The spiritual gifts of prophecy and apostleship

Apostleship refers to adapting to a different culture to share the gospel or do ministry.

The word apostleship in the Greek conveys the sense of an envoy. Apostles can adapt to different settings, presenting the gospel in unique ways without losing God’s truth. Their identity in Christ and the gospel remain primary.

If you have the gift of apostleship, make sure to keep Christ’s truth central. Don’t water down the gospel to reach more people. Make sure to rest, and know your success isn’t measured in numbers. Pray that God will use you in powerful ways.

If you don’t have this gift, consider helping fund and pray for a missionary, or invest in a multicultural church near you. We are all called to love people across cultures! Learn from people gifted with apostleship how to love people different from you well.

Reflect on the apostleship Paul exemplifies in 1 Corinthians 9:9–23.

Prophecy ​​proclaims the word of God with personal passion and effectiveness.

Prophecy doesn’t always mean acting out crazy parables, like cooking with dung (Ezekiel 4:12) or walking around naked for three years (Isaiah 20:1–4 ). It also doesn’t mean predicting the future. While the messages of the prophets in the Bible did, at times, portend a future judgment or describe future events, biblical prophecy is most often a word from God for the culture at the time it's given rather than for some distant date.

Those with the prophetic gift will likely feel the burning need to share God’s message, as Jeremiah experienced (Jeremiah 20:9). Share what God has laid on your heart, knowing that people won’t always receive the message with gratitude (most audiences didn’t in the Old Testament). Prayerfully examine your motivations for sharing: Is it to puff yourself up or to see genuine repentance?

Keep an open mind to those who speak with the prophetic gift. They might say things that you don’t want to hear! Watch out for false prophets. Match them up to the word of God in the Bible. But know that biblical prophecy might still offend you.

Read about the prophet Nathan’s use of this gift in 2 Samuel 12:1–7.