Year: 2012

By just about any measure, the Apostle Paul’s commitment to go to whatever lengths were necessary to bring the gospel to those who had not heard was remarkable.

Roland Allen, Anglican missionary to North Africa and China, explains: “In little more than ten years St Paul established the Church in four provinces of the [Roman] Empire, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. Before AD 47 there were no churches in these provinces; in AD 57 St Paul could speak as if his work there was done.”[1]

Paul’s primary calling and burden was to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to win as many Jews or Gentiles as possible (1 Cor. 9:19-22), and to press on to locations where Christ had not yet been named (Rom. 15:20-21). His ultimate goal was to plant churches by laying a foundation as a skilled master builder, thus leaving behind a healthy growing community of new believers in each location who were grounded in theology and the ethics of the law-free gospel (1 Cor. 3:6, 10; 9:10).

The vast distances and long periods of time required for Paul and his co-laborers to travel as the Spirit led them are impressive. Barry Beitzel beautifully captures the distance leadership challenge they surmounted:

The distances traveled by the apostle Paul are nothing short of staggering. In point of fact, the New Testament registers the equivalent of about 13,400 airline miles that the great apostle journeyed; and if one takes into account the circuitous roads he necessarily had to employ at times, the total distance traveled would exceed that figure by a sizable margin. Moreover it appears that the New Testament does not document all of Paul’s excursions. For example, there seems to have been an unchronicled visit to Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:14; 13:1); he refers to shipwrecks of which we have no record (2 Corinthians 11:25); and there was his desire to tour Spain (Romans 15:24, 28), though it is still debated whether or not he ever succeeded in that mission. Considering the means of transportation available in the Roman world, the average distance traveled in a day, the primitive paths, and rugged sometimes mountainous terrain over which he had to venture, the sheer expenditure of the apostle’s physical energy becomes unfathomable for us. Many of those miles carried Paul through unsafe and hostile environs largely controlled by bandits who eagerly awaited a prey (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:26). Accordingly, Paul’s commitment to the Lord entailed a spiritual vitality that was inextricably joined to a superlative level of physical stamina and fearless courage.[2]

The table below details the extent of Paul’s travels to many of the places he visited.

Table Source: Adapted from Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 122.

Paul was able to cover extraordinary distances given the limitations in transportation at the time.  His willingness to endure the hardships of travel to influence as many as possible for the gospel allowed him to make an incredible impact for the kingdom in his time on earth. That is some serious self-leadership.

What motivates you to go the distance?

Over the last few posts, we have been looking at ways that Jesus and Paul exhibited core aspects of servant leadership. We have looked briefly at Scriptural examples showing that Jesus and Paul both had a clear sense of calling, kept an intimate relationship with God, empowered others, and acted with love, humility, and zeal. Though this is not an exhaustive list, here are the final four traits that stood out to me from my research.

Vision

Both Jesus and Paul constantly kept the big picture in front of their disciples and audiences. While walking along the road to Emmaus with two followers who did not recognize him as the risen Messiah, Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:45-47). Thus Jesus affirmed the missional nature of the whole of Scripture, the necessity of repentance and forgiveness to be proclaimed in the name of the Christ who suffered and rose from the dead, and the geographic progression of this proclamation from its starting point in Jerusalem to all nations. Paul took great pains in most of his letters and sermons to explain the big picture of God’s plan before calling his audience to action with imperatives (e.g., first Rom. 1-11, then Rom. 12-15; first Eph. 1-3, then Eph. 4-6).

Service

Although he was and is Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus did not come “to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), laying aside his rights and privileges as God. Jesus modeled service to his men by taking a towel and washing their feet, then instructing them to do the same to others (John 13:1-20). It is difficult to comprehend that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Paul also willingly set aside legitimate rights in order minister across cultures to people from diverse backgrounds, seeking to make himself a servant of all:

But I have made no use of any of these rights … that in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings (1 Cor. 9:15, 18-23).

Suffering

Both Jesus and Paul understood the role that suffering would play in taking the good news to the nations. Both willingly risked inconvenience, rejection of their message, pain, suffering, and their own lives in order to achieve God’s mission. Western leadership models, even Christian frameworks, tend to view suffering as an obstacle to the fulfillment of God’s plan. Biblical leadership embraces suffering as coming from God’s hand. Consider Isaiah 53, the great servant leader passage that describes the intense rejection, persecution, and death that the Messiah would endure for his followers. Near the end Isaiah writes, “yet it was the will of the the Lord to crush him” (Is. 53:10). Seriously? Paul also affirmed the role of suffering in many ways, particularly in character growth: “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-4).

Results

Lasting fruit glorifies God (John 15:8, 16; Gal. 5:22-23). Both men left in their wake a growing community of loyal, trusting friends who were committed to following Jesus Christ, often at great personal cost. Both men completed their time on earth having accomplished the work God had given them to do (e.g., John 17:4; 2 Tim. 4:6-8). Both men touched lives, made disciples, and raised men and women who planted an unstoppable worldwide movement that continues bearing fruit today.

From the beginning of time God has been purposefully working out his redemptive plan for people from all nations. The missio Dei necessitates the calling and sending of leaders with the character qualities of servants who tell others the good news of forgiveness, freedom, and repentance in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul represent two models of such leaders.

Where have you seen some of these traits in the lives of present-day servant leaders?

As servant leaders with a clear calling and vision for God’s glory to be spread to all nations, both Jesus and Paul exhibited core aspects of servant leadership. Recently, we looked at the first three similarities in their lives and ministries: calling, intimacy with God, and love.  Today we continue with three more.

Humility

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords said of himself, “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:28). Paul frequently spoke of humility (e.g., Acts 20:19; 2 Cor. 10:1; 11:7; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3, 8; Col. 3:12). Humility is the opposite of pride, which may be a servant leader’s greatest enemy. Humility is a dominant theme in the preaching and practice of both men.

Zeal

Both manifested intense passion for God and his glory among the nations. When Jesus cleansed the temple, he quoted Isaiah 56:7 “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (cf. Luke 19:45-46). His disciples remembered, “it was written ‘zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:17). Paul exhorted leaders to lead “with zeal” and not be slothful in zeal but “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:8, 11).

Empowerment

Empowerment is about trust because it requires sharing power with others. Both Jesus and Paul invested in people as their primary strategy by aggressively entrusting others with the mission. Jesus bypassed the temptation to be enthralled with the crowds who followed him, choosing instead to prayerfully select twelve men, with an inner circle of three, to “be with him.” To these he imparted the majority of his teaching and training (e.g., Mark 3:13-20). Paul also had clear selection criteria for his missionary teams and local church leaders (e.g., Acts 15:36-40; 2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:5-9; 2:2-10). Both men actively involved women in their ministries (e.g., Luke 8:1-3; John 4:5-30; Acts 16:13; Rom. 16:3).* Both men trained and released other leaders by sending them out (e.g., Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21; Acts 14:21-24; Titus 1:5). Thus they prayerfully, intentionally, and strategically risked the future of the church by empowering others.

Where do you run the greatest risk of giving into the temptation of pride? 

Merriam-Webster defines “zeal” as “eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something.” To what degree does this currently reflect your pursuit of God and His glory?

When was the last time you strategically risked the future of your ministry by empowering someone else?

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* Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary, page 251. Schnabel notes: “The circle of Paul’s coworkers included a considerable number of women. It has been estimated that 18 percent of Paul’s missionary coworkers were women.” He lists Paul’s female coworkers who shared in Paul’s work and were specifically identified with the Greek affix syn, or “with,” as Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis (all from Rom. 16), Apphia (Philem. 2), and Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3).