Theology of Mission

      A Brief Entry

 

The Bible starts as a story of God desiring to spread His created people out to fill the earth.  This command (filling the earth) and desire of God was displayed from the very beginning with Adam and Eve (Gen 1:28).  God again voiced the charge to fill the earth after “restarting” with Noah (Gen 9:1, 7).  Eventually God had to force His created people to spread through the earth because they would not.  Notice what the people at the tower of Babel said in Gen 11:4, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  This was said in direct defiance to God’s wishes and commands, so He struck them with languages to spread them apart once and for all.  Apparently God wanted culture and proactively sought for it on the assumption that diversity of culture is an inevitable result of filling the spectacularly diverse earth. 

 

God then choose the Israelites (Gen 12:2-3) to bring all these unique and diverse people back to Himself.  Soon all nations would be blessed through the seed of Abraham (Gen 18:18).  In Exodus 9:16 God says to Moses, “in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”  The story of the Bible is a story of God’s redemptive mission for fallen man.  Israel was to be God’s traveling showpiece to those who did not know Him.  The Bible is filled with interjections to remind its readers of the underlying purpose of the stories within it.  Here are a few:

 

Psalm 96:3: Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

 

Psalm 86:9:  All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

 

Psalm 22:7: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

 

Psalm 2:8:  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

 

Psalm 46:10:  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen (referring still to humans’ time on earth, heathen here is rightly translated as “among the nations” according to Barnes), I will be exalted in the earth.

 

Isaiah 11:9:  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

 

Isaiah 25:7:  And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail (of darkness; lack of knowledge of the Truth) that is spread over all nations.

 

Habakkuk 2:14:  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

 

Rev. 15:4:  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

 

Rev. 21:24-26:  (In heaven) …the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

 

Jeremiah 33:9:  And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

 

There is no way around it.  One can be for or against this mission, but as God lives, His plan will be accomplished (Matt. 24:14).  Jesus came to make the way to heaven universal and available for all cultures.  He simplified the way by being the way (John 14:6).  He clarified that every person can be part of this movement (Ephesians 2:11-19).  While Israel used to exclusively be His peculiar people (Deut. 26:18), every believer is now adopted into this role through Christ (I Peter 2:9). 

 

Rev. 5:9 and 7:9 demonstrates the result of this mission, representatives of all peoples in heaven’s glory!

 

Rev. 5:9:  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Rev. 7:9:  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

 

God must see the diversity and culture of the world as something glorious.  He created an awe-inspiring, diverse world and commanded from the start that it be filled!  He clearly gives the vision that every single people group, including the many unreached tribes and cultures today, will be represented in heaven!

 

God works in all kinds of ways and through all kinds of people to make this happen.  He uses those who seek Him and even those who oppose Him, like Pharaoh, as told in Romans 9:17, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”  Quite plainly, God’s prophecies will be accomplished.  But why prolong, why defy, why not seek after them willingly? 

 

How can the Gospel work throughout diversity?  God allows for differences in culture while retaining the same Gospel, the Gospel of Christ can be understood as supracultural:

 

Col. 3:11: …there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

I Corinthians 12:4-6:  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

 

The Great Commission of Matthew 28 teaches that Christianity is for everyone:  every nation, every tribe of Israel (kindred), people (culture), and every tongue (language).  It goes further to say that the Gospel is to be taught in every unique people group, or culture (gr. ‘ethnos’ 1484 is eng. translated ‘nations’ as in Matt 28:18).  The commandment requires a bringing forth of the Word to the world.  Christ was quite intentional in living out this commission to reach cross-culturally for His Kingdom, often reaching past His Jewish countrymen:

-        Roman Centurion (Matt. 8)

-        Gadarene demonics (Matt. 8)

-        Gerasene demonic (Mark 5)

-        Canaanite woman (Matt. 15)

-        Samaritan woman (John 4)

-        Greeks at Jerusalem (John 12)

-        Feeds five thousand Gentiles and Jews (Matt. 14)

-        Feeds four thousand Gentiles and Jews (Matt. 15)

-        John 10:16: tells His ignorant Jews “I have other sheep”

-        Two-thirds of Jesus’ major miracles were done toward Gentiles (Hickman 176)

-        Notice also the many different –ites throughout the Bible, often foreigners in the OT that witnessed the God of Israel.

 

Many roles are realized in Christ’s commission and will be later addressed.  Not everyone will be personally going; many will serve by sending, supporting, praying, and exhibiting openness to the Spirit’s unique guidance.  The Spirit must be proved out in individual lives.  The global Church of God must operate as a Spirit led body in order to fulfill His commission.  In Romans 9:17 Paul states that God’s purpose for Israel was “that (His) name may be proclaimed in all the Earth.”  Israel did not do well.  Christ finally came as an example, the perfect Israel, and asked all humankind, Jew or Gentile, to join Him for His purposes. 

 

The previously referenced Matthew 24:14 states, “this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  In Romans 10:14-15 Paul, using simple logic demonstrates that the Gospel must be preached to all groups of people in order for such prophecy to be fulfilled.  While Paul stated that the Word went to the ends of the world and was not heard (Vs. 18) there are thousands of people groups completely untouched by the Gospel of love and salvation today.  Those verses in Romans 10 remain clear today:

 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

 

The Bible is clear that there is a single way to heaven, discipleship to Jesus Christ through faith in His name (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).  In “Lost,” Robertson McQuilkin explains that to fall into the universalism of believing that those who have not believed on Christ and the cross will be saved is to philosophically take a view that the cross meant something different than atonement for sin (157).  If Christians believe that the sin of those who have not been redeemed will ultimately be overlooked by a gracious Deity, Christ should never have sacrificed His life (157). 

 

The cross cost more than comprehension for a reason.  God’s pure holiness simply can not allow impurity into His pure realm (Rom. 3:23).  Jesus died so that all people could believe on His sacrifice and be saved.  If people have not heard this is not God’s fault, it is either because people have rejected Him or Christians have not regarded Christ’s commission as God asked them to.  McQuilkin expounds wisely on understanding the cross and the command to preach of it, “If there is an alternative (way to salvation), God has not told us of it.  If God in His revelation felt it mandatory not to proffer such a hope, how much more should we refrain from such theorizing.”  On the contrary, God has commanded to preach the Gospel to all.  This is not to say that God can not manifest Himself to people through dreams, visions, and creation in general (see Rom. 1:20).  Certainly He can.  Yet one must also understand the command given to preach and teach the Gospel.

