This past summer, my wife and I led a tour that traced Paul’s journeys (recorded in Acts 13–28) through the Mediterranean region.

The tour ended where Paul’s travels did: Rome. Paul might have recognized a handful of extant sites, such as the Appian Way, Forum, and Mamertine Prison, where tradition says he was incarcerated prior to his execution.

What Paul would not have recognized — what would have astonished him, in fact — was the proliferation of Roman churches.

In Paul’s day, a pagan shrine or temple lurked around every corner.

Today, Rome has more churches than any other city in the world, with 930 actively in use, most of them Catholic.

Our group concluded its tour at St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest and arguably most beautiful church in the city, if not all of Christendom.

Good Protestant that I am, I reminded the tour group that the sale of indulgences helped finance St. Peter’s construction, which became a flash point for the Protestant Reformation.

More importantly, however, I reminded myself that the Church is not a building, no matter how reflexively we conflate the two.

People are the only church the New Testament knows. The Greek word we translate as “church” is ekklēsia, which denotes a “gathering” or “assembly.”

That is why our Fellowship is called the Assemblies of God, by the way. The name is a literal rendering of the Greek phrase, ekklēsia theou (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5).

Biblically, a church consists of the people who gather as disciples of Jesus Christ, not the gathering place.

In Rome, no church gathering places from Paul’s day are still standing. They were probably ordinary houses (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19), none of which survived the architectural churn of two millennia.

What remains are the names of people who gathered. In Romans 16:1–23, Paul mentions more than 30 people by name. Most were at Rome, though some were with Paul in Corinth, where he wrote the letter.

Paul didn’t merely list names, however. He described relationships. Those descriptions are important, highlighting five kinds of people we meet in church.

Patrons

The first kind of people are patrons, those who open doors of opportunity.

Leading Paul’s list is Phoebe, about whom he writes: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me” (16:1–2).

The Greek word the NIV translates as “benefactor” is prostatis, which is related to prostasian, the Greek word for patronage. A prostatis is a patron.

Patron-client relationships characterized most traditional societies, including the Greco-Roman culture of Paul’s day. E. Randolph Richards defines them as “asymmetrical, reciprocal relationships” through which “gifts and gratitude” are exchanged.

Basically, patrons were people of financial means and social connections who gave gifts to their clients.

Seneca, a contemporary of Paul, listed types of gifts when he advised a fellow patron, “Help one person with money, another with credit, another with influence, another with advice, another with sound precepts.”

In turn, clients offered their patrons gratitude, demonstrated by “respect,” “obedience,” and “constant attentions,” as a letter to the first-century B.C. Roman senator Cicero put it.

Patron-client relationships were mutually beneficial. They could become transactional and materialistic — with the patron and client using each other to get ahead — but that was not a Christian way of doing things.

What if a patron-client relationship advanced the gospel? What if it opened doors of ministry and helped support missionaries?

That’s precisely what Phoebe did.

Phoebe was a deacon in the church of Cenchreae, one of Corinth’s two port cities. It is likely that Paul mentioned her first because as his emissary, she carried his letter to Rome, read it to the Christians there, and answered their questions about it.

If so, Phoebe was history’s first commentator on Romans. So much for the notion that women can’t lead or speak publicly in ministry!

At some point, Phoebe served as a patron for Paul’s ministry. This probably entailed funding Paul’s missionary journeys, as well as church benevolence programs.

Paul also mentioned two other people who acted in patron-like ways toward him: Rufus’ mother, whom Paul called “a mother to me, too” (16:13), and Gaius, whose hospitality benefitted Paul and others (16:23).

Biblically, a church consists of the people who gather as disciples of Jesus Christ, not the gathering place.

Each of these relationships provided Paul something he needed: financial support (Phoebe); emotional warmth (Rufus’ mother); and a place to stay (Gaius).

I have been fortunate to have good patrons throughout my life, beginning with my parents, George and Jewel Wood, who led me to Christ, modeled a Christian home life, and demonstrated what it takes to pastor a church.

Doyle and Connie Surratt became my first employers in vocational ministry, showing me how to lead a church through planting, merging, and growing phases.

