Are you an apostle of Christ?

The Church often speaks about “making disciples” as in integral part of our mission. Christ Himself said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen,” (Matthew 28.19-20) but what about apostles? Who is an apostle? More importantly, are YOU an apostle?

The word “apostle” means “one who is sent” and similar to the term “saint” it can be considered either with a capital “A” or “a”. (Saints are those who the Church lifts up in an official capacity as some worthy of modeling our life around, while saints are each of us Christians working to live holy lives.) The Apostles were those sent directly from God to go out and lead the Church. We normally think of the Twelve, but there were also The Seventy (Luke 10.1-17) who were also sent out by God. Today the Church commemorates one of Twelve known as Simon the Zealot.

Have you ever considered you were also an apostle with a “small” a? You were sent out too, as part of every Divine Liturgy. “Let us go forth in peace...” are the words which open the dismissal prayers of the Divine Liturgy. Just as Christ said, “Go therefore...” the Church says, “Go!” Being a Christian is more than just being a disciple. Being a Christian includes being an apostle.