In recent years, our Archbishop has been calling us to adopt an apostolic mindset. The apostles, after all, faced challenges similar to us: surrounded by idols, decadence and corrupt politics. Yet those apostles evangelized the nations, God’s grace working in them to bring about a miraculous transformation of the culture. Should we want to do the same today, then we must adopt their same apostolic mindset, which Archbishop Sameul J. Aquila has summarized as five qualities: unique calling from the Father, costly imitation of Christ, utter reliance on the Holy Spirit, joyfully countercultural witness, and conviction of the primacy and power of the Gospel. Let us turn to Acts of the Apostles to see this mindset at work.
Unique Calling from the Father
In Acts 1:15-26, St. Peter coordinates the replacement of Judas, for he had a share in Christ’s ministry, and now somebody must replace him. But this replacement must be a man who’s been there from the beginning; that is, the time of John’s baptism to the Ascension. Only two men qualify: Barsabbas and Matthias.
What’s important for our purposes is how Matthias is chosen: prayer and the casting of lots. As we read in Acts 1:24-25, “And they prayed and said, ‘Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship.’” As we all should do, the apostles pray amid making this important decision. They recognize in that prayer that God has chosen one of the two men. It is a unique calling from the Father to replace Judas, as each of us receives our own unique calling. Therefore, it is not up to the apostles to choose the one they think is best, but to pray for the understanding of the one God has chosen. And to help, they cast lots, which the Jews didn’t consider a game of chance, but a venerated means of discerning God’s will.
While we may not all be called to be apostles, we all, nonetheless, have our own unique calling from the Father, to be discerned in prayer. What role am I to play in evangelizing the culture surrounding us? It may not be public acts; it may be a life of simple holiness within the home. Regardless, we are all uniquely called by the Father to build up the Body of Christ.
Costly Imitation of Christ
At various places in Acts, Jesus is identified as the “suffering servant” glorified by God. In Acts 3:12-26, for example, Peter identifies Jesus as the messianic servant of God, who is exalted and lifted up in Isaiah 52. The context of this elucidates him as the “suffering Servant,” a servant Whom God will glorify because he endures rejection by his people, offering his life as a sacrifice for sin. The implication is that if Jesus was rejected by his people as a servant who suffered, then the apostles, too, will not escape suffering. Indeed, the life of the apostle is marked by persecution and suffering: arrests, threats, stonings, martyrdoms. It is a costly imitation of Christ — the cost being their lives. However, the corresponding reward of eternal life is the “pearl of great price,” worth giving everything up for.
In Acts 6:8-7:60, we read of the arrest and martyrdom of the deacon St. Stephen. In imitation of our Lord, Stephen prays for the forgiveness of those killing him. And as with our Lord, the imitation of Jesus, the cost of his life bears fruit, for Stephen’s prayer for forgiveness is answered. For Saul, who was so influential in the killing of Stephen and persecution of the Church, will go on to become the great St. Paul. Imitation of the Lord may be costly, but it is likewise fruitful.
Utter Reliance on the Holy Spirit
In Acts 2, at the first Christian Pentecost, Peter gives his first sermon in 2:14-41. As he proclaims, we have entered the new era of the Holy Spirit to be accompanied by signs and wonders, as prophesied by Joel. Joel 2:28-32 envisions an outpouring of the Spirit upon men, women, young, old, slaves, free, signs and wonders abounding as salvation comes by the name of the Lord. Peter links the wonders and signs prophesied by Joel with Jesus’ miracles, identifying him as the saving Lord.
This Messianic age of the Holy Spirit is confirmed throughout Acts, the Holy Spirit being a constant reference point for the Apostles. It is the Holy Spirit, for example, who confirms St. Peter in the Church’s mission to the Gentiles, from whom the Jews had previously had such strict separation. Yet as St. Peter says in Acts 10:34-35, in the house of the Gentile Centurion Cornelius, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” As Peter preaches to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit falls upon all in the house, leaving the circumcised believers who had come with Peter amazed as the gift of the Holy Spirit is poured on these Gentiles, as had happened to the Jewish disciples at Pentecost. To this, Peter declares, “can anybody forbid baptizing these people whom the Holy Spirit has come upon, just as he did us,” and he thus baptizes Cornelius and his household. To those who quibble with Peter having gone to the uncircumcised and eaten with them, Peter’s defense is simple enough in 11:1-18: “If the Holy Spirit makes no distinction, coming upon those uncircumcised men as he did us…then who am I to make distinction?” Clearly, the work of the apostles is driven by an utter reliance on the Holy Spirit!
Joyfully Countercultural Witness
In Acts 5:12-42, the apostles are imprisoned after a fervor of activity. The believers are increasing, the apostles working miracles and healings. Alas, the Sadducees, filled with rage, imprison the apostles. Upon finding in the morning that the apostles are inexplicably back in the Temple preaching (an angel of the Lord had miraculously freed them at night), the apostles are again arrested and told not to preach of Christ. Peter responds that they must obey God, not men, so they are obligated to preach of Jesus Christ. The Sanhedrin ultimately release the apostles after beating and charging them to not speak in the name of Jesus, which causes the apostles to rejoice at having suffered for Christ.
Can you imagine opposing the wicked designs of those around you and being beaten for that, yet still rejoicing? Could there be a greater example of joyfully countercultural witness? Suffering has changed in Christ, for it’s sharing in the very life of our Lord, who himself is the “suffering servant,” Thereafter, the apostles are in the Temple every day, preaching Jesus without ceasing. They do not let themselves get beaten by the culture that surrounds them, but joyfully witness amidst it.
Conviction of the Primacy and Power of the Gospel
The Gospel is not simply a message. It is a person: the Person of God the Son, second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, become man in the Incarnation. This is the “good news”: God has become man to dwell amongst us. And this God-man has a name: Jesus Christ. A name in which the apostles are convinced that all things can be done!
St. Peter’s first healing in Acts comes in 3:1-11. Peter and John are going to the Temple when they find a man lame from birth, who’s daily laid at the Temple gate to beg for alms. He asks for alms, but Peter and John tell him to look at them. He does, expecting to be given something, only for Peter to say, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (3:6). Peter then takes him by the hand, raises him up, and immediately he can walk. He then enters the Temple, walking and leaping and praising God. All of the people therein see this, recognize him as the lame man who begs for alms, and run to Peter, John and the man, amazed at the sight of him walking.
This is the primacy and power of the Gospel – the name of Jesus! Jesus means “God saves.” This isn’t just a symbolic name, but God Himself – Jesus is the God Who saves. This is not just a name, but salvation itself. It is the very name of Jesus that heals this man. And this name does not just heal this lameness of the body, but it heals us of the “lameness” of soul: our sin. This is why we do all things in the name of Jesus.
When we read of the dawn of Christianity, it’s amazing to think of a group of mostly illiterate fishermen changing the world. Yet that is the power of the apostolic mindset. Would that we embrace our faith as the apostles did and see a similar miraculous transformation of the culture that surrounds us!