1.
Introduction
A.
Paul's First Missionary Journey (13:1-14:28) 47-48 A.D. took place in SE. Asia
Minor.
Contents
Conversion
Paul's First
Missionary Journey (13:1-14:28) 47-48 A.D. took place in SE. Asia Minor.
Paul's
Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-18:22) from 49-52 A.D. covered Macedonia
&Achaia
Paul's Third
Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23-21:16) 52-56 A.D. covered Asia (4,000 mi
Paul's Fourth
Missionary Journey - Imprisonment from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 21:17-28:31).
Paul
and the Hellenistic mission
MISSION
OF PAUL
SCOPE
OF THE PAULINE MISSION
PAULS
MISSIONARY STRATEGY
TO THE
JEWS
TO THE
GENTILES
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Jesus
identified what is missing to see a great harvest of souls. He said, "The
harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matt. 9:37)." A great need
in the church today is a way to multiply workers for a greater harvest. By
increasing the number of workers, the scope and depth of the harvest can be
increased as well. There is much talk today of the need for mentors. Mentoring
leaders is indeed a critical need. Multiplying mentors is needed even more.1As
a biblical example of mentoring for multiplication this article will examine
the apostle Paul. Many have written on the missionary strategies of Paul in the
New Testament. Typically, these studies make a broad stroke examination of
Paul’s ministry calling out specific behavior and value with the assumption
that they were characteristic of all Paul's ministry. Rarely are there any
comparisons of the journeys looking for differences in strategic approaches. We
usually think of Paul as a teacher, but consider him as a learner and God as
his teacher, while we reexamine the Acts of Paul. What we will attempt to show
is that Paul was a learner throughout life (Philippians 3:12-16) and that the
Lord sovereignty led Paul in each of his journeys to discover values and
principles that could saturate an entire empire with the word of God. This
article will examine Paul’s missionary methods, and demonstrate that he
improved upon their effectiveness and fruitfulness with each journey as he
focused more concerted energy in mentoring and multiplying leadership. We will
gain a better understanding of Paul's maturing in ministry.
A.
Paul's First Missionary Journey (13:1-14:28) 47-48 A.D. took place in SE. Asia
Minor.
The
team for this trip consisted of Paul and Barnabas (and John Mark, for a
portion). And their method was that of traveling evangelists going from town to
town, making some disciples and then moving on. They covered some 1,500 miles
in about a year’s time, so the results they saw were an obvious work of God
that most of us only dream of. But the work was mostly addition growth, and the
churches that were left behind
Needed
some significant follow-up work (Acts 14:21-23; 15:36; 16:1-5; 18:23). Paul and
Barnabas were the founders of each church, and when they left so went the
church leadership. For this reason it was paramount that they allow some time
for God's leadership to rise to the surface. Then they could go back with
apostolic authority and appoint those who were indeed elders of each church.
Some of Paul's most influential apprentices were born into the kingdom during
this first mission including:
Timothy
(Acts 16:1) and Gaius (Acts 20:4) of Debra, Luke, and Titus (Gal. 2:1-3). None
of these men whereof use on the first journey. It wasn't until Paul's return
through the same towns that he could even begin touts these men to use in the
ministry. Nevertheless, they are a great testimony to the fruitfulness of Paul
and Barnabas' first missionary trip. One can only wonder what the New Testament
would be like without these men
In the resource
Raising Leaders for the Harvest, by Robert J. Logan and Neil Cole, Leadership
Farm
Systems (LFS).
is introduced and explained with biblical, historical and contemporary
examples. This article development that results in natural and spontaneous
multiplication of disciples, leaders, ministries and churches. For a greater
understanding of the principles and process see the above resource available
fromChurchSmart Resources (800) 253-4276.
Do
these works (Acts13:1-4), and God brought much fruit for years to come. It was
also important for Paul to have Unto me, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).The
apostle Paul was undoubtedly the greatest missionary of all time. It is well to
take note of his missionary strategy, for it was designed to reach the greatest
number with the highest efficiency. In the first place, although he by no means
neglected his Jewish countrymen, his calling was to all peoples of the world.
