Date - Jan 1/58

Contributor - D.J. Geerling

Title - Christianity Goes into Action

Topic - Church History

In this series of letters about Great Missionaries, which I have been requested to write by the Editorial Committee of the Youth Page West, I could think of no better heading than "Christianity Goes Into Action". The missionary history of the Christian Church is colourful and dramatic and there are many persons through whom the principles of Christianity, as laid down by its founder, have helped to make that history, thereby transforming to a considerable extent the life of the world.

Apart from the life and the work of Jesus himself, one cannot do justice to the proper sequence of the process of christianizing the world, without bringing into focus the first and probably the greatest missionary of all times, viz. the Apostle Paul, the former Saul of Tarsus. The world of Paul's day rested on a foundation which bears the names of three cities - Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. Jerusalem gave to that world in the Hebrew religion the highest and purest religion that had been known, with its belief in one God who was not only a God of morality but the sovereign Creator of the Universe.

Athens gave to the world education or culture. Rome was governor of the world, to which she gave a system of law which made organized life possible.

In this world we find scattered Jewish communities and under the jurisdiction of Rome the Jews enjoyed freedom of worship. Furthermore in the wide realms of the Roman Empire, Greek was spoken by all educated people. The church therefore needed a missionary who would be equally at home in Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. The man in this case was Paul, a Hebrew and a citizen of Rome. Paul soon became the outstanding leader of the missionary work of the Church from that time -and travelled the whole of Asia Minor and then crossed into Europe. One day he reached the chief city of Mecedonia (Thessalonica).

As a visitor he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and told the people about the new Brotherhood of the followers, of Jesus, which included both Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles listened to this with delight, for this new reaching gave to many what they -Wanted - admission to a way of life they admired, without the Jewish or Rabbinical rites they disliked. So on each Sabbath they flocked to listen. Paul used these Sabbaths. for the purpose of arguing from the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus, his Leader, was the Messiah.

By approaching the people on :their own ground, Paul won a great company of people, Jews and Greeks, both men and women, to his side.

But not only did he get his message in on the Sabbath, but as he worked at his trade he told the Good News to his fellow workmen. As a result, however, the Jewish teachers found his influence so, strong that they resorted to the tactics of the lesser man, to stir up a riot, so that Paul had to leave town.

Next Paul went to Athens and from there to Corinth. In Corinth, as in Thessalonica, the Jews rose up against Paul. In spite of all this Paul went on to conquer. He had a genius for inspiring men to share his risky and arduous labours and for training them to carry out his plan of the World for Christ. Ceaseless on travel, unwearied in sacrifice, Paul was eventually slain, probably by the sword of an agent of Nero at Rome, some time between A.D. 63 and 68.

The verdict of early Christianity upon his heroic life can be summed up in II Timothy 4: 7 : "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

God has used one man to accomplish tremendous things.