PAPER
PRESENTATION ON DEVELOPMENT OF MISSIOLOGICAL THINKING AND PRAXIS
Topic:
Missiological Foundation of the Bible in
Acts of Apostles and Epistles: Mission of the Apostles
Presenters: Ngabom Tasar, D. Lamkhosei Haokip, Joseph
Lalrinawma and J. Lalruatdika
Introduction:
Jesus came to
earth with a mission - to fulfil God’s plan of seeking and saving the lost (Lk19:10,
Mt 18:11). On his service of carrying out his mission Jesus became a man, he taught
in synagogues, preached the gospel, healed different kinds of sicknesses and
diseases, casted out demons and even brought death back. He appointed 12 from
his disciples, after praying all night, and named them apostles, who had
different backgrounds and different professions, and that they might be with Him
and He might sent them to proclaim the message (Mk. 3:13-14, Lk. 6:12-13). Jesus
gave the 12 disciples “an authority over
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every
sickness” (Mt. 10:1). During those times in Judaism the talmid had a
privilege to choose his/her own teacher, but none of the twelve disciples chose
Jesus, in fact they were called/chose by Him.[1]
Jesus trusted them to continue His mission of proclaiming the gospel, together
they were specifically chosen to continue Jesus’ mission.[2]
This paper deals with the mission of these apostles that Jesus had given to
them, but before going to that point it might be better to understand what
apostle means and find out who the apostles are.
1. The Apostle:
Both Mark and Luke use the word avpostolouj in the account where Jesus named the twelve disciples as apostles, meaning “ones sent” or “messengers” which is the
accusative masculine plural noun of avpostellw, “to send” in which the sender is always
greater than the ones who are sent.[3]
Theologically, according to New Illustrated Bible Dictionary the word apostle is,
“A special messenger of Jesus Christ; a
person to whom Jesus delegated authority for certain tasks.”[4] On
the other hand, the word ‘apostle’
has a wider meaning in Paul’s letters, the term denotes those who were sent by
Jesus himself, who had received a privilege in his name or by through the
apostles themselves. Even Paul claimed himself as an apostle for he was
encountered by Jesus on his way to Damascus.
The Eerdmans
Bible Dictionary Classifies the Apostles into three groups –[5]
i) The Twelve
Disciples that Jesus had appointed.
ii) The
Apostle Paul who was called by Jesus.
iii) Other
apostles – Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7), Apollos (I
Cor. 4:6-9), James (Gal. 1:19), Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25), Timothy and Silvanus
(I Thess. 1:1, 2:7) and the unnamed apostles in II Cor. 8:23.
Though we
found three groups of apostles, due to lack of the history of the other apostles
(3rd group), this paper will go on dealing mainly with the mission
of the twelve apostles and the mission of Paul.
2. Mission
of the Twelve:
Jesus Christ
launched the Christian mission when he sent the apostles, “As the Father has
sent me, so I send you” (Jn. 20:21). Jesus entrusted his mission to them which
was to be a continuation of the mission with the same purpose and endowed them
with power.[6] In
the Gospels the twelve were just followers and learners but transformation took
place in the book of Acts of the Apostles where they became leaders and
teachers but only after the Resurrection, the Ascension and the Pentecost.
Among the
gospel writers Matthew and Luke wrote the sending out of the twelve to proclaim
the reign of God, to heal, to raise dead and to cast out demons. Matthew
includes that they were not permitted to go among the Gentiles and any town of
the Samaritans but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But Luke doesn’t
mention about not going to the Gentiles or Samaritans only because the gospel
according to Luke is written for and from the Gentile’s perspective. This
clearly shows that mission is not only crossing boundaries or go beyond their nations;
in fact mission can be taken inside the boundaries. In this regard the
apostles’ mission seemed to be exclusive to Samarians and Gentiles, but not for
long. Jesus, when he was about to ascend into heaven, told them; “... when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in
all Judea and Samaria (half Jews) and to the ends of the earth (Gentiles)” (Acts
1:8). Therefore, some of the apostles’ missions were inside Jewish and some to
Samarians and to Gentiles.
2.1. In the transition from Jesus’ mission to
the mission of the twelve apostles there are important points to be noted:
2.1.1. Following: The understanding of mission generally
starts with “go” where “come” and “follow” should be noticed before we come to the
“go” part. The twelve obediently follow Jesus when he commanded them “follow
me,” they stayed with him, go when they were needed to go, and there wouldn’t
be any other reason for the existence of Christianity in Jerusalem and Judea
and its survival even under the pressure of persecution. J. Andrew Kirk states
that, “Following means witnessing, and following in the way of Christ means
witnessing to the point of death (martyrdom).”[7]
2.1.2. Witnessing: While Jesus was with them, the
disciples declared that they would follow Him even to death, but when He was
arrested they fled away for their lives and Peter denied Him three times
infringing his promise. But, on and after the day of the Pentecost they were
not afraid to proclaim the good news anymore and were not afraid to witness in
front of the Pharisees or the Sanhedrin or any other. They had to speak of what
they had seen even when they were forbidden, according to them, “Whether it is
right in God’s sight to listen to you (Sanhedrin) rather than to God, you must
judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard”
(Acts 4:19-20). After their first encounter with the Sanhedrin (Acts 4), they
prayed not for deliverance from persecution but to grant them to speak His
words with boldness (Acts 4:29).
