"Now there were in the church that was in Antioch certain prophets and teachers;..." Acts 13:1
This was around AD 44 about twelve years after the resurrection of Jesus. Antioch was the first place where people stood out as Christ followers, i. e., Christians. The body of believers that was in Antioch probably wasn't any more faithful than Christ followers in other area, but they were beginning to become organized. I wish that I would hear , much less often, how the organized church is somehow less spiritual than the un-organized church. Or that those who meet in their home are somehow more spiritual than those who go to church on a regular basis at a particular facility.
The truth is that each of us are a part of this great organism, 'the Church,' and we shouldn't be thinking of ourselves more spiritual than others or talking badly about our brothers and sisters in the Lord. As you can see from the scripture, even 12 years after the resurrection of Jesus, some of those followers were called teachers and some prophets. Do we really need to get our back up just because someone wears a title that we might not approve of. I know people who have thrown stones at some of these 'titled' ministers, all the while living a life far less honorable.
It's not the title, but the faithfulness of the individual that really gives them title. I've found that when I can get past the title, sometimes I see a man or woman in love with the Lord, serving Him with depth and inspiring me to step up to the pump. Let's serve with gladness and not be too concerned with semantics.
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