When Christ ascended He gave five gifts to humankind; of these gifts, some were apostles and some were prophets. What was their counsel and practice?
Apostolic and prophetic counsel and practice answers the big questions that every person has in life; examines and discerns the condition of the lamp stand (Rev. 2-3), that is, is it built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ being the cornerstone; putting the members of the body in their proper condition for their works of service so that the body is built up and edified; fostering an organic, healthy body life; engaging in indigenous church formation; equipping and sending workers into the harvest fields; and advocating a missionary posture by God’s people as they interact with the nations so that they might become all things to all people that they might bring some to a saving knowledge of God’s grace in the person of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
Apostolic and prophetic counsel and practice would seek to help God’s people remember who God is and what God has done for us and all people; to remember who they are (identity) and why they are in the world (vision); to keep themselves free from idolatry; to engage in knowing the belief systems and life ways of the non-Christian nations and peoples who dwell in their mission context (worldview understanding and culture learning); convicting national, congregational and individual sins; communicating a living hope in Jesus Christ; and to use their lives to prosper the Master’s business of making disciples (Matthew 25:14-30).