APEST Series #2 | The Apostle Among Us: Discipling the Leader Who Won’t Sit Still

Why Your "Most Frustrating" Leader Might Be God's Secret Weapon for Multiplication

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Front Note #1: Thank you to my mentor, Greg Getz, for contributing to this tool! Greg has been a long-term mentor and friend and an invaluable source of wisdom in catalyzing disciple-making networks.

Front Note #2: If you want to join a community of co-laborers launching missional simple churches, join my 💥 PREMIUM COHORT 💥. Meet monthly by Zoom with other disciple-making co-laborers. And get FREE access to my Simple Bible Notes web app and the 24/7 Virtual Disciple-Making Coach. Find out more by 🤜 CLICKING HERE 🤛.

Front Note #3: ✔︎ Click HERE for a high-level overview of the GREAT TEAM!

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The GREAT TEAM Series | The Apostle

This is the second article in a series on the GREAT Ephesians 4:11 Team. Each article uses the same format and language to describe each of the gifts from the perspective of disciple-making. Enjoy the series!

The Apostle

Let me ask you something that might sting a little: When was the last time someone on your team said, “Can we just slow down and enjoy what we’ve built?” and someone said, “Why would we do that when there’s a whole city that hasn’t heard the Gospel?”

Yeah. Uncomfortable, right?

Here’s the deal: Ephesians 4:11 gives us five leadership functions that advance Faith Communities and equip the saints: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher. You can probably identify the last three. You might even spot the Prophet (the one who makes everyone squirm).

But the Apostle? They died out after the first century, right? Or worse, their the one who gets accused of “always chasing the next shiny thing.”

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What Is an Apostle? (And No, They’re Not Just Church Planters or Missionaries!)

Let’s kill the bad teaching right now:

An Apostle is an entrepreneurial visionizer who builds a sense of mission for the expansion of the Church and initiates APEST, which leads to multiplication and movements of disciples of Christ who form local gatherings.

Here’s what that actually looks like:

✅ A “sent one” to lay a foundation with a specific God-given assignment
✅ Transmits the faith from one context to another, one generation to the next
✅ Future thinking, barrier bridging, new contextualizing
✅ Develops leaders and creates trans-local networks
✅ Obsessed with multiplication and movement
✅ Reads cultures and sees open doors for the Gospel
✅ More of a starter than a finisher
✅ Often unappreciated by contemporaries (1 Cor 4:9-13)
✅ Prefers to function OUTSIDE gatherings to create NEW gatherings
✅ More task-oriented than people-oriented

I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake.
- 1 Cor. 4:9-10a

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The Problem: Undiscipled Apostles Are Dangerous

Here’s what happens when an Apostle doesn’t have accountability and discipleship:

❌ They can leave people and organizations wounded
❌ They treat people like resources or tools instead of God’s children
❌ They move so fast that they create chaos instead of multiplication
❌ They lose synergy with the rest of the Ephesians 4:11 team

An undiscipled Apostle is like a bulldozer without a driver. They’ll clear the path, but they’ll destroy everything in their way.

Discipling the Apostle: Four Critical Areas

1. Their Uniqueness

The Reality:

Apostles are wired differently. They fall asleep at night thinking about how to extend the Kingdom of God through APEST into new places and future generations. They can’t sit still. They see opportunities where others see obstacles. Their restlessness isn’t dysfunction; it’s their design.

Your Action as a Discipler:

Acknowledge, appreciate, and bless their uniqueness.

Don’t try to make them “settle down.” Don’t try to get them to “just focus on what we have.” God wired them this way for a reason. Your job is to help them steward their gift, not cage it.

2. Their Presence

The Reality:

The way Apostles move may seem disruptive.

But here’s the truth: They don’t love what exists less; they love the mission of God MORE. They’re not trying to tear down what’s working; they’re trying to reach what’s unreached.

Your Action as a Discipler:

Help them understand this: “You can’t build a Kingdom movement on the backs of broken people.”

Apostles need to learn that caring for people is critical to sustainable expansion. Rapid growth without healthy disciples leads to a trail of destruction, not multiplication.

You’re not asking them to stop moving. You’re asking them to bring people WITH them instead of leaving them behind.