Their bold
witnessing was so successful that the first preaching of Peter in Acts produced
3000 converts, 5000 at another (Acts 4:4) and such words “many,” “great
numbers” and “multitudes” in regards of conversion occur repeatedly. The
apostles didn’t look at the quantity of the converts still people were really converted. They preached
repentance, faith and before the convert Christians decided for Christ which was not an easy believism. However, the early Christians were not perfect,
there were, of course, backsliders but only few in number. One problem which
was not occurring under the mission of the apostles was the presence of “rice Christians.”[8]
2.1.3. Service: The 12 apostles were the leaders of
the early Church and where there were ignorance and prejudice they taught people
to help them obtaining the dignity of self-confidence through appropriate
education. They challenged stereotypes and bigotry with a belief in the people
the best, rather than the worst (I Cor. 13:4-6). They created non-violence
community and a provision for welfare of all. Wealth was distributed in the
community that everyone’s genuine needs were met. Peace (shalom), which means ‘fullness of welfare and health’, was enjoyed
and all were enabled to give as well as receive in the community.[9]
3. Pauline
Mission:
Out of the 27
books in the New Testament, not less than thirteen books bear the name of Paul[10]
(whose first and Jewish name was Saul). He was from a Jewish family living in
the Diaspora. He was from the capital city of the region and Roman Province of
Cilicia named Tarsus.[11]
Paul, in his youth, was not trained in Greek philosophy and culture but had
considerable elements of it through the preaching and theology of the Diaspora
Synagogue.[12]
He was rather trained by Gamaliel, a popular teacher of his time, who taught
him Jewish laws.[13]
He was the leader of the persecutors of the Christians and even those who
stoned Stephen to death.[14]
He went towards Damascus to seize those who had fled in fear of him and to
arrest them and had the authorisation of the Sanhedrin. It was on this journey
that he had an encounter with Jesus at noon[15]
and the consequences changed his life to be an apostle. He met Ananias who
touched him and restored his sight (Acts 9:17). This was followed by the
baptism and the commissioning of Paul for his ministry.[16]
Paul was not
simply commissioned but was sent for the mission and he accomplished it. He
took three missionary journeys which are debated to be four by some scholars. So
he was really a missionary who as a missionary went out to conduct and
accomplish his mission.
J. Herbert
Kane, in his work, states that Paul had “mind
of a scholar, heart of an evangelist, the discipline of a soldier, the devotion
of a lover, the vision of a seer, the seal of a reformer and the passion of a
prophet”. Such a learned man is believed to have a mission strategy while
it is declined by many other scholars. Kane also states that if the word ‘strategy’ implies modus operandi (a method of procedure) which is developed under
Holy Spirit Guidance, Paul indeed had a strategy. Some of the strategies of
Mission applied by Paul according to Kane are as follows.
3.1.1. He maintained close contact with the home
base: After he made his missionary journey,
Paul always return to Antioch, the church by which Paul and Barnabas had been
recommended to work for God. They gave detail reports of their journey and
successes to the Church and use the time of their rest to have fellowship with
their own church members. He also maintained close contact with the Church of
Jerusalem which was regarded as the mother Church for a long period of time. He
also had visited the Jerusalem church for at least five times and had a meeting
with their leaders. This may be to bridge the gap between the Jewish and
Gentile branches of churches. At his fifth visit he took with him the offering
of love which he collected from the gentiles. This was said to be in order to
help the poor economic condition of the poor saints in Jerusalem but, in the
other hand it seems to be for bridging the rift between the Jewish and the
gentile church.
3.1.2. He confined his efforts to four provinces:
Paul had confined himself into four provinces viz. Galatia, Asia, Macedonia and
Achaia. The first two are in Asia and the latter two are in Europe. His aim was not simply to cover territory but
to plant the seed of the church and to water them. This helped him in
establishing strong churches in the province he covered. Kane suggested that,
instead of having many missionary agencies in different part it would be better
to confined in small place cover it up and move on only after the church we
plant is strong enough to stand on its own.
3.1.3. He concentrated on large cities:
It seems Paul chose to preach in the large cities because he believed that it
would be the best place for the evangelisation to spread in its surrounding
areas. He chose cities like Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Ephesus,
and so on. So, the hearers of his words brought the gospel along with them to
various other places which helped in the spreading of the Gospel.
