In the early Christian church, there were no pulpits. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that pulpits were first introduced in churches and not until the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s and 1600s that the pulpit became a central symbol for the authority of scripture and the preaching of the word. But it hasn't always been that way. Instead, the very first Christian churches were house churches, where there were no pulpits, and everything was done face-to-face without a piece of furniture in between.

The apostle Paul was very used to that. In his missionary travels, he generally started with preaching in the synagogues. But he was also very used to telling the story of Jesus out in the streets, in the marketplaces, and even down by the riverside wherever people would gather. When Paul cou…