Follower or a “sent out follower” In
other words a Missionary. The difference between Disciple and
apostle is that a Disciple is simply a student of the teachings of Jesus and an
Apostle is actually out preaching that teaching as a Missionary would. The
words Apostle and Disciple are used interchangeably when referring to the
characters in the bible because everyone who is going to preach the gospel is
also a student of that teaching at the same time. However not every person who
is a Disciple will end up in the role of a Missionary.
Historically people have preferred to use the term
specifically for the Missionaries that are talked about in the bible: The 12
disciples of Jesus, Paul of Tarsus and the group that Jesus sent out in Luke 10
and so on. In fact the more traditional denominations prefer to reserve this
term for only the people found in
the Bible. They will say the only Apostles are the founding fathers of
Christianity. All others that function in this way are referred to using other
terms such as Missionaries. In their mind the term is respectful of the unique
role the founders had.
There is another group that feels that the bible is supposed
to be an example of how we are supposed to function today. They will use the
word Apostle regularly. This group will use this term in reference to a “Church
planter”. In other words an Apostle does
not need to go overseas to round up a group of people and start a church as a
Missionary does. This person can do this same function in their own country, city or even neighborhood as
well.