As possible, he tried to “preach the gospel in the regions beyond” where it had
never gone before (II Corinthians 10:16), “not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation” (Romans 15:20).He
especially concentrated on great cities, particularly the major seaports. He
had come from the large city of Tarsus himself, and he preached in the great
capital, Rome, and in Athens, the world’s cultural center. Philippi was the
“chief city” of Macedonia (Acts
16:12), as was Corinth in Achaia and Ephesus in Asia Minor. Antioch,
Troas, Thessalonica—all were great seaport cities. Establishing solid churches
in such cities would provide centers for carrying the gospel throughout the
world. In considerable measure, his ministry in these cities seemed to reach
people of special ability or opportunity to teach and influence others, such as
the philosophers at Athens, the proconsul Sergio’s Paul us at Pathos, the
honorable women of Berea, the school of Tyrannous at Ephesus, and others of
like significance. Most important of all were his writings. Paul wrote half the
epistles of the New Testament. He traveled at least 15,000 miles and preached
to many thousands of people, but His written words have been read by countless
millions over 1900 years
CONTENTS
Paul
is considered to be the greatest apostle or missionary of Christ. From Paul’s
birth until his appearance in Jerusalem as a persecutor of Christians there is
little information concerning his life .Although of the tribe of Benjamin and a
zealous member of the Pharisee party he was born in Tarsus a Roman citizen.
Paul became
acquainted with various Greek philosophies and religious cults during his youth
there .Van Unit has challenged this assumptions. He argues that the relevant
texts (Acts 22:3 ;26:4f) place Paul in Jerusalem as a very small child ;
Acts 22:3 is to be read in sequence ;(1)born in Tarsus ;(2)brought up at my
mother’s knee in this city ;(3)educated at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel the elder .As a young man (Acts 7:58;Gal.1:13)Paul
was given official authority to direct the persecution of Christians and as a
member of a Sanhedrin council ‘cast my vote against them ‘(Acts 26:10).
In the light of Paul’s education and early prominence status; his nephew‘s
access to the Jerusalem leaders accords with this impression
CONVERSION
There is no evidence that Paul was acquainted
with Jesus during his earthly ministry (2 Cor.5:16), his Christian kinsmen (Rom
.16:7) and his experience of the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 8:1) must have made
an impact upon him. The glorified Jesus’ question in Acts 26:14 implies as much
.The result of Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ gives ample assurance
that it was an experience of a healthy mind ;and it can be adequately interpreted,
as indeed Luke does interpret it ,only as a miraculous act ,which transformed
Christ’s enemy into his apostle.
Page 6 of 18, The
Mentoring for Multiplication Model
Apart from an interval in the Transjordan
desert Paul spent the 3 years following his baptism preaching in Damascus (Gal.1:17).Under
pressure from the Jews he fled to Jerusalem, where Barnabas ventured to
introduce him to leaders of the understandably suspicious Christians .His
ministry in Jerusalem lasted scarcely 2 week for again Hellenistic Jews sought
to kill him .To avoid them , Paul returned to the city of his birth , spending
there a ‘silent period ‘of some 10 years . No doubt it is silent to us.Barnabas
hearing of his work and remembering their first meeting , requested Paul to come Antioch to help in a flourishing
Gentile mission .These newly named ‘Christians’ soon began their own missionary
work. After a year of notable blessing Paul and Barnabas were sent on a “famine
visit ‘to help stricken colleagues in Judea.
There
is none seen like Paul who travelled for and wide in the Graeco-Roman world and
preached the gospel there .Connected with that he formed many churches and Christian
communities .Paul was mainly responsible for liberating Christianity from the narrow confines and
traditions of Judaism and making it a universal religion suitable for all cultural
and social contexts .Being a Jew he could have remained in his own
religion .But he chose to come out of
his religious framework because of the power of the gospel and wanted to be associated
with Christians .Paul stands as a Christian writes as well as a theologian
.Half of the New testament writings are ascribed to Paul .
- Paul's
First Missionary Journey (13:1-14:28) 47-48 A.D. took place in SE. Asia
Minor.
