“There are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while. ”
Pearl Bailey

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MARCH 26, 2025

Paul was a highly educated and respected religious leader, and a Roman citizen. He was also a tentmaker. Paul made tents to fund his travels and to avoid accusations of enriching himself through his ministry.

“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
2 Thessalonians 3:7-9

At a young age, Paul would have been contractually bound to a two or three-year apprenticeship. As a tentmaker’s apprentice, he would have learned how to cut and stitch together leather and cilicium (goat or camel hair) and to waterproof seams to make tents that would hold up to heavy use and bad weather.

At the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Paul would have been presented with his own set of knives and awls to use in his new profession, tools he would travel with his entire life.

Tentmaking was central to Paul’s ministry. He was a tentmaker and a Jewish rabbi on a mission to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

Many of the first evangelical missionaries coming from Germany in the 1700s traveled to the Caribbean and Greenland as bakers, tailors, and other business people. They formed communities of cross-cultural, self-supporting ministries.

William Carey, one of the fathers of the modern missionary movement, managed an indigo factory, worked as a translator, and taught botany as he witnessed to the people of India. Trained as a cobbler, he once said, “My business is to witness for Christ. I make shoes to pay my expenses.”

Ruth Siemens in her article, Why did Paul make tents? writes, “Tentmakers are missions-motivated Christians who support themselves in secular work as they do cross-cultural evangelism on the job and in free time…. They can serve at little or no cost to the church.”

Siemens then lists some modern-day tentmakers,

  • Dan taught linguistics in an Arab university and did a translation of the New Testament into the language of five million Muslims who had never had it before! He was unable to live in their homeland, so he got a job in a country where thousands of them were guest workers.
  • Ken, a high school science teacher, was invited to preach every third Sunday in a village church in Africa.
  • Greg, a university English instructor, helped start a Christian publishing venture in a Middle Eastern country.
  • High school teacher Nora did script writing and program production for a Christian radio station in Africa.
  • Nan, a professional violinist in a southern European symphony orchestra, helped local churches improve their music.

Most people who have never heard the gospel message live in countries where the governments do not allow Christian missionaries. Practicing a profession allows Christian to obtain a visa, enter a country, make disciples and establish churches.

It’s estimated that one missionary is needed for every 50,000 unreached persons. With an estimated 3.1 billion people still needing to hear the Gospel, 62,000 more missionaries are needed. That sounds like a large number but with 341 million evangelical Christians worldwide, this is only one more missionary out of every 5,500 evangelicals.

“I’m not afraid of failure; I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”
William Carey

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • What skills do you have that could be used to support yourself in a ministry?
  • Are you using those skills to serve God by making disciples?
  • How are you doing this?

Church Reading Plan: Exodus 37; John 16