Married to the Mission, Flexible in the Method

By Dean Collins

I don’t know if it is original to Andy Stanley, but I once heard him say, “Marry the mission and date the methods.” I have heard similar advice from other successful business and church leaders. If you read through the book of Acts, you quickly see that the apostle Paul was married to the mission Jesus gave him at his conversion on the Damascus road.

While most of the chapters in Acts demonstrate that Paul was committed to his mission, it is in Acts 26, while defending himself before King Agrippa, that Paul articulates exactly what Jesus told him to do:

“But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Wouldn’t you like to have this kind of direct instruction from your boss at work?! Jesus was very specific about the mission but sufficiently vague about all the details of how Paul would accomplish it. Paul knew that he was sent by Jesus to open the eyes of the Gentiles so that they would turn from darkness to light, receive forgiveness of sins, and have a place among those who were being sanctified by faith in Jesus.

However, when you read through the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles, you learn that Paul wasn’t simply a pragmatist doing whatever he wanted because it worked. He was led by the Holy Spirit and, on several occasions, pivoted from his first impulse to follow exactly what the Holy Spirit directed him to do—or stopped him from doing.

One example of how the Holy Spirit both interrupted Paul’s plans and redirected them is found early in Paul’s second missionary journey. On this journey, Paul was accompanied by Silas because of a disagreement with Barnabas over whether Mark should travel with them. But even in that interaction, found in Acts 15, we see that Paul was focused on the mission and not the who or the how of accomplishing it.

In chapter 16, Luke tells us that Paul was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” That’s interesting to think about. Paul was to reach the Gentiles with the gospel. Certainly, there were many Gentiles in Asia. Paul was simply trying to do what he believed was his mission, and the Holy Spirit told him no.

Paul continued to try to go to Bithynia, which was on the northwestern corner of Asia Minor, and once again he was prohibited by the Spirit of Jesus. Did Paul misunderstand the first instruction? Did Paul not know his geography? Or might it be that the Holy Spirit doesn’t always lay out the whole plan but gives us one step at a time and then, if we are listening, corrects us when we misstep?

Paul then had a vision in the night. Maybe he was sleeping, or maybe it was one of those middle-of-the-night awakenings when we can’t really tell if we are asleep or awake. In the vision, Paul saw a man of Macedonia standing there and urging him to come to Macedonia and help them. Paul immediately began making plans to travel to Macedonia, confident that God had called him to preach there.

Paul’s focus was on his mission of reaching the Gentiles with the gospel. God interrupted the methods and redirected his journey more than once. Paul’s epistles reflect the amazing things God did through Paul because he listened to the Holy Spirit and was willing to adjust his methods—and even adjust who was on his team—as he paid attention to the Holy Spirit.

Father, today we confess that many times we are focused on the details of our design that may not reflect the mission you have given us. We ask that your Holy Spirit prompt us to see who and how we are to share the good news today. We surrender our methods and want to be focused on the mission you have given us to make disciples. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Acts 16:6-10, 26:14-18 ESV

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