When my emotional immaturity cost me my job with the Surratts, Jim and Sandy Bradford offered a ministry position in their congregation, giving me a safe place to cool down and grow up.

(The Surratts led a church plant at the time, while the Bradfords had an established church. I was not ready for the unique pressures of church planting at that point in my life.)

I eventually went back to work with the Surratts, which turned out to be the longest and most productive ministry assignment I’ve had, other than my current one.

When I became a senior pastor, Richard Thorne, the congregation’s chairman of the board, showed me everything I needed to know about church administration but never learned at seminary.

Gratitude is the natural response to such patronage. After all, when someone holds open a door, you thank that person and walk through it.

This nexus of gift and gratitude offers an important insight about Christian leadership. Too often, we think of leadership in terms of organizational charts or who makes final decisions.

However, simply giving orders rarely changes minds, let alone behaviors. The best leaders use their authority for the good of others.

That’s what Jesus did, and it’s our calling as well (Philippians 2:5–11).

Not all patrons are leaders, but all leaders should be patrons. After all, the task of spiritual leadership is helping others use their gifts and grow in Christ (Ephesians 4:11–13).

Peers

Peers are the second kind of people we meet in church. They share the burdens of life and ministry with us.

Paul described most of the people in Romans 16 in peer terms, placing himself on equal footing with others.

The first term is synergos, “co-worker,” which Paul applied to Priscilla and Aquila (16:3), Urbanus (16:9), and Timothy (16:21).

Paul also identified several individuals as working hard for the churches in their spheres of influence: Mary (16:6), Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis (16:12).

These passages translate the Greek verb kopiaō — which Paul elsewhere uses to describe his ministry as an apostle (1 Corinthians 15:10), as well as the ministry of elders (1 Timothy 5:17). The hard work to which Paul refers is advancing the gospel.

The third and fourth terms have less to do with work than the quality of relationship. Agapetos, “dear friend,” is how Paul described Epenetus (Romans 16:5), Ampliatus (16:8), Stachys (16:9), and Persis (16:12).

Adelphos, a word for brothers and sisters, is how Paul described Phoebe (16:1), as well as Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and Hermas, among others (16:14).

Notice something interesting about the names throughout Romans 16. Both Jews and Greeks made the list. Paul described both men and women as co-workers, friends, and siblings. And scholars indicate some of the names were common among slaves.

As believers, our status “in Christ Jesus” (16:3) makes us equal — in hard work, friendship, and familial love — regardless of sex, ethnicity, religious background, or socioeconomic status. As Paul said 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.”

Many in the broader evangelical world acknowledge this equality in principle, but deny it in practice when it comes to women in ministry. Citing passages such as 1 Corinthians 11:2–16; 14:34–35; and 1 Timothy 2:11–15, they argue that women cannot exercise leadership over men.

I believe that’s a misinterpretation of those passages. First Corinthians 11:2–16 addresses how women minister in the church, not whether they can minister. In 1 Corinthians 14:34–35, Paul talks about how women should learn in the church, not whether they can teach. And 1 Timothy 2:11–15 prohibits assuming or usurping the authority to teach, not teaching per se.

The terms Paul uses in Romans 16 reinforce the equality of women and men in ministry and leadership. Both are Paul’s co-workers. Both work hard.

Notice also that Paul applies leadership terms to women. He describes Phoebe as a “deacon of the church in Cenchreae” (Romans 16:1), for example.

In the New Testament, the Greek word diakonos has a general and specific meaning. Generally, it means “servant” and applies to all Christians. Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11), a maxim for both “the crowd” and “his disciples” (23:1).

Specifically, the word denotes someone who has been commissioned for a task or holds a position of leadership. The state is the “servant” of divine justice (Romans 13:4). As missionaries, Paul and his companions are “ministers of a new covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:6). And Paul describes the leaders of churches as “overseers and deacons” (Philippians 1:1).

When Paul calls Phoebe a diakonos “of the church in Cenchreae,” he has this more specific meaning in mind.

