to be effective and long lasting. This teamwork was of high value to Larry and LaVerne and the DOVE family.

Leading Leaders vs. Leading Followers

In the last article, we spoke about apostles training leaders. Paul did not feel threatened or intimidated by strong leaders. Leaders are in a way peculiar people—they want to lead. It is more demanding to lead leaders than to lead followers, but the potential in leading leaders is so much more rewarding. This could have been why Paul was willing to do it. As we have discussed, Paul found Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth on his first apostolic trip, then had them travel with him to Ephesus. He left them in Ephesus and moved on. They remained there to do the work of ministry without Paul’s direct oversight. A pioneer will delegate and allow leaders to own the ministry so they personally can move on to the next thing God has put on their heart.

This in turn produces a church of not just sheep, but of apostolic believers.

The believers in Antioch were apostolic believers—that is, they were trained for Kingdom service. Many were willing to be sent in the name of Jesus. Apostolic believers are men and women who have come under the influence of and been equipped by an apostle. The heart and vision of the “sent one” has somewhat been caught in their lives. The pastor or teacher has equipped them and fed them, but this other dynamic of Kingdom expansion brought by apostles has stirred them to action.

So, can each apostle have a different vision or method and it still all be the Lord? Yes, certainly. Look at the snowflakes. Only God would make them all unique. God makes unique leaders that champion various visions, target different cultural demographics, and fulfill unique personal callings that He puts on their hearts. How does this work? We find a clue in Ephesians.

² Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³ that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴ In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets (Ephesians 3:2-5).

The Greek word oikopnomia in the above verses is translated “administration.” Another definition we would understand is “house rules.” Each apostle or apostolic movement (house) will have a unique administration or flow associated with it related to the grace that is given to it. This will affect how that apostolic movement functions.

Allow me to say it again: the apostolic anointing keeps the church from being outmoded and outdated. It makes us relevant to our world—without compromise. Without apostles, church groups (under bureaucratic or administrative leadership) have tended to crystalize and have not successfully adapted to changing cultures or made use of new opportunities to advance the Kingdom.

As an example, let’s look at the church denomination that has Martin Luther’s name attached to it. Since it does not recognize apostles, it still functions like it did hundreds of years ago under Luther’s personal supervision. The order of service is the same, the practices are the same… very little has been updated.

As risk takers, apostles are usually convinced that they are right. When they find a strategy that works, they stick to it. I have been in a room in Asia with various apostolic leaders arguing that their method of church planting was better than the methods of others in the room. This shows how deeply they were committed to what God had shown them to do.

I cannot say enough about pioneers. What value do they bring? Do some people tolerate more risk than others? Yes. As I am writing this in the United States, it is said that the USA is a nation of pioneers because it is a nation of immigrants. I think we can demonstrate this to be true as we examine the following scenario.

Consider two potato farmers in Ireland who are struggling during the potato famine of the 1840s. One has a high capacity for risk while the other has a low capacity for risk, preferring instead security and stability. A disease called “late blight” had destroyed the leaves and edible roots of the potato plants from 1845-1849. It ruined the potato crop, and the farmers lost their income. But there was news about the possibility of immigrating to America to get a new start. Of the two farmers, who would be the likeliest to risk all and move their family across an ocean to a faraway land in hopes of a better life? The farmer with the greatest capacity for risk, of course. The risk taker would immigrate to America, and the farmer who desired security would stay and take his chances in Ireland.

Think about this: it was primarily risk takers from many lands who were the first European immigrants in present-day America. They had children and grandchildren: many generations with an above-normal capacity to take risks. Although the United States has many challenges, it can definitely be called a nation of risk takers. As entrepreneurs have tried new ideas and taken risks, the US economy has grown to be the largest economy in the world. The richest man in the world is Elon Musk. He is South African by birth, but he knew that his ideas for new technologies and new businesses he wanted to create would only flourish in an entrepreneurial environment like the United States. So he made his way, first immigrating to Canada and then to the United States. He wanted to live among risk takers.

John Gartner describes this phenomenon in his book The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between a Little Craziness and a Lot of Success in America. He states, “A nation of immigrants represents a highly skewed and unusual self-selected population. Do men and women who risk everything to leap into a new world differ temperamentally from those who stay home? It would be surprising if they didn’t. . . . Only one out of a hundred people immigrate and they tend to be imbued with special drive, ambition and talent.”

As you can see by the title of Gartner’s book, he believes such a large proportion of pioneers also makes the United States a little crazy as well. But he goes on to say, “Americans who make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, account for 31 percent of its economic activity.”

Pioneers do not mind risk—in fact, they enjoy it. It is how they are made.

Apostles are risk takers whose passion for the Great Commission will not allow them to be satisfied with maintaining good churches. The Kingdom must be expanded, and pioneers are committed to making it happen.

Gartner, John D. The Hypomanic Edge, The Link Between a Little Craziness and a Lot of Success in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

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