Justin Holcomb is the Academic Dean of Re:Train, and posted this helpful article on the Resurgence blog recently:

Paul refers to himself numerous times as worth "imitating" when it comes to spiritual growth and maturity (1 Cor. 4:16, 11:1; Phil. 3:17, 4:19; 1 Thess. 1:6; and 2 Thess. 3:7, 9).

What do we see when we look to Paul as an example? He makes three significant statements about himself throughout his years in ministry that are helpful insights into his view of spiritual growth.

The Least of the Apostles

Early in Paul's ministry, during his three missionary journeys, he wrote six major epistles: Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans. In one of them, Paul makes a very humble statement about himself—"I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Cor. 15:9).

Paul does not put himself on par with the other apostles, as if he were equal to them. Rather, he calls himself "the least of the apostles." That's a decent dose of humility worth noticing.

The Least of all the Saints

Toward the middle of his ministry, during his first Roman imprisonment, Paul wrote Philippians, Colossian, Philemon, and Ephesians. In Ephesians 3:8, his humility deepens—"I am the very least of all the saints."

Paul goes from "least of the apostles" to "least of all the saints." What's happening here?

The Foremost Sinner

At the end of his ministry and during his second Roman imprisonment, Paul writes Titus and 1 and 2 Timothy. Early in his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (1 Tim 1:15). Some translations say "chief of sinners."

Paul sounds like a spiritual failure, like he is regressing spiritually, not making spiritual progress.

Paul's Downward Mobility

Do you see the trajectory as Paul matures in faith? This is what happens when you boast in Christ alone. Your weakness becomes more evident. You can't help but make much of Christ and little of self. That is maturity according to Paul—boasting in nothing but Christ's grace and our weakness.

True Spiritual Growth

Paul isn't just using self-deprecating hyperbole as a teaching device. Each of the three statements about himself is surrounded by references to the cross (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 3:7-8; and 1 Tim. 1:15) and grace or mercy (1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 3:2, 7; and 1 Tim. 1:13-14, 16). For him, spiritual growth is realizing how utterly dependent he is on Jesus' cross and mercy, not arriving at some point where he somehow needs the cross and mercy less.

Paul's view of himself diminishes and his dependence on Jesus' cross and grace increases. How do you talk about spiritual maturity? Imitating Paul's example, there should be more talk of the depth and scope of God's mercy, less talk of self-reliance, and an abiding fixation on Jesus' cross that secured God's grace for you.

Whether the mission is starting a new business, exploring space or driving for a vacation to Disney World, a mission is an adventure which requires stepping into (often) unknown contexts with uncertain outcomes. Sure, I have a portrait in my mind of how it will all turn out. However, that picture is rarely how the paint is applied in real life. In setting sail on a new adventure, experience can quickly turn optimism into pessimism. So what I need in order to sail well in my present adventure in mission/church planting is neither an unbridaled optimism or an enthusiasm crushing pessimism. I need gospel realism. That is what I find in Acts 17, where Luke records the ongoing adventure of Paul's missionary adventure.

In Thessalonica, some Jews and many Greeks were persuaded by Paul's preaching and became believers. They would later be the recipients of I and II Thessalonias in the New Testament. And yet, some of the Jews became jealous and formed a mob (probably to stone and possibly kill Paul). Paul escaped the city by night.

In the city of Berea, as he preached, many people "received the word with all eagerness." But Paul's Thessalonian opponents tracked him down, and so "the brothers sent Paul off on his way to the sea..."

During his next stop in Athens, he reasoned in the Jewish synogogues and with anyone in the marketplace who was open to dialogue. After an invitation to preach in the Aeropagus, "some mocked," but "some men joined him and believed."

The lesson for me here is to maintain gospel realism. God is at work. People will respond to the gospel and believe. However, there will be opposition and rejection, too. If I do not expect both, I either will grow disillusioned or cynical. So I'm glad for Acts 17, which mirrors the effect of the cross. Some mocked Jesus, beat him and spit on him. But even a hardened Roman soldier/executioner ends up confessing, "Surely, this was the Son of God."

The Paul of the New Testament is a strong apologetic to me for the credibility of the gospel. A leading Jewish scholar who was a leading member of the Pharisees, he had hated Christians. For example, in Acts 7, a man named Stephen preaches and the crowd of unbelieving Jews stones him to death. In Acts 8:1 we read that Paul was there and "approved of his execution." In chapter 9 he is on his way to Damascus to arrest and imprison other Christians when something remarkable happens. The risen Jesus appears to him and the trajectory of his life does a 180. He was the most unlikely candidate to become a Christian. But as history records, the most strident persecutor of the church becomes a prominent preacher of the gospel. Paul was in no mood to be converted that day. It might be like Rush Limbaugh becoming the lead spokesperson for the democratic party or the ACLU.

Now we fast forward to Paul's preaching days, where he is no longer the persecutor, but the persecuted. In Acts 16 he, along with his comrade, Silas, is severely beaten by Roman guards and put into the deepest, darkest place in a Philippian jail, with his feet fastened in stocks. Rather than protesting the imprisonment and scheming a way to escape, he and Silas were heard "praying and singing hymns to God." What?!  Paul's response to this circumstance was prayer and praise?!

What a lesson. Of course, the point is not to apply the prayer and singing rule when I'm in the pit, but to know the Jesus whose feet were not merely put in stocks, but nailed to a cross. The Jesus who was not merely put in prison, but suffered the agony of hell in my place. Prayer for God to intervene is appropriate (and God did). And the worship of such a Savior strenghtens the heart not only to endure hardship, but to prevail through it. As I heard someone say recently, "The antidote for anxiety in the context of stress is not so much scheming for control and planning how to fix it as much as it is giving up control through prayer and worship."

Anyway, the text in Acts 16 says that "the prisoners were listening to them." It was midnight, and they were not yelling for Paul and Silas to "Shut up!" They were listening in quiet amazement to these bound men cry out to God for help (expression of need) as they celebrated this God (an expression of confidence, thanksgiving and hope) in worship—not in a posh sanctuary with soft cusions and central air conditioning and heat, but in a cold, dark cell in which people were left to die. And if those prisoners were astonished by Paul and Silas' response to mistreatment and suffering, how much more would they be in awe of the one who also had been beaten and was able to say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

You know, I wonder if the hymn Paul and Silas sang that night is the same song that is recorded in Paul's letter back to the Philippian church in chapter 2 of that letter:

Jesus made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.