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Spring 2006
If we attempt to look to Acts and the Pauline epistles for a model of missional lifestyle, we are
churches toward the propagation of their faith; as Bowers observes, Paul who at every turn is himself so
preoccupied with active mission to the gentiles fails ever to indicate clearly an independent responsibility
in such a mission for his churches.1 To those who see evangelistic and missional activity as essential for the
continuing life and health of the Church, this absence presents somewhat of a problem; how is the
Kingdom’s advance to manifest outside of the Apostle himself in his churches and in our day? In an
attempt to answer this question, this paper examines Acts and the writings of Paul in order to discover
Hurdles to Cross
In coming to understand a Pauline theology of missional lifestyle, two hurdles arise which must be
crossed if we are to make any progress. The first is the unique nature of Paul’s call and mission, and the
The narrative sequence in Acts 9:1ff, tells of the unique nature of Paul’s calling. On the road to
Damascus, Saul (a Pharisee at the time), sees a bright light and hears the voice of the Lord calling to him.
Gilliland notes that the pattern of repetition of his name “Saul, Saul” when the Lord calls to him, parallels
other significant Old Testament call narratives where God chooses someone in a special way (Gen. 22:11;
Exod. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:10).2 It is also notable that in each of these instances God is about to do some great
work with his people. The call of Abraham sees the founding of God’s people, the call to Moses sees the
liberation of God’s people, and call to Samuel sees the ushering in of the Monarchy. What will the
significance of Paul’s ministry be? Just a few verses later, the Lord tells Ananias to go to Saul for “he is a
chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts
1
Bowers, Paul, Church and Mission in Paul: JSNT 44. 1991p 90
2
Gilliland, Dean S. Pauline Theology & Mission Practice. (Baker: Grand Rapids, 1983) p 83
9:15). The account of this special calling is confirmed in Paul’s own words several times in his epistles, for
instance in Galatians 1:11-23 where Paul states that he was called by no human, but by God himself.
Bowers erroneously equates the highly unique nature of Paul’s calling with an exclusive call to mission
activity stating that Paul’s understanding the missionary calling is deeply rooted in the Old Testament
something more significant? If what Bowers says is true, very few people are called to the active spread of
the Gospel. If on the other hand there is something else about Paul’s ministry that is exclusive, then we
need not see the particularity of Paul’s calling to be a sign of the exclusive nature of his ministry. To this
end, O’Brien, points out from Galatians 1:11-17 that Paul understood his specific ministry to have to do
with the restoration of Israel. First, Paul defines his ministry in terms of God’s promise made to Abraham –
being fulfilled as Gentiles are brought into a living relationship with him through the Gospel (Gal 3:8).
Second Paul expresses his missionary work “to proclaim God’s Son among the Gentiles,” (1:16) in
language that suggests he is continuing the salvation historical work of the Servant figure of Isaiah 40-55. 4
Therefore to borrow a concept from Aristotle, the substance of Paul’s mission is the restoration of Israel,
A second hurdle to cross is Paul’s depiction of the churches themselves. As nearly all of Paul’s
instruction is directed toward churches, it is from what he intends for them that we can most readily
discover what he intends for us. Yet, as it was stated in the beginning this paper, there is this mysterious
lack of direction from Paul on this matter. Bowers concludes that the churches per se, are not intended to
be centers of mission activity, that they are the goal rather than a means of Paul’s mission activity. He
likens church’s “mission” to that of Israel in the Old Testament, effected not by active outreach, but by
living the life of God’s true people before the nations.5 The metaphors Paul uses to describe the church are
all internally oriented and have no aspect that faces outward toward the world. Bowers also notes that in
those instances where growth is mentioned, it pertains to spiritual development as in the body imagery of
Eph. 4:16 and not to numbers, in the two instances where it pertains to numbers the “body” imagery of
3
Bowers, Paul, Church and Mission in Paul: JSNT 44. 1991p 108
4
O’Brien, P.T. Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul, p 12
5
Bowers, Paul p 109
Colossians 2:19. and the “building” imagery of Eph. 2:19-22, Christ is the agent of growth (2:13-18) – or
Paul(3:1-13).6 Therefore it would seem that the church’s have a separate mission from that of Paul, namely
Banks states that, in these early letters of Paul the term ecclesia consistently refers to actual
assembling community. 7 If the word ecclesia is therefore, more descriptive of an event than an ongoing
reality, the inward focus of Paul’s metaphors begins to make more sense, because it describes what happens
inside the gathering of the faithful. If their focus was to turn to some outward purpose, – the word ecclesia
would no longer apply, because they would have to cease performing the action which defines them. This
does not preclude mission activity; it simply means that believers are not an ecclesia while they are doing
it. Individual agents are free to go many places that formal bodies cannot. As dynamic relational gatherings
they can be extremely small, wherever two or more are gathered (Matt. 18:20), and they can spring up
anywhere – even in the household of Caesar himself (Phil. 4:22). It is not difficult to see how such a group
Having surmounted the obstacles in our path, what can be said about Paul’s Theology of Missional
Lifestyle? It is my intention to demonstrate that Paul understands mission, to be the work of the Spirit, and
that we as believers are caught up in that work according to the various gifts that God grants through the
Holy Spirit. These gifts emerge or are revealed within the context of the gathered community ecclesia, and
are put to service in various ministries. One of which being evangelism. The advance of the Kingdom of
God therefore occurs on multiple fronts, evangelism and mission being just one area of service in the
kingdoms advance.
