Winter 2016
Missionary Strategy
By Dr. David Potter
The question of rapid reproduction of churches is a popular topic in missions today. It seems that the Apostle Paul was more successful in rapid reproduction of churches than most ministries today. Several questions naturally arise. Should we expect rapid reproduction today? Should we adjust our philosophy or methods in an effort to replicate the Apostle Paul’s results? Should we expect the same results on all fields? Should we apply the same methods to all situations on all fields? Are there dangers associated with rapid reproduction? Perhaps we would be a bit surprised if we had the opportunity to interview the Apostle Paul. Is it just possible that his strategies and methods were not quite as refined as we sometimes like to assume, and that his results were more a product of God’s blessing on the ministry of a totally surrendered vessel? With this thought in mind, we present this article by Dr. David Potter, BWM’s missionary in Pécs, Hungary.
I
read Acts differently now that I am an overseas missionary. What particularly interests me is missionary strategy. While reading, I try to get into the mind of the Apostle Paul. What was he thinking? How did he implement his plan? The goal of the missionary should be planting churches. The apostles obviously understood the Great Commission in this way. They went everywhere making disciples and organizing them into churches. This strategy allows the missionary to work himself out of a job, so to speak. The church that the missionary leaves behind continues and expands the work of winning people to Christ, baptizing and training them. But how did Paul plant churches throughout Asia Minor and Greece so rapidly? To set up a functioning church requires a set of leaders who are trained and capable of carrying on the work. Paul found the answer to the leadership requirement in the synagogue. He always went to the synagogue first. There he found an audience with a background in the Old Testament. No doubt, at least some of them had already looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and would immediately recognize that He had come when Paul preached Jesus to them. Since the Jews required the presence of ten men in order to organize a synagogue, Paul had a mature male leadership nucleus almost instantly— even if only a few of them received the Gospel.
What happened when he came to a city that had no synagogue? The first such city that Luke tells us about is Philippi. Apparently, Philippi did not have ten Jewish men. In fact, it may not have had any Jewish men at all. So what did Paul do? He went to the riverside, where he knew Jews went to pray on the Sabbath. He found Jews there, but they were all women. The women responded to the message and were saved. Lydia, in particular, was a splendid asset to the new church, but she was not a male. Praise God for faithful women! What would we do without them? Nevertheless, Paul’s work was not complete until he found men capable of leading the church. This problem was on my mind as I read Acts 16 recently. Here is my conjecture for what Paul was thinking as he planned his next step. Not just any man can become a leader. Leaders must be men of character and persons of discipline. Over time and with God’s help, a missionary can develop these characteristics in his converts. But God, in His grace, allows even unsaved people to develop character and discipline. Philippi, a Roman colony and outpost, was full of retired Roman soldiers. The Roman army was the best in the world. Roman soldiers were disciplined and much more likely than the average person to be men of character. Here is the problem: how does one get a foothold in the community of military veterans? Prison keepers were often retired military men, but how would you get the attention of a prison keeper? Here is the plan. You find a slave girl who tells fortunes by means of a demonic spirit. You cast out the demon by the power of God and thus enrage her owners, due to their financial loss. Naturally, the owners will haul you before the authorities. The public outcry might be so intense that no one would bother to inquire as to whether or not you are a Roman citizen. They might just throw you into prison without a real trial. If you are fortunate, the mob would also beat you unmercifully, generating more sympathy for you later. That you do not become angry or bitter at this point is also very important. You might try praying and singing praises to God while you are held in stocks in the inner prison. Now comes the really tricky part—you must arrange to have an earthquake. And not just any earthquake will do. The quake must be timed to awaken the jailer out of a sound Continued on page 3
In This Issue
2 Nathan and Kristin Childs—South Africa Highlights from the Highways & Hedges
3 Mission Matters: What Are You Missing? Missionary Strategy (cont.) Ready to Go/Gone
4 Itineraries