but, rather, as the outworking of a more deliberate “detailed strategy” and
“vision” (Dunn 1988, 2:869). Nonetheless, without denying the validity of
many of the insights contained in this literature (some of which will be
picked up for more detailed examination in what follows), I am not con-
vinced that they add up to a coherent strategy that would eliminate any per-
ceived tension between claim and reality; which is to say, I am no longer
convinced, since I began this study with the assumption that such a coher-
ent underlying strategy could be ascertained. Let us look again, therefore,
at the two broad areas discussed above.
We begin with Paul’s provincial orientation. I agree fully that Paul
thinks in terms of Roman provinces, and that he sees his churches some-
how as representative of the provinces in which they are located. But sig-
nificant questions can be raised about both of the ways in which such
representation has been understood. First, there is no clear evidence that
Paul saw his churches as centres of evangelism from which the gospel
would spread into the surrounding territory. An examination of Paul’s let-
ters from this angle of perception produces a startling observation: nowhere
do we find a single injunction to evangelize! This does not seem to be gen-
erally recognized, though Goodman (1994, 94) comments on the scarcity
of detailed teaching on evangelism in the New Testament (see also Bow-
ers 1991; Ware 1992; O’Brien 1995).
Injunctions of various kinds, of course, abound. Paul frequently urges
his readers to hold firm, to live in a manner consistent with their Christ-
ian vocation, to uphold one another, to rejoice in the Lord, to continue in
prayer, and so on. Occasionally, these injunctions concern outsiders: to
work for the good of all (Gal. 6:10), to give no offence (1 Cor. 10:32), to live
peaceably (Rom. 12:18), to maintain a good reputation (1 Thess. 4:11–12),
to behave wisely and to speak graciously (Col. 4:5–6), to respond to perse-
cution with blessing rather than cursing (Rom. 12:14, 19–21): in short, “to
shine like stars in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil.
2:15). But nowhere does Paul go on to say that the goal of such behaviour
is to win outsiders to Christ, though there was plenty of opportunity for him
to do so.
To be sure, this conclusion requires some elaboration, for arguments
have been made that such injunctions are at least implicitly present in sev-
eral texts, notably, Philippians 2:16 and Colossians 4:5–6 (O’Brien 1995,
109–31). In Philippians 2:16, while commentators generally recognize that
epechôhas the sense “to hold fast to” rather than “to hold forth, to proffer,”
some argue that Paul nevertheless is encouraging his readers to evangel-
ize, pointing to the fact that what is being held onto is the “word of life”
nora
(Nora)
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