New Testament Foundations for Itinerant Servants: General Letters
In the New Testament, the framework for itinerant service is found in Jesus’ example and instructions in the Gospels. The book of Acts describes how Jesus’ followers eventually begin to live out this framework. As we read through Paul’s letters to different churches and individuals, we get an even better picture of how itinerant servants worked among the churches.
But, what about the General (or Catholic) Epistles? Can we learn anything about itinerant servants from those letters?
We have already learned from Paul that (at least some of) Jesus’ brothers were itinerant servants. (See 1 Corinthians 9:5, for example.) Thus, James and Jude may have been included in that number. We also know from both Acts and Paul’s letters that Peter was a traveling servant at times. (See Acts 9:32, 1 Corinthians 1:12, Galatians 2:11.) This might explain why James and Peter have formed relationships with believers scattered around the Roman empire. (James 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1)
If James was an itinerant (at least at some point), it could also explain his focus on traveling to “such and such a town and spend a year there.” (James 4:13) While the verse is primarily aimed at people traveling for business, the principle of seeking the will of God before making plans or choosing a destination would certainly apply to itinerant servants as well.
Two of John’s letters also help us understand itinerant service better. For example, John was planning to travel to visit “the elect lady and her children” (2 John 12) and to visit Gaius (3 John 10; 3 John 14).
Furthermore, John specifically praises Gaius for taking care of itinerant servants who are traveling through his area. (3 John 5-8) He also admonishes Diotrephes for not welcoming those traveling brothers and sisters and for teaching others not to welcome them. (3 John 9-10) John is so upset about this that he plans to “bring up what [Diotrephes] is doing” and uses him as an example of someone who is “doing evil.”
These few passages show us that itinerant service was more widespread than Paul and his team. There were other groups of itinerant servants at work at the same time.
Plus, we see how important it was for Christians to show hospitality toward those who were traveling through their area. As we saw from the passages in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, hospitality was very important for the work of these traveling servants.
Can you think of other important passages concerning itinerant servants in the Catholic Epistles?
When a church building is just one place among many
I’ve already suggested that it would be more healthy for churches if Sunday became just one day among other days and leaders became just one person among the church.
There’s another focus for many modern churches that can be dangerous: the focus on a particular place or building. Often, this is a church building that is used not only for meetings for almost all other service performed by the church. In fact, the church often finds its identity in the building itself. (Oh, no, they would not say that. But listen to what people say when church buildings are destroyed.)
In Scripture, churches met in many different locations. Then, they served others wherever they met them: in homes, in the market place, and yes, in the temple.
When the church focuses too much on meeting and serving in one particular building, we begin to lose the wonder and glory of the fact that God is with us always and everywhere.Often, you will see this combined with people asking God to “come to” this place or “meet with them” in this place. This is nonsense for the follower of Christ!
There is no place that we can go where we will not be in the presence of God. We are the temple of God, and God dwells and remains with each of his children. And, thus, any place becomes a place for serving others in order to give glory to God.
Get out of the building. Go to people. And serve God where the people are.
New Testament Foundations for Itinerant Servants: Paul’s Letters
In the New Testament, the framework for itinerant service is found in Jesus’ example and instructions in the Gospels. The book of Acts describes how Jesus’ followers eventually begin to live out this framework. As we read through Paul’s letters to different churches and individuals, we get an even better picture of how itinerant servants worked among the churches.
Throughout all the letters, we see the love and compassion and concern that Paul had for all the believers that he had met (and for some that he had never met – for example, the Colossians). When we think about how little time he spent with some of these people (and, like I said, the fact that he had spent no time with some of them), it is amazing how deep a connection they were able to form. Whether his recipients were living according to the gospel or not, Paul was concerned about their life and their growth in Christ.
They were able to maintain these relationships in spite of the fact that they were separated by many, many miles. Because of modern transportation and communication, it is difficult for us to understand how separated (physically) they were. However, they remained connected spiritually in a way that many Christians today would also find difficult to understand.
The personal (and particular) nature of Paul’s letters demonstrates something else that is very important for itinerant servants to consider: while there were basic similarities between all the believers that Paul had met, their needs differed. He did not treat them all the same, but instead dealt with them where they were and in the struggles that they faced. (This is particularly important in the modern church where traveling speakers tend to offer the same speech wherever they go. Of course, this probably has to do with a lack of relationship between the speaker and the audience.)
We can also see how Paul worked with the other members of his itinerant team. He trusted these men and women to deliver letters as well as remain among the believers for a time as living letters – examples of the truths that Paul wrote about. From Timothy and Titus, to Epaphras and Epaphroditus, to Phoebe and Tychicus, Paul sent these itinerant men and women to continue the work of proclaiming the gospel and strengthening the churches – the same work that they carried out while with Paul. (This is very similar to Jesus sending out the 12 and the 72 to continue the work that he had been doing.)
