As I have said earlier, I am working on a book about Kingdom Cells and through it I have a number of case studies.

This week I will share a couple of them with you for your feedback.

Please remember I am still refining the book and a bit more editing is needed, so any feedback you have is very welcome.

Case Study three: the Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul had a personal confrontation with Jesus on the road to Damascus. That encounter would turn one of the most feared persecutors of the church into one of its founding fathers.

In all of the books of the Bible attributed to Paul, only in the letters to the Thessalonians does Paul not refer to himself as either a servant or an Apostle of Christ Jesus.  For Paul, Jesus was his reason for being, a position he makes clear in Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain

It seems early on in his ministry, Paul is mentored by Barnabas.

We are told that Barnabas is sent by the church in Jerusalem to examine what is going on in Antioch and although Gentiles are coming to faith, Barnabas is open enough to God to be open to what was happening.

The Message says:

As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives. He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit’s ways. The community grew large and strong in the Master. (Acts 11:23-24)

It is interesting that the text comments on the character of Barnabas, because it is not a common occurrence in the New Testament.

His openness to the Holy Spirit’s leading may have been what prompted him to go to Tarsus to look for Saul, whatever it was, he went and found him and then took him back to Antioch.

Acts 11:26 tells us that Barnabas and Paul stayed with the church at Antioch, teaching and connecting with people.

My guess is that this year was a bit like Paul’s apprenticeship. I can imagine he and Barnabas sitting up late at night having long discussions as Paul applied his brilliant Pharisee trained mind to coming to terms with the lived reality of Jesus.

I have a sense that this time was also formative in terms of Pauls calling. Growing up as a Pharasee and the son of a Pharasee, Paul would have been very comfortable with Jewish culture and customs but would have steered away from close contact with the Gentiles.

The year at Antioch would have been almost a cultural exchange for Paul and Barnabas as they saw the Gospel reaching people that they would have never thought to engage with previously.

Paul comes to believe that he has a specific call to the Gentiles, which is a remarkable turnaround for someone from his background.

He repeats his vision over and over again in his writing.

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. (Romans 1:5)

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.( Galatians 1:15-16)

Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, (Ephesians 3:8)

So Paul was absolutely committed to Christ, and had a clear vision of what he was called to.

The energy with which Paul persecuted the Christians, and then the way he threw himself into his new vocation as an apostle of Christ, lead me to wonder whether Paul was a Type A personality. Additional evidence for this conclusion comes from the number of times Paul seemed to have relationship breakdowns with the people he was working with (Barnabas, Apollos, Mark and Peter).  Its not that he was necessarily wrong in the conflicts, its just that there seems to be a pattern in his relationships.

In his 1996 book, Type A Behavior: Its Diagnosis and Treatment, Meyer Friedman suggests that Type A behavior is expressed in three major symptoms: free-floating hostility, which can be triggered by even minor incidents; time urgency and impatience, which causes irritation and exasperation; and a competitive drive, which causes stress and an achievement-driven mentality.[1]

I wonder though whether the foundations of the church needed to be laid by someone who was a little bit driven, somebody who could stand against the tide of public opinion and hold on to what he believed.

In Barnabas Paul had a mentor, and throughout his ministry it is clear that he both sought and needed fellowship. Paul always seems to travel in company, and when he gives instructions about church life, leadership comes from elders (plural) and deacons (plural).

When he founded the  Corinthian church he did so with fellow tentmakers Priscilla and Aquilla, who were thought to be originally from Jerusalem. Paul knew that the Kingdom life was not done in isolation.

Ultimately though, both Paul and Priscilla and Aquilla moved on and the Corinthian church was led and served by Corinthians.

Paul too, seemed to understand the principles of networking and would make a beeline for the community hubs of his day:

Now Paul and Silas traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he interpreted the Scriptures to the people. (Acts 17:1-2)

This pattern of Paul’s is repeated in Acts 14:1, Acts 17:10-11 and Acts 18:4

One interesting divergence from the Paul’s pattern happens in Acts 19:8-10 when Paul leaves the platform of the Synagogue and goes to the secular lecture hall..

Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. But some rejected his message and publicly spoke against the Way, so Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he began preaching daily at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years.

His network building meant that in effect he became a mobile hub, connecting the nodes of the early church together through his visits and letters.

We see in 1Thessalonians 1:6-8  it was the believers example more than their words that changed things.

In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece. And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere

It is clear that Paul understood the importance of letting people watch his actions. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 he tells the church to

follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

In Philippians 3:17 he has the courage to say:

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example

So in Paul we see a great catalyst of Kingdom Cells. We see someone who was mentored in the context of a Kingdom Cell and who established Kingdom Cells across the known world at the time.

We also see someone who knew the importance of networks, and who himself built and maintained a web of relationships that was significantly responsible for the explosion of Christianity.

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[1] Friedman, M. (1996). Type A Behavior: Its Diagnosis and Treatment. New York, Plenum Press (Kluwer Academic Press), pp. 31 ff.