Whether a missionary, pastor, or some other role in Christian ministry, all those who have served the church in some way can attest to crossing the bridge of decision. After years of faithful service in East Asia, our expulsion this last year brought me to this bridge once again. In this blog I will share some of the biblical considerations which led our family as we considered strategic ministry locations to continue building the church. Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul have much to teach us in this respect.
Jesus was strategic in where he traveled and where he ministered. His ministry was broad, yet he filtered the locations of his ministry according to the effectiveness, dangers, reception, and distance; he intentionally chose to travel to certain locations and not to others. Jesus’ ministry is recorded as broadly proclaiming the gospel of God as recorded in Luke: “but he said to them, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.’” (Luke 4:43).
By no mistake Jesus intentionally chose to travel broadly and target many towns in bringing his gospel message. Not only did Jesus intentionally travel to towns where he could enter the Synagogue to share his message, but he went to non-Jewish regions as well. John 4 tells the story of Jesus travelling through the despised “half-breed” Samaritan region. The Samaritans were repudiated by the Jews, yet Jesus spent two days in this Samarian city named Sychar ministering to its population (John 4:43). Jesus strategically avoided returning to Judea, instead spending the majority of his ministry in the Galilean region (John 7:1, 8-9).[i]
Not only did Jesus filter the towns, cities, and regions in which he ministered, but he also used strategic bridges in the environments he chose to minister. Although the majority of Jesus’ ministry took place on roads, fields, mountaintops, and lakesides, Jesus often spoke in the synagogues of Judea and Samaria as well (Luke 4:44; Matthew 4:23). These synagogues were filled with those who held deep spiritual interest. Although, not all of those in attendance believed in him the venue was a strategic platform in bringing his kingdom message.
There is some debate as to the deliberate nature of Paul’s strategizing and we must admit that much of Paul’s ministry is strongly led by the Spirit. This should give us even more confidence in learning from the places and strategies Paul used as they were undergirded by the Spirit’s leading. There was most certainly an openness in Paul’s travels to go where the spirit led, but there were evidently still guiding strategies which were at the core of the locations he targeted. In his classic missionary work Roland Allen notes several guiding principles which Paul used.[ii]
There were locations which Paul passed through without a mention of him preaching the gospel, apparently in an effort to arrive at a more strategic and influential Roman location:
“It is perfectly clear that in preaching in South Galatia, St. Paul was evangelizing the Roman province next in order to his native province of Cilicia, in which there were already Christian churches. Between these two, there lay the territory of Lycaonia Antioch, and across this territory St. Paul must have passed when he went from Tarsus to Lystra and Iconium. Yet we are never told that he made any attempt to preach in that region.”[iii]
Not only were the locations Paul targeted within strongly controlled Roman territory, but they also were centers of Greek civilization with strong commerce chains, as well as hosting influential Jewish communities. Paul capitalized on the Hellenization of the world in which he lived, in order to more powerfully spread the message of the gospel. He went to places where the Roman government offered a form of order and safety, where there was an influential educated class which could read and spread the message of the gospel to other locations quickly and efficiently, and where the Jewish communities would provide an identity and initial entry point into the life of the communities.
Paul, in strategy and vision also viewed the gospel target as the province rather than the individual city. Allen notes some examples, “St. Paul was forbidden to preach the word in Asia, he was called from Troas not to Philippi or to Thessalonica, but to Macedonia. Speaking of the collection for the saints at Jerusalem, St. Paul says that he boasted that Achaia was ready a year ago.”[iv] Subsequently, Paul considered his work completed in the whole region after planting only a few churches in each region saying, “from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ,” (Romans 15:19).
There were certain locations in which Paul was unable to remain. We expect Paul might have remained longer in places like Lystra (Acts 14:8-20) or Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-10) if it weren’t for the rejection and persecution he faced. Because of the physical inability to remain in these locations Paul moved on, not forgetting about these places as we can see through the Epistles of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, but instead focusing his primary attention on other influential nearby locations like Corinth while sending those not expelled to strategic locations he personally was unable to enter, resorting himself to correspondence through letters.
