Title: Paul, the Evangelical Strategist
Val: How did you know it was time to go to College? How did you pick A.U.? How did you know that The World Race wasn’t going to work out? How did you then decide to stay in Ashland and go to ATS?
There is much talk in churches today about mission strategy, and that’s fine. But something that concerns me is that so much of this talk isn’t based on scripture itself, but rather what strategists call “Scriptural Principles” and what they really mean is neat ideas of man to produce the desired results.
My thought is more simple: If we need to know where we should go next, why not look to scripture, to see what Paul did when faced with similar situations.
I. “…from Jerusalem (and round about to Illyricum)
(Read v. 19)
Because we are in large part coming to the close of Romans, the material in the text we are now dealing with is less theological and more narrative, much like the majority of the texts we studied when we worked through Acts about three years ago.
With that in mind, I want to take a moment to explain what most Bible Scholars believe Paul is saying here in verse 19.
We have no record of Paul going as far northwest as Illyricum, but we do know that he did go as far as Macedonia to preach the Gospel, and with the church that was established there, it is highly likely that the Macedonian church took the Gospel Northwest to Illyricum.
(Show Map)
For this reason, I’ve shown what Paul has written with the parenthesis to show a few things:
1. Paul understood the massive geographical range that his ministry covered
2. Paul also understood that he was planting ministries that were starting ministries of their own. (Much like the replenishment of the college students here at Heritage…how can an A.U. Student be an ambassador? If you are being fed here at Heritage, bring your friends to the table as well!)
This is why what Paul says next is quite staggering:
II. “…not where Christ was named…”
Read v. 20-21
So Paul obviously has a healthy understanding of the scope of his own ministry, yet the very next thing he says is that what defined his strategy was that he had resolved NOT TO DUPLICATE OTHER’S MINISTRIES.
Why is it good strategy to not duplicate another’s ministry?
1. To not build on another’s foundation. (Remember the Paul vs. Apollos arguments Paul had to deal with in Corinth…)
2. The Issue of Authority
3. The Issue of Good Stewardship. (Do we want to give 10 people two bibles? Or give 20 people one bible each?
What does this mean for us today?
1. Prayerfully consider your next steps.
2. Recognize when you are on another’s “turf.” (Ben inviting Newman to the Wed. Night Study)
3. Remember what Paul said, “I, Paul planted, Apollos watered, but does not Christ get the glory?” (What you do, do not for your own gain, but for the gain of the Kingdom.)
What this does not mean:
1. That we can’t be called to work together.
2. That we can’t discuss our differences in belief and practice. (But we must do so with tact.)
III. Now is the time! (To go to Spain.)
Read v. 22-24
Note: “Spain” was widely regarded as the area West of Rome
v22 “…for this reason…”
Paul states that he’s longed to go to come to the church in Rome for quite some time, but he wouldn’t leave his post in Judea until he felt the work there was done.
V22 “…no longer having a place in these parts…”
Paul has sensed that this work was coming to a close, not that the ministry was failing or fading, but that, more importantly, the ministries that he’d started had become self-sufficient and now he could trust that the men left in charge of these various churches would continue to carry our Kingdom work without Paul’s aid.
Point: Sometimes God will implant a word in our hearts, and the immediate purpose of that word is that it is supposed to dwell in our hearts for quite some time. And then, after a period of dwelling on this word, and testing it to see if it is of God, of us, or of the enemy, that word may begin to fester, telling us it’s time to take action.
Let me give you an example: (Ben and the Northwest..no, I’m not using this sermon to announce that I’m leaving HBC for First Baptist of Seattle…I don’t even like coffee, but I am, and have been dwelling with this word for a while..)
For Paul, this “word” was becoming a reality. As we will look at in coming weeks, Paul’s plan is to go to Jerusalem, to deliver the offering that the Gentile Church’s have taken up to support the Church in Jerusalem. And, as we studied a few years ago in Acts, when Paul arrives, he is arrested, and eventually he appeals to Caesar, and ends up making his journey to Rome, even if it was on a prisoner ship, and arriving only after a shipwreck.
Point: Sometimes that word is indeed from God, but the way we get delivered to that destination is not exactly what we had in mind.