The
team for this trip consisted of Paul and Barnabas (and John Mark, for a
portion). And their method was that of traveling evangelists going from town to
town, making some disciples and then moving on. They covered some 1,500 miles
in about a year’s time, so the results they saw were an obvious work of God
that most of us only dream of. But the work was mostly addition growth, and the
churches that were left behind needed some significant follow-up work (Acts
14:21-23; 15:36; 16:1-5; 18:23). Paul and Barnabas were the founders of each
church, and when they left so went the church leadership. For this reason it
was paramount that they allow some time for God's leadership to rise to the
surface. Then they could go back with apostolic authority and appoint those who
were indeed elders of each church. Some of Paul's most influential apprentices
were born into the kingdom during this first mission including: Timothy (Acts
16:1) and Gaius (Acts 20:4) of Debra, Luke, and Titus (Gal. 2:1-3). None of
these men were of use on the first journey. It wasn't until Paul's return
through the same towns that he could even begin to put these men to use in the
ministry. Nevertheless, they are a great testimony to the fruitfulness of Paul
and Barnabas' first missionary trip. One can only wonder what the New Testament
would be like without these men. Five of the New Testament books and over half
of the actual written content is given to us in some way because of these men.
Certainly it was a good work which they did. They were called by the Holy
Spirit to do these works
Roland
Allen. Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or ours? London: World Dominion Press,
1930.
B. Paul's Second
Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-18:22) from 49-52 A.D. covered Macedonia
&Achaia.
Paul
took Silas with him on his next outing, but he also recruited others (Timothy,
Luke1 and eventually Aquila and Priscilla). They began with the same traveling evangelist’s
method, but during the course of the trip, God demonstrated that He had an
agenda which differed from theirs. This became obvious when He would not allow
them to go to Asia (Acts 16:6-10), not until certain lessons were learned. It's
not that God didn’t want Paul to reach these people for Christ, He was already
preparing something special for Asia, butte man He would use their needed some
further refining. In this second journey, God forced Paul to shift to a
multiplying church planting strategy, and planted him in one of the darkest
cities in the world at this time-Corinth. In the process of getting him there,
God sovereignty chiseled down Paul's team until he was left in Corinth
"alone". Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke (16:1-16:40 God showed Paul in
dramatic fashion, that he could never recruit a team big enough to be able to
leave someone in every town he came to. Paul found that the need for production
far exceeded his capacity for production. He ran out of team just when he hit
the darkest of cities. The need for the gospel was far greater than the shadow
of his leadership influence could extend. Paul, the man who covered 1,500 miles
in a single year, was at first frustrated by being stuck in one places alone.
He was also more than likely discouraged, and even a little frightened. Yes,
Paul, the great apostle was scared. Alone in such a demonically controlled
environment must have aroused some anxiety in the apostle. He knew firsthand
what it felt like to be beaten and even stoned (Acts 14:19). If he found that
the evil in Athens provoked his spirit (Acts 17:16), imagine what a place like
Corinth would do. But God had ales son in mind for His student. He appears to
Paul in a vision to encourage him, but also to give him message of instruction.
His message was "Stay, make disciples here that could be sent out all over
the place. You are not alone, I am with you, and I have many here who will join
your efforts." Luke describes the message in this way: 1 In order to find
Luke's involvement on this particular journey one must "And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a
vision, 'Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;
for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have
many people in this city.' And he settled there a year and six months, teaching
the word of God among them (Acts 18:9-11)."
This
marked a truly dramatic shift in the apostle's methodology. In essence, the
Lord challenged Paul to rise up a team from out of the harvest itself. It was
here at Corinth that Paul first learned the strategy of multiplying church
planters in a single church ministry, who can then be sent out to start new
works by making disciples. Soon after Paul received this word from the Lord, he
won Aquila and Priscilla to Christ2and mentored them using on-the-job training,
both literally as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3) and figuratively as church planter
(Acts 18:18). These two were used by God not only here in Corinth, but also in
Syria (Acts18:18), Rome (Rom. 16:3), and Ephesus (Acts 18:19-28; 1 Cor. 16:19;
2 Tim. 4:19). Instead of just producing a church, he reproduced a missionary
team that could go from there all over the empire producing churches just as he
had once done. Paul found that the gospel's influence could spread twice as far
and twice as fast when he focused his energies on reproducing his leadership.
