In his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4: 9-13), St. Paul gives us a vivid description of the life of an apostle. It is the gritty fruit of his experience.
How does it feel to be an apostle? It feels like having become a spectacle to all, a freak on the midway of an unending state fair. It feels like having become a fool on Christ’s account. It feels like having become weak. It feels like having been sneered at.
How does it feel to be an apostle? It feels like having been hungry and thirsty. If feels like having been poorly clad. It feels like having been roughly treated. It feels like having been homeless.
How does it feel to be an apostle? It feels like having been insulted. It feels like having been persecuted. It feels like having been slandered. It feels like having become garbage, the scum of the earth.
Who in the world would want such a job? Who would stand in line for it? Who would interview for it? Who would ever dream of praying for such a calling?
The only way to answer these questions is to realize that this portrait of the apostle is actually the portrait of Jesus himself. This is the way they treated him. This is what it meant for him to be sent. This was his experience of being the Messiah.
To be an apostle is to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. It is to reproduce his mind and his heart in your mind in your heart. It is to say I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.
The apostle must be knocked from his horse. The apostle must be startled by the light of the risen Lord. The apostle must be captivated by the power of the Incarnate One. Love, and love alone, can make an apostle.
+ Most Rev. Ronald M. Gilmore
Bishop of Dodge City