THE PIONEER

The first real zealot and missionary pioneer in the church after Pentecost was the apostle Paul. Paul was a zealot before his Damascus Road conversion — a nonstop whirlwind of havoc directed at the followers of Jesus Christ. Paul saw this group and their message that Jesus was the Messiah as a major threat to Judaism and he was determined to destroy them. After Paul’s conversion, God took his drive and ambition and used him as a pioneer to carve out a path for the church of the ages.

Both in the natural and in the spiritual, Paul’s ministry was that of a pioneer. Even a cursory look at his travels over his lifetime show an ever-expanding ministry. At first Paul seemed to minister in and around Jerusalem. The church leadership in Jerusalem found his presence difficult for them and encouraged (banished) him to his hometown of Tarsus (Acts 9:30). From Tarsus Paul went to Antioch and then things really began to expand.

The church in Antioch was troublesome to the early church leaders because it had quickly become a Gentile rather than a Jewish church. Prior to Antioch, most churches were made up primarily of Jews. Antioch was the real beginning of the explosion of the church among the Gentiles and Barnabas was mature enough to know that he needed someone who could “pioneer” this important development. Led by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas found Paul and brought him to Antioch. Barnabas seemed to understand that Paul was capable of helping guide and develop this important element of the continuing move of God’s Spirit. It was at Antioch that the term “Christian” was born (see Acts 11:26).

After helping to establish the church at Antioch, Paul turned his attention to all the people, cities, nations in the regions to the west of Antioch. At that time this area around the Mediterranean was the center of civilization and Paul viewed this with the eye of a pioneer.

We see the pioneering spirit of Paul in his travels. Virtually each of his missionary trips is a discernible expansion in the territory covered. The very idea of doing what Paul and his team did in traveling is intimidating. Yes, from time to time they traveled by ship, but most of the time they walked. Just think about walking from Dallas to Los Angeles to plant a witness for Christ — and carrying your luggage with you!

We get an understanding of why Paul did what he did in Philippians 1:12-13: “I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident . . . that my chains are in Christ” (NKJV).

Paul is not only bringing a word of encouragement to the believers at Philippi, he is sharing an important understanding with all the church down through the ages.

The Philippian believers were concerned for Paul, knowing that he was being held in chains by the Romans for trial before Caesar. It is in his speaking to that concern that he shares this insight with us.

Paul is saying, “There is something important for you to learn from this.” That is the meaning of the expression, “I want you to know.” The words “which happened” are not in the original text but are implied. Paul is saying that these events have not just happened but have been orchestrated by heaven according to the will and plan of God.

The phrase “for the furtherance of the gospel” really unlocks the meaning of what Paul wanted to say and gives us a very clear understanding of his pioneer spirit.

The word furtherance in the original means “to cut before.” In ancient times warfare was not conducted by drones and remote-controlled, laser-guided bombs. Warfare primarily consisted of thousands of soldiers on one side fighting with thousands of soldiers on the opposing side. As the armies marched out to the field of battle, a smaller army of pioneers went before them to scout out a path and clear obstacles from in front of the main force. If the pioneers came to a stand of trees that would slow down the main army, their responsibility was to cut a path through so that progress was not disrupted. This is the meaning of the word furtherance as Paul uses it. Paul was a Holy Ghost pioneer who has gone before us and cleared the way so that our progress is not unnecessarily impeded.

Or so it should be! Unfortunately, when the Word of God is taken lightly and even essentially ignored, the church loses sight of the path. This is the case in large segments of the church of today, especially the church in America.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, ESV).

It was Paul who cleared the way for us to understand that we are no longer under the law but under grace (Galatians 3:13). Paul pioneered the order and conduct of the New Testament church, the gifts and operation of the Holy Spirit both in the lives of believers and in the church itself, and many other important truths.

Paul’s teachings are rich for us to understand and implement in our lives because Paul was under assignment from the Lord. All those things that happened to him and all those letters he wrote were not just accidents, but as a pioneer of God’s church, Paul did everything for the furtherance of the work of God in and through us.