Oh, We Would Get Letters!
The Apostle Paul went throughout the whole area, to several countries, as we see them today, establishing churches. His goal was to have one message, one plan of salvation, and one body in Christ.
You're right, the Apostle Paul did travel extensively to spread the gospel and establish churches. Some key things to note about his missionary journeys:
Paul went on three major missionary journeys throughout modern day Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, etc. He traveled thousands of miles by foot and ship.
His goal was to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). He wanted everyone to hear the message of salvation through faith in Christ.
Paul established churches across the region to give new believers a community for worship, discipleship, and ministry. He appointed leaders and gave these young churches instructions on following Jesus.
A major theme for Paul was unity and oneness in Christ. As he wrote in Galatians 3:28 - "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
So you summarized it well. Through his tireless efforts, Paul spread one gospel message, one plan of salvation through Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and established one body of believers who were united in Christ across cultural and ethnic barriers. This laid the foundation for the early Christian church to grow and thrive across the Roman world.
He truly loved his churches, even taking up offerings for needy churches, from churches that did not even know the people they were contributing to.
Yes, that's a great example of Paul's love and care for the churches he established. Even though the early churches he founded were scattered geographically, he maintained connection with them.
A key instance is when Paul took up a major relief offering from the Gentile churches in places like Corinth, Philippi, and Galatia to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem. As you noted, the Gentile Christians didn't even personally know the believers they were helping in Jerusalem, but they gave generously.
Paul saw this as an important way for the Gentile churches to bless the Jewish Christians, since they had first received the gospel from them. And it displayed Christian unity transcending ethnicity and geography.
In organizing this relief effort recorded in Acts 24, 1 Corinthians 16, and 2 Corinthians 8-9, we see Paul's pastoral heart for the church displayed. He truly loved and cared for the believers spread across the ancient world, even though he likely didn't meet every single one of them personally. But he saw them as brothers and sisters in Christ and worthy of support.
It's a great model of leadership and how the early church networked organically to meet real needs through good administration and generosity.
Again, he was preaching one message, one hope, one salvation. He felt compelled to write many letters to the churches because of infighting, bringing in other beliefs, and perverting his message. This bickering caused him heartache. He thought they needed chastisement as well as his love, or because of his love.
You make an excellent point. Even though Paul preached a unified message of salvation through faith in Christ, the early churches still faced many issues and conflicts.
Paul was compelled to write letters addressing problems he heard were happening in places like Corinth, Galatia, Colossae, and Philippi. Issues like:
Divisive factions and theological disputes
False teachers spreading aberrant doctrines
Confusion about key issues like grace vs. legalism
Disunity and infighting
Harmful cultural compromises like idolatry and impurity
Paul wrote out of pastoral concern and love for these churches to correct them. He wanted to protect the truth and unity of the gospel message he had preached. As you said, he chastised and corrected them, while still affirming his unwavering love for them.
This was often painful and frustrating for Paul. He agonized over the Galatians straying from grace. He was dismayed by factions claiming “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos” in Corinth. His heart broke seeing the Colossians waver from devotion to Christ alone.
But time and again, Paul wrote to restore doctrinal and ethical unity among the fledgling churches he loved so dearly. He ultimately wanted them united under Christ and living out the profound implications of the gospel of grace. This passion fueled his letter-writing to guide, correct, and love the churches.
If he could show up today we would all start getting letters. We say we go to 'so and so' church, we have better 'Christianity' than that church. We display 'pride' in the fact that we are 'right' and they are 'wrong.' We look down our noses on people that believe like they do.
You make an excellent and challenging point. If the Apostle Paul showed up today, I suspect he would take issue with the disunity and pride evident across many churches.
Just as in his day, Paul would likely send many letters to churches today correcting and exhorting them towards greater unity and humility. I can imagine him addressing a number of problematic attitudes:
The arrogance of believing we have the "best" church or all the right answers
Dismissiveness and criticism towards other denominations
Hostility instead of love towards those with theological differences
Gossip and slander of other Christian ministries
Judgmental attitudes that look down on other genuine followers of Jesus
Pride in our own "rightness" rather than humility
Paul would call all of this out as carnal, unloving, and divisive. He would remind us that our shared identity in Christ transcends differences in worship style, denomination, or secondary doctrines. That as believers, we need to model mutual understanding and push towards greater unity, while still affirming core biblical truths.
If we take Paul's letters seriously, Christians today need more humility, grace, and efforts to preserve the bond of peace across churches. We should be known for our Christ-like love above all else. I believe this would be at the heart of Paul's letters to the 21st century Western church today.
Satan, the ruler of this world, must be gleeful on Sundays, when we separate and go to our 'special' church. Unbelievers, blinded like they are, must be mystified by our disunity and lack of genuine love for believers of other denominations.
Profound and tragic points. You rightly recognize how the enemy, Satan, exploits and promotes disunity within the Body of Christ across denominations and churches. And how this also undermines our witness to unbelievers.
A divided church plays right into Satan's agenda. Anything that disrupts the love, harmony, and purpose between believers is likely inflaming his gleeful schemes.
Unbelievers, with their spiritual blindness, look on with bewilderment and skepticism when those who follow Jesus seem fractured and fractious. Our tendency to segregate into "special" churches and factions surely mystifies seekers.
At its root this comes down to aligned identity and purpose. As believers our core identity is as beloved children united under Christ - a bond deeper than any worldly division. When we lose sight of this and function out of misplaced identities tied to specific leaders, denominations, ethnicity, or traditions - division creeps in.
And our purpose is to show Christ's love, preach the gospel, and make disciples by how we reflect the unity of God Himself in diversity. Division undermines our witness.
In contrast, supernatural love and unity among believers testify to God's presence and the truth of the gospel in action. As in John 17:20-23, Jesus directly tied unity in the church to reaching the world.
So yes - our disunity brings the Enemy delight. And it confuses unbelievers needing Jesus. This should compel us to bridge gaps, value diversity of expression, and restore an aligned identity under Christ within His single Church.