Church and Mission in Paul

Abstract

Did Paul expect the churches founded through his mission to assume responsibility for similar missionary outreach? A careful review of the relevant data yields no clear support for the impression that Paul intended his churches to become independent instruments of an active mission such as he himself was engaged in. The most the evidence indicates is that these churches were to facilitate accessions to their community by an attractive behaviour and by a responsiveness to inquiries. But an energetic, aggressive, mobile missionary outreach of the sort prosecuted by Paul himself is not described, expected, or enjoined for his churches. Apparently Paul perceived the missionary role in terms of believing individuals rather than believing communities. These findings suggest some careful rethinking of common assumptions regarding church and mission in Paul and a more sophisticated precision in the paradigms by which the Pauline mission is interpreted.