Boring, M.E. Boring. What Are We Looking
For?: Toward a Definition of the Term
Christian Prophetic
Society for Biblical Literature Seminar Paper, Missoula, 1973
One
prominent example of their effective ministry is the discipline of Apollo’s who
immediately took prominence in the kingdom as a preacher. Dr. Luke digresses
from his story of Paul's missionary activity in uncharacteristic fashion to
elaborate on the identity and ministry of this man¾Apollos.One must ask why
Luke would present this digression. Granted, Apollo’s was a significant leader
in the New Testament church, but there were many others that were significant
as well yet did not merit any special attention from Luke. Those who were
mentioned earlier in Luke's account, have little or no part in the rest of the
book. In fact, people are only mentioned when they cross into the path of Paul,
and even then there is little said (i.e. James-Acts 21:18). We know that these
great men continued to be used by God, but Luke seems intent on only revealing the
ministry of Paul.Apollos was not a disciple of Paul's directly, but rather a
second generation disciple. Was this really digression from Paul's ministry, or
actually a further elaboration of the multiplying effect of Paul’s influence?
Perhaps it was Luke's intention to grant us a glimpse of the fruit of this new
strategy Paul was beginning to implement. Aquila and Priscilla led Apollo’s to
faith in Christ3, and mentored him in the same manner that Paul had done for
them (Acts 18:24-28). It is of interest to note that Luke uses almost identical
language in describing both
C. Paul's Third
Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23-21:16) 52-56 A.D. covered Asia (4,000 mi.).
Having
learned this valuable lesson, Paul, on this next journey, invested himself
completely to the task of mentoring and multiplying leaders from the harvest
who could be deployed into the harvest. With this trip, only a one-man team was
needed¾Paul the multiplying mentor.6 Paul implemented a regional church
planting saturation strategy from Ephesus for three years and in that time
reached all of Asia with multiplication (Acts 19:8-10; 20:31).From Paul's first
century perspective of the world, there was great urgency to get the good news
out to everyone everywhere. It is important to understand that Paul would not
willingly venture into an area that had already been evangelized. He had a
strict philosophy that he would not build on another's foundation. He wrote to
the Romans:"And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation (Rom. 15:20
NAS)."So when Paul arrived in Ephesus and set up his ministry there, first
in the synagogue and later in the school of Tyrannus,7 we can be assured that
there were no other Christians in the city. There were some strong evangelistic
contacts in the city which Paul had met briefly on his previous journey but
none had actually accepted the gospel as yet (Acts 18:19-21).8 Paul claims to
be the apostle for the church (Eph. 1:1) and as such to have laid the
foundation for the church (Eph. 2:20). He was the first to bring the gospel to
Asia.
Others
would build on the foundation, but only Paul can claim to be the foundation
layer.
Paul's
missionary journeys never took him to all the cities of Asia Minor. Instead he
stayed in Ephesus, trained men, and sent them out to reach all Asia with the
word of the Lord. Ephesus became the mother church to all the churches of Asia
Minor. The Apostle John came to have a prominent ministry here. Some believe
that it is the Ephesians church that he referred to as "the chosen
lady" and to the other Asian churches
Bull, Norman J. The Rise of the Church. London: Heinemann
Educational Books, Ltd., 1967.
As "her children (2 John
1)." Later, he was to receive the Revelation of Jesus Christ on the Island
of Patmos. The Revelation was addressed to the "seven churches of Asia
Minor (Rev. 1:4)" and Ephesus is the first church (Rev. 2:1-7), probably
because she is the mother church of the rest. It is interesting that Paul
writes to the Colossians and mentions that he had never actually met them
personally. Nor had he met the church at Laodicea. He wrote:"For I want
you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are
at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, (Col. 2:1
NAS)."
Paul's Fourth
Missionary Journey - Imprisonment from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 21:17-28:31).
We
don't often think of Paul's imprisonments as missionary journeys, but I assure
you¾he did! In fact, Paul claims to have more success in his missionary
role from jail than he did in any of his previous missionary journeys. Being
locked up wasn't a hindrance to his missionary activity, it was an enhancement!
While under arrest, Paul saw even "greater progress" in the gospel,
without even leaving his front door.
Eventually,
according to his own words, Paul reached all the Gentiles from a prison cell.
Talk about a cellbasedministry!!Listen to what Paul states:"Now I want you
to know brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater
progress of the
Gospel,
so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout
the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren,
trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak
the word of God without fear." (Philippians 1:12-14 NAS)
Whether
the following refers to his first Roman imprisonment, or his last, the words
are still incredible. He again states:"At my first defense no one
supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the
Lord
stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation
might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was
delivered out of the lion's mouth." (2 Tim.4:16-17 NAS).How did Paul
manage such an effective global influence from his jail cell? 1. His legal
appeal itself brought the gospel to many.
