In Matthew 10, we find a record of Jesus choosing and giving a commission to His apostles. Although their qualifications and original commission are different than ours, their basic job was the same. It was to proclaim a living Christ to a dying world. In view of that, it is probable that a study of some similarities between their calling and ours would be profitable.
First, they were chosen of Christ, not in view of what they were, but in view of what they could become. It is hard to see in any of them except Paul any indication of any exceptional qualities or fitness for the remarkable task that confronted them. This should give great hope for all of us. Titus 3:5 probably puts this in as clear a fashion as the pen of inspiration can do. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (NKJV).
When He first called them, before He made them apostles, He said to them, “I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). I do not think this point can be over emphasized. He did not say, “Come after me, and if you work hard enough studying how to use film strips, or do an open Bible study, you may become a fisher of men.” He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). It seems apparent that a person can no more follow Christ and not be a fisher of men than he can follow Christ and not go to Heaven when he dies.
It is often said that Christ wrote no book. Yet, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” If we have written on our natures the nature and message of Christ and if we represent Him properly in the world of sinful men, we are His epistles.
Several aspects of His choice of apostles are worthy of consideration. He did not call them in terms of brilliance, scholarship or outstanding ability. This is in no way meant to disparage any of those. God gave some men a brilliant mind and outstanding ability to use for His glory, and a brilliant man with ten talents who uses them for the glory of God will be worth more to the cause of Christ than the five-talent man. However, the ten-talent man who glories in his ten talents or only uses five of them will not be worth as much as the five-talent man who does what he can, where he is and with what he has for the glory of God.
Not only were they not chosen on the basis of culture, possessions or riches, they probably were as varied in ability and personality as it is possible to be. Suppose none of them had ever doubted Deity, flinched in the face of peril, or acted with ulterior or base motives. What a loss that would be to us, for we can have hope that if Christ can make something out of those weak and erring men, maybe He can eventually do something with us! Many denominational commentaries seem to emphasize that we need a variety of denominations because of the various temperaments, qualities and needs of the members. In that case, Jesus would have needed to establish at least twelve churches at the beginning!
They were called to be sent with a special commission, with special powers to carry out that commission, and thus, they were called “apostles.” We have the same basic commission, but we are not called apostles because we do not have the same qualifications and powers that an apostle of Christ had. However, when He said, “Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20), we should be impressed with the similarities between their calling and ours.
Their basic task was to make disciples. Contrary to popular concepts, a disciple is not merely a learner, but a learner who is following. Those who were to follow properly had to be baptized and taught to observe all that Christ had commanded for them to do. Our business also is to make disciplined followers of Christ – not merely impart information to people and make learners of them. There is no doubt that if we are properly committed to doing that, we will be given the necessary divine assistance to accomplish the task.
