More thoughts on itinerant (traveling) servants of the gospel
My post this morning (“How many mission journeys did Paul take?“) was about Paul’s travels as an itinerant servant of the gospel.
At least two more bloggers have also been writing about itinerant (traveling) servants in the last few days.
First, Miguel at “God’s Directed Deviations” wrote a post called “Retracing Gospel Footsteps and Going Where Christ is Already Named.” Based on Paul’s statement in Romans 15:20, Miguel asks some very good questions:
Should mission minded folks be staking claims over territory?
Is it wrong to retrace someone else’s gospel steps?
What criteria should we use to determine when to build “ON” another’s foundation?
Of course, when Paul made that statement (Romans 15:20), he was planning to travel to Rome where (according to that very letter) there were already several thriving groups of believers.
Also, Eric from “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a post called “We Ought to Support People Like These” based on John’s statement in 3 John 5-8.
At one point, Eric writes:
Why did the traveling Christian workers, who we might call missionaries, need financial assistance? Since they traveled from place to place, they would have been unable to hold down a regular job. This would have made earning a regular income a difficult task.
Eric also points out that itinerant servants did work when they could in order to support themselves and others – at least, according to Paul, that was the pattern practiced by him and those who traveled with him.
So, here are two more posts on the topic of itinerant (traveling) servants of the gospel. I’m glad to read and hear that more and more people are considering what Scripture tells us about these people (apostles). So much of what I’ve read and heard does not begin with Scripture, but begins with modern practice and forces Scripture to match that pattern.
How many mission journeys did Paul take?
Usually, when someone asks the question that I’ve asked in the title of this post, the answer revolves around whether or not someone believe Paul actually traveled to Spain. The answer is usually given as three journeys if the person does not believe that Paul went to Spain, or four journeys if the person does believe that Paul went to Spain.
But, that’s not what this post is about. Scripture does not tell us whether or not Paul traveled to Spain, but in the Book of Acts and in Paul’s letters, we can tell that Paul went on many more than four journeys.
Now, the standard three journeys taken by Paul are taken from Acts 13-14 (Cyprus and southern Asia Minor), Acts 16-18 (southern Asia Minor and Macedonia, primarily Corinth), and Acts 19-20 (Asia Minor and Macedonia again, primarily Ephesus).
But, according to Paul, once he left Macedonia in Acts 20, he was on another journey assigned to him by the Holy Spirit to go to Rome via Jerusalem (Acts 20:16,22). Since Paul sees himself as being sent by the Spirit to Rome, this is another missionary journey (remember, “missionary” comes from the Latin translation of the Greek term meaning “sent”).
But, believe it or not, these are not all of Paul’s missionary journeys. For some reason, people tend to begin viewing Paul as an apostle beginning in Acts 13. While Acts 13:1-4 is an amazing passage of the Spirit and the church in Antioch sending Barnabas and Paul, that particular journey ended in Acts 14. Luke specifically states in Acts 14:25-26 that when Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch, they have completed the task they had been sent to do in Acts 13.
Paul’s journeys began very early after his conversion near Damascus. After being visited by Agabus, Paul immediately began proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in the synagogues in Damascus (Acts 9:20). When he was run out of town, Paul went to Jerusalem (Acts 9:26). After staying in Jerusalem for a while, he then went to Caeserea in order to sail to Tarsus, his home town (Acts 9:30).
This still is not the end of Paul’s journeys. He was still in Tarsus when God began to save Gentiles around Antioch. When Barnabas went to Antioch to help the young church there, he went to Tarsus to ask Paul for his help. Once again, Paul found himself traveling, this time going from Tarsus to Antioch (Acts 11:25-26).
(By the way, according to Paul in Galatians 1:17, he also traveled to Arabia for three years at some point during his other journeys.)
In other words, Paul’s life from the time of his conversion was one of almost constant travels punctuated with a few periods of staying in one location for a time. This is exactly what I would expect from someone gifted by God as an apostle. Remember that the term “apostle” is from the Greek term that means “one who is sent.” Paul lived as one who was sent by God from place to place.
Finally, there is even indication in Scripture that Paul’s traveling nature was built into him by God. (Perhaps Paul has this in mind partially in Galatians 1:15.) We know that Paul was originally from Tarsus. But, we first meet him in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58). And, we later see Paul traveling on behalf of the Jewish leaders (Acts 9:1-2).
So, how many mission journeys did Paul take? It’s almost impossible to count them all, but it’s definitely more than four, even if he never made it to Spain.
(I want to thank my good friend Art from churchtaskforce.org and waginglove.com for helping me think through itinerant [traveling] service in Scripture.)