In
his first imprisonment, Paul preached to the greatest political rulers of the day
including Felix governor of Judea (Acts 24:10-26), Festus, his successor, king Agrippa
and his wife Bernice (Acts 25:27-26:32), and Nero himself (Acts 25:11-12;
27:24; 2 Tim. 4:17). He also managed to plant a church on the island of Malta
While
in transport to Rome (Acts 28:1-10). Rome even picked up the bill for his
travels on this missionaryjourney! 2. His world renowned reputation brought
many to hear him in his rented quarters where he was given speaking privileges.
His first imprisonment was in Rome where Paul was under house arrest. Paul had
already gained such a
World
renowned reputation (Acts 17:6) that a crowd came to greet him in Rome when hearrived:"and
thus we came to Rome. And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from
there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul
saw them, he thanked God and took courage. And when we entered Rome, Paul was
allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him(Acts 28:14-16
NAS)."
Farnell,
F. David. "Current Debate about New
Testament Prophecy," Bibliotheca Sacra 149:595. July-September 1992. 1993
It seems this is an unusual spin on the Great
Commission in which the uttermost parts of the earth came to him. They came in
groves to Paul's rented home where he was given special "speaking
privileges" (Acts28:20-29)."And he stayed two full years in his own
rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom
of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness,
unhindered
(Acts
28:30-31 NAS
Paul and the Hellenistic mission
Paul was irrevocably committed to the Hellenistic
world. In his youth Paul was bought to Jerusalem in order to be immunized
against the infection of the Hellenistic world .But later come to the for mission.
Hellenistic Jews had their synagogs there in which the scriptures were real send
worship was conducted in Greek His return to Tarsus throughout the rest of his
active life he was exposed to the Greek way of life in one city after another
for he no longer led a cloistered existence but lived for the most part as a
Gentile among Gentiles in order to win Gentile for the gospel
The knowledge of Greek literature and thought that his letters attest
was part of the common stock of educated people in the Hellenistic world of
that day .The direction of his faith and life was by too firmly fixed- first by
his Jewish upbringing and then by his submission to Jesus as lord for Hellenism
to exercise a decisive influence on his mind.
His
proclamation of deliverance and life through Christ crucified brought his
gospel into basic conflict with accepted standards of Hellenistic value and
gave it the quality of ''folly'' which it had in the eyes of those of his hearers
who made their assessments by what Paul called ''the wisdom of the world'' [ 1
cor.1:20 ff ] .
MISSION OF PAUL
About
AD 46 Paul and Barnabas, commissioned by the church in Antioch, embarked on an
evangelistic tour. Their strategy which became a pattern for the Pauline
missions was to preach first in the synagogue .Some Jews and Gentiles ‘God feared’
accepted the message and became the nucleus for a local assembly . When the
mass of Jews rejected the gospel, sometimes with violence, the focus of the
preaching shifted to the Gentiles.
Meanwhile
the influx of Gentiles into the church raised many questions concerning their
relations to Jewish laws and customs. A number of Jewish Christians were
insisting that Gentiles must be circumcised and observe the Mosaic Law if they were
to be received ‘at par’ in the Christian community.
Paul seeing in this Judaizing
movement a threat to the very nature of the gospel expressed his opposition in
no uncertain terms. First he rebuked Peter publicly. Secondly, hearing that the
Judaizing heresy was infecting his recently established churches Paul wrote a
letter of warning to the Galatians in which the Pauline credo
Bulloch, James. Pilate to Constantine. Edinburgh: The
Saint Andrew Press, 1981.
Caird,
G.B. The Apostolic Age. London: Gerald Duckworth & Company, Ltd., 1955.
,’salvation by faith’ was forcefully
presented.
These events in Antioch
gave rise to the first great rise to the first great theological crisis in the
church. The ensuing council gave the judgment that Gentiles should have no
greater burden than to abstain from food offered to idols, blood meat. The
effect of this decision was to sustain Paul’s contention that Gentiles were
under no obligation to keep the Mosaic Law. The restrictions seem to have been
principally for local application and an aid to Jewish-Gentile relationships.