Roland Allen missionary to China in the early 20th century hypothesized that the reason behind the
lack of directive material in Paul’s letters had to do with the fact that Paul saw no need to encourage people
to do what they were already doing naturally, what he called the Spontaneous Expansion of the Church. By
Spontaneous Expansion, Allen meant the expansion which follows the un-exhorted and unorganized
6
ibid p 96-97
7
Banks, Robert. Paul’s Idea of Community. (Hendrickson: Massachusetts, 1994) p 35
activity of individual members of the Church.8 He cites two powerful urges that compel people to share
their faith, the natural longing for fellowship with others like themselves, and the compelling urge of the
Holy Spirit to save human beings.9 Allen’s hypothesis seems highly plausible when you consider that the
Spirit was always far ahead of the Apostles. Just days after the sermon at Pentecost the gospel was making
its way out into the rest of the Roman Empire (Acts 2 ff). Even Paul in all his ambition discovered an
O’Brien notes that Paul frequently speaks of the Gospel as a force or agency which is able to
accomplish something, and which has a purpose toward which it moves.10 Take for instance, the language
in Colossians 1:5a-6, “the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly
bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and
understood the grace of God in truth” and also in 2 Corinthians 10:14 “for our gospel did not come to
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction -”. In both these
passages Paul emphasizes the action of the Word portraying a power wholly independent of human agency.
Paul understands that while he is an agent of the Gospel, the Gospel is by no means dependant upon him it
is and does move above and beyond his efforts. From this understanding flows the confidence which
allows him to say, even when imprisoned, that the Gospel is not imprisoned (2:Tim 2:9).
Furthermore, Paul expects the work of the Spirit in his churches to produce gifts and ministries
that will serve the advance of the kingdom. This is why he never directs believers to go out and evangelize
their neighbors. Gifts and ministries come from God, and cannot be required of every person. This is the
same principal upon which Paul instructs the Corinthians about the members need for one another (1 Cor.
12:14-18). Paul saw all manifestations of Gifts as necessary and allowed the Spirit to distribute them as he
saw fit.
8
Allen, Roland. The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1962) p 7
9
Allen, Roland p 9
10
O’Brien, P.T., Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul: An Exegetical and Theological Analysis
(Baker: Grand Rapids, 1995) p 113
Naturally, the Spirit would raise up some people who would be gifted evangelists, or have gifts
that Paul found useful in his missionary journeys. Schnabel indicates that many of Paul’s “coworkers”
The fact that Paul never directly commands or exhorts his churches to engage in mission work, for
some would seem to undermine the commonly held belief that the churches were to be centers of
missionary activity. This all depends on how one looks at it. While the churches did not engage in mission
activity as churches, many if not most of the members had a part in the missionary effort. Church’s were
training and recruitment centers, raising up mature believers in the Lord. They were homes and families
for traveling missionaries. And they were a network that allowed information to spread throughout the
Christian community across the Roman Empire. They were also the means of monetary support for
Paul’s Authority
As a final note of interest I would like to discuss Paul’s view of authority. For all that Paul says
about the cooperative nature of his work, Banks (and others), find it hard to conceive that Paul’s coworkers
were much more than his personal assistants. Many of the people Paul addresses as “coworkers” or by one
of the many other designations were not necessarily coworkers in the sense that they directly worked with
Paul, or even came from his churches. Schnabel lists 17 different designations for coworkers, 38 of whom
are named specifically, yet only some can be identified specifically with Paul’s mission work.12 Yet
Schnabel assumes that they must have come into his employ at some point, else why would he call them
fellow workers.
