Ministers, This Message is for You!

Apostolic Truth

From

The Word of God

Spheres of Influence

Home • Up

1 Corinthians 9:1-2 NASB        “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.”

 Here Paul introduces the concept of

“Apostolic Spheres of Influence”. He expands it in:

 2 Corinthians 10:12-15 NASB           “For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ; not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men's labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we shall be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you…”   

C. Peter Wagner refers to these different spheres in the following manner: 

  1. Ecclesiastical spheres:               An Apostle has authority over a certain cluster of churches.

  2. Functional Spheres:                   An Apostle is not over certain churches, but over individuals who have a certain type of ministry

  3. Territorial Spheres:                   An Apostle has authority over a certain segment of people in a particular geographical area.

 So we can infer that today, just as in the early Church, Apostles are sent to specific people or places and that there effectiveness is related to their being in those places with those people.   

Jerusalem & Antioch

Apostolic Cities

 God had sovereignly brought people together, using the migration for Jewish Festival of Pentecost. Then He released that "first wave" of Apostolic Evangelism and birthing of the church into the presence of the Kingdom of God. Jerusalem was “the place” where God was moving in the Spirit. As people went ‘back home’ full of Christ and desiring to know their Messiah more, Jerusalem became the essential point of migration and leadership supply for a time. We also see harvests in Samaria and from Azotus all the way into Caesarea. Later the Church spread by persecution into Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. Then we see Antioch becoming the “war department” of the church in Acts 13. Apostolic mission is conceived, received, and commissioned through the “Prophets and Teachers” there and Antioch quickly became the focal point for the rest of the book of Acts.

 These are just two of the Cities of the old world that were impacted by Apostles being present in them and working together among themselves and with the other Fivefold Ministers they “took” their cities for the Kingdom of God.

 C. Peter Wagner on Apostles

Apostolic Spheres: Among practicing apostles, I have found a relatively low level of practical understanding of apostolic spheres. All apostles recognize that they have divine authority, but not all are aware that this authority is only activated within a divinely appointed sphere, and that these spheres can take several different forms.

The current apostolic movement is so new, and it is developing at such a dizzying speed, that a certain amount of confusion has arisen. Who is an apostle? Are all apostles the same? How do bona fide apostles minister? Where do apostles get their authority? Who appoints apostles? I believe that the answers to these and other similar questions will emerge through a phenomenological approach. This is the methodology that I have used to arrive at a continually developing set of conclusions. Terminology that accurately describes current apostolic phenomena will greatly help dispel the confusion. I would like to propose is a terminology that seems to me to be helpful, at least at this moment.

Keep in mind that this is simply taxonomy of apostolic ministry. These categories are not intended to serve as titles for individuals, but they are types of apostolic ministry. Furthermore they are useful mostly for specialists and leaders. The public will do well in distinguishing between apostles and prophets, never mind the many fine-tuned sub-categories of apostolic activity. For example, I see this in the way that the public recognizes an animal called a cow, and distinguishes it from a horse. However for a specialist like a farmer that is not enough. First it is important to know the difference between a beef cow and a dairy cow. Then among dairy cows it is necessary to know the characteristics of a Holstein as over against the characteristics of a Guernsey or a Jersey or an Ayrshire or a Brown Swiss.

Vertical Apostles

•           Ecclesiastical Apostle: Apostles who are given authority over a sphere which includes a number of churches, presumably in an apostolic network headed up by the apostle.

Bill Hamon of Christian International, Naomi Dowdy of Global Leadership Network,

•       Functional Apostles: Apostles who are given authority over those who have an ongoing ministry in a certain specific sphere of service, which has defined boundaries of participation.

Jane Hansen of Aglow International; Loren Cunningham of YWAM.

•       Apostolic Team Members: Apostles whose apostolic ministry functions in conjunction with an apostle who is seen as the leader of a team of one or more other peer-level vertical apostles. They may be assigned specific spheres by the leading apostle. These are more than administrators or assistants or armor-bearers.

  Phil Bonasso and Steve Murrell of Morning Star

•       Congregational Apostles: Apostles functioning as senior pastors of dynamic, growing churches of more than 700-800.

            T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House; Tommy Barnett of Phoenix First Assembly of God.

Horizontal Apostles

•      Convening Apostles: Apostles who have authority to call together on a regular basis peer-level leaders who minister in a defined field.

Peter Wagner in Strategic Prayer Network, International Coalition of Apostles; Oral Roberts in Charismatic Bible Ministries.

•   Ambassadorial Apostles: Apostles who have itinerant, frequently international, ministries of catalyzing and nurturing apostolic movements on a broad scale.

            John Kelly of ICA; John Eckhardt of Crusaders Ministries.

•     Mobilizing Apostles: Apostles who have the authority to take leadership in bringing together qualified leaders in the body of Christ for a specific cause or project.

            Chuck Pierce and Cindy Jacobs in USSPN. Paul Cedar in Mission America.

•     Territorial Apostles: Apostles who have been given authority for leading a certain segment of the body of Christ in a given territorial sphere such as a city or state.

            John Beneflel of Oklahoma.

You can contact us at 973-338-6627

or email: Bishop DupreeFlash Audio