3.1.4. He preferred to preach to responsible
peoples: As the Jewish were not ready to accept
Jesus as the Messiah, Paul ceased his ministry among them by saying “Your blood be on your own heads! I am
innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles” (Acts 18:6). So Paul
started to preach among the Gentiles who were responsible and ready to accept Jesus
as the Messiah.
3.1.5. He baptized converts on confession of their
faith: Unlike 20th Century Mission
who waited their converts to undergo probation before baptism, Paul baptised
them as they confessed their faith. Under this conditions, the risk of the new
believer reverting to his old ways are small but this idea is not shared by
many scholars.
3.2. Paul and the Pluralistic Culture (Act 17:
16-34):
Paul had had an
encounter with the pluralistic culture in Athens where there were worshippers
of idols. As it is described in verse 23, he also met idols and on one of them
he saw an inscription that writes, “To an
unknown God”. Paul described that the one he talked about is the God that
they do not know but worshipped. The Greeks were anxious to propitiate all
deities and Paul used this as a chance to introduce Jesus to them.[18]
He introduced to them as the God who created the universe and human race and he
did not dwell in temples. He then challenges them to seek for the God in whom
“we live and move and have our being” (v. 28). His technique that may be used
even at modern day mission was that he did not introduce Jesus to them as he
introduced to the Jews, he used their philosophy by stating, “For we too are
his offspring” (v.28). This pluralistic approach of Paul had indeed got a great
result and he got new converts who followed him in his ministry as well. [19]
Conclusion:
We had seen the missions of the
apostles who, we may boldly say, were commissioned by Jesus himself. Their
works do not left us history about them alone but also laid examples for us to
continue the mission on earth. We believe that the apostolic lead is safe to be
followed in our modern mission strategy as well so that we may carry them out
according to the will on the One who commissioned us to carry out the mission.
By this we do not state that they are faultless but rather we say that they did
a good start and with adding the needs according to the modern context, we
could carry on the mission which is being left for us.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“avpostoloj.”
In The Complete Word Study Dictionary.
New Testament. Edited by Spiros Zodhiates. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers,
1992.
“Apostle.” In New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Edited by Ronald F. Youngblood.
(London: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.
“Apostle.” In The
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Edited by Allen C. Myers. Michigan: Wm B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987.
Bornmkamm,
Gunther. Paul. Translated by D.M.G.
Stalker. New York: Harper &Row Publishers, 1971.
Bosch, David
J. Transforming Mission. Paradigm Shifts
in Theology of Mission. New York: Orbis Books, 1991.
Farmer,
William R., ed. The International Bible
Commentary. Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998.
Kane, J.
Herbert. Christians Mission in Biblical
Perspective. Michigan: Baker Book House, 1982.
Kirk, J.
Andrew. What is Mission? Theological
Explorations. London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 1999.
Nichol,
Francis D, ed. The Seventh-day Adventist
Bible Commentary. Vol-6. Hagerstown: Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1980.
Picrilli,
Robert E. Paul the Apostle. Chicago:
Moody Press, 1986.
Swindoll,
Charles R. Paul. Nashville: The W
Publishing Group, 2002.
[1]
David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission.
Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (New York: Orbis Books, 1991), 37.
[2]
J. Andrew Kirk, What is Mission?
Theological Explorations (London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 1999), 52.
[3]
“ avpostoloj,”
in The Complete Word Study Dictionary.
New Testament, edited by Spiros Zodhiates, (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 1992),
238-239.
[4]
“Apostle” in New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary, edited by by Ronald F. Youngblood (London: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1995), 73.
[5]
“Apostle,” in The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, edited by
Allen C. Myers (Michigan: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 67.
[6]
J.
Herbert Kane, Christians Mission in
Biblical Perspective, (Michigan: Baker Book House, 1982), 50-51.
[10]
Gunther Bornmkamm, Paul, translated
by D.M.G. Stalker (New York: Harper &Row Publishers, 1971), xiii.
[11]
Gunther Bornmkamm, Paul…, 3.
[12]
Gunther Bornmkamm, Paul…, 9.
[13]
Charles R. Swindoll, Paul,
(Nashville: The W Publishing Group, 2002), 4 & 10.
[14]
Robert E. Picrilli, Paul the Apostle,
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 40.
[15]
Robert E. Picrilli, Paul the Apostle..., 41
& 42.
[16]
Robert E. Picrilli, Paul the Apostle..., 46.
[17]
J. Herbert Kane, Christians Mission in
Biblical Perspective..., 72.
[18]
Francis D. Nichol ed., The Seventh-day
Adventist Bible Commentary, vol-6 (Hagerstown: Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1980), 351-352.
[19]
William R. Farmer ed., The International
Bible Commentary, (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998), 1535.
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