Paul: Background and Call

Paul's Conversion

But the Lord said to Ananias, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name (Acts 9:15-16 NIV).

(Overview and commentary on: Paul: background and call - Lesson 11)

This lesson is for my Dad, a believer in Jesus, who aside from Him, really looks forward to joining the queue in meeting the apostle Paul.

Karakia Timatanga | Opening Prayer

He hōnore, he korōria ki te atua

All honour and glory to our maker

He maungārongo ki te whenua

Let there be peace and tranquillity on earth

He whakaaro pai ki ngā tangata katoa

Goodwill to mankind

Āmine.                                  

Amen

Saturday | Sabbath | Hātarei

Nero

The sufferings of Paul are well catalogued (2 Co 11:23-28) finally culminating in his execution by beheading under the emperor Nero (Janeway, 2009). Sometimes it seems that the amount of good we do in the world is in proportion to the hardships we endure. The memory verse also reminds us that as humans our judgment of others is often flawed (1 Sa 16:7) and that it is unwise to predict how God might use the most unlikely of characters.

Paul was not only one of the most central figures in the New Testament he was also one of the most controversial. First he killed Christians and then his conversion propels him into their greatest first century advocate. As a first century Christian you would be very glad that he made the change. Paul is thought (by conservative Christian scholars) (Robinson, 2011) to have written thirteen of the twenty seven New Testament books not including Hebrews. In actual text written this equates to thirty one percent of the New Testament that we accept as God’s inspired word to us.
At this point in history it was very unlikely that Paul had any intention of leaving Judaism. Paul was more interested in having Jews and Gentiles believe in Christ. His interest in reform and change ultimately lead to the schism in much the same way as Martin Luther left the Roman Catholic church. He didn't mean it to happen, he was kicked out (Harfield, n.d.).

Sunday | Rātapu

Saul of Tarsus

Tarsus

Sometimes there is a view amongst Christians that education is not a good thing. This view is ignorant and usually surfaces when the educated person gives a minority perspective that diverges from the widely accepted views of the majority. An educated Christian has their own sphere of influence and they can bring to God's cause skills and knowledge that are badly needed by the church in the furtherance of the gospel. Saul or Paul as he later becomes was well educated and he was the holder of a minority perspective. He was able to mix in the Jewish and Gentile worlds. As a Jew he was educated by the eminent first century rabbi Gamaliel who held quite moderate views about Christianity. It is interesting that Gamaliel figures in the New Testament at all. It appears that the early church recognised this rabbinic scholar as someone whose views were worthy of consideration. Gamaliel defended Christianity saying (Acts 5:34-39) that God can take care of it so don't worry about it. This is very good advice to give people who might swing towards more radical religious views. Let it go - if God is sovereign and omnipotent (which I believe) then He can judge when, and what action He will take, as He sees fit. The account in Genesis tells us that in the first instance God's inclination is to mercy.

Monday | Rāhina

Paul, the Man

Galations 1:14 tells us that Paul was a man on the way up in Judaism. Allan Hall (2013) says that the four ways to make progress in your career are: 1. being innovative, 2. making recommendations, 3. raising your hand and 4. supporting others. If you use these four concepts to look at Paul's life you will notice that he carried out these principles passionately both in his promotion of Judaism and then in his promotion of Jesus Christ. Most of us live quite passive lives compared to Paul. Good leadership will notice these actions - God certainly did.

Tuesday | Rātū

From Saul to Paul

In reading this section I thought that Schantz and Thompson (2015) have done a good job. What can be added to the story of Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1-22; 26:16-18). His conversion still reverbates around the world nearly two thousand years later.

The points that Schantz and Thompson (2015) make about the impact of missionary work are important and worth reiterating. When people understand the gospel they:

1. Have their eyes (spiritually) opened. God and Jesus become real, present, active, and appealing.

2. Move from darkness to light, ignorance to knowledge—a core gospel theme. (See Luke 1:78-79)

3. Turn from the power of Satan to God.

4. Receive forgiveness of sins. The problem of sin has a solution. This is the living, healing, core message of Christians.

5. Receive a place among the sanctified; this means membership in God’s church, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or nationality.

The last point is the ideal. Sometimes there is no church or fellowship, or the believer is not accepted. In Paul's case he was kicked out of the synagogue which in a way, from a mainstream Jewish perspective is entirely understandable.

Wednesday  | Rāapa

Paul in the Mission Field

In Romans 15:19 we see Paul engaged in the work of preaching the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit, and he knows it. The central message of Paul is the cross (1 Co 1:23; 1 Co 2:2; Gal 6:14). The most successful Adventist preachers have made this their focus.

Schantz and Thompson (2015) say: 

"we can see at least three central elements to Paul’s missionary activity: proclaiming Jesus, church planting, and nurturing established churches".

Going by church statistics (Tracy, 2013) the Adventist church does the first two reasonably well but it is absolutely lousy at nurturing its established members. The church needs to examine itself very closely in this matter because its mission is also 'to the house of Israel'. It needs to analyse the problem and come up with real solutions because this impacts heavily and negatively on the membership. In order to address this the church needs to look at the way it deals with relationships at a local level. It may mean further development and training of its ministers because it is the leaders of our churches who dictate the tone and culture of the church. In some cases we have ministers who should not be leading churches. There needs to be a major focus on getting to know, and caring in practical terms, for every member in every church. Retaining members should be easier than gaining new members - if this is not happening we have to be asking the question - if not why not?

Thursday | Rāpare

Mission and Multiculturalism

The Adventist church has done well generally and historically at connecting to other cultures because of the church's world-wide biblical vision (Rev 14:6-7). What we have not given a lot of thought to is the church's cultural roots to North America (Bull and Lockhart, 2006). Lockhart (2011) says that "Adventism always tracks developments in American society."

