Celebrating Our One Year Blogging Anniversary (2nd of 6). A Biblical Basis for Mission Agencies
There are two kinds of Christian structures in the New Testament. First, there were missionary bands. Jesus Christ established a missionary band of twelve men. John the Baptist established a missionary band. So did Paul and Barnabas. So did Prisca and Aquila. Missionary bands existed prior to churches.
The Jewish word for a missionary band is hevrah.
On this first anniversary of Lighthouse and Flint, I have gathered my four blogs on the topic “A Biblical Basis for Mission Agencies.” Dear reader, we meet many a church leader who rubs his forehead and wishes, “If only our church were organized properly, we would not need the mission agencies.” Church leaders brighten up considerably when they understand the biblical basis of the two structures of God’s redemptive mission.
Jewish Mission Societies in the New Testament
Jesus Christ and His Missionary Band as a Type of Jewish Hevrah
Pharisees were a Type of Jewish Hevrah
Early Christians Adapted the Synagogue and Hevrah to Organize Congregations and Missionary Bands
Dear reader, let us send a thousand new missionaries to the regions beyond. Then one day the words of the prophet will be fulfilled, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Hevrah…in Turkish, the synagogue itself is called Havra. Etymology? Congregatiin is sometimes used for a special-purpose structure…what was Ratzinger head of, Th Congregation for the Defence of yhe Faith, or something like that. Cemaat (Jammat) in Turkish often means Tarikat. So the meanings of words shift and slide, expand or narrow down, but in human societies special-purpose, secondary committment groups (Max Weber’s “sects”) are distinguished from a basic community of faith and religious practice.
You are right, and it is a puzzle how the Hebrew term for “missionary society” (hevrah) became used in Turkish for the congregation. Tarikat would be a form of Arabic word for members of an order, say, Naqshabandi in eastern Turkey.