Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
What was Paul’s Missionary Motive? Probably Not What You’re Thinking

What was Paul’s Missionary Motive? Probably Not What You’re Thinking

Last updated on: April 26, 2022 at 4:20 pm by Brad Vaughn

What was Paul’s Missionary Motive? Probably Not What You’re Thinking 2022-02-06T05:48:44-07:00 Brad Vaughn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve read a lot of books about missions, but I don’t tend to like more general ones that seek to motivate people to become a missionary. This is because so many of them are the same in their basic ideas and images.

Countless authors cast a big vision about all the unreached peoples of the world who need Jesus lest they experience eternal death. They glamorize sacrifice for the sake of Christ. Some appeal to Jesus’ return, claiming that missions is the way to hasten his second-coming. They all underscore God’s love for all nations. Reformed types like to expound on the glory of God. Do these themes sound familiar?

To be clear, I’m not throwing all those books under the proverbial bus. But Elliot Clark reminds us of a fundamental motive that underlies all of Paul’s work yet routinely gets overlooked. Any idea what it is?

Did Paul Search for Approval?

In his recent book, Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul, Clark opens by recalling Paul’s message to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 2:12, Paul says, “A door was opened for me in the Lord.” Nevertheless, Paul passed up that opportunity for fruitful ministry. Why!? Paul was simply too concerned for Titus and the wellbeing of the Corinthian church to continue through that open door.

This observation raises questions for Clark and for us. What lies beneath Paul’s anxiety? Throughout the book, Clark elaborates on the answer to that question, and its implication. In a word, Paul wants God’s approval. Clark states,

But what I’ve found is that we rarely reflect at length on one of the explicit and often repeated goals of Paul: his desire for God’s affirmation. Subsequently, we’ve rarely considered how this overarching motivation for honor and recognition on the last day had a significant role to play in guiding Paul’s missionary approach. (26-27)

He unpacks this thesis much more fully throughout the book, including its implications. I’ll highlight a few applications in the coming posts.

Clark is abundantly clear about what he is not saying. He does not suggest that Paul thinks his salvation depends on how “successful” Paul is as a missionary. Instead, God’s pleasure and Paul’s reward are at stake.

Why does God’s commendation matter so much to Paul’s missionary strategy? Clark says,

For Paul, preaching to others without an eye to God’s approval would be like running without a sense of direction. (37)

It’s a significant claim to link mission motivation with mission strategy, but I think the point is self-evident. Just think of all the literature that emphasizes getting enough people saved such that Jesus would come back sooner. That emphasis will and does lead to far greater stress on rapidity, “church planting movements,” etc., and less concern for social ministries (e.g., relief work, freedom from slave trafficking, etc.).

Paul Prioritizes Quality over Quantity

Clark has several things in mind as he writes. I’ll mention one point that threads throughout the book. Put simply, God cares about the quality of our work. What might this point entail?

1. Numbers

First, Paul was not consumed with numbers, such as the number of churches planted and the number of people that he shared the gospel with daily.

2. Sustainability

Second, Paul was not consumed by speed; instead, his mind was more sensitive to the fact that God assessed the health and sustainability of Paul’s work. Clark rightly states,

If there’s one thing history should teach us, it’s that commitments to speed and blind self-confidence rarely combine to produce appreciable results. (23)

3. Longevity

Third, this priority for quality calls for longevity. The church needs a different type of missionary perspective. Clark writes,

Our consumeristic culture has given rise to throwaway culture. We value novelty and immediacy more than durability… In missions, we recruit missionaries with urgency, not toward longevity… While our missionary mantra of late has been “Work yourself out of a job,” one has to wonder if a more appropriate goal would be, “Build something that lasts. (21)

4. Strategy

Fourth, because Paul’s goal was to foster communities that bear witness to the kingdom of God, he does not accept any and every ministry strategy. Some approaches to ministry undermine the church’s long-term health. Clark states,

“One of the strangest axioms I’ve heard from missionaries over the yars is, “You can’t argue with results.” If something works, don’t question it. When a ministry or a methodology is bringing people to Jesus and bearing fruit, then it’s clearly good and from God. Consequently, growth and reproduction aren’t simply understood as the ultimate goal of missions; they’re now the standard by which ministries are evaluated and new strategies are developed. (126)

5. “Success”

Fifth, we must be mindful of how we define “success.” Clark explains,

From my years living in Asia to my current travels around the globe, what I find are missionaries and ministries with the unbiblical view that, when it comes to missions, any effort is commendable. Equally troubling, many assume that the all-important goal of reaching the lost validates our use of almost any means. (25)

I only scratch the surface in listing these five points. In upcoming posts, I dig a bit deeper to consider some practical implications of having Paul’s missionary motive.

Missiology

book review

missions

Previous Post

April 19, 2022

Non-Believer Asks about Restoring Honor through Shame

Next Post

May 3, 2022 How Honor Motivates Mission Strategy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Biblical Theology Book Reviews China Chinese Church Chinese Culture Chinese Language Collectivism Contextualization Culture (General) Ecclesiology Evangelism Gospel Honor & Shame (Face) Interpretation/Exegesis Justification/Righteousness Missiology Mission Methods One Gospel for All Nations Other Practical Contextualization Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes Resources Romans Salvation (General) Saving God's Face Seeking God's Face The Cross in Context Theological Contextualization Theological Education Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Hebrew word, meaning "vanity" or "meaningless," is frequently used in Ecclesiastes?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Shalom Ruach Torah Hevel

Books by This Author Books by Brad Vaughn

See All Titles »