From these letters, we can also see that believers in one city – where Paul had already visited – occasionally (or often, it’s hard to tell) sent support to Paul and his teams. Paul was very appreciative for the help, but he was even more appreciative for the apparent work that God was doing in the lives of these Christians. Also, in terms of support, we read how important it was to Paul that believers in one city or region help out others in another city or region who may be struggling.
Paul’s letters must be read in the context in which they were written: a traveling servant to other believers intended to continue the work of strengthening the church. (Yes, this would include Timothy and Titus, who were also itinerant servants, not bishops or elders or pastors.) We even see that Paul intended to travel to Rome in order to carry on his itinerant service by traveling into the western part of the Roman empire toward Spain. (We don’t know from Scripture whether or not this happened.)
What other important aspects of itinerant service can we learn from Paul’s letters?
When the church becomes visible without signs or marketing
Keith at “subversive1” is writing a series discussing some of the problems (real and perceived) of organic church.
(Now, from the beginning, we must admit that all organic churches are different, so it’s difficult to write this kind of series.)
The latest post is called “Invisible: Organic Church.” This is what Keith says in introducing this weakness:
In our discussion we reflected on the fact that house churches don’t have large signs out front, and don’t market themselves the way traditional churches do. Because of this, it’s often likely that a house church could exist for years right down the street from another house church and not even be aware of each other. Not to mention the fact that people in the community are also not aware that the house church meeting is taking place in their neighborhood.
In the post, Keith offers several suggestions as to how organic or simple churches can become more visible.
We’re found one primary way to let people know that the church is among them: serve people in your community together and introduce them to your brothers and sisters. It’s simple. It’s effective. It gets the focus off of your particular organization (whether that organization is highly organized or not).
When we serve people together, we never say, “Hi, we’re from such-and-such church.” Why? Because the name and location of our meeting is not important.
Instead, we might say something like, “Hi, we’re friends of so-and-so. She/He said you might need some help with your yard work. Can we help you?” At some point, usually when asked or when talking to them later, we’ll explain that we are serving them because God loves them and we love them. We’ll explain that Jesus Christ had welcomed us into his kingdom, and his kingdom was one of loving and serving others.
How do you let people know that the church is in the neighborhood?
New Testament Foundations for Itinerant Servants: Acts
If the Gospels laid the basic framework for itinerant servants through the example and instructions of Jesus, then the Book of Acts demonstrates the work of itinerant servants in living according to that framework.
Luke begins his book with Jesus commissioning his followers to be his witnesses throughout the world once they have been indwelled by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8) While this does not necessarily indicate an itinerant service, it is possible. However, Jesus’ followers stay in Jerusalem until the church faces persecution. (Acts 8:1) Even at this time, though, the disciples tend to move to a particular area and stay in that area.
We see a hint of itinerant service in Peter traveling “from here to there” in Acts 9:32. It seems in this case that Peter was visiting many of the believers and churches in the area of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. We’re not told if Peter continued traveling, or if this was a short term venture. We know that he eventually ended up back in Jerusalem.
We also see Barnabas traveling to Antioch to stay (apparently), and then going to Tarsus to bring Paul back to Antioch (again, apparently to stay).
Itinerant service begins finally in Acts 13:1-4. While remaining in contact with the churches in Antioch and Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas (and later Paul and other teammates) begin to travel from city to city and region to region in the eastern part of the Roman empire.
After their “first missionary journey” Paul and Barnabas decide to part ways after a sharp disagreement. (Acts 15:39) (In usual Lucan style, he does not comment on the “sharp disagreement.” We do not know if the separate teams were part of God’s plan or a result of sinful separation, or perhaps a combination of the two.)
Paul then continued traveling from place to place. During this time, Paul was accompanied by several different people, who apparently also worked in some kind of itinerant service. Among these are Silas, Timothy, Erastus, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, Trophimus, and Luke.
I did not include Prisca and Acquila in this list. While they did move, it does not appear to be because of some type of itinerant service. They moved from Rome to Corinth because of persecution. They did move with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus, but they then stayed in Ephesus while Paul moved on. (Later, at some point, Prisca and Aquila moved back to Rome.)