Think about it in Three-Thirds terms: They need to balance the LOOK BACK (relationship), LOOK UP (truth), and LOOK FORWARD (application). Apostles default to LOOK FORWARD.

Your job is to help them see the power of relationships.

3. Their Function

The Reality:

We’ve all been in that meeting. The Apostle casts vision for the next big thing. Everyone’s inspired. Then reality hits, and there aren’t enough people, resources, or infrastructure to make it happen. The room deflates. The momentum dies.

Everyone’s thinking: “Here we go again.” “Another half-finished project.” “Why can’t we just finish what we started?”

But here’s what you need to understand:

💥 The Apostle isn’t a dysfunctional visionary.💥

They see the open doors that God is showing them.
They cannot be silent about the unreached.

The Hard Truth:

Contemporary Apostles are still being misunderstood. Not persecuted, but they’re labeled flaky, irresponsible, unreliable, and told to “just be a pastor.”

Your Action as a Discipler:

You have TWO jobs:

1. Help the Apostle shrug off the criticism by encouraging and loving them. Remind them they’re not crazy, they’re called. Remind them that Paul started nine gatherings in the New Testament. Movement requires movement.

2. Disciple the group or individual that the Apostle frustrated. Be a co-apostle. Help the team understand that expansion is part of God’s design. Teach them to celebrate new beginnings even when it feels uncomfortable.

Key Principle:

When the Apostle is restless, God is likely opening new doors. When the Apostle is satisfied, check the mission; something might be off.

Don’t kill the vision. Resource the visionary!

4. Their Recruitment

The Reality:

Apostles are often misunderstood. They’ve spent a lifetime being told to “be more pastoral,” “stop starting new things,” and “finish what you started.”

‼️ They’ve been told their gift is a problem. People have labeled them irresponsible.

They’re frustrated. They’re isolated. They’re surrounded by people who want to maintain what is, not reach what could be.

Your Action as a Discipler:

Discipling the Apostle begins BEFORE they join the team.

Here’s what to look for through prayer, Holy Spirit guidance, and spiritual discernment:

🔍 They’re obsessed with expansion and reaching new people
🔍 They see open doors where others see closed ones
🔍 They have a track record of starting things (even if they didn’t finish them all)
🔍 They think trans-locally, they see networks, not just neighborhoods
🔍 They can cast vision and inspire action

When you find this person:

✅ Come alongside them
✅ Recognize and affirm how God has gifted them
✅ Love them
✅ Give them permission to do what God designed them to do: START and MULTIPLY
✅ Share with them their Ephesians 4:11 role, their Uniqueness, Presence, and Function

How This Fits the DMC Pathway

In the Disciple-Making Collective, we’re committed to the Jesus pattern of disciple-making. That pattern includes all five Ephesians 4:11 roles working in alignment.

Here’s where this hits our tools:

• In your X-Groups: Are you creating space for apostolic leaders to multiply groups, or are you insisting everyone “just stay put”?

• In your Discipling Communities: Are you recognizing and stewarding the apostolic gift, or are you frustrated by their restlessness?

• In your House Churches: Are you practicing the 9 Behaviors of Church in a way that allows Apostles to function, or are you creating an environment where only Shepherds and Teachers can lead?

• In IOI (Iron-on-Iron) coaching: Are you asking the hard question: “Who on your team is the Apostle, and are you releasing them to multiply?”

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Your Next Step

Here’s what God might want you to do:

1. Identify the Apostle in your sphere.

Who’s the person who’s always talking about the next thing? Who sees opportunities you don’t see? Who frustrates you because they won’t “just settle in”?

2. Pray for them.

Ask God to give you wisdom to disciple them well.

3. Love them.

Reach out this week. Tell them you see their gift. Tell them you value them. Tell them they’re not flaky, they’re called.

4. Release them to multiply.

In your next meeting, ask them: “What new door is God showing you that we need to walk through?”

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✏️ Drop a comment below:

Do you have an Apostle in your discipling community? How are you stewarding their gift? Or are you the Apostle who’s been told to sit still? Let’s talk about it.

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The body of Christ needs all five roles.

🔥 Don’t cage the Apostle. Disciple them. 🔥

For more on building healthy discipling communities that include all the Ephesians 4:11 roles, check out the tools at DiscipleMakingCollective.com.

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