The Gift that (God) Keeps on Giving
In the last few days, I’ve read several very good posts on the topic of spiritual gifts.
Donald at “The Unapologetic Poet” wrote a post called “One Body, Many Parts, Indeed: Embrace Your Calling.”
Jim at “Crossroad Junction” wrote “Gifts, Calling and Validation.” (I just realized that this is an older post, but it showed up in my Google Reader. I read it, and I’m sharing it with you now.)
Dan at “Cerulean Sanctum” wrote “No Room for Prophets: When Your Church Rejects Your Spiritual Gift.”
Believe it or not, I’m glad that Scripture silent about many aspects related to spiritual gifts. Seriously.
So, I thought I would ask you a question that I often consider for myself: If you could understand better one thing about spiritual gifts, what would it be?
Is Paul a super-Christian or a model of service for all believers?
In my previous post, I asked the question, “Is an apostle a super-Christian with all of the spiritual gifts?” Using Paul as an example (primarily because we have more information about him and his life in Scripture), we see that while Paul is identified as an apostle and identifies himself as an apostle, he actually exhibits almost all (if not all) of the spiritual gifts through his life.
So, does the scriptural example of Paul indicate that an apostle is some type of “super-Christian” who is imbued with all spiritual gifts, and perhaps even that the spiritual gift of “apostle” actually encompasses all other spiritual gifts?
I don’t think so. In fact, I believe that Paul is an example of how God works through all of his children who yield their own will and desires and submit themselves to him. You see, in Scripture, while only a few may be given a particular spiritual gift, it is not only the people with that spiritual gift who are responsible for and able to serve in that manner.
What do I mean? Well, this is easiest to see in the spiritual gifts of serving, giving, and encouraging. While only some followers of Jesus are given those spiritual gifts, all followers of Jesus are exhorted to serve, give to, and encourage others. Thus, these types of service are not only for those with the particular spiritual gifts. It’s even easy to see that evangelism (i.e., proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ) is not only left up to those who have been given the spiritual gift of evangelism (i.e., the evangelists).
What about other spiritual gifts? Consider the spiritual gift of teaching. If only the person with the spiritual gift of teaching (i.e., the teacher) was responsible for and able to teach, then every believer would not be exhorted to teach. (See Matthew 28:19-20 and Colossians 3:16 for two examples.) Paul even says that all are able to prophesy, not just those given the spiritual gift of prophecy. (See 1 Corinthians 14:31, where the “all” who are able to prophesy is parallel to the “all” who learn and are encouraged, and Paul’s encouragement to all believers in Corinth to “earnestly desire to prophesy.”)
I think the same parallels came be drawn to the other spiritual gifts as well, even the spiritual gift of being an apostle and of shepherding.
In other words, like Paul says that the end of 1 Corinthians 12, no, all do not have the same spiritual gifts, but all can serve in many different ways as God directs them and provides opportunities. When we yield to God, we do not have to wait for a “teacher” to begin teaching. We do not need to look for someone who is an “apostle” to travel somewhere away from home. We do not have to wait for a “pastor” before we begin caring for people. God can (and does) serve other in these ways even through his children who are not gifted in those ways.
In Scripture, we can see the examples of God doing this through his children – especially in the life of Paul, although also in the lives of others. In the same way, we can trust that God will use us and others to serve as he needs us to serve even if we may not be specifically gifted in that form of service.
So, I would conclude that the gift of “apostle” does not include all spiritual gifts. Instead, while God may give one of his children only one spiritual gift (or certain spiritual gifts), he can and does use them to serve others through many other different ways (as we see in Paul’s example).
Is an apostle a super-Christian with all of the spiritual gifts?
We know more about Paul than almost any other person in Scripture (except Jesus), because much of the Book of Acts focuses on his service for Jesus Christ and because he wrote so many letters that were collected in Scripture. In Scripture, we also read that Paul is identified as an apostle, and we read that Paul identifies himself as an apostle.
We also know that “apostle” is designated as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 and Ephesians 4:11, for example.) Almost everything that we know about what it means to be an apostle we know because of the narratives in Acts about Paul and because of the letters that Paul wrote.
However, as we read about Paul in Scripture and read what Paul wrote in Scripture, we also find something interesting: Paul exhibited many of the things/activities identified as “spiritual gifts.”
While no passage in Scripture specifically says that Paul prophesied (as far as I can tell, although Acts 13:1 could indicate that Paul was both a prophet and teacher), it can be inferred from several passages, especially 1 Corinthians 14. However, there are several examples of Paul discerning prophecy, such as in Acts 21:10-14.
