Toure Roberts - Modern Church, Modern Apostles

I want to discuss an aspect of apostolic grace that I think we have overlooked. If you ask the question, «Where are the apostles today?» you’ll find them in about three categories: the misidentified, the miscategorized, and the missed altogether. You often hear people talking about pastors; come on, you’ve heard that all day. How often do you hear someone say, «My apostle»? You might hear, «My reverend! The good reverend!» But you don’t hear them as often because they are misidentified, mischaracterized, and sometimes missed entirely. As it relates to apostolic grace, there is much I could say. They lay foundations; Jesus was the chief apostle. Think about it: apostles shake things up because they’re laying foundations. Right now, we are standing on the foundation that Jesus Christ laid—literally, right now.

However, I believe there is a group of people in society—a certain type—who are recipients of this apostolic grace, but no one has ever told them so. They are misidentified, and I believe those individuals are entrepreneurs. The reason this message is so important is that there are people called into apostolic grace to be significant for the Kingdom of God. However, they think that the only way to serve the Kingdom is to preach from a platform, sing from a platform, or go out and do missions in the uttermost parts of the earth. Because we have had such a myopic perspective, we have shunned those who are literally called to entrepreneurship, whether through ignorance or by not creating space for them.

I feel the spirit; you need to catch this: it’s a calling! Business is a calling, and sometimes when you don’t explain it or make it clear, the businessperson feels dirty because something in them feels called to build things. God says that apostolic grace, which encompasses entrepreneurship, is foundational. You can’t change anything if you don’t change the infrastructure. Culture—watch this—is not maintained by personality; it is created and sustained by the hidden infrastructures underneath the culture. That’s why when we talked about racism in America and the Black Lives Matter movement, it only gained traction when the term «systemic racism» was coined. They realized that, oh wait a minute, you can’t combat this unless you get down to the foundation because that’s what sustains and maintains culture.

So, the apostolic grace is about infrastructure. Let’s talk about this today. What drives and moves culture today? Technology and the internet. Let me tell you, preachers didn’t create that. Initially, when technology started to grow and the internet became prominent about 25 years ago, preachers called it the devil. Now everyone wants to get their sermons on this infrastructure! What if we could have seen the pioneers of this infrastructure? What if we had this teaching 30 years ago that stated, «You know what? Apostolic grace is about laying a foundation; it’s about infrastructure.» Instead of telling Jimmy he should be an altar boy when he’s more interested in numbers, science, and symbols, what if we said, «Maybe you are part of the next generation of kingdom builders? We’re going to get you saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and you’re going to lay a foundation for us to own the systems that shape culture.»

I need about 25 kingdom-minded people to say, «PT, you are preaching today!» Let me tell you something: I used to go to church and hide my success; I hid my business aspirations because there was this underlying thought that business was of the devil. Now, look at how much power business has in Washington! The only reason lobbying exists is that businesses realized they have power and influence that they can use to shape policy. That’s how powerful it is! I’m looking for some entrepreneurs in here. Maybe you’re not supposed to grab a microphone and speak about the goodness of Jesus to thousands of people; maybe you are the next Mark Zuckerberg! Hello, somebody! Cultures and societies are created, maintained, and sustained by infrastructure. Can I talk to you like this?

Maybe this business idea is not a distraction from the kingdom; maybe it’s inspiration for the kingdom. If I connect my business to the kingdom, I will align with the apostolic grace that will take my business places I never thought it could go. You need to understand this. When we begin discussing the modern church, we must consider that while the message doesn’t change, often the methods do. Think about the people Jesus called: he called a tax collector; like it or not, that’s a business person. He called fishermen; hello! He said, «You fish for fish; that’s how you make your living. I’m going to make you…»