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Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1, ESV).
Christianity was the first groundswell religious movement in history.
Without backing from either a government or current religious organization (in fact opposed by the governments and religions of that day), Christianity became a Roman empire-wide movement by the end of the first century.
The reason — the Holy Spirit. But God works through people, and the Apostle Paul had God-given gifts and skills used to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Below are four leadership traits that enabled Paul’s success.
One: He Kept His Focus
Paul shared this testimony…
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles… (Galatians 1:15-16).
Paul knew his calling to preach the gospel to the nations and didn’t waver. He wrote to the Romans, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” (Romans 15:20, NIV). And nothing kept him from this task.
How would we react on Sunday morning if the guest speaker said, “While attempting to come here today, I was falsely arrested at the airport, and being set free, I was promptly carjacked in the rental car, where I was held hostage and beaten for a ransom. And when escaping, I had to swim across 10 miles of shark-infested waters before I reached the shore and could call your pastor for a ride to church this morning to speak.”
Now read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; all of the above and much more happened to Paul while traveling to preach the gospel.
Second: He Used Modern Technology
Paul used papyrus, parchment, and lead ink to draft his epistle. He relied on Roman roads and shipping routes to travel and recruited traveling companions to act as his postal workers. All of this was cutting-edge technology of that time.
Rome established the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), a period of relative stability, economic growth, centralized power, and ease of transportation that lasted from 27 B.C. to about 180 A.D. During this fullness of time, Paul traveled aggressively to preach the gospel in new cities and, after leaving those areas, wrote letters for further guidance.
We have unprecedented technology and opportunity for the gospel now. Let’s be mini-Apostle Pauls until the Lord returns.
Third: He Organized
Amazingly, the systems that Paul implemented in first-century churches are still in use today.
He taught about spiritual gifts as important to the body of Christ (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4). In Paul’s time, leadership was top-down — think emperors and high priests — while Paul taught that we are the body of Christ and that leaders should serve the church.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV).
Fourth: He Set an Example
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV).
With Paul, it wasn’t “do as I say,” but “do what I do,” a key trait for all great leaders. Not that Paul expected everyone to become a missionary, but to serve faithfully according to calling. Paul wrote in Romans 12:6a (ESV), “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Paul used his gifts, sacrificed, and, through any means possible, preached the gospel, motivated by his love for Jesus.
One, two, three, and four — the leadership traits of Paul.