Discussion Questions

Pablo says he asked for anointing with oil and “God chose not to heal me immediately,” yet he also says, “we have found the Lord faithful”; what picture of God’s faithfulness is he working with that includes unanswered (or delayed) healing? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says God didn’t heal him right away, but he still calls God faithful. What does “God is faithful” mean to him even when healing is delayed or doesn’t happen?

When Pablo says the family has “released me to die” and he looks forward to it “very, very, very much,” what does that reveal about his view of death, rest, and being with Jesus—and what parts of that mindset feel most foreign to modern Christian instincts? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says his family has “released” him to die, and he is really looking forward to it. What does that show about how he sees death and being with Jesus, and why does that feel so strange to many Christians today?

Pablo describes a dramatic conversion where the same drive he had for sin became a drive to serve God, and he calls evangelistic desire “a natural response of a genuine conversion”; how does that claim challenge common evangelical categories of conversion, discipleship, and “optional” evangelism? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says real conversion naturally leads to wanting to share the gospel. How does that challenge the idea that evangelism is optional or separate from being a true Christian?

Pablo and his wife walked out of their wedding to “So Send I You,” framing marriage as not being “selfish” but for reaching others; how would early Christians have heard vows like that, and what would it confront in how Christians today often define marriage and family goals? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo and his wife treated marriage as a mission to reach others, not mainly for themselves. How would early Christians have understood vows like that, and what would it challenge in how Christians today think about marriage and family?

Pablo says God “took that song seriously” and connects it to later suffering and ministry; what does it mean to believe God takes our stated surrender seriously—and how might that reshape the way we pray, sing, or make commitments? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says God “took that song seriously” and later led him into suffering and ministry. What does it mean to believe God takes our words of surrender seriously, and how might that change how we pray, sing, or make promises?

In West Lala, Pablo says their main thrust was becoming the people’s friends, then responding to robberies with non-resistance—feeding robbers and serving them coffee—and he claims “after the robberies came, the converts came”; what does this suggest about God’s strategy for witness, and what would it cost a church to practice this kind of enemy-love today? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says they chose friendship and didn’t fight back against robbers—they fed them and served them coffee—and then people began to convert. What might this say about how God wants Christians to be a witness, and what would it cost a church to love enemies like that today?

Pablo notes, “None of the churches practices non-resistance” in that neighborhood; what do you think early Christians would assume about Jesus’ commands regarding retaliation, and where do you see modern Christianity (including our own circles) quietly normalizing forms of resistance or self-protection? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says none of the churches there practice non-resistance. What do you think early Christians assumed Jesus meant about not getting revenge, and where do Christians today quietly accept self-protection or fighting back?

Pablo tells the story of the ashamed sister who wouldn’t share her fear with the church for two years, and he calls that “your mistake… pour out to your brethren”; what does this reveal about his assumptions of church life, and what specific habits or fears keep people today from actually using the brotherhood for healing? JumpstartAnother way to ask: A sister hid her fear from the church for two years, and Pablo says she should have shared it. What does this show about what he thinks church should be like, and what fears or habits stop people today from opening up to other believers for healing?

Pablo criticizes the impulse to “jerk the missionary out, take him home, pamper him,” and says their decision was “not to run, even if it meant death”; how do you discern when staying is faithfulness versus presumption, and what does this expose about our comfort thresholds and theology of suffering? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo criticizes pulling missionaries out to keep them safe, and says they chose not to run even if it meant death. How do you know when staying is faithful and when it is being reckless, and what does this show about our love of comfort and our view of suffering?

Pablo says when he got the terminal diagnosis he “could not think of anything that I needed to make right,” and he urges believers to keep their “slates clean,” because death could be sudden; how does that way of speaking about assurance, confession, and being “ready” fit—or clash—with common evangelical ideas of grace and security, and what would it change in your weekly life if you took his warning seriously? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Pablo says after his terminal diagnosis he couldn’t think of anything he needed to make right, and he urges believers to keep their lives “clean” because death can come suddenly. How does that fit with common ideas about grace and security, and what would change in your weekly life if you took his warning seriously?