St. Paul as a Global Strategist
Earl Palmer Monday, 1 September 2003
Such a Windy Place
Such a windy place
To find the water and food that will
Last and give me time while dust
And leaves, ideas and words, blow constantly in my face
How can I pause and think
wonder and ask
decide and do
in such a windy place
It takes a Good Shepherd with skill and will
who loves his sheep on a thousand hills
while we pause and think
wonder and ask
decide and do
in such a windy place
- Earl F. Palmer
How do we survive and thrive on a windy hillside? How do we make a difference for good in such a place, where everything is under the stress of the winds of change and even winds of fury? We need some models of hope, and for me, one name from the midpoint of the first century stands out.
St. Paul's life is something of a case study of what it means to be a faithful "global strategist." Consider just one series of events in the Apostle's extensive travels. He had been through Roman provinces of Asia (Turkey) and Macedonia (Greece) collecting funds to help the citizens in Jerusalem, who were feeling increasing pressure from the empire. When he brought the funds to Jerusalem, some of his companions were of Greek ancestry and that fact posed a full-scale crisis for the Apostle. Luke narrates for us what happened next: notice the ways that Paul acted and reacted to the dangerous events that ensued.
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