Fellow Workers with God and One Another: Toward a Pauline Theology of Mission

Abstract

What does the phrase θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί (1 Cor 3:9a) mean? In his seminal article, Victor Paul Furnish argues that this question is "virtually unanswerable" on lexical and grammatical grounds, but that when one examines the immediate context, it either means "fellow workers with God" or "fellow workers in God's service." He opts for the latter. In this article, however, I argue that the dichotomy he presents is false. By examining the broader and more immediate context of the key texts in this discussion (1 Cor 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1; 1 Thess 3:2; etc.), I contend that Paul is a fellow worker with God and others in the advance of the gospel. In other words, he operates from a triangulated relationship, in which God advances the gospel through the Pauline apostolate to others. This missional relationship contains vertical and horizontal dimensions. Though narrow in its scope, this both-and reading of the relevant texts carries broad implications for a Pauline theology of mission, one that rightly envisions God at the fore of gospel advancement.