Want to be like Paul?

Church Planting: Mark Jackson
Sunday, January 1, 2006

Abraham searched for a city, Jonah preached to a city, Jesus wept over a city, and God is building a city. What about Paul? Paul traveled to many Mediterranean Basin cities, preaching the gospel, starting churches and earning a living as a professional tentmaker.

Paul is probably the closet candidate we have for a professional missionary in the New Testament and yet by his own words he was mostly self-supporting. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 says, "Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you." (New International Version).

The Bible teaches that churches have a responsibility to support kingdom work but Paul seldom sought such support. Why would Paul choose the course of self-support and not focus on his ministry?

I believe that God is giving us an example, in Paul, of how we, members of His church, should approach ministry. Every member of God's church is a minister but some of us are called to minister in the workplace. We need to work so that we have a place to minister and care for our families.

I also believe that God is calling many of us to set aside full time wage earning pursuits to pursue a ministry of great significance in His Kingdom. Are you one of these called? Let's talk. I have several copies of "Half Time" by Bob Bufford that would stimulate your thinking along these lines. Please give me a call to receive one of these books.