 

There is an underlying theme which must be followed in any form of ministry.  The commandment is to love as Christ loved.  Galatians 5:14 explains that the entire law is fulfilled in this one word.  Galatians 5:13 says, “By love serve one another.” Love is placed above every law and tradition in that it fulfils them (Rom. 13:8), they are properly defined in the context of love alone.  

 

The world will know Christians by love, nothing less (John 13:35).  The Great Commission is far greater than a cause or a new law.  It is as simple as falling completely in love with Jesus Christ and His heart and desires (see John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17, Gal. 5:13, 1 Peter 4:8, I Corinth. 13 and Eph. 3:19).

 

The Need

 

Currently there are an estimated 10,000 separately categorized unreached unimax people groups as outlined by the Lausanne Strategy Working Group (Winter 514).  A unimax people is defined as “the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance” (514).  Unreached means that there is not a viable indigenous church within a people; for the Gospel to arrive to such a place it must go reached cross-culturally.  Unimax groups are different from simple ethnolinguistic people groups (see Joshua Project and Bethany World Prayer Center’s Unreached Peoples Prayer Profiles for listings).  Such groups are simply defined by linguistic, ethnic, and political boundaries; they contain clusters of unimax people groups within them (515). 

 

To get an idea of distribution, there are 15,899 ethnolinguistic people groups identified by Joshua Project.  Of these ethnolinguistic people groups 6,417 of them (totaling 2,582,072,000 individuals) are within the unreached or least reached categories, locations where seekers can not hear the Gospel because local churches do not exist or are very limited.  Within these are even more unimax groups which prevent Gospel spreading without additional cross-cultural ministry.  To these many places ministry must be cross-cultural, there is no indigenous witness.  Christ asked His people to be the link.

 

A few current conditions to consider:

-        Iran has 1 missionary for every 3 million people

-        China has 1 missionary for every 700,000

-        India has 1 missionary for every 1 million

-        Pakistan has 1 missionary for every 213,000

-        Vietnam has 1 missionary for every 2 million.

-        Turkey has 1 missionary for every 270,000

-        Bangladesh has 1 missionary for every 250,000 (Hickman 122)

-        One third of the world consists of non-Christians living within unreached groups (Winter 519).  These are people who will not hear without cross-cultural ministry.

 

A note must be made.  Numbers can easily mask the heart of the matter.  God is not to be contained or quantified with mere numbers and His redemption will be accomplished.  Furthermore, some of these countries have a strong indigenous witness which is the hope of missionaries and the ends of their purpose.  Nevertheless, the last statistic is of great significance and these figures rightly create awareness to the fact that there is work to be done. 

 

Mark 4:21-25 explains that God will add to those who use the “measure” they are given.  Many places can be used as a matter of encouragement to demonstrate that God is quite faithful and sufficient to accomplish His work.  For example, the Church is markedly growing in both China and Iran in the face of persecution as God adds to the measure of those serving the churches that have been planted there.  There are now more third-world missionaries being sent out today than those sent from the abundantly blessed United States (Keyes 745). 

 

Again, God’s will is going to be done with or without the West and its churches, but if they do not take hold of the freedom and blessing He has given, it may very well move on.  Matt. 21:43 demonstrates what God has done with unused and abused blessing, “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”  K.P. Yohannan explains His take on the Western condition quite pointedly, “A tiny group of believers who have the Gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves.  Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story (Hickman 122).”  The late Keith Green goes so far as to say, “America is 5% of the world’s population and should only need 5% of the Christians to stay and ‘reach’ it” (123).

 

There exists a significant gap between the general reached and unreached.  The 10/40 window is an area of the world between 10 and 40 degrees latitude covering North Africa, the Middle East and the Eastern Nations.  Within the 10/40 window there is an average of one missionary for every 1 million people.  The window is home to the greatest physical and spiritual need, the most unreached people, and most anti-Christian governments  (Hickman 121).

• More than 95% of the world’s unreached peoples live in this area.
• The window outlines the core of the major non-Christian religions of the world:  Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism.
• Nearly 80% of the poorest in the world live here.

 

Because of oppression, concern for safety, and little desire to go into these bitter lands there is great comparative lack of mission presence to them from the Western world.  Moravian missionary Count Zinzendorf displayed fantastic perspective hundreds of years ago, “I have but one passion, it is He, it is He alone.  The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ” (Hickman 123).

 

Unity in Purpose

 

While one can study and sacrifice in order to follow a set of laws, this is not what God communicates through Christ.  Jesus fulfilled the law (Luke 24:44-48) and gave a much greater command to fulfill.  The law established and defined sin and the need for a Saviour (Rom. 3:20).  In Christ’s atonement the redemption plan is now fully revealed.  The law has been fulfilled in love and Christ has commissioned the rescued to spread the redemptive opportunity to all people.  This is not an aside for life, this is to be a Christian’s life.  Whether going, praying, supporting, mobilizing, etc., God is asking for abandonment to His kingdom (Phil. 1:21, Matt. 10:38, 39) according to the gifts and direction He gives each of His people (1 Corinth. 12).

 

I Corinthians 14:12 explains “…since ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may abound unto the edifying of the church.”  The original Hebrew and Greek words for church, ‘qahal’ and ‘ekklesia’ respectively, both mean "called out" through the movement of the Holy Spirit (Strong).  The word has nothing to do with looking in.  Church is referring to a movement of the Spirit through God’s people bringing forth the call of salvation (kaleo). 

 

How is this accomplished?  The new law of love given by Christ is much deeper and holistic than the hundreds of rituals and commands of the old law and tradition, it demands an entire life: body, mind, and soul, not just defined amounts of time, money, and rituals.  The Church must unify under Christ.

 

Pastor Trent Schrock speaks well on this Biblical Unity:

If you hope for unity from anything else other than Jesus Christ, you're going to be disappointed. It's not unity for us to all wear the same clothes, it's not unity for us to all do the same things, it's not unity for us to look alike and act alike; it is unity for us to be centered on Jesus Christ. Because we're all coming from a little different position and He's pulling us up into Him.  He is the only one who has the power to unify us as a church to do His work... If we try to do it out of our own effort, if we try to make 'converts unto us,' shame on us because we have no power to save.