In New Zealand there has been a demographic shift from the 1960's and 70's from a european/polynesian church to more of a polynesian/multi-cultural conglomerate, especially in the cities. Besides the obvious changes in ethnic composition in New Zealand there are also distinct lines of Adventism emerging along lines of belief. Coffin (2011) suggests that there are broadly three 'cultural' groups of Adventists: first, the conservatives/traditionalists/fundamentalists, second, there are liberals/progressives/revisionists and then there are what he calls 'cultural' Adventists. These Adventists attend church and are happy to do so but may not be able to explain at any depth why they are members. Adventism therefore, must necessarily deal with ethnic and belief driven Adventists if it is to function effectively. Adventism almost has as many sub-groups as Judaism. The church needs all of these groups and they need to be able to talk to one another. It would be sensible in this area to take the perspective of Gamaliel and be respectful of one another. I am not sure that we are necessarily or easily able to separate the:

"timeless,unchanging divine absolutes on one hand and their temporary cultural and religious vehicles on the other" (Schantz & Thompson, 2015).

Schantz and Thompson (2015) in Friday presented this quote:

Modern missiology applies the term contextualization to Paul’s mission methods stated here. Contextualization is defined as attempts to communicate the Gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it meets people’s deepest needs and penetrates their worldview, thus allowing them to follow Christ and remain within their own culture.— Note1 Darrell L. Whiteman,Contextualization: The Theory, the Gap, the Challenge, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, vol.21 (January, 1997), p. 2.

In New Zealand I want to draw attention to one of the things we as Adventists have not done well and that is the way we have engaged with Māori. We were doing better over one hundred years ago than we are today. From the period 1885 to 1902, 29 gospel tracts were published by the church in Māori. These tracts were called "Te Karere o te Rongo Pai", loosley translated 'the message of the gospel'. These tracts to my knowledge are not found in the National Library, National Archives or in Auckland University's archives. They are found in the National Library of Australia. This is very wrong and needs addressing.

Maui Pomare

What few New Zealand Adventists seem to know is that Maui Pomare, one of New Zealand's leading Māori figures and Minister of the crown studied to become the first Māori doctor at Battle Creek (Butterworth, 2012). He was sponsored by Ellen White.

Another prominent Māori figure and leader at Parihaka (Scott, 1975), Te Whiti, although not an Adventist, was a Sabbath keeper.

Alongside Adventists many Māori are unfamiliar with these stories.

So why haven't we as a church in New Zealand built on these cultural connections?

Considerations for practise

These questions from Schantz and Thompson (2015) are worth thinking about"

1. Which of our Christian beliefs seem to conflict most sharply with the surrounding culture? How do you deal with the conflict without compromising what must never be compromised?

2. None of us is immune to pride. How should focusing on the Cross, and what it means, cure anyone of that sin?

3. If someone were to ask you, What about your own experience with Jesus? What can you tell me about Him? what would you say?

4. Think about the last time you witnessed to someone, in whatever capacity. How central was Jesus to what you said? How can you make sure that you always keep Him central?

For New Zealand Adventists I think we really need to consider how we can better meet the needs of Māori.

Closing Prayer - Karakia Whakamutunga

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV)

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Kia tau ki a tātou katoa te atawhai o tō tātou Ariki, a Ihu Karaiti me te aroha o te Atua, me te whiwhingatahitanga ki te wairua tapu, ake, ake, ake, āmine.


See you next week. The following lesson is also on the apostle Paul.



References

Bull, M. & Lockhart, K. (2006). Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.


Butterworth, G. (2012, Oct 30). 'Pomare, Maui Wiremu Piti Naera', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3p30/pomare-maui-wiremu-piti-naera

Coffin, J. (2011, May 15). Who Are the Real "Cultural Adventists"? Retrieved from http://spectrummagazine.org/article/james-coffin/2011/05/15/who-are-real-cultural-adventists

Hall, A. (2013, April 12). Get Noticed! Four Easy Steps to Climbing the Corporate Ladder. In Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alanhall/2013/04/11/get-noticed-four-easy-steps-to-climbing-the-corporate-ladder/

Harfield, D. (n.d.)  Did Martin Luther want to leave the Catholic Church? Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/Q/Did_Martin_Luther_want_to_leave_the_Catholic_Church

Janeway, B. (2009, October 8) New discoveries relating to the Apostle Paul. In Associates for Biblical Research. Retrieved from http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/10/08/New-Discoveries-Relating-to-the-Apostle-Paul.aspx#Article

Paul: At the feet of Gamaliel? (2011, September 7). In Reading Acts:Some Thoughts on the Book of Acts and Pauline Theology. Retrieved from http://readingacts.com/2011/09/07/paul-at-the-feet-of-gamaliel/

Robinson, B. (2011, September 5). The Christian scriptures: The 13 Pauline epistles. Retrieved from http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_ntb3.htm

Schantz, B. & Thompson, S. (2015). Biblical Missionaries. Adult Sabbath School Quarterly 3Q. 2015. Silver Spring: MD: Pacific Press.

Tarsus. (n.d.). In Bibleplaces.com. Retrieved from http://www.bibleplaces.com/tarsus.htm

Nam, J. (2011, March 21) An Interview with Keith Lockhart -Seeking a Sanctuary. Retrieved from http://spectrummagazine.org/article/interviews/2011/03/21/interview-keith-lockhart-seeking-sanctuary

Scott, D. (1975). Ask that mountain: The story of Parihaka. Auckland: Reed Books.

Tracy, K. (2013, September 9) Adventists assess why 1 in 3 members leave the church. In Christianity Today. Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/december/seventh-day-adventists-assess-why-1-in-3-members-leave-sda.html