Usually, Paul worked his trade (tentmaking or perhaps leathworking) to support himself and those traveling with him. (Acts 18:3) We are not told if his traveling companions worked also. (Occasionally, Paul also accepted support from believers in other regions, but we do not have any examples of Paul accepting support from among the people where he is currently working. We learn that Paul accepted support in Paul’s epistles, not in Acts. In fact, from Paul’s speech in Acts 20, Luke focuses on Paul working with his hands to support himself while traveling – Acts 20:33-35)
Also, usually, Paul and his traveling companions worked in teams. There is at least one occasion in Acts when Paul traveled alone. (Acts 17:14) In fact, according to Luke, Paul traveled alone from Berea to Athens where he served for some unreported length of time. Then, he traveled on to Corinth. There, he met Prisca and Aquila, worked with them as a tentmaker (or leather worker), and proclaimed the gospel in the synagogues (again for an unspecified amount of time) before Silas and Timothy caught up with him. (Acts 18:5)
In Acts, we can see the dual emphasis of these traveling servants. They both proclaimed the gospel and strengthened the disciples and churches that they found along the way. Obviously, there was a huge focus on proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. (Acts 14:1-3) However, we can’t limit their work only to evangelism. In fact, they would often return to the same areas specifically to build up those disciples and churches. (Acts 14:22-23)
What other passages in the Book of Acts are important for our understanding of itinerant service? What else can we learn from these passages?
Start loving your neighbor by getting to know your actual neighbors
Sam, writing for “Grace Ground“, is producing a wonderful series called “Getting to Know Our Neighbors.”
So far, there is an introduction and five posts in the series, but it looks like there will be more. Here are links to the first five posts: Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
Sam describes his purpose in writing this series in the introduction:
We enjoy getting to know neighbors. It may appear to come natural to us, but we make it an intentional part of following Jesus. In this series I will discuss some of the methods that have worked for us in getting to know our neighbors, how we move some of the relationships beyond just being acquainted, and what we’re doing now to move those relationships to yet another level.
Did you notice that he said “intentional”? I think that’s very important.
Sam says that activities as simple as walking around the neighborhood and complimenting a neighbor’s yard can help us begin building relationships with the people who live near us.
I have some good friends who are much better at this than I am. It’s great to have examples like them to follow.
What do you think about Sam’s posts? Are you getting to know the people who live near you?
New Testament Foundations for Itinerant Servants: The Gospels
As I’ve mentioned a few times recently, I’ve been studying what the authors of Scripture had to say about itinerant servants. By “itinerant servants” I am referring to believers who travel from place to place to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to strengthen the churches.
The difference between an “itinerant servant” and one who is not itinerant would be their intention. The itinerant servant plans to travel; he or she does not intend to stay in the same place. The itinerant servant may stay in one location for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, even a few years; but he or she intends to go to another place to continue serving God.
A person who moves to a new location but intends to stay in that place would not be considered an itinerant servant. Similarly, a person who goes to one location for a short time but intends to return “home” shortly would not be considered an itinerant servant. The itinerant servant travels and keeps traveling.
Now, there are some examples in the Old Testament that could be referenced in relation to itinerant servants. However, for this study, I’ve decided to start in the New Testament. Similarly, many people begin their study of itinerants with Paul. However, it seems that the Gospels should be the starting point if we want to understand traveling servants in the New Testament.
The predominant itinerant servant, of course, is Jesus himself. Throughout the Gospels, he specifically says that it is his intention to travel through the cities and villages. For example, consider this passage:
And Jesus went [kept on going] throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38 ESV)
This passage not only shows us that Jesus traveled from place to place, but it also tells us why. Jesus had compassion on the people that he knew he would find in those cities and villages.
Similarly, much of Luke’s Gospel is a travel narrative as Jesus travels around beginning in Galilee and heading toward Jerusalem.
Jesus was not only presented as an itinerant servant of God by the Gospel authors, he also sent his followers out as itinerants, using himself and his word as an example for them. First, in the passage immediately follow the Matthew 9 passage above, we see Jesus sending out the 12 apostles as itinerants.
His instructions to these 12 are important as we try to understand the work of itinerants:
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. (Matthew 10:5-14 ESV)
In this passage, Jesus tells the 12 to proclaim the gospel and care for people (heal, raise, cleanse, cast out), much like he had been doing earlier. Furthermore, he told them to accept only hospitality – a place to stay and food to eat. They were to work from family to family as they were accepted into a household.
It is also from this passage in Matthew that we see the connection between apostles and itinerant servants. Matthew uses both the noun form (“apostles” – “sent ones”) in Matthew 10:1 and verb from (“sent”) in Matthew 10:5 of the term from which we get the English transliteration “apostle.”
In Luke 10:1-11, Jesus sends out seventy-two of his followers with very similar instructions to those given to the 12 in Matthew 10. In this case, though, he does not limit their service to “the children of Israel.” Also, in the Luke 10 passage, we see that Jesus specifically sent these disciples out in pairs.
(These last two passages – Matthew 10 and Luke 10 – do not demonstrate that the 12 apostles or the 72 disciples were itinerant at this point. In fact, they did not intend to continue traveling. Perhaps we could say they were temporarily itinerant. However, the passages do demonstrate how Jesus was preparing his followers to be itinerant servants.)
