no connection to Paul, might such a context be in mind in Matthew 18.17, where disputes between brethren are to be taken to the church rather than to church leaders?
For reflection
Knowledge of the Old Testament meant that Paul’s Jewish and ‘God-fearing’ converts had good foundations for Christian faith, which made it easier for Paul to move on rapidly. By contrast in our culture, where increasingly people have little or no knowledge of the Bible, bringing a church to birth is likely to take much longer. Is it realistic to expect church founders to leave anything like as fast as did Paul?
Paul seems to have founded leadership-shaped churches that took their structure in part from the nature of leadership in their contexts. Might communities that fit the available leadership be crucial in birthing sustainable churches today? If new churches take their shape from the available leadership, what difference would it make? How would this work in poor urban areas where there is often an acute shortage of leadership?
Conclusion
Against the background of a swing in emphasis from ‘come’ to ‘go’ mission, Paul strove to maintain good relationships with his fellow apostles and relied on teams. He adopted an ‘incarnational’ strategy based on being attentive to context, loving and serving, building community, allowing individuals to come to faith at different paces and founding, in the midst of life, churches that were self-reproducing. His churches were culture specific with indigenous forms of leadership.
Paul modelled new contextual church. Yet some of the ‘For reflection’ boxes warn against making simplistic links between the New Testament and today. Even so, Paul cannot be ignored. By planting churches that started other churches, he modelled church reproduction, which has inspired numerous church planters and much of the church planting literature. To the extent that he is an example to follow, he has set the bar at a challenging height for church founders today.
Further reading
Banks, Robert, Paul’s Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in their Historical Setting, Exeter: Paternoster, 1980.
Dunn, James D. G., Beginning from Jerusalem, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
Gehring, Roger W., House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity, Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004.
Schnabel, Eckhard J., Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.
Questions for discussion
How far can Saint Paul be a guide for today?
What might we learn about founding new churches from Jesus?
If you were writing a ‘pastoral epistle’ to a leader of a new contextual church, what points would you make?
1 Matthew 23.15’s reference to scribes and Pharisees proselytizing, the only ancient source that explicitly ascribes a missionary policy to a Jewish group, can be interpreted in four ways, three of which would not imply Jewish mission to the Gentiles. It may refer to the conversion of other Jews to Pharisaism or the attempt to turn God-fearers into full Jews, for example (Bird, 2010, pp. 66–70).
2 This assumes that the apostolic decree was agreed at the same Council and not on a separate occasion, as some scholars believe. For this alternative, see Gooder (2008, p. 19).
3 For these and other reasons for thinking that Paul ‘lost’, see Dunn (2009, pp. 489–94). For a different reconstruction of events, but reaching the same conclusion that Paul ‘lost’, see Hill (1992, pp. 126–47).
4 Paul’s second missionary journey was at his initiative (Acts 15.36) rather than, as with the first, at the initiative of the Antioch church, and – again unlike the first journey – there is no sign that he was commissioned by the church. He appears to have been operating on a more independent basis.
5 Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from Scripture in this and the other chapters are taken from the New International Version, East Brunswick, NJ: International Bible Society, 1978.
6 Schnabel describes additional journeys to Arabia and Syria/Cilicia between Paul’s conversion and joining Barnabas at Antioch (Schnabel, 2008, pp. 60–71).
7 I am grateful to Peter Walker for this suggestion.
8 Acts 20.4–5. To the seven names listed in verse 4 must be added Luke, referred to as ‘us’ in verse 5.
9 For the high social status of Paul, see for example Schnabel (2008, p. 43).
10 Hock (2007, p. 33) suggests that Paul may well have engaged in spiritual conversations during his leather-work.
11 Additionally, it can also be translated as author, captain, founder or originator.
12 I am grateful to Professor John Drane for pointing this out.
13 Workers might reside on their employer’s property, or craftsmen might rent workplaces which were part of their homes (Gehring, 2004, p. 135).
14 Jewett (2007, pp. 54, 64–5). The idea that families could have removed partitions is contested by Gehring (2004, pp. 149–50), though he accepts that churches could have met in a workshop.
15Catto (2007, p. 104) notes that purpose-built synagogues were constructed when communities were large and wealthy enough, and had sufficient political leverage to get permission to build.
2
Contextual Churches in History
philip harrold
The incarnation reminds us that history is essential to Christianity. When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, history turned in a new direction. In this chapter, we will see how down the centuries the church has translated that divine action into a dazzling array of cultural contexts. As a missionary community the church remembers God’s call to be a pilgrim people rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is on