The Spirit Drives Our Strategy
by Ircel Harrison
How do we know when it is time to change our mission strategy?
When the Apostle Paul came to Philippi, he probably planned to use his usual strategy. Paul and Barnabas had developed a particular strategy on their “first missionary journey.” They went to urban centers of influence; they started in synagogues where there might be “low hanging fruit”—people with some background in faith. They were willing to stay in one place if the results were positive (two or three years)—much like Paul and Barnabas’ experience at Antioch; they kept in touch with the resulting congregations.
From the beginning, the second missionary journey was different. Not only was Paul’s team new but the challenges were new. A vision (16:6-10) led them on a different path. In Philippi, a different strategy came into play. Listen to Acts 16:9-15:
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Evidently there was no synagogue here, so Paul and his friends sought out “a place of prayer.” There they met with a group of women including Lydia— “a worshiper of God.” She was evidently a Jewish proselyte, but they did not have enough men to have a synagogue. There was not a minyan, the minimum number of males (10) required to constitute a representative “community of Israel” for liturgical purposes.
Note the changes here. Since there was no synagogue, they had to go to a different place to find God-fearers or proselytes to Judaism, their audience was primarily female, and Lydia became Paul’s first convert in Europe. The change in strategy worked!
Often, we become attached to a particular strategy of pursuing the church’s mission. It may be something that has worked in the past, so we try it again, only working harder. This is the road to failure.
As the situation changes, new avenues open to us. God is always with us to accomplish God’s mission in the world. This incident in the ministry of Paul encourages us to listen to the Spirit, be flexible in our outreach, and walk through those doors that God opens. In all our conversations, let’s continue to listen to the Spirit of God.