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Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Keep the Cross Central

Follow-up: Keep the Cross Central

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On May 25, 2020

In Church Planting, Christ, Follow-up

This entry is part 4 of 13 in the series Follow-up

In surveying Paul’s letters to churches he planted, I have been pointing out lessons we can learn about following up with churches we have planted. In studying 1 Corinthians, we see two primary concerns that Paul sought to clarify and correct. The first is the need to keep the cross central and is the focus of this post. The second is the place of culture in Christian proclamation and life and will be the subject of the next post.

The cross was central to his message

Paul summarized his message as “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23). As he said just a few verses earlier (1 Cor. 1:17), it is the power of the cross that is central to the Christian message. The word of the cross is the power of God that saves us (1 Cor. 1:18). This message that Jesus Christ was crucified distinguishes Christianity from Judaism and all other religions. In writing about the uniqueness of the gospel message, Leon Morris notes,

It was the place of Jesus that made the difference. To see him as Messiah was to put everything in a new perspective. Not only did the Christians see him as Messiah, but as the crucified Messiah. For them the central thing was the cross, so that Paul could sum up the message he proclaimed in the words, ‘we preach Christ crucified’ (1 Cor. 1:23). Whatever subordinate and incidental issues were involved, the essential difference between Judaism and Christianity was the cross (for that matter it is the cross that is the difference between every other religion and Christianity). 1Leon Morris, The Atonement: Its meaning and Significance, p. 11.

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Faith Hope Love

Follow-up: Urge them to grow in Faith, Love, and Hope

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On April 6, 2020

In Church Planting, Follow-up

This entry is part 3 of 13 in the series Follow-up

This is the third post in my series on what we can learn about church planting follow-up from Paul’s letters. In a previous post on Paul’s follow-up with churches he planted, we looked at the letter to Galatians. There the key issue was making sure they got the gospel right. Turning to Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, the key issue is making sure they continue to grow in faith, love, and hope. Getting the gospel right is essential but making sure these new believers fully understand the gospel is a dynamic process. The biblical gospel produces in believers continuing growth in faith, love, and hope.

Thankful for their faith, love, and hope

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy were in Thessalonica less than a month (Acts 17:2) before they were run out of town. But nevertheless, some Jews and “a great many devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women” (Acts 17:4) accepted the gospel. In that short time, Paul and his companions developed a close bond with these new converts (1 Thess 2:7-11) and he had observed a remarkable transformation in their lives. He noted that this young church was characterized by faith, love, and hope, and he comments on these in the opening thanksgiving of each letter (in the second letter he does not use the word hope but the concept is implied by the word steadfastness).

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Follow-up of church plants

Follow-up: Making sure they get the Gospel right

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On March 17, 2020

In Church Planting, Christ, Follow-up, Gospel

This entry is part 2 of 13 in the series Follow-up

As I said in a previous blog post, follow-up is an important aspect of the missionary task — not just follow-up with individual new believers, but follow-up with churches that have been planted. I want to look at several of Paul’s epistles to see how Paul did this follow-up for churches he planted.

Galatians provides us with an example of the need for church-planting follow-up, as well as a model of how to do it. Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia was probably written about a year after he and Barnabas planted those churches on their first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14.  Elders had already been appointed (Acts 14:21-23). The disciples had been filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52). Yet, a year later the purity of the gospel was under attack.

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Book Review: Evangelism as Exiles

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On January 23, 2020

In Book Reviews, Evangelism

Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission As Strangers In Our Own Land by [Clark, Elliot]In March 2019 The Gospel Coalition published Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land by Elliot Clark. The Gospel Coalition does not publish a lot of monographs, so this one caught my attention. I had also been thinking a lot about Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (see earlier post). Clark has served a number of years in a central Asian country where Christianity is a very small minority, so he has lived as a stranger. The book is focused on the church in North America in light of its diminished standing in the public square. Often reflecting on his experience in central Asia, Clark encourages us to see ourselves as exiles and strangers in our own land.

The book draws principles from the book if 1 Peter.

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Behavior in the Household of God

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On October 29, 2019

In Character, Disciple-making, Gospel

In my last post in this series on the letters to Timothy and Titus, the focus was on Paul’s description of the church as the household of God. Paul’s description keeps the relational dynamics of a household together with standing firm for the truth of the gospel. Paul is writing to Timothy to inform him how Christians should conduct themselves in God’s household. In this post, I will focus on behavior in the household of God.

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth. (1 Timothy 3:14,15 ESV)

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