 

Paul admonished the Corinthian church I Corinthians 1:15-17 for dividing over their naming and roots.  He realized that the only name in heaven is and will be Christ, not Peter, Paul, Froehlich, Luther, Pope John, King James or anyone else.  The passion for Christ and a life in Him is the only source for unity in mission.  All will be one in Heaven, exclusivity should not reign now.  Christ prayed that Christians would be one, not many and so it must be (John 17:11).

 

Even the most fundamental church founders realized the wrong of petty divisions and warned of such in their writings.  The fundamental Anabaptist Samuel Froehlich spoke pointedly of what he did not want to see develop in a church:

 

The insistence upon externals and forms is the best weapon for the destruction of the congregation of God, and what the foe cannot do by the means of outward force and persecution, he succeeds in doing by such sly artifices, whereby one runs after a shadow and fights about words and loses substance (Knapp).

The priests of the high places give their own fiction, legends, fables, and inventions precedence over the Word of God, and the people accept these spurious, man-made commandments blindly and implicitly, as if they came from God.  At first an addition was made to the divine commandment, and in the course of the time the man-made commandment was raised above the divine order, and the sacredness of the latter was transferred to the former.

By such hierarchical power and pretension the religious ceremony has been impressed with the stamp of the anti-Christ who in the course of time has not only grown much richer in such inventions and new commandments, but has also been by far more despotic than even the old Pharisees and scribes, by being able to confer on his decrees the respect due to divine authority, as it is customary up to this very day.

 

Christians must never put God in a box, especially when working cross-culturally.  The effects of such are man-made religion, not God-created redemption.  They are anti-culture and lack trust.  Christians must trust that God’s Spirit is sufficient for what He’s asked and not try to correct Him with formalities and legalism.  Jesus talked of such as straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel (Matt. 23:24). 

 

Unify in Christ, get rid of the shadows.  Focus on the Source and pray for the Spirit to lead.  More and more people die daily who never hear the Word.  The church is Christ’s; literally “a movement of the Spirit” not an institution (Eph 1:22).  The church is one body (Eph. 4:4) created to do His work for the eternal glory of His name. 

 

Paradigm Shifts

Contextualization, Education, Partnership, Structure

 

Paradigm Shift: (n) a fundamental change in approach or assumptions (Webster)

 

These shifts may hold some of the more challenging thoughts and applications for some fundamental Christians.  They are written to prompt prayer, discussion, and abandonment to everything but the Spirit and Word.  They highlight the need to clearly communicate Christ to those who have not heard and to set up nothing less than culturally relevant, Spirit-guided, self-sustaining churches.  This section is developed from experience far beyond the author’s own.  Interviews, writings, and conversations with many who serve cross culturally have helped to establish much of this section.

 

I.  Working through the Spirit with Contextualization

 

Contextualization is here defined as communicating the Gospel in understandable terms appropriate to a culture and doing what one can to relate to a culture with the purity of the Gospel apart from personal culture and custom that would be irrelevant, imposing, and blocking to a foreign culture (see Acts 21:30-31 for an excellent example).  A missionary must learn and use cultural elements to present the Gospel as Paul did through the Holy Spirit in Acts 17:23.  Notice Paul and Timothy’s extreme measures to relate to the cultures they preached to in Acts 16:3, “Him (Timothy) would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”  The church must learn from their example.

  

In I Corinthians 9:19-23 a Biblical view of contextualization is presented:

      For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the Gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

 

Same Spirit, many diversities.  This is especially evident and necessary to understand when working cross-culturally.  Distorting the scriptures to be more conservative than they are is just as dangerous as watering them down to be more liberal then they are.  If missionaries and churches systematically impose rules, traditions or customs of apostles to foreign cultures without reconciling them to the doctrine Christ preached, which did not hold many specific traditions, they are in a very dangerous position and one that could wrongly damage cultures.  

 

Paul admittedly and explicitly stated that he did things differently for different cultures, this must be realized today (Gal. 2:6-10).  His teaching and writing must be taken in context.  In the Bible Christians must differentiate between supracultural Gospel and Spirit led direction for a specific culture.  John 3:16 tells that salvation comes through belief and adherence (according to the translated Greek) to Christ, not to what the Spirit led Paul to do within a certain culture. 

 

There remains much room for traditions within churches and cultures, Paul clearly demonstrated that.  Yet on many of these matters, the tradition given to one church and culture may or may not be right for another.  “Greek to Greeks, Jew to Jews.”  Most of the traditions instituted by Paul’s letters are not systematically displayed to all churches.  Similarly, new cultures missionaries go to today might be led to exercise traditions that show reverence, love, or submission in their culture that have no relevance to the West.  This is an opportunity for something beautiful.  Traditions are very helpful when guided by the Spirit, but they are heretical when they become doctrine that establishes exclusivity within the body of Christ. 

 

An example of the application of Paul’s teaching on traditions is not too hard to imagine.  If Paul went to a Muslim nation today and people received His message, he would likely see fit for the women to wear a full head covering over their hair because they understand such as displaying submission to God.  In another context he may not.  Paul simply desired to preach Christ only and submission to this Deity in the most relevant and meaningful ways (II Corinth 2:5).  All scripture is for doctrine, but not all scripture is doctrine.  Scripture is the inspired Word of God, both containing doctrine, and helping to develop doctrine (II Tim. 3:16). 

 

While the Gospel is able to coexist with the good and diversity of all peoples while cleansing sin, evil, and bondage from each, traditions are not.  If churches add to Christ’s doctrine and impose introspective culture and tradition onto cultures they preach to, they would not only be abolishing part of the beauty of God’s creation, but also building barriers to the Gospel.  The Church needs only to propagate Christ and trust in His Spirit.  Missionaries from one domination should not fundamentally propagate their church and its traditions.  Instead they must follow Paul’s example to propagate Spirit-guided, self-sustaining, culturally relevant churches and believers with unity focused on Christ. 