There are several examples of Paul evangelizing – proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. That are several examples of Paul evangelizing both Jews and Gentiles, and, in fact, he tells the Galatians that God set him apart to evangelize the Gentiles before he was born. (Galatians 1:15-16)
Teaching is an important aspect of Paul’s service to the church, as demonstrated in several passages including Colossians 1:28 and Acts 15:35. It’s hard to count the number of times that Scripture records Paul encouraging/exhorting others. (For example, see Acts 16:40 and Acts 20:2.) While the term “shepherding” or “pastoring” is not used specifically in reference to Paul, he does present himself as a model of a shepherd to the elders from Ephesus in Acts 20, and his description of his work among the Thessalonians is certainly pastoral. (See 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 for example.)
Paul told the Corinthians that he spoke in tongues more than they did. (See 1 Corinthians 14:18.) In the Book of Acts there are several of examples of Paul healing people and performing other miracles. (For example, see Acts 14:9-10.) Giving was something that Paul practiced on many occasions, including the time recorded in Acts 11:30 and 1 Corinthians 16:1.
So far, besides the gift of being a apostle, I’ve recounted times when Paul performed acts related to the spiritual gifts of prophecy, evangelism, pastoring, teaching, discerning prophesy, speaking in tongues, encouraging, healing, miracles, and giving.
What about the gifts of service, helps, faith, leading, showing mercy, or the other various gifts listed in Scripture? It’s not hard to imagine Paul doing things related to each of these gifts as well, and several passages could be used to point out those gifts in Paul’s life.
So, what does this mean? Paul is primarily an apostle, and yet we see him exercising almost all (if not all) of the spiritual gifts.
Does this mean that the gift of apostleship is (in some way) a “super-gift” that encompasses all of the other spiritual gifts?
Well, that’s certainly a possibility. However, I think there’s another possibility – a possibility that, I believe, better explains other passages and exhortations in Scripture. I’ll explain my view in my post tomorrow.
For now, I’ll leave this post for your consideration and discussion. What do you think?
Why did the NT authors not define/describe spiritual gifts in detail?
I’ve never published two separate blog series at the same time. But, that’s what seems to be happening this week… although by accident.
Yesterday, I asked if you would be willing to describe/define what you think the NT authors meant by the spiritual gifts / spiritually gifted persons that they called apostles, prophets, evangelists, etc. (See my post “http://www.alanknox.net/2012/07/apostle-prophet-evangelist-pastor-teacher-servant-helper-etc-wh-and-what-are-they/”) I once read a commentary on Ephesians in which the author of the commentary spent twelve pages (yes, 12 pages) defining each of the spiritual gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11. (That’s over 2 pages per word that Paul used to describe the spiritual gifted individuals.)
My good friend Art left several good comments on that post (that I link to above). But, I want to point out these statements in particular:
I still can’t find enough in scripture to distinguish too neatly between apostles, prophets, and evangelists. I once thought I did, and had pages in support of the differentiation. But it all hinges (as far as I’ve been able to piece together) on too small a thread in scripture.
Maybe God didn’t have in mind that we create neat definitions for each “gift” of the Spirit, administration of the Lord, and operation from God.
I’ve reached a similar conclusion in the past. The authors of Scripture used terms such as “apostle,” “prophet,” “evangelist,” etc. but they never defined those terms for their readers. They never told them exactly what those spiritually gifted people did or did not do as it related to those terms.
Why do you think the authors of the New Testament chose not to define what they meant by those terms as they related to spiritual gifts and spiritually gifted people?
Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, Servant, Helper, etc… Who and what are they?
I enjoyed the comments and discussion on my post yesterday called “Why are there so few APEs among the church?” Of course, that post was a continuation of a post published by Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” called “Hoping for an Ephesians 4:11-12 Balance.”
The point of my post was that we should pray for, encourage, train, and equip every child of God to serve as God gifts them and provides them opportunity. But, as several people pointed out, many of the terms (such as “apostle,” “evangelist,” “prophet,” “pastor”) have been so abused and misused that it’s difficult to figure out exactly what the NT authors meant when they used those terms.
So, think about the various lists of spiritual gifts and spiritually gifted people (they are used interchangeably): Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:28-30, Ephesians 4:11.
How would you define or describe any of those spiritual gifts and/or spiritually gifted persons? (I’m not asking you to define/describe all of them; only those you are interested in sharing about. Also, I’m not asking for a complete definition/description; only that part that you feel comfortable with.)
Why are there so few APEs among the church?
