Part 3
How can we interpret then
Eph 4:11 in light of this new understanding?
We need to start by looking into the historical context of the verse. The apostles of Christ, those that saw Him risen and were commissioned directly by Him, were still active in their ministry. So, in that sense, at that time, apostles as a ministerial gift given to the church was an on-going ministry. If we understand that the apostleship of Christ ministry is no longer with us, then we can see the apostleship as a ministerial gift that benefits us today through their testimony of Christ, teachings and deeds, recorded and handed down to us in the New Testament writings. If we want to understand it as an active ministerial gift for us today, then we would need to see it as somehow lesser apostles, or maybe as apostles of the churches. However, such role would be at odds with the Biblical evangelist, which is not just a speaker or a person growing a local congregation, but rather a Gospel preacher that starts new congregations in new territories (see Philip in
Acts 8:5-40).
What was Timothy? I argue that Timothy was an evangelist (gospel preacher).
These are facts that we know about Timothy:
- He was a young disciple of Christ that joined Paul in his journeys (Acts 16:1-5)
- He became involved in the missionary ministry (e.g., Acts 17:13-15, Acts 18:5, Acts 19:22, Rom 16:21)
- He was sent to strengthen the congregations and bring reports of them back to Paul (1 Cor 4:17, Phil 2:19, 1 Thes 3:2)
- He was left in Ephesus to continue the apostolic teaching, protect it from false doctrines, help with the administration of the support for the weak, and assist with the process of forming and pointing bishops (1 Tim 1:3-4, 1 Tim 4:11, 1 Tim 5:3-16). Timothy left Ephesus at some point, before Paul came back and appointed the elders (bishops) that remained (compare 1 Tim 1:3 and Acts 19:1-20:5, then see Acts 20:17-38, and 2 Tim 4:12).
- Paul encourages Timothy to preach the Word (the Gospel), and teach, and do the work (the function) of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:2-5)
Timothy was never referred to as an apostle of Christ, but was very active in the missionary trips, and helping to establish congregations. He was an evangelist.
We can understand from these passages as well that the work of the evangelist is not only to convert people but also to establish churches which involves doing the teaching, and the administration, and temporarily ruling her until elders are appointed and ready to take over. The Biblical evangelist is what we call today church planters and missionaries.
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