 

Notice Peter’s revelation after wrestling with the subject of the differences in Gentile churches.  In Acts 10:34-35 he states, “…of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” 

 

Over time a church should become indigenous to its culture as a missionary works with the God raised believers there.  Often, large movements of souls to repentance begin after missionaries leave an established church plant.  Once the Word is introduced to a culture and established in its unadulterated form, there is no limit to the work that the Spirit of God may accomplish within a culture!

 

Recall Christ’s words to the self-righteous Pharisees in Matt. 23:24, “They strain after gnats and swallow camels.”  The great commission is a camel, it a definitive command of Christ, His final one, something He built His life around.  The traditions of apostles on the other hand have the potential to become gnats and something they were never meant for if they are held out of their context.  Froehlich acknowledged this within the formalized church that he deviated from:

The insistence upon externals and forms is the best weapon for the destruction of the congregation of God, and what the foe cannot do by the means of outward force and persecution, he succeeds in doing by such sly artifices, whereby one runs after a shadow and fights about words and loses substance (qtd. in Knapp).

Before refuting Martin Luther in Baptismal Truth, Froehlich first quotes and fully supports Luther’s comments on not enforcing various traditions of the apostles saying, “What more can be said against the sickness of disease of human ordinance than what Luther here declares” (15-17).

 

The New Testament churches in Europe were certainly culturally and traditionally different from the church in Jerusalem, but they were unified in Christ and His love.  Christians should neither expect, nor desire anything else throughout the world today.  In understanding that church assemblies are to be culturally relevant while still fully retaining the purity of the Gospel, one can come to the conclusion that if their church is right and proper in their own culture, than their cultural traditions should likely not be imposed on a different foreign culture.  Therefore, to have an identical church in Japan as in central Illinois would simply be wrong.  The churches Paul oversaw were different.  Certain traditions were given to some and not to others.  There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all (1 Corinth. 12:4-6).

 

II.  Working through the Spirit with Education

 

Besides a strong knowledge of the Bible and appropriate language, there are other subjects a missionary must often address.  Missionaries should take the time to understand the cultures they are going to.  Ethnocentrism will benefit no one.  Different people groups represent many different religions and ideologies.  Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Confucianism, and Daoism, Jainism, Baha’i, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Scientology, exclusivist cults, and various forms of animism (including all types of spirit worship and appeasement) serve as a starting point of major religions that exist today.

 

There are also many different developmental levels throughout the world.  Societies exist from small bands and tribes all the way up to industrial nation states.  There are great degrees of socio-economic status throughout the world and such will have great implications on the way a missionary must live, serve, and communicate.

 

A lack of training will hurt those going cross-cultural, especially to places outside the western world.  Churches must be willing to educate and train long term missionaries with applicable culture and religious studies.  Fundamental religions organizations should evaluate such options for those they send abroad. 

 

Education itself is not the ends however.  Western churches can learn a lot from the many third-world missionaries being sent out today.  Philip Thomas informs of the simple education plan that is exhibited by many third-world missionaries.  They tap all the education available to them, but most importantly they seek to form immediate learning partnerships within the cultures they go to.  These need not be sophisticated to be fruitful (382).  They seek to establish a cultural cross over point in order to bridge the inevitable gaps between them and build off of their similarities to learn, appreciate, and relate to the culture (390). 

 

Another important aspect for the mission field is to be looking and seeking for ways to best relate the Gospel to the people.  In “Redemptive Analogy” Don Richardson comments on the importance of finding culturally relevant points to communicate the Gospel (397).  He wisely explains how cultures best relate to the message when a missionary has the discernment to look for culturally relevant avenues, which God often makes available, in order to clearly demonstrate the Gospel to cultures very different than that of the missionary (324).  This seems like common sense, but it’s good to think about.  Richardson gives Biblical examples like when John the Baptist declared Jesus to the Jews, who practiced lamb sacrifice, by saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). 

 

Jesus exhibited use of redemptive analogy in speaking with Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher, who knew that Moses had lifted up the serpent and saved many Israelites when He stated that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).  Jesus again met the Jews with relevant teaching when he used the well known concept of manna to relate to them Himself saying, “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven… For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world… I am the bread of life” (John 6:32-35). Looking for the provision of a simple cultural ‘bridge’ can allow one to convey the Gospel to a culture in a way that only God could accomplish.  Missionaries must be open and seeking.

 

Paul was quite educated and this no doubt benefited him in his ministry.  Acts 2:5 explains how there were Jews from “every nation under heaven” gathered in Jerusalem in his time.  God was able to use Paul’s education and knowledge of the scriptures to effectively communicate to this diverse group.  Above all though, education is not the Saviour and God is not dependent upon it, the Spirit must reign supreme.  Nevertheless, knowledge remains a great provision to be realized for relevance in teaching and honoring of cultures and peoples. 

 

III.  Working through the Spirit with Partnership

 

Partnerships with agencies and other churches dedicated to certain mission fields can also help prepare missionaries to be sensitive and knowledgeable about the culture and felt needs of the people they are sent to.  Fundamental Christian churches should be willing to partner when opportunities necessitate this.

 

Churches can partner under the realization that they are not out to propagate themselves.  Churches may be quite sufficient on their own in some places, but when it comes to bringing Word and hope into the unreached corners of the earth, they must be willing to work along side others with the right competencies and leading.  The body is bigger than a denomination and missions were never about denominations.  Salvation is a work of the Spirit, not institutions.

 

When Jesus prayed that Christians would be one as He is one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 17:11), He was referring to an indivisibly tight bond.  People are not responsible to prove other’s salvation.  However, they are responsible to discern proper alliances and methods through guidance in the Word and Spirit.  Jesus said that His followers should not forbid those who claim Him.  Those not against Him are for Him (Luke 9:50).  Paul worked with very loose churches and very strong churches, they did not dictate His salvation or lifestyle.  Paul brought Christ to different cultures and unified them in the love of Jesus.  There were problems, and he addressed them as best he could.  There will be problems today too, but that does not give churches special permission to withdraw from the rest of the body.  God is bigger than petty issues.  Churches must hold discernment, but not exclusivity. 