What can we glean from Paul’s filtering location strategies? There are several observations which are worth noting for our application:
Dream Big – Our vision is often too narrow or accidental. It is easy and understandable to be consumed in the everyday working and functioning of a healthy church or ministry. However, we all need to take steps back and determine what we are aiming for. With the church at the center of all ministry there is no place where this principle is more important than dreaming big within the local church. Many church leaders can’t imagine multiplying their church, planting a new church in the neighboring city or partnering with other like-minded churches to start multiple new churches. We must dream of planting God sized churches through multiplication, not within the constraints of what we can manage. We must envision planting church networks, not simply individual churches. Multiplication must be a central expectation of every church in order to fully reach a province.
Paul praises the Thessalonian church saying, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything,” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8, emphasis added). Paul notes that the Thessalonian church was imitating Paul and his companions when they adopted the strategy of multiplying churches. Paul trained them to multiply! Paul targeted provinces with the expectation that churches would multiply across the entire region. We too must plant churches that multiply to reach entire regions!
Centers of influence – If we want to successfully reach regions, provinces, cities, social strata layers, and people groups with the gospel we should consider beginning in the areas with the greatest capacity for influence. This may vary according to the target group we are seeking to plant a church among. Identifying a center of influence among an unreached people group will look very different from planting a church in a city, or among a sub-population in the city. The center of influence for reaching one unreached people group may be a central fishing port or a third-tier city where many from the group come to buy, trade, or work. While the center of influence for the white-collar business class of Southern California may be Orange County. Our question should be, “Where are the influencers of this city, region, social strata, or people group and what are they doing?” Then we must go to where they are and find ways to engage them. At times our entry strategies will be like those of Paul when he could not enter a region or Jesus when he sent out the 12 or 70. We will be remaining in centers of influence training, equipping, commissioning, and sending others to saturate nearby regions with the gospel and healthy churches. Not all of us will plant the mother church, as Paul was seeking to do. There will be many which the mother church has equipped who will pastor the daughter churches. The primary places of influence may already have a vibrant church. If so, we can focus as the Thessalonians did in saturating the ground of that region with the gospel by finding the next most influential areas of the target population. We must not forget that daughter churches must also grow up to become mothers.
Centers of diversity – Paul targeted areas which hosted political leaders, Roman outposts, centers of commerce, and Jewish influencers. There were people from a variety of social and economic backgrounds which allowed not only for a variety of ways to enter the community, but also for the quick spread of the gospel through various strata layers of society. When we reach centers of diversity we reach more population segments. There will be some conflict when uniting diverse populations which is no strange conundrum in scripture. There are many passages discussing how the gospel unites different population segments (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Galatians 3; James 2:1-4).
Consider the livability and safety of a place – Both Jesus and Paul considered their own physical safety and ability to continue effective ministry as a factor in the locations they ministered. We must be careful not to elevate this idea too highly, as Jesus willingly gave his life up and Paul willingly went to Jerusalem knowing imprisonment, suffering, and possibly death awaited him. Jesus also called his disciples to come and die (Luke 9:23-24) and Paul expected every believer to face suffering (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). But, there were strategic times in which both avoided certain places for the longevity and effectiveness of their ministries. If they were to enter the areas where they were “wanted” they would have been ineffective ministers, only spending their time either hiding or defending and protecting themselves against their accusers.
There are many places in the world today where these considerations should be observed. I’ve spoken with some missionaries living in dangerous areas of Africa who spend their time in compounds manned by guards and high walls. They only venture out under the safety of daylight with the protection of armed guards. We certainly want to reach these places and we accept some level of risk, but we also must ask ourselves, “Are we being effective and productive for the kingdom of God?” and, “Are there other creative strategies or locations we might use to reach these people?” We live in a world that is more diverse than it has ever been in the history of mankind. There are peoples from every country on earth scattered abroad, Christians must use this opportunity to equip and re-send these national believers back into regions and countries which are difficult to enter and minister. Missionaries have been effectively using these strategies over the last several decades to reach many difficult to reach regions and peoples.
Western churches must more fully embrace mission strategies to partner in reaching difficult to reach peoples who have come to our own backyards. Many internationals have come to the US to study or work. Only a precious few have had the privilege of entering the home of an American. These internationals tend to be much more open to the gospel and provide a special opportunity to reach into some lands we would never be able to sustain a long-term presence.
[i] Although he did occasionally secretly enter Judea (Jn 7:10).
[ii] Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), 12-13.
[iii] Ibid, 12.
[iv] Ibid, 12.