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written a very good post called “Hoping for an Ephesians 4:11-12 Balance.” He is wondering why there are so few apostles, prophets, and evangelists (i.e., A.P.E. – thus, the title of this post) among the church today while there seems to be a plethora of pastor-teachers.
I think this is a very good question, and before I throw in a comment, I want to share one important things that Eric says (but, make sure you read his entire post):
I’m hoping for a return to a balance within the church. Specifically, I’d love to see more apostles, more prophets, and more evangelists. I’d also like to see more shepherds-teachers functioning within the biblical perspective (as opposed to what we generally see today)…
What can we do to help bring about more of a balance? First, we can pray that God will continue to liberally bestow these giftings on his children. Second, we can teach that these gifts are alive within the church and meant to be cultivated. Third, we can encourage young people in particular to ask God whether or not they are gifted as apostles, prophets, or evangelists. The subject of pastors-to-be is often raised in churches, but the others are rarely talked about.
I think Eric is asking a great question and is offering some great solutions. I want to take this a step further, beyond the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers listed in Ephesians 4:11.
One of the problems, is that many continue to interpret Ephesians 4:11 as special types of authority figures among the church. (Eric is not doing that, by the way. I’m speaking in general.) As long as we maintain that these people represent some type of authority, then we will miss what Paul is saying in the context of this passage.
Yes, the church and world today needs functioning apostles, prophets, and evangelists today, but not if they are simply going to occupy some office or authoritarian role among church organizations. Instead, we need people who are sent by God to travel from place to place, people who share God’s revelation in order to edify others, and people who proclaim the gospel wherever they are. And, we need these people to also equip others to do the same things.
Then, beyond the APEs and the pastor-teachers, we also need servants and helpers and contributors and administrators and encouragers and every other child of God serving in the way that God gifts them and provides them opportunities. As Paul concludes this context in Eph 4:17, the church builds itself up in love when the whole church – every part of the church – works together.
So, yes, let’s pray for and encourage and train and equip the apostles, prophets, and evangelists along with the pastors-teachers. Let’s show them how to serve others instead of taking roles of authority or decision-making. And, let’s also pray for and encourage and train and equip the servants, helpers, contributors, miracle workers, healers, tongues speakers, discerners, etc. We need each other in Jesus Christ to grow together in maturity in him.
Replay: We have permission to serve
Two years ago, I wrote a post called “Permission to Service.” The post was actually the conclusion to a short series on the topic of women serving. However, this post is not just about women. It’s about all of us. In Christ, we are all part of the New Covenant priesthood, and through his Holy Spirit, we are all called and empowered to serve God by serving others. In other words, we all have permission to serve. We do not have to get permission from anyone else. Your permission and your commission comes directly from God – who also directs you and empowers you to serve.
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Permission to Serve
This post is the final post in my series on “women in ministry,” or, as I like to say, “women serving others.” (see “Spiritual Gifts and Women,” “Spiritually Gifted Women,” and “Women Serving in Context“) However, this post is not about women specifically. Instead, it’s about all of us, including women.
Originally, this post was titled “Serving for the Rest of Us.” But, my friend Wes from “a mission-driven life” left a comment on facebook about some of the previous points in this series. His comment gets to the point of this post, so I took the title from his comment, and even changed a few things in the post to go along with his comment. This is what Wes said:
[W]hat I really liked about the post is that you distinguish between gifts and offices. I agree with you. And while your post is about women, its also about other people, like me, who isn’t serving in an office, like elder or deacon, but who believes that I can still serve the church with the gifts God has granted me, without feeling like I need “permission” to serve.
Women and men are gifted by God through the Holy Spirit in various ways for various types of service and various opportunities to serve. God gives these spiritual gifts according to his will so that we can serve one another. When we serve one another, we bring glory to God.
When we use terms like “ministry” instead of “service,” we often make service into something that only certain people can do. If this perception hinders us from serving others, then we’ve missed something very important – important to ourselves and to others. In fact, not only are we missing something important to ourselves and others, but we are hindering the growth of the church, because the church grows when EACH believer is serving one another.
Thus, someone who is a child of God has been gifted by the Holy Spirit of God. That person has been ordained by God as a minister of God to serve other people. Failure to serve others would be similar to any other act of disobedience.
Certainly, there are contexts for service. I’ve briefly mentioned some of the passages of Scripture that could (and I think do) limit the contexts of women serving. However, there are other passages that limit the context of anyone serving. Women are not lesser servants because of certain passages any more than others are lesser servants because of other passages. The church NEEDS the service of all believers.
So, as a child of God, we are ministers together, and each of us is a minster separately. We have permission to serve. We have license to serve.