Paul took a new
companion, Silas on his second missionary tour. From Antioch they travelled to
the churches of Galatia and at Lustrate added young Timothy to the party. Then
Paul saws a vision saw a man of Macedonia’ beckoning to him. Thus his
evangelization of Greece began. Then Holy Spirit moved Paul’s eyes once more
upon the earlier forbidden province of Asia.
In many ways the Aegean period was the most
important of Paul’s life. The province of Asia so important for the later
church was evangelized and the Christian outposts in Greece secured. During
these years he wrote the Corinthian letters, Romans and perhaps one or more
Prison Epistles which in the providence of God were to constitute a holy and
authoritative Scripture for all generations. For the apostle this was a time of
triumph and defeat, of gospel proclamation and threatening heresies of joy and
frustration, of activity and prison meditation. The risen Christ used all these
things to mould Paul into his image and to speak through Paul his word to the
church.
From Antioch Paul
travelled overland through the familiar Galatians region to Ephesus. There he
met certain ‘disciples’, including Apollo’s who had known John the Baptist . On
this foundations the church grew and God performed such extraordinary miracles
that certain Jewish exorcists began without success to use the name of ‘Jesus
whom Paul preaches’.
SCOPE
OF THE PAULINE MISSION
Paul understands the world
primarily through in terms of man ,man guilty and lost in God's sight but who
out of grace is called to salvation in Christ. Man ' lost and called to salvation
, embraces all men, Jews and Gentiles .All without distinction ;this does not
mean that Paul adopted the later classical world's notion of man the idea of the
essential and natural equality of men.
The
thing make all men one in Paul's view is not nature but the fact that God is
one and has now united all by means of Christ’s act of redemption and
lordship .Paul significantly did not
simply abandon the idea that Israel had
a special place in the saving history .
The sketch of the Hellenistic synagogue shows that because of his
ancestory education and gifts, the youthful Paul, still a member of the Jewish
faith was eminently marked out to become a missionary to the Gentiles. The
Diaspora synagogues mission was fairly liberal in its principles, being
satisfied if the ''God fearers ''drawn from the heathen into adherence to the
Jewish community pledged themselves to confess belief in the one God and to
observe a minimum of ritual commandments and the basic ethical commandments of law.
In A Select Library
of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Edited by Philip
Schiff. Grand Rapids: W. R. Eerdmans Publishing company, 1956; reprint, Grand
Rapids: William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983.
PAULS
MISSIONARY STRATEGY
Missionary strategy of Paul to various
cultural groups is given in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 .Here says how Paul adopted
himself to people of different cultures .He do mission of Christ to the
Gentiles as a slave of Christ. Basic principles of Paul’s missionary strategy
are adaptation.
TO THE
JEWS
Paul was a born Jew ,circumcised on the eighth day ,of the people of Israel
,of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews and was a Pharisee .As far
as the basic core of the gospel is concerned Paul did not make any compromise
with Jewish gospel .
According
to W.D Davies
''The
sources of Pauline Christianity lies in the fact of Christ but in wrestling to
interpret the full meaning and implications of that fact, Paul constantly drew
upon concepts derived from Rabbinic Judaism. This means that he did not change
his cultural affiliation even after becoming a Christian .Within the limits of
the freedom granted in the gospel, Paul was among the Jews as a Jew in order to
win them . He did not disown his religious and cultural heritage. He made it in
the service of the gospel.
TO THE GENTILES
Paul took upon himself the challenge of the
Gentiles in the light of the Gospel. According to Acts, Paul showed a high
sense of accommodation to the Gentiles and their thought forms. He did not
insist that the Gentiles should observe Jewish laws, particularly circumcision.
Though Paul is strong in faith he takes care of the weak because he is called
to win the weak. His accommodation to the weak does not mean accepting the
values of the weak but leading them to Christ.
By identifying himself with different cultural
and social groups , Paul thinks that he has 'becoming all things to all men
'.The phrase ' all things to all men ' does not mean that he was of the same
approach to all groups of people.
CONCLUSION
In short, Paul makes it clear that
he is completely at the disposal of Christ and there is nothing in his own peculiarities
and practices that could erect a barrier between Christ and the community.