 

The view of unity outlined here is not idealistic or stated apart from experience.  Missionaries are quick to explain that while there are many concerns and struggles among groups and individuals, there is Christian unity in committed servants from quite a diversity of administrations.  There is something special about this work.  Not only is it completely of God, it is completely for God; pursuits of comfort and self can not be retained.  Discernment must be given to the Spirit as Christians seek to effectively spread the saving name of Christ.  God’s Spirit is perfectly sufficient to pull brothers and sisters of Christ together for His purpose.  Notice the beauty and unity of partnership between Jews and Gentiles in Zechariah 8:20-23:  

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days…(ten) men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. 

 

 

 

Hear Christ’s heart and cry: 

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:11, 20-23).

 

IV.  Acknowledgement of Different Structures

 

Those who go out to the unreached and least-reached to plant churches logistically become part of another organizational structure in addition to an established church.  This is inevitable and was the case for all the apostles or sent missionaries working to plant churches throughout the Bible.  For a missionary, they will not have the fellowship and lifestyle lived by lay Christians within an established church.  The structure of the people of an established church can be called a modality (Winter 224).  This word defines an indigenous, self-propagating church. 

 

Missionaries have both special needs and issues different from those who are serving and living within modalities.  A sodality is a term that refers to the inevitably different type of structure that a cross-cultural missionary works in (Winter 224).  A sodality is a mobile band of messengers working to serve and teach Christ to those who have not heard or learned of Jesus.  They are not working to do this within an established congregation or familiar context.  They are working on the fringes as the Spirit leads them in establishing churches. 

 

Established churches must recognize the difference between their structure, a modality, and the special needs, challenges, and differences that the missionaries they send will face.  This will help them to be able to best support one another.  One structure is not better than the other, from the beginning of The Church these differences in structure have existed.  Both are necessary to propagate the Gospel.

 

Note:  Read “The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission” by Ralph D. Winter for a more systematic address of this distinction and its implications.

Roles of the Body

            Praying, Going, Suffering, Sending, Welcoming, Mobilizing

 

What would He have me to do?

 

Abandon and let the Spirit lead, He will: “…thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left”  (Isaiah 30:21).

 

God works with self abandonment and humility.  The work is all of Him.  Each must lay down their crowns at His feet and be available and willing for whatever.  There are many more roles of the body in this mission than simply going.  Chiefly He has asked His followers to pray for laborers (Matt. 9:38) and we must.  Prayer on behalf of the nations is crucial and the perfect beginning to move hearts toward His.  

 

Recall Matt. 24:14 once again.  The Bible is so complete.  Based on Christ’s commands and revelation that the Gospel will go out in to the world by the preaching of His disciplines, how can Revelations 5:9 and 7:9 come to pass without Matt. 24:14 being fulfilled?  As God lives, Matt. 24:14 will come to pass.  Each disciple must ask God to guide them forward in their role to help bring about its fulfillment.

 

I.  Praying

 

"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray." 

      Samuel Chadwick

 

This is for everyone.  All Christians need to be prayerful and intentional about the nations and cultures of the world being reached.  There are countless verses and instruction on prayer for God’s name to be glorified throughout the earth.  Pray for big things, pray for little things, pray for all people:  “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” I Tim. 2:1, 3-4.

 

Author Claude Hickman refers to Exodus 34:6 as God’s “fame name” (Hickman 81), “the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth...”  The jealousy God has for the fame of His name is used throughout scripture in petitions to God as with Moses in Numbers 14:15-20.  Missions are for the sake of His name and Christians should pray that God would use them for the glory of His name. 

 

God cares about His name’s glory.  When individuals pray that He be glorified, they are praying for God’s desires.  Such prayers will be answered (Psalm 37:4).  Prayers should focus on God’s purposes, on His glory being spread. Prayer should be God-centered (See Nehemiah 9:17, Psalms 86:15, Psalms 103:8, Psalms 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nahum 1:3).  In Ezekiel 36 God actually shows concern because the people are defaming His name.  Like Moses, pray for a nation in regard to the fame of God’s name.  The power of such prayer from Moses saved a nation before, namely Israel (Deut. 9).  It can certainly save more.

 

God has saved everyone in His love to further His purposes (II Tim. 1:9).  John Piper states:

God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the ultimately loving act.  And the reason is easy to see.  The one and only Reality in the universe that can fully and eternally satisfy the human heart is the glory of God- the beauty of all that God is for us in Jesus.  Therefore, God would not be loving unless He upholds and displays and magnifies that glory for our everlasting enjoyment.  God is passionately committed to His fame.  God’s ultimate goal is that His name be known and praised by all the peoples of the earth (qtd. in Hickman 79).

 

Pray that God breaks bonds of Satan throughout the earth.  Pray that missionaries be raised up.  In Matthew 9:37 Jesus said to His followers, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”

A great example of the church praying for one sent who was in need is in Acts 12:5, “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.”  Be inspired by those who have suffered incredible persecution in every form and way imaginable.  Pray for those in bounds and those who suffer as if with them (Hebrews 13:3). 

 

Spiritual work rises or falls on prayer.  The Moravians, one of the greatest examples of unified purpose, passion, and obedience to Christ’s commission knew what it meant to pray for their sent ones.  While hundreds of them went out to unreached places, many to their deaths, the rest sustained a 24 hour-a-day prayer meeting for over one hundred years as they sought the Lord for worldwide spiritual awakening (Hawthorne 74).  God heard these prayers and redeemed many peoples to Himself through the Moravians.  God was glorified through their selflessness.  Pray that the Spirit of God overwhelms His body to grant each member the same eternal perspective, passion, and purpose. 

 

II.  Going

 

God’s purposes and redemptive heart is clear throughout the Bible.  He has called His people to be His workman for the harvest and He is looking for those broken to self who desire these purposes.  He will work through disciples that seek His glory.  II Chronicles 16:9 states, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”

 

Missionaries of Christ are described in depth as soon as the church began.  Paul in Romans 1:5, spoke of himself, saying he was “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of (Christ’s) name among all the nations.”  Paul spoke in many places of the work that still needs to be done to reach the Gentile world.  One example of this is Acts 26:22-23.  He wrote, “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”  Many other examples exist:

 

-        Paul wrote in Rom. 1:14, “I am debtor (meaning obliged to preach the Gospel according to Clark’s commentary) both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians (noted as all nations except the Greeks according to Barnes’ commentary); both to the wise, and to the unwise.”

