How could such an important theme to Jesus appear to almost vanish for the early church? The answer to this question has important implications for the biblical basis of our mission.

Want to learn more? Read my notes from Chris Green’s article: The King, His Kingdom and the Gospel.

Or pick up a copy of Chris Green’s book and read the full text.

“God’s Power to Save: One Gospel for a Complex World?” (Chris Green)

Q. What’s the significance of Luke combining the story of Jesus and the story of the church in one account?
A. He’s telling us the two stories are really one.

“Luke: Historian & Theologian (Gospel Profiles, 3)” (I. Howard Marshall)

The main theme of Acts may be the spread of the word, but Jesus is the key player.

Jesus is risen and he reigns. His primary agents in forming and growing his church are the word and the Spirit (David Peterson).

The risen Lord sends the Spirit (2:33), inspires preachers (7:55-56), calls and commissions his witnesses (9:5-6; 22:14-21), heals the sick (9:34), and uses his servants to accomplish his saving purpose in the world (26:16-18).

Where does that leave us? On backs, lying in the dust of the Damascus road, crying out, “Who are you Lord?”

I read a denominational report recently. The assumption of it’s planning into the future was that of continued decline. Such a far cry from the experience of the church Jesus founded in Acts.

Too much of our missional thinking assumes God is absent from the planet and it’s all up to us. We provide the resources, the smarts, the creative imagining, and the dollars.

Jesus is risen and has ascended to the Father as Lord. He rules as king and he employs his word and his Spirit to accomplish his mission through his people.

We are not alone. We are not the main game. The risen Lord rules and continues his ministry.

I’ve been in the book of Acts now for months and I can’t leave it. It’s like I’m reading it for the first time. Here’s some notes on one of Acts’ key themes: How the word conquers the world

The apostle Paul didn’t quite match Alexander but by the end of his ministry he had traveled around 25,000 kms or 15,000 miles. I doubt he had a horse.

Here’s Schnabel’s reckoning of Paul’s travels.

Now I’m happy with the idea that nobody is writing scripture any more. But I wonder, who’s doing what Paul did today? What paradigm of leadership do we have for someone who does what Paul did. He is continually on the move, entering new fields, sharing the gospel, making disciples and multiplying churches. Then he moves on and returns either personally or via a team member or letter, to strengthen the churches—not run them.

Does Paul’s ministry fit our definition of “incarnational?”

According to conventional wisdom, Paul spent three years in the solitude of Arabia between his conversion and visiting Jerusalem.

It’s assumed he spent the time in prayer and study preparing for his future ministry.

There’s no evidence Paul spent the three years in quiet contemplation. We just assume he did.

Here’s what we do know, according to Eckhard chnabel and Martin Hengel and FF Bruce:

1. Paul’s missionary work began in Damascus immediately after his conversion (Acts 9:19-22).

He proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues as the Son of God and promised Messiah.

The opposition stirred up by Paul’s missionary work is an indication that his preaching was successful and resulted in a good number of Jewish believers in Jesus.

2. Paul went to Arabia to continue his missionary work in obedience to God’s call (Gal 1:15-17).

Arabia (in the region of modern Jordan) was not just desert, but also a flourishing civilization made up of cities, sea ports and cultivated land.

In the cities of Nabatean kingdom, south of Damascus, there were synagogues that Paul could have used as an entry point.

Paul’s conversion was also his calling to mission. He didn’t suddenly become a missionary years after his conversion. Paul met the risen Christ. He was commanded to preach the gospel and go to the Gentiles. Three years of solitude in the desert does not fit.

Luke never says Paul went “into the desert,” as John the Baptist and Jesus had done. Luke says he went “into Arabia” where there was both desert and civilization.

Paul relates his Arabian visit closely with his call to preach Christ among the Gentiles (Gal 1:15-17). The point he is making to the Galatians is that he began to discharge this call before he went up to Jerusalem to see the apostles. Therefore none could say it was they or any human authority who commissioned him as an apostle to the Gentiles.

When his mission was complete in Arabia Paul returned to Damascus where the representative of King Aretas of the Nabateans sought to have Paul arrested (2 Cor 11:32-33). Why would Nabateans take action against Paul if all he had been doing in Arabia was prayerful contemplation?

Paul’s mission in Arabia had stirred up trouble.

3. Therefore Paul’s missionary career began immediately he was converted.

By the time Paul and Barnabas set off on what we call their “first missionary journey” (Acts 13) they were already seasoned missionaries who had seen both Jews and Gentiles come to faith, and churches established.

Why is this important? Missionary movements mobilize new disciples, like Paul, immediately for evangelism and church planting. They are action oriented. Their leaders learn their theology on their feet.

There’s a problem.

The first of the journeys (Acts 13-14) began in AD45 when Paul and Barnabas set off for Cyprus and Galatia. That’s about 15 years after Paul was converted. Can anyone imagine Paul waiting that long to obey Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to the Gentiles?

I don’t think so.

Paul says he engaged in missionary work in Arabia right after his conversion (Gal 1:15-17; 2 Cor 11:32), before preaching the gospel in Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:21-24).

Eckhard Schnabel rejects the three missionary journeys schema and identifies no less than fifteen phases or locations of Paul’s missionary work in the 35 years between his conversion in AD31-32 on the road to Damascus and his death in Rome in AD67.

Why all the fuss? Missionary movements spread chaotically and rapidly. They are messy. This view of Paul taking years, even decades, before obeying Jesus’ command just doesn’t fit.

