Leadership and Lifestyle: The Portrait of Paul in the Miletus Speech and 1 Thessalonians

This study contributes to debate about the portraits of Paul in Acts and his epistles by considering Paul’s Miletus speech (Acts 20.18b-35) and identifies and compares major themes in Luke and Paul’s views of Christian leadership. Comparisons with Jesus’ speeches in Luke show how Lukan the speech is and, with 1 Thessalonians, how Pauline it is. The speech calls the Ephesian elders to service after Paul’s departure to Jerusalem, focusing on: faithful fulfilment of leadership responsibility; suffering; attitudes to wealth and work; and the death of Jesus. Paul models Christian leadership for the elders. Parallels in Luke highlight his view of Christian leadership - modelled by Jesus and taught to his disciples, and modelled by Paul and taught to the elders. Study of 1 Thessalonians identifies a remarkably similar portrait of Christian leadership. The Miletus speech is close in thought, presentation and vocabulary to an early, indubitably Pauline letter.