Missionary Methods - Paul's or ours?

What do we learn from Paul about what missionaries do? Above all things we learn that Paul was a strategic thinker, with well defined results in mind for his missionary work. Paul  assumed that wherever he went he would preach the gospel and the result would  be that people would be saved and churches established. To achieve these results he had the following strategies in mind:

The primary goal of all his efforts was the winning of converts and the planting of churches.  I doubt if Paul used these exact terms, but it is abundantly clear he expected people to believe in Jesus when he preached.  He gathered new converts in homes, appointed elders to lead them,  and instructed them to gather for teaching, worship, personal accountability and outreach to others. Because that was his expectation, that is what he accomplished.

He thought in terms of reaching provinces, not just cities.

Luke speaks of provinces more than he does cities in giving his account of Paul’s journeys. It is safe to assume that Luke picks up this perspective from his association with Paul (e.g., Acts 13:4, 13,14, 49, 14:6, 24). Paul planned his missionary journeys to coincide with the boundaries of Roman administration. He used to his advantage the Roman system of transportation, and thought in terms of the Roman administrative structure. On his first missionary journey, Paul sticks to the Roman province of South Galatia, which  borders his own native province of  (where Tarsus is located). On ensuing journeys he went further West. 

Paul did not think in terms of reaching every village within a province personally.

He reached key cities and towns and from there he expected the gospel would be spread around. This is important because it indicates that Paul was not just interested in planting individual churches, but in starting multiplying church planting movements. He intended to plant churches that had missions and multiplication in their genetic code. He said to the Roman Christians ten years after the start of his first missionary journey that he had "… fully preached the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and around from Illyricum" (Romans 15:23). He said to the Thessalonians, "You have become a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia. Your faith in God has become known everywhere." (1 Thess. 1:7-8)

Paul planted churches that were not dependent upon outside resources. 

He trusted the Holy Spirit to sustain the work that was begun. He appointed leaders that were brand new converts. He stayed long enough to see a work up and going, and not longer. (But) Paul did not gather congregations and then let them fend for themselves. He visited and revisited the churches he planted. He sent emissaries to them to shore up their faith and correct false teaching. Paul did not just gather people; he planted churches. He did not rest until he knew each one of his churches was established and functioning in a healthy manner with God chosen leaders.

Paul's motives for mission

Paul did have a burning ambition, indeed a holy ambition, to plant churches (Romans 15: 14-21). At the heart of all Biblical missions there must be the same ambition, less the pressing need of human suffering deter us from the greatest of all priorities, and that is raising up a people for the praise of His name among all the nations.

Missions is not ultimate, God is. Ministering to the needs of the poor is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is. Man is not the center of the universe, God is. Man will pass away, but God is forever. Worship is the goal of missions because God is ultimate. To quote John Piper, "When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more … but worship abides forever."

Worship must be the goal of missions because the ultimate aim of all we do must be to bring the nations into the white hot presence of God’s glory. We are not talking about how to do missions, but the goal of missions. And understanding this goal properly will mean that planting churches will always be ultimate in our efforts of reaching people with the gospel. Why? Not so we can count the number of churches planted, but so the people of covenant can gather and praise their Maker.

Conclusion

Cross cultural missionaries should follow Paul’s strategy: preach the gospel, baptize converts, gather new believers, plant churches, be an example of concern for the poor and oppressed and teach believers the gospel of the Kingdom. But don’t try to do the work God has given indigenous local churches to do. Trust the Holy Spirit in His church to empower the people of God for the praise of His name. That is what missionaries should do.

By Floyd McClung (used by permission)
All Nations

For more resources relating to church planting visit Floyd's homepage: www.floydandsally.org/