Consider also Andronicus and Junia. In Greek, Paul describes this married couple as epístēmoi en tois apostólois. The NIV translates this phrase as “outstanding among the apostles” (Romans 16:7), noting the alternative translation “esteemed by the apostles” in the margin.

Teams can only succeed when everyone comes together. In the local church, there’s plenty to do, and we all should work hard alongside one another.

In the New Testament, the word “apostles” often refers to the Twelve (e.g., Matthew 10:2–4; Luke 6:12–16; Acts 1:2,12–26). It also includes Paul, Barnabas, and others who expanded the gospel’s reach (e.g., Acts 14:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5–6; 15:9).

We might call this expanded group “apostles of Christ,” using Paul’s own term (1 Thessalonians 2:6).

The NIV translates 2 Corinthians 8:23 as “representatives of the churches,” but the phrase is literally, “apostles of the churches.” This group did not have the authority of the previous group.

Interestingly, the earliest commentators on the New Testament universally counted Andronicus and Junia among the first group of apostles, based on Romans 16:7.

Origen (A.D. 185–253) theorized that Andronicus and Junia were members of the 72 Jesus sent out in Luke 10:1. The Greek verb Luke uses for “sent” in this verse is apostellō.

John Chrysostom (A.D. 347–407) marveled at Paul’s description of Junia. “How great is the devotion of this woman, that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!”

If Paul considered a woman his patron, it should not surprise us that he considered women his peers, too. Phoebe was a deacon. Priscilla was a co-worker (who instructed Apollos, according to Acts 18:26). Junia was an apostle. Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis worked hard for the gospel.

Christians should stop misinterpreting Paul to limit the ministry and leadership of women. We are peers in ministry.

What we owe one another is grit, respect, and commitment to the mission. Teams can only succeed when everyone comes together. In the local church, there’s plenty to do, and we all should work hard alongside one another.

Protégés

The third kind of people we meet in church are protégés, those we help along the way.

Paul named two in particular. Epenetus was Paul’s “dear friend” and “the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia” (Romans 16:5). Paul called Timothy his “co-worker” (16:21), but described him elsewhere as “my son whom I love” (1 Corinthians 4:17).

As a father, I can relate to Paul’s familial language. When our kids were babies, my wife and I did everything for them: feeding, changing, bathing, and dressing. Over and over.

As they grew, the children learned to do these things for themselves. Our son just turned 16, which means he’s getting a driver’s license and car. I used to drive him, but now he’s driving me. It is a nerve-wracking privilege helping him transition from driven to driver.

Child rearing is a good metaphor for discipleship. First, we bring spiritual children into the world through evangelism, just as Paul converted Epenetus. Then, we raise them to work alongside us, as Paul did with Timothy.

Kids typically grow up to have children of their own. Similarly, disciples become disciple makers.

Paul describes this process in 2 Timothy 2:2: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

There are four spiritual generations in this verse: Paul (parent), Timothy (son), reliable people (grandchildren), and others (great-grandchildren).

Patrons mentor protégés, who eventually become peers and patrons. The cycle continues until the gospel work is complete.

Although this process may look neat and clean, it is anything but. Both parenting and pastoring are messy.

I can only imagine the frustrations and heartaches my emotional immaturity caused the Surratts and Bradfords in that early stage of my ministry, but I know both couples offered me lots of grace.

Grace is what we owe our protégés.

In Paul’s writings, charis, the Greek word for grace, has two basic senses.

The first sense is unmerited favor, as in Romans 3:23–24: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

The second is spiritual power, as Romans 12:6 depicts: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”

Good patrons know their protégés will mess up on their spiritual journeys and in their ministries. At those moments, patrons should model God’s unmerited favor.

Patrons also know their protégés need to grow stronger in spiritual power. At times, protégés can benefit from a pep talk or loving constructive criticism.

Whatever the situation, we owe our protégés grace in both senses of the term.

Pained and Pains

Pain is common to the fourth and fifth kind of people we meet in church. Whereas the pained are those who are affected by pain, the pains are those who inflict pain.

Let’s start with the pained.

The theme of pain is one that many Pentecostals want to avoid. We believe in physical healing and spiritual victory, and pain seems like a defeat on both counts.