Though he adapts himself to various It is interesting how Paul takes advantage
of this scenario while writing to the Ephesians. He describes thievery soldier
he was chained to while picturing the armor of God, and concludes that section
by asking the church to pray for boldness in telling others about Jesus.
Perhaps he was preparing himself even as he wrote to share the gospel with that
very soldier he described. He always was mentoring new leadership that he
would then send out all over the globe to Paul had many creative ways in
which his prison term furthered the gospel. But having visitors, appearing
before rulers and judges and sharing the gospel with prison guards are not
enough to get the gospel out to the extent which Paul claims to have
accomplished. It is the opinion of this author that the last means was the most
prolific-mentoring and multiplying leadership. The reason that Paul
Crowe,
Jerome. From Jerusalem to Antioch: The Gospel across Cultures. Collegeville:
The Liturgical Press, 1997.
could say that "the Lord stood with me,
and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully
accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear" is that his voice was
being carried out by empowered apprentice leaders. This is the only explanation
that can make sense of Paul's claims that his imprisonment was cause for greater
progress. The only way that being stuck full time under house arrest was more
effective than being free totravel and preaches is if Paul was effectively
releasing others to take the word out all over the empire. This hedid.Paul was
never intentionally alone. Wherever he went, whatever he did, he brought along
apprentices. Of the thirteen letters Paul wrote eleven of them mention others
who were with him. Even at the end, in his most desperate and lonely hour,
while sitting in a dungeon on death row, Paul was not alone (2 Tim. 4:11).When
Paul sent out the epistles to the Asian churches, he also sent with them
Onesimus and Tychicus (Col.4:7-9). When he sent his letter to the Philippians
from his confinement he also sent out Timothy andEpaphroditus (Philippians
2:19-30). But we also find that Paul had a team of several others who
remainedwith him, including Luke, Mark, Demas, Aristarchus, Jesus who is called
Justus, and Epaphras (Col. 4:10-12; Philemon 23-24). Just tallying up this list
reveals an entourage of ten apprentices. Paul lived a lifestyle of constant
mentoring and giving himself to others. He multiplied himself many times over,
and this is how he reached all the Gentiles. Perhaps the most obvious example
of one whom Paul won to Christ, disciple and then sent out during his Roman
imprisonment is Onesimus. Onesimus was a slave owned by another disciple of
Paul's whom wehave already mentioned-Philemon. Onesimus must have seen the difference
that the gospel made in his master’s life, but he did not receive the gospel
himself under Philemon's ownership. Seeking freedom, he eventually ran away
from his master and wound up in Rome. While there he found out that the apostle
Paul was in prison and receiving visitors. Being a fugitive, alone in a large
hostile city, Onesimus must have had a sense of desperation in his soul.
Remembering the difference the message of Paul made in his master's life, he
sought him out at great risk to his own life.14 Paul led Onesimus to Christ in
his jail cell15 (Philemon 10),trained him to be helpful in ministry (Philemon
11), and sent him out to benefit and expand the church(Philemon 12). Paul even
seems to indicate that Onesimus could have an effective missionary ministry if the
church would send him out (Philemon 13-16) What ever happened to Onesimus? One
thing is for sure, whether he was released from his obligation to his earthly
master or not, he found the freedom he was so desperately looking for! But what
became of his ministry? The Bible doesn't say, but history can tell us
something.
We
can assume that Philemon forgave him, 16 just because this letter was
circulated and eventually canonized which probably would never have happened if
Philemon refused the message of the letter. "I gave a godly welcome to
your church which has so endeared itself to us by reason of your upright
nature, marked as it is by faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, and by the love
of Him. You are imitators of God; and it was God's blood that stirred you up
once more to do the sort of thing you do naturally and have now done to
perfection…In God's name, therefore, I received your large congregation in the
person of Onesimus, your bishop in this world, a man whose love is beyond
words. My prayer is that you should love him in the Spirit of Jesus Christ and
all be like him. Blessed is He who let you have such a bishop. You deserved
it!"17Onesimus may have grown to become a renowned bishop of the prominent
Ephesians church, one admired by his peers across the kingdom! Onesimus stands
throughout eternity as a beautiful testimony of the fruitful ministry Paul
experienced while jailed in Rome. His ministry started as a convert of Paul's,
raised up as leader from the harvest and for the harvest.
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