These passages concerning Jesus and his followers form the foundation of itinerant service in the Gospels.
Do you know of other important passages in the Gospels concerning itinerant servants? What else should we point out in the passages above?
How do itinerant workers benefit the church?
Over the next few days, I’ve scheduled a series a posts relating to itinerant servants, that is, believers who travel from place to place in order to proclaim the gospel and strengthen the church. This topic is far from academic or conceptual for me, because I have a close friend who believes that God is leading him into this type of service.
It was exciting to see that Josh from “Called to Rebuild” is also writing about this subject in his post “The benefits of having an outside worker.”
In his post, Josh is responding to my post from last week “Thinking about itinerant servants and the church.” Like I’ve said before, I love it when discussions overlap different blogs. This is one of the powerful aspects of this medium.
Josh suggests two ways that traveling servants benefit the church (I’m paraphrasing):
1) The church has the opportunity to learn from someone who has different experiences, perspectives, and callings.
2) The church can learn from someone on whom they will not become overly dependent.
Read Josh’s post. It’s very good.
What do you think of the benefits that Josh lists? Can you think of others?
Thinking about itinerant servants and the church
Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, Peter, Mark, and many other people mentioned in the New Testament were itinerant at least for a while.
Itinerant, in this sense, means that they moved around from place to place proclaiming the gospel and strengthening churches. Itinerant also means that they did not intend to stay in one place permanently. Sometimes they stayed in one place a few days; sometimes a few weeks; sometimes a few months; sometimes even a few years. But, the intention was always to keep moving, as long as they considered themselves itinerant.
I’m using the term “itinerant” instead of other possible descriptions. For example, I could call these people “apostolic,” but that term has been misused and hijacked lately, I think. (But I do believe that being itinerant is related to the spiritual gift of apostleship.) I could also used the terms “emissary” or “representative” or “ambassador” but those terms have a governmental or political connotation today.
So, while I’m thinking about “itinerants” – and I plan to write about this more in the coming days – I have a couple of questions for you, my readers, to help me think through this topic.
1) Is there a better term than “itinerant” to describe a person who travels from place to place without the intention of remaining in that place in order to proclaim the gospel and strengthen the church?
2) How does the scriptural view of the “itinerant” contrast or compare with different types of servants (“minister”) today?
3) Do you think there is a place and/or need in the church today for itinerant servants? Why or why not?
Let me tell you how you want to be served
When Margaret and I first got married, just over 20 years ago (and, yes, I know how long ago it was), I was an awesome husband. It’s true. I did so many things to serve my wife. I did everything that I wanted to do for her.
Read that last sentence again: I did everything that I wanted to do for her. In other words, I tried to tell her how she wanted to be served, and I decided what I needed to do to serve her.
For some reason, she did not recognize my service as being quite as awesome as I thought it was. You see, my wife needed me to serve her (just like I needed her to serve me), but not in the ways that I was serving her. I was doing things that I wanted to do – things that I would consider service. But, I never stopped to consider what Margaret considered service.
I wish I could say that I’ve learned perfectly how to serve Margaret in the last 20 years. I haven’t. I think I’m better at serving her than I was when we first got married, but I still have a long way to go.
What changed? I started paying more attention to Margaret. What did she appreciate? What made her feel appreciated? What needed to be done that she couldn’t do or didn’t like to do?
I noticed something interesting. Previously, I had served Margaret primarily by doing things that I wanted to do or liked doing. Often, however, I learned that I needed to serve Margaret by doing something that I did not want to do.
Let me give you a silly (and fictional) example. Suppose I got up every morning and fixed coffee for Margaret. That would be great, right? No, not all. Why? Because Margaret doesn’t like coffee even though I love coffee.
I found that Margaret appreciated service such as washing dishes, cleaning toilets and tubs, washing and folding clothes, etc. I didn’t like to do these things. But, I learned to do them because I wanted to serve my wife.
This brings me to the church. I’ve found that Christians also often serve people only in way that they enjoy serving. Teachers like to teach. Encouragers like to encourage. Givers like to give. Administrators like to administrate. But, are we willing to step outside of the things that we like to do and even are gifted to do in order to serve others?
You see, if we are gifted at teaching, we are not called to only teach. If we are gifted at contributing, we are not called only to give. Instead, as an expression of love – both God’s love for others and our love for others – we should seek to serve people in a way that demonstrates that love – not simply to serve people in a way that we WANT to serve people.
It’s easy to toss a service someone’s way without thinking about the person at all. This is especially true of “important” forms of service (important as defined by the modern church) like teaching or administrating.
Instead of simply serving others in the way that we want to serve (or are gifted to serve), we must take the time to get to know people and to learn both what they want (in terms of service) and what they need (in terms of service). This is difficult. It takes time and effort and intentionality.