-        John said that missionaries are those who have gone out for the sake of God’s name (III John 7).

-        James described them in Acts 15:14 as “God’s visiting the nations to take out of them a people for His name.”

-        Jesus described them as those who “leave houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name’s sake.” (Matt. 19:29)

-        Isaiah 12:4 told us all to “Make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”

-        Zechariah prophesied of future missionaries in 8:20-21, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.”

-        Galatians 3:14 states, “Christ hath redeemed us… that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

 

The parable in Luke 14:23-34 describes what the lack of willing servants to do God’s work looks like:

And the lord said unto the servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”  All Christians have been bidden...

Jesus follows, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?”

 

The Bible is filled with petitions to go preach unto peoples who have not heard, sometimes more pointedly than assumed.  In Romans 15 Paul presents his own purpose to the reader:

I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles (Gr. 1484: nations or peoples) in the priestly service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God… thus I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand" (ESV 15-21).

 

III.  Suffering

 

Matt. 10:38-39:  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Phil. 3:10:  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

James 5:10:  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

 

Suffering is sometimes inevitable in order to overcome the strongholds of Satan within unreached lands.  The reality of affliction and even martyrdom in reaching some peoples is undeniable.  Satan, sin, pain, and hurt are all very real and present.  In any setting, cross-cultural missions will try one mentally, physically, and spiritually.  The devil is in direct opposition of light coming into his darkness.  The eternal battle has been won, but while on this earth the devil will oppress those who come into his strongholds when he can.  In Acts 9:16 Jesus explained regarding Paul, “…I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.”  Satan constantly battles against the work of God’s servants attempting to bring them to ruin (1 Thess. 2:18). 

 

Arthur Glasser writes on suffering in “Paul and the Missionary Task.”  He states that:

…the Gospel cannot be preached and the people of God cannot be gathered into congregations within the nations (John 11:52) without individuals here and there “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” in order to accomplish this task (Col. 1:24)… those who serve in His name will suffer (134).

 

As Jesus suffered so also may His servants.  Missionaries are sent as He was sent (John 20:21), and some are called to give their lives, to drink of His cup as the apostles were asked (Matt. 20:22-23).  Just as Jesus relinquished to the will of the Father, there are times when disciples are not to “let the cup pass from them,” but lay down their lives that Christ may be lifted up.  Suffering isn’t sought, but it is willingly endured as it can reveal God’s love in the most powerful and life changing ways to unbelievers. 

 

In “Suffering and Martyrdom: God’s Strategy in the World,” Josef Tson lists three basic things that are achieved by the death of martyrs:

1.      The triumph of God’s truth

2.      The defeat of Satan

3.      The glory of God (182)

 

Satan has no power over the Christian soul.  The physical, emotional, and psychological suffering of many missionaries and believers in general has not been in vain.  Nations are moved through the suffering of Christians.  While most will likely not be called to die for Christ, each Christian should live with the same self abandonment and eternal focus as a martyr.  The sacrifice to give one’s body and even life so that others may see the Truth which sustains has no price.  Suffering has been used throughout the ages to bring others to Christ.  Josef further states, “When the ambassador of Christ speaks the truth in love, and meets death with joy, a strange miracle occurs:  the eyes of unbelievers are opened, they are enabled to see the truth of God” (183).  The devil loses at his own game. 

 

Some stories of the suffering of missionaries and persecution in Christendom can be unfathomable.  Yet all is incomparable to the weight of sin and its pain which Jesus fully bore on the cross.  He paid a price so great that even the tormentors could come to know the Truth of the Bible.  Christians must be prayerful for missionaries and persecuted others throughout the world.  They are no less than brothers and sisters.  Plead on their behalf, intercede for them. 

 

I had an interesting conversation with a Chinese missionary in Japan.  I was told that much diligent prayer is coming from China for the Christians in the US to experience suffering and persecution through God’s divine appointment in order to prompt abandonment of self and mobilize American people and resources for reaching the unreached; to wake up any complacency.  Different paradigm.

 

While the gravity of suffering unto death or worse is past the understanding of most people, the Bible instructs Christians to hold fast to Matt. 10:28, “…fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul…”  Hebrews 13:3 asks those pardoned to do the very least, “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.”

 

Lastly, Christ asks His people to rejoice in suffering and remember that the world hated Him first (John 15:18).  May Christ be glorified whether in life or death.  Paul clearly understood that in His statement “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).   Lives are vapors, live or die for Christ (James 4:14).  Abandon to His purpose.  He will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5). 

 

IV.  Sending

“Blessed to be a Blessing.”  A look at financial roles...  

 

As a body, churches should be willing to financially support and send those who are led to enter full-time cross-cultural mission work.  Those who dedicate their lives to cross-cultural Gospel spreading often can’t provide for themselves.  Christians who have been blessed financially should pray much about how they can financially contribute to this mission.

 

There are couples who each work a job, one for them, one to support a missionary.  For those with the means and the leading, there are great opportunities for very intentional and needed financial support in order to send and sustain missionaries to further the Kingdom.  Pastor Ed Schwartz once mentioned the body needs to have “open pocketbooks” to this cause.  There is no better investment than the Kingdom.  Americans are among the most privileged in the world.  Luke 12:48 states, “...unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”  See also the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

 

Missions are a long term commitment and support is often essential in order to place missionaries and train them in foreign contexts.  Paul certainly was not always self supported as some has suggested.  Quite simply, Paul was not most effective making tents, he was most effective preaching and teaching and that is what He focused on.  There are times when business lends itself to a mission environment and there are times when it does not.  Likewise there were times when Paul was a tentmaker and there were times when he was supported, but His mission did not change.  He was not called to be a tentmaker.  He was a fisher of men.  He was about Father God’s business and it was often appropriate for others on the same mission, but with different gifts and callings, to support him.

 

II Corinthians 11:8 speaks of Paul’s financial supporters.  While Corinth was not one of them, many others were.  As written, “I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.”  The Church at Philippi was a big supporter as seen in Philippians 4:15-19:

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

 

Catch the context of the last verse.  The promise is conditional.  Like Paul, the Philippians found joy in emptying their lives out so that others may come to the knowledge of saving faith (Phil. 2:8).  There existed different roles, but unified purpose.

