Paul's Mission Insight

One of the books I brought along - along with a book by Jane Austen and one by Ward and Judy - is one on Paul and his missionary teaching. What I read this morning was brilliant and I'll pass it along.

The author was tracing Paul's conversion back to the influence of Stephen, who was from the same province in Turkey as Paul. Stephen clearly saw that the Temple and the Law were superseded by the death and resurrection of Christ. That mean a radical rethinking of mission from a centripetal one - where all heads inward to Jerusalem - to a centrifugal one - where the church goes out to where the unreached people are.

Stephen's emphasis was not lost on Paul. At first it so infuriated him that he conspired to have Stephen brought to the Council. After meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road, Paul forcefully taught and the Spirit's work replaces the Law and the Kingdom is not located in the place of Jerusalem but in the heart of God.

That emphasis pervades his letters. It also drove him to want to go where no one had gone before.

Still, the notion that the church goes out and seeks rather than passively waits and receives does not have the mind and soul of many churches. Fortunately we do know of one...

Next time I'll write about another that I saw up close while in Patna. Also about my walking friend Manoj who will be married in November. He might not recognize his wife since he only met her once and that was long ago.