Why must we assume that names in every such instance refer to recruits of Paul’s? It is quite
possible, even likely, that persons may have been named who had ministries quite apart from Paul’s and
were not under his direct authority. Paul’s mention could simply be an expression of his comradery with
active ministers with whom he had a passing acquaintance. The common loyalty to and dependence upon
the one Lord establishes the unity of all ministries and ministers who serve the people of God.13
11
Schnabel, Eckhard J. Early Christian Mission, vol. 2; Paul and the Early Church. (Baker: Downers
Grove, 2004) p 1443
12
ibid, p 1425-1427.
13
Schnabel, p 1480
Bank’s states that there are only two examples where Paul is not treated as the Authority; Acts
15:36-41 where Barnabas refuses comply with Paul’s insistence that they leave Mark behind, and 1 Cor
16:12, Where Apollos declines to go to Corinth at Paul’s request. The first instance he attributes to
Barnabas being the senior member of the team (commissioned by Antioch). The second he attributes to
Apollos having his own ministry, and not falling under Paul’s authority. Is this the same Paul of
1 Corinthians 1:24 who does not Lord it over their faith? It is equally likely that those who traveled with
Paul did so because they wanted to, because they loved and believed in him, and were free to come and go
as they pleased.
You never see Paul “pull rank” on anybody. Though he occasionally made appeal to the special
nature of his calling, he did not see this as the credential of his ministry. Where he does appeal to his
Apostleship, or to his suffering he does so with those who are being deceived by the credentials of others.
But he always does it tongue in cheek in order to undermine the whole concept (eg 2 Cor 11:16 ff). Paul
actually considers his credentials to be the people comprising the churches which he founded
(1 Corinthians 9:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:1-3). He also considers his ministry to be validated by the
integrity of his message (Gal. 1:6-8 and 2 Cor. 11:4-12:13). Paul sets his standard well within the reach of
those who have the gifting – to aspire to. He shows great encouragement when others are emboldened to
proclaim the Gospel, even if they consider themselves his rivals (Philippians 1:12-18).
Summary
I have argued that Paul understands mission, to be the work of the Spirit, and that we as believers
participate in that work according to the various gifts that God grants through the Holy Spirit. These gifts
are discovered within the context of the Ecclesia – the gathering of the faithful for mutual edification and
support. The church itself does not engage in missionary work (at least as the church was understood in the
1st century) because ecclesia refers more to the periodic gathering of believers than it does to a fixed body
to which one belongs. The decentralized and fluid nature of the gathering allows it to spread rapidly and
gain entry where an organized body would not. Paul feels no need to direct believers to exercise particular
gifts or ministries, because each one is given as the Spirit sees fit. These gifts emerge within the context of
the gathered community ecclesia, and are put to service in various ways. Paul likewise does not direct the
ministries of individual believers, even those who join him on his journeys. The Spirit works
independently in every believer. Unity comes therefore, not from a strong “top down” management, but
from unification to the One Lord. For these reasons, Paul’s theology of mission lifestyle is, relational and
familial, rather than organizational and authoritarian. It is a movement headed by Jesus Christ, lead
through the Holy Spirit, and executed by brothers and sisters whose bond us their unity in Christ.
Bibliography
Allen, Roland. The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1962).
I gravitate strongly toward Allen’s “Spontaneous Expansion” model which was designed
precisely to explain the 1st century phenomenon; though his concept of the church as centers of
mission activity may need adjustment.
Gilliland, Dean S. Pauline Theology & Mission Practice. (Baker: Grand Rapids, 1983).
Gilliland’s book is a very interesting and detailed examination of Paul and his Missiology.
Given the “hurdles” of Bowers’ critique, however I could not justify direct application of them
as models for his churches or for us. I did one of his arguments for the unique nature of Paul’s
Call.
O’Brien, P.T., Gospel and Mission in the Writings of Paul: An Exegetical and Theological Analysis
(Baker: Grand Rapids, 1995).
O’Brien’s book is a very helpful response to Bowers. His insight into Paul’s use of Old
Testament Material was particularly helpful in getting past Bowers appeal to Paul’s unique and
exclusive status.
Schnabel, Eckhard J. Early Christian Misison, vol. 2; Paul and the Early Church. (Baker: Downers
Grove, 2004).
Schnabel’s voluminous work was a mine of research which would prove invaluable on several
technical points, as I found it to be for his research on Paul’s “coworkers”. I was less satisfied
with his conclusion on this matter and would caution against deferring to his well researched
conclusions automatically.