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done– by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known. . .

Rom 15:17-20

Of all the followers of Jesus, Paul is the greatest missionary. He was chosen by a personal encounter with Christ on the Damascus road to take take the gospel to the Gentiles. His life and letters dominate the second half of the New Testament.

What did mission look like for Paul? Eckhard Schnabel outlines the goals of Paul’s missionary work.

1. Paul was called to preach the message of Jesus Christ.

As a pioneer missionary he focuses his preaching on Jesus Christ and him crucified (I Cor 2:2). Paul was called to preach especially to the Gentiles. Yet he also preached to Jews (Rom 1:14).

2. Paul’s goal to reach as many people as possible.

His geographical travels describe an upper half circle from Jerusalem via Syria, Asia Minor, Europe and Rome to Spain (Rom 15:19-24).

3. Paul seeks to lead individual people to believe in the one true God and in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Savior and Lord.

For Jews this meant they needed to acknowledge Jesus, the crucified preacher from Nazareth as Messiah and that his death is God’s answer to the problem of human sin—problem that neither the covenant with Abraham or the Mosaic law could solve—and that God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.

For Gentiles this meant they must turn from their pagan gods to the God of Israel—the one true living God. They must believe in Jesus who rescues sinners from the wrath of God and accept the atoning significance of Jesus’ death on the cross. They must have their lives shaped by the Jewish scriptures and by Jesus’ and the apostles’ teaching as they wait for Jesus’ return (1 Thess 1:9-10; 1 Cor 1:18-2:5).

4. Paul established new churches.

He founded communities of followers of Jesus Christ—both Jews and Gentiles, men and women, free and slaves—and teaches the new believers the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus, the significance of the gospel for everyday living (Col 1:25-29).

Paul insisted on the evaluation of the teaching in local churches based on the truth of the gospel (Gal 1:6-9) and based on apostolic teaching (1 Cor 15:1-5), an evaluation that on occasion means the rejection of false teaching.

How is your understanding and practice of mission shaped by what Christ accomplished through Paul?

I’ve been in the book of Acts lately and there have been some surprises—those “ah ha” moments when you see something for the first time that was always there. Here’s a few . . .

Acts is the second half of one story. Luke wrote his Gospel to tell the story of what Jesus began to do and teach. He wrote Acts to tell the story of what Jesus continued to do through his disciples, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is alive. He is on centre stage.

Acts is built around six summary statements that tell of the progress of the word of God. The word of God is an unstoppable force. It grows, it multiplies, it spreads. What does that look like?—new disciples and new churches in new places.

Here’s a relief, Acts teaches that this mission is not about us. Jesus didn’t bequeath his principles and ideals to his followers and leave them to carry out the task. If that is all he had done, Peter and Andrew would have spent the rest of their lives building up a prosperous fishing business in Galilee. The Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit means we don’t inherit the ministry of Jesus, he continues his ministry through us.

God is on the move, and so are his people. The story of Acts is the story of the missionary expansion of the Christian faith. When the disciples settle down the Spirit intervenes to move them on.

Peter was enjoying a snooze before lunch when God intervenes to send him to the Gentiles. They receive the gospel, the Spirit falls and Peter leaves after just a few days. How “incarnational” is that? Who is going to take responsibility for the new church and the spread of the gospel in Caesarea? Probably Cornelius and the other new believers. At least he knew New Testament Greek, even if the New Testament hadn’t been written.

Here’s a verse from Acts to claim: “Through many tribulations you will enter the kingdom of God.” Acts is full of trouble—defeat, persecution, suffering, disunity, martyrdom, danger, imprisonment. Yet somehow the word of God continues to grow and multiply. There’s a cycle—the word spreads, there’s trouble, then God uses the trouble to spread his word even further. Then there’s more trouble.

In Acts God calls the shots. He raises Jesus from the dead. He sends his Spirit into the church. He closes and opens doors for the advancement of the gospel. He allows James and Stephen to die and he sends an angel to release Peter from jail. He drops Saul into the dust on the Damascus road. We are left in no doubt—God is at work. Despite all the obstacles, nothing can stop the relentless spread of the gospel.

Acts never ends. Acts begins with Jesus promise and command to his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The story ends with Paul preaching in Rome, but Rome is not the end. Luke’s readers would have thought it ridiculous to view the center of the empire as the “ends of the earth.”

The second half of the book is all about Paul. Yet Luke doesn’t bother to tell us what happens to Paul in the end. That’s because it’s not about Paul, its about God’s mission through Paul and others. So Luke ends chapter 28 with: “To be continued”. The word will continue to spread to the ends of the earth through God’s people empowered by the Holy Spirit. That’s where we come in.

The greatest surprise of all is how far removed from the book of Acts is our understanding and practice of making disciples, planting churches, the spreading of the gospel, and advancing the kingdom of God. I guess that’s why Luke wrote Acts.

Want to learn more?

HI Steve

Thought provoking!

So we need suffering to see a movement happen in Western Australia? What kind do you think we should expect?

Glenn

Here’s my response:

Hi Glenn

I think the best answer is don’t think about it. Suffering and persecution will find us if we are pursuing God’s will to redeem a lost world.

But do pray for boldness. The people who know tell me boldness in proclamation is a key characteristic of church planting movements.

It’s the story of the early church and the story of Christianity in the global south.

Trust that whatever hardships come your way, God will turn them around for his purposes. We follow a crucified and risen Lord.

Steve