Those of us who are leaders in the church must make sure that we encourage everyone to serve, not just other leaders. Similarly, we should give opportunity for others to serve. This would include both speaking and non-speaking acts of service.
We also must realize that we are not perfect. None of us individually is perfect and we are not perfect as a group – whatever group we’re talking about. We must give each other grace and offer each other mercy as we attempt to serve one another. We will get it wrong on occasion.
Eventually, as we attempt to serve one another, someone is going to serve someone else in a manner that is considered to be incorrect. While we can help one another learn through these times (and, remember, we both need help, not just the one that we think is wrong), let’s also recognize the intent and purpose. If they purpose is trying to serve in love for the purpose of building up the body of Christ, then let’s glorify God for it!
If we only allow perfect service… then we’re in big trouble. Thank God that he is merciful and works through broken vessels. (And, before someone says it, yes, we should never be satisfied with our current level of imperfection, but should instead continue to disciple one another.)
So, to end this post where Wes began it: We have permission to serve.
Equipped by Itinerant Servants of God
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Ephesians 4:7-16. After focusing on our unity in Christ in Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul turns to the great diversity among the body of Christ – all worked out by the Holy Spirit according to the grace of God.
But, as he comes to the end of that passage (Ephesians 4:16), Paul stresses that the diversity is not simply a demonstration of the myriad grace of God, it is also through all of the different (diverse) parts of the body of Christ that the Spirit works to build us all up – when we are all working together as God directs us and provides for us.
In Ephesians 4:11, Paul focuses on a few of the ways that God works through his children: as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. These people who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit and given by Jesus Christ equip the church for works of service. The evangelist, then, proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also equips other believers to do the work of service of proclaiming the gospel, even those who are not gifted as evangelists. Those gifted at teaching and shepherding not only teach and shepherd others, they also equip other believers to do the work of service of teaching and shepherding as well.
But, what about the apostle? How does the apostle equip the church? Usually, I’ve heard it suggested that apostles equip the body of Christ by proclaiming the gospel, revealing the word of God, and teaching and shepherding. But, these are actually including in the work of the evangelist, the prophet, and the teacher and shepherd. What is distinctive enough about those gifted as apostles that would cause Paul to list them separately?
There is one distinction of those gifted as apostles: they are specifically gifted to travel from place to place serving God. In other words, while they may do many other things, the gifting of apostle is primarily to do the work of the itinerant servant.
So, how does the apostle – the itinerant servant of God – given to the body of Christ by Jesus to equip the church – actually equip the church as Paul instructs in Ephesians 4:12-13? What is the work of service that the apostles equip others to do?
Just as the evangelist equips others to evangelize, and the teacher equips others to teach, the itinerant servant (apostle) equips others to travel from place to place just as the itinerant servant does. I think we see a beautiful picture of how this kind of equipping (to be itinerant servants) worked itself out in the life of some believers in this passage:
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 ESV)
While the believers in Thessalonica (a city where Paul only stayed a few weeks) did not travel as far and as wide and as often as Paul and others gifted as apostles, they did travel enough to proclaim the word of God around their region and into neighboring regions. Paul – gifted as an apostle to travel from place to place as an itinerant servant of God – had equipped them (even in a short period of time) such that they were also traveling from place to place to proclaim the word of God.
How could you see itinerant servants working today to equip the body of Christ? What are some ways that others (not gifted as itinerant servants) could serve when equipped by itinerant servants?
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Addendum: Yesterday, on Facebook and Twitter, I linked to an older post that I wrote about itinerant servants. Several new comments were pertinent to this post, so I thought I would include a couple of excerpts here:
Eric writes: What I should have said is, “I would call those people ‘Christians’ or ‘Christ Followers.’ In one way or another I think it is what we’re all called to do and by making a distinction dismisses it to the role of a few.
Mark writes: Eric suggests that Christians should be itinerant in general, and I absolutely agree, but I hesitate to make that an absolute. I’m guessing there are many Christians around the world who never leave their village/town, and certainly the duration that someone feels led to stay/go will vary widely. But I think Eric brings up a great point that in general, Christians should be less tied to some tangible thing (house/job/preference) and be more tied to the leading of the Spirit, wherever and to whomever that might lead.
Greg writes: Looking over 2 millenia of the church, we also have a really messy macro trajectory, with very little scripture to back up anything we have done or built. And yet, histories pages are filled with the love and leading of Gods people, and His blessing on all of us.
And today, I’m genuinely jealous of my children who I suspect are going to see the glory of God like few generations in history.
Itinerant indeed!