Weird Ideas: Apostolic ChurchShembull

It’s no coincidence Jesus chose twelve apostles. It mirrors the twelve tribes of Israel. What Jesus is essentially saying is that the apostolic church is a new Israel. As God chose Israel to be the entity through which he spoke to the world, God now does this through his church. What Israel once did, the church is now in continuity with, grafted in. It is the new people of God.

The church does a great job of undermining this. Throughout history there’s been abuses by the church, corruption in the church, ineptitude, and failures. At certain times and places, the church just got it wrong. It’s easy to wonder how God could ever endorse people guilty of things like that.

Make no mistake. Christians who abuse their power or position will have to answer to God, just like every ambassador who abuses power and position will answer to his government. But the abuse of some does not negate God’s purpose for his church. It’s not the first time God’s people failed to live up to his call. Just look at Israel.

For all its failures, God uses his church on his behalf. The apostolic church is living testimony that God loves sinful, broken people. He doesn’t write them off. He uses them. He sends them with his authority. The apostolic church is a testimony to the kind of God Jesus is.