Paul's "Networking of Love" as seen through his First Three Letters
Observing Paul's missionary strategy, my professor on the Pauline epistles remarked, "If today we talk of networking, especially on the level of technology, Paul has, in many ways, superseded us, for he was networking on the level of love." I would like to take this insight further by marrying it with Fr. Eiler's thought-provoking points on "From Hierarchy to Networks" from a symposium held in 2017. Even then he had hinted at Paul as model of a "network" disposition. Here we shall look at concrete instances where Paul embodies this in his communication, glancing at some samples from his first three letters: 1 Thessalonians (c. 50 AD), Galatians (c. 53 AD) and 1 Corinthians (c. 53-54 AD).
From Proclaim to Share
Paul writes, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Cor 2:1-5). Paul here shows himself as a true apostle who imparts the Gospel not with powerful rhetoric or persuasive philosophy but by identifying himself with the weaknesses, anxieties and struggles of people. This is what "sharing" the Word means. It is more than just "proclaiming" the saving message, as if from a high pulpit or an ivory tower like a superior outsider, but humbly partaking of the experience of being loved by God in our misery, being weak among the weak and saved among the saved.
From Demand-Command to Ask, from Prescription to Proposal
"Though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children" (1 Thes 2:6-7). A networks leader elicits the cooperation of his/her members without having to appeal to authority or use coercion, although these can be legitimate possibilities. We see this style in Paul who prefers the hortatory to the imperative tone, as in these passages: "Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more" (1 Thes 4:1); "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (1 Cor 1:10). In a time of conflict, he even uses the "hortatory subjunctive" in addressing the Galatians: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another" (Gal 5: 25-26). This leadership style fosters responsibility by empowering members to act on their own volition rather than from pressure or compulsion. They are regarded not as mere pawns at the behest of an autocrat but as valued partners treated with respect, trust and appreciation.
From "Boss" who knows everything to "Servant" who is searching
Based on his experience of being chosen when he was still a sinner and persecutor of Christians, Paul is keenly aware that God's choice is based not on the order of worth or merit but on the order of sheer grace: "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." (1 Cor 1:26-29)
As such, a Christian leader should not regard oneself or act as a "boss" who is supposedly the most superior in a group (at least in rank if not in fact). They should not boast of their personal gifts, although these may be present, as if these traits made them deserving of their calling. Rather, they ought to maintain the open and humble disposition of a servant, chosen even if wholly unworthy, who continues to search for wisdom and is thus capable of listening to others. "For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor" (Gal 6:3-4).
Such a disposition can be observed in Paul's frequent and habitual use of the linguistic device known as the "rhetorical question" where he prefers to ask rather than to assert. This manner of leadership helps to build up the community while superiority complex or a "know-it-all" attitude can foment indignation and sow division. As Paul himself says, "We know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know" (1 Cor 8:1). Instead of boasting or bragging, Christian leaders do not claim glory or honor for themselves but for God whose grace alone is the source of their own fruitfulness: "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Cor 3:5-6).
From Structure to "Grouping"
In a hierarchical disposition, structures based on worldly criteria such as seniority and superiority take precedence over communion and solidarity based on shared baptismal dignity. Paul on the other hand puts emphasis on the complementarity of charisms and ministries in the Church: "there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone" (1 Cor 12:4). In his famous Body of Christ analogy (1 Cor 12:12-31), Paul stresses that the Body of Christ is One and the members are interconnected. The head or the heart should not think themselves more important than the other body parts, without which they cannot fully thrive: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Cor 12:26). Thus, instead of competition, Christians ought to practice concern, cooperation and solidarity. In place of cold and rigid power-structures, networks imply the synergy born out of a mutual sharing of charisms and collaborative ministry.
From Obligations to Creative Action
In everything that they do, Paul exhorts Christians to follow a "still more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31), the way of love: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor 13:1). This disposition of love is what frees people to go beyond the servile fulfillment of obligations into the generosity and creativity that come with the free gift of oneself: "Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Cor 16:14). In a hierarchy, we speak of a chain of command, job descriptions, and long lists of duties. Ironically, the more tasks and obligations we have, the less we give of ourselves as we tend to have a minimalist attitude and content ourselves with just fulfilling what is demanded or expected. We become slaves and act as slaves. In contrast, the very nature of love is to overflow and pour out oneself, as Paul did in his tireless ministry. "Love never ends" (1 Cor 13:8).
Fixed Opinion to Open Mind
If love is its driving force, the indispensable foundation in a networks disposition is an open mind. Another word for it is "humility," the condition necessary to attain all the traits we have mentioned above. In the case of Paul, this particular quality proved decisive for it was the one that enabled him to undergo conversion: “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal 1:23). It allowed him to reorient his life and his beliefs in the light of his newfound faith and love for Jesus Christ. For instance, in Galatians, he writes about the Law - the former object of his devotion and passion - but he now able to relativize it in relation to the fullness of God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Although once (and always!) a zealous son of Israel, he is now able to see things in a new perspective. This is very evident in the way he argues that circumcision and other demands of the Mosaic Law need not be imposed on non-Jewish converts to Christianity.
Openness is also very important in ministry as it allows us to enter into sincere dialogue and genuine conversation with others. True communication is only possible when people are as humble to listen as they are ready to talk. Given the vast variety of people and cultures that Paul had to deal with, all of what he was able to accomplish would not have been possible if he did not have a disposition of openness. Openness also means being open to work with others, with their own ideas, and their own ways of working in "our" projects which are never ours in the singular but ours only in the plural sense: "By the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it" (1 Cor 3:10). Such is inevitability the case with networks where the collaboration of many rather than the control of one makes things more unpredictable and vulnerable but also more dynamic and exciting.
Openness above all is openness to the Holy Spirit whose plans may be different from ours and works through the most unexpected persons and events: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned... for who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor 2:14-16). Yet how often do we presume ourselves wiser than the Holy Spirit!
Conclusion
"Networking as a missionary strategy testifies to the very content of the Good News - that the new life offered in Christ is a corporate existence to be lived in communion with other believers." Networking in fact is the only strategy compatible with the life of the Church whose Lord envisioned it to be a vine with interconnected branches. Christ indeed, our Master Communicator, is also the Master Networker, but that should be the theme of another paper.