Prosperity gospel proponents make things worse when they measure faith in terms of healing and victory. If we’re still in pain, the argument goes, it’s because we lack faith.

As someone who experiences chronic pain due to an autoimmune disease, I want healing. For years, I’ve prayed and sought the prayers of others.

I resent hearing I don’t have faith. Didn’t Jesus say I only needed a mustard seed’s worth (Matthew 17:20)? I’m pretty sure I have that much faith.

Yet 35 years after my diagnosis, I remain in pain. I know I will be healed. I just don’t know whether it will be today, tomorrow, or in eternity, when there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

While waiting, I have learned that pain offers an occasion for growing in grace.

Consider the suffering people Paul mentions in his list. Andronicus and Junia had been “in prison” with him (Romans 16:7), and Apelles had “stood the test” (16:10). All were likely victims of persecution for their faith and work.

The most beautiful church, the one with everlasting splendor, consists of the Christ followers around you.

Throughout the world, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing those pains right now through no fault of their own.

Paul knew the sting of such persecution personally. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:23, “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.”

On top of Paul’s other troubles, he experienced what he called a “thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul pleaded with the Lord to take it away, but Jesus replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).

We all want grace and power. Pain offers us an occasion to grow by asking, “Do you want God more? Or do you want Him only for what He can give you?”

While the personal experience of pain presents an opportunity to mature in grace, observing people in pain can help us grow in compassion. As Paul put it, we should “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).

Christian empathy is more than feeling bad for others, however. It moves us to take action to ease their pain.

One of Paul’s major fundraising projects was a collection from Gentile churches to relieve the economic distress of the Jerusalem church.

Here’s how Paul described the effect of meeting needs: “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12).

Sometimes, God remedies pain directly, but often He uses us to meet people at their point of need.

In Romans 16:17–18, Paul moves from people affected by pain to those who inflict pain:

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

People outside the church caused pain for Andronicus, Junia, Apelles, and Paul, but the troublemakers in verses 17–18 were inside the church.

Early in my ministry, I was adult Sunday School director for a church. I also taught a Sunday School class.

One day, a man in his mid-30s joined the class. For the first few weeks, he was silent. Then he began participating. Over the course of the next few weeks, I noticed that almost all his questions centered on the King James Version of the Bible.

I came to realize this man was a King James Only advocate. When his questions turned into arguments that derailed careful lesson plans and frustrated other members of the class, I began working with him privately, trying to answer his seemingly bottomless well of questions.

Finally, I realized no amount of patient rebuttal could move the man from his obsession. So I asked him to leave the class. This allowed the entire group to refocus on the Bible rather than one person’s peculiar interpretations of it.

In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul wrote, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.”

Encountering people who cause pain offers the possibility to grow in discernment.

Sometimes it’s our protégés who cause us pains. (And sometimes we cause others pain.) These pains are typically short-lived and call for correction and encouragement.

But when causing pain becomes a long-term pattern that negatively affects others in the church, rebuke is in order.

We need the Spirit’s wisdom to know when to give grace and when to stop throwing pearls to pigs (Matthew 7:6).

The Most Beautiful Church

I close with an observation, a question, and a return to St. Peter’s.

The observation is that our relationships are dynamic. Everyone begins the spiritual journey as a protégé, but as we mature, we become peers and patrons. Unfortunately, pain sometimes enters the equation, too.

The question is this: Where are you in your relationships today?

Identify the people in your life who are patrons, peers, and protégés, as well as those who are experiencing or causing pain. Then consider what you can do to acknowledge, encourage, help, and instruct them.

St. Peter’s Basilica is magnificent architecturally. But Scripture reveals a church is not a building. It comprises people in relationship with God and one another.

Buildings eventually crumble, but Christ’s church is eternal and has a glorious future. According to 1 Corinthians 15:52, “The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

In his sermon, “The Weight of Glory,” C.S. Lewis said the following:

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

The most beautiful church, the one with everlasting splendor, consists of the Christ followers around you.

Keep that in mind the next time you gather with them to worship Jesus!

This article appears in the Fall 2024 issue of Influence magazine.