God will bless intentional givers since He can trust their stewardship (Prov. 3:9-10).  Those who have been given financial gain for the purpose of passing it along must keep giving.  Christians are to take no thought for their own lives.  Christians both rich and poor should be actively seeking and praying for ways to give and use the money they have been given to support God’s kingdom purposes.  Wealth is not ones’ own.  Hard work alone is what accounts for wealth.  There is great purpose for financial blessing.  I Timothy 6:17-19 speaks clearly:

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

 

“Blessed to be a Blessing”

 

V.  Welcoming

 

Americans can reach into unreached lands right from home by welcoming and befriending internationals.  Not only is this a fantastic opportunity and calling for many in fulfilling God’s commission, it is also acting in love and graciousness to strangers as the Bible commands.  God set this out from the start in Deut. 10:18-19, “He (God)... loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.  Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”  There are over forty Biblical references to looking out for foreigners (Hickman 176).  Reach out to Internationals right here.  The opportunities are practically endless.  

 

A great occasion is currently among youth.  There are 740,000 International Students at universities in the U.S (ISI).  Christians are to love them, befriend them, talk to them, study with them, explain to them the good news of Jesus, give them a Bible, and take them to church if they want to go.  Love them as Christ would.  Many of these students go all four years without being invited to an American home, 95% according to ISI International.  Many are open and searching like never before as they explore new culture, land, and religion around them.  They are the ones who can best understand their own culture and people.  How incredible when expatriates come to Christ and take Him to their homeland because they felt His love in America.

 

One more point remains.  There is a notable responsibility to redeem the name of Christ among internationals.  God is jealous of His name and it is being defamed by the perception that Christianity is fully synonymous with America and American media.  Not only can Christians touch individuals with truth, they can also redeem the name of God from its soiled view throughout the world if they will simply love in Christ’s name those who have come right to them.

 

 

VI:  Mobilizing & Supporting

Intentional Home-Front Roles past Prayer and Funding

   

Mobilization is working through the Spirit to motivate others to support and participate in reaching the lost.  It is being an intentional supporter, developer, and propagator of missions from the home front.  Many different roles can develop as the Spirit leads individuals. 

 

Following the setting of the early church, most people stay home in missions, but that does not mean the role of one on the home front is anything less than that of the individual on the front lines of the unreached.  The glory in missions is God’s, the purpose is everyone’s.

 

Matthew 12:34 states that “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Christians must fill their hearts with God’s news and plans and the mouth will speak it.  The Spirit, and the Spirit alone, will perpetuate this work.  Have faith, believe it!  There is no reason to fear abolishment of this mission.  The gates of hell can not stand against the Church of Christ (Matt. 16:18).  This movement will not be overcome.  Pray for direction, pray for the unreached, support those taking the Gospel to the unreached, encourage, propagate, and be overcome by the Spirit. 

 

Steven Hawthorne presents great possibilities for the Spirit to work through a mobilizer and supporter.  Depending on gifts and experience roles may develop as:

-        Missionary trainers, language teachers

-        Missionary counselors/mentors who offer moral support to the missionaries

-        Administrative workers to work with church mission committees and partner agencies to help with logistics and all of the bits and pieces of mission work

-        Communication Support through the provision of updates, letters, sermons, etc.

-        Researchers and teachers of cultures, peoples, places (709)

-        Home front proponents of mission who take Spirit guided direction to organize within the body and help missionaries in the field

-        Teacher, mentors, and ministers who work through the Spirit to awaken congregations and patiently work with them to recognize the global call of the Gospel

-        Individuals who help missionaries and their families with reentry and reverse culture shock on their arrival home (the book ___ offers a study in this)

 

Mission mobilization and support is a catch all and has roles for each soul committed to Christ and the cross.  There is nothing that can be given up worth more than the salvation of a single soul.  Each can be a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), but a Christian should never think he or she is giving up more than what is being gained.

 

Conclusion

 

Christians must not look the other way as the world falls away from Christ without even hearing of Him.  Jesus commanded that His followers work towards something much different.  Ignorance is no longer an excuse. 

II Tim. 1:9-14 states:  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

 

Perhaps there is no better closing than the final prayer of King David, one known as a man after God’s own heart.  The relationship between God’s heart and David’s is effortlessly realized by the plea in his final recorded words of prayer: 

And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended (Psalm 72:19-20).

 

 

Appendix 1 

            Further Motivation in the Word

 

There is a need for Missions... 

Matt. 9:37: The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;

 

There is a call for Missions... 

Matt. 28:19-20:  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

There is accountability for us to bring forth Missions... 

Ezek. 33:6:  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

 

There is love and compassion in Missions...

Matt. 9:36:  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

 

There is a reality of hell for the lost...

Luke 12:5:  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 

Mat 13:41-42:  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

II Thess. 1:8-9:  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

 

There is a reward for His servants... 

Luke 18:29-30:  And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

 

There is eternal purpose in the journey... 

Matt. 16:26-27:  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

I Peter 1:24-25:  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.

Matt. 24:14:  ...this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

 

There is a call for God’s glory to be made known in all the earth...

John 15:8-9:  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Psalm 96:3:  Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

Rev 15:4:  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee...

 

There is something needed for all of this...

Hebrews 11:6:  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Appendix 2

            Drums in the Night:  A Story by Amy Carmichael

 

The tom-toms thumped straight on all night, and the darkness shuddered round me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay awake and looked; and I saw, as it seemed, this:

 

That I stood on a grassy ward and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw not bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.

 

Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She lifted her foot for the next step. . . it trod air. She was over, and the children went with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!

 

Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went over quietly, and fell without a sound.

 

Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I could not call; though I strained and tried, only a whisper would come.

 

Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals. But the intervals were far too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell.

Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under some trees, with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them it disturbed them, and they thought it a rather vulgar noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. "Why should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call to go! You haven't finished your daisy chains yet. It would be really selfish," they said, "to leave us to finish the work alone."
There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire was to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to go, and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge.
           

Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her mother and other relations called and reminded her that her furlough was due; she must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a change, she had to go and rest for awhile; but no one was sent to guard her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.
Once a teenage girl caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very high brink of the gulf; she clung to hear. Then the roots of the grass have way, and with a cry the girl went over, her two hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass. And she heard the cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they sang a hymn.
           

Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was--the Cry of the Blood.
Then thundered a Voice, the Voice of the Lord: "And He said, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground."
           

The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and shivered about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and the weird wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate.

What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it?  God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us of our callousness! Shame us of our sin!

 

 

Appendix 3 

            An Address from Another to the ACCA

 

Ed Schwartz on May 21, 2007:

The AC Church is in a unique position, a wonderful position today.  Because the Holy Spirit of God has laid it upon the hearts of brothers and sisters across the nation to support mission work...  All I know is the Holy Spirit of God has laid His hand upon our hearts and upon us and He has set us apart for unique things and reasons; so that souls around the world can be saved. In those days (days of early church) people (referring to Christian people) weren't moving for jobs, they were moving to spread the Gospel message of salvation.  They were going to share the Gospel message.  As they passed through... churches, they were blessed, they were equipped, and they shared money and dollars with them so that they could accomplish their will.  So you and me, we have an opportunity like never before in the ACC to do the same thing. (Talks about the upcoming Servant Fund to support missionaries; now in effect)... be prayerful about that now. We have young people who are starting to feel the burden inside their hearts to give up their lucrative livelihood for the future, to give up some of the things that God has blessed them with so that they can go and be the servants of the servants to the servants in these far away nations.  (Talks about the Missions Committee).  We need to take care of our own.  We need to have this heart for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth.  God's (going to) give us that opportunity; He's giving us that opportunity now.  We're going to have an opportunity to share from our hearts, from our pocket books, with our gifts, to others.  What a wonderful opportunity we have... as believers, put on our prayer list that we would have open hearts, open minds, open pocket books... pray now for our mission committee as they're trying to determine how do we equip people to be missionaries, how do we equip people to go into the world and to share the Gospel message of salvation... pray for those brothers of the mission committee that they are adequately prepared to do it right, do it right.  New ground for us, but great ground for us; maybe God preserved us over the course of 150 years for this time.  Maybe this is our time... Let's make the most of it.  Let's do all that God wants us to do as He lays out these opportunities...  The first thing that gets in the way of having a servant heart is selfishness...  If we don't have the servant heart today it's because we're probably selfish, or maybe we're ignorant, or maybe because we've never been taught... Maybe we become judgmental, maybe we become quick to pass judgment on others, we lose the servant heart very quickly when that happens...  (When I become judgmental) I lose my ability to be used...  Do you find those areas in your life where you think you have something in control and then God shows you that you don't have anything under control...? Let's pay attention to how God wants to use us.  We have a huge, huge, huge amount of opportunity.  This world is so, so, so small.  It's (the AC Church, he's tells a story about the ACC 70 years ago) different today.  God's not equipping everyone to go to (mentions various countries).  He's equipping some.  He's equipping the rest of us to equip them.  May God give us the grace, strength to be the Demetrius’s, the Gaius's (God glorifying mission supporters and instigatorsin the Bible) of this world and to crucify, crucify, the attitude of Diotrophes (who wanted personal glory, see III John).

 

 

References

 

Barnes, Albert.  Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible. (1798-1870)

Carmichael, Amy.  “Drums in the Night.”  Publication and date unknown.

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible. (1715-1832)

 “Contextualization.” GospelCom.net. Oct. 2006. 11 Oct. 2006 <guide.Gospelcom.net/resources/context.php>.

Fiechter, Amy. Personal Interview.  14 March 2007.

Froehlich, Samuel H. Baptismal Truth. Eureka: Apostolic Christian Publications, 1978.

Gerber, Matt. Personal Interview.  13 Feb. 2007.

Gill, John Dr.  John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. (1690-1771)

Glasser, Arthur, et al. “The Apostle Paul and the Missionary Task.” Crucial Dimensions in World Evangelization. 1976 Rpt. In Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 127-134.

Hawthorne, Steven C.  Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Study Guide. 1999 Ed. Calisle: Paternoster, 1999.

Hawthorne, Steven C. “Senders.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 708-713

Heinold, Marshall. Sermon.  3 Sept. 2006.

Hickman, Claude.  Live Life on Purpose.  Enumclaw: Winepress Publishing, 2003.

Inoue, Akito.  Personal Interview.  June-July 2007.

“ISI International.” ISI International. 2007. 11 April 2007 <www.isionline.org>.

Kaufman, Joel.  Personal Interview. 5 July 2007.

Keyes, Larry. “A Global Harvest Force.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 744-747.

Knapp, Luke. Life’s a Journey. 28 Jan. 2006. 3 May 2007 <http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2006/01/traditions.html>

McQuilkin, Robertson. “Lost.” The Great Omission. 1984 Rpt. In Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 156-161.

Mogler, Randy. Personal Interview.  17 Feb. 2007.

“Origins of the Church.” Apostolic Christian Church of America. 2007. 30 April 2007 <http://www.apostolicchristian.org/about_origin.php>.

Richardson, Don. “Redemptive Analogy.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 397-403.

Schick, Bill. Personal Interview.  19 Feb. 2007.

Schrock, Trent.  Sermon.  22 Jan. 2006.

Schwartz, Ed.  Sermon.  21 May 2007.

Strong, James. The Strongest Strong’s. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

The Holy Bible: Amplified Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton:  Good News Publishers, 2001.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989.

 “The Unreached Peoples Prayer Profiles.” Bethany World Prayer Center. 2004. 11 April 2007 <http://www.global12project.com/2004/profiles/a_code/index_p.html>.

Thomas, Philip H.E. “How can Western Christians Learn from Partners in the World Church.” Evangelical Review of Theology July 2004 (Vol. 28 Issue 3): 247-254. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. Heartland Community Coll. Lib., Normal, IL. 19 Mar. 2007 <http://ebscohost.com>.

Tson, Josef. “Suffering and Martyrdom: God’s Strategy in the World.” Suffering, Martyrdom and Rewards in Heaven. 1997 Rpt. In Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 181-184.

“Unreached Peoples Listings.” Joshua Project. 29 March 2007. 11 April 2007 <http://www.joshuaproject.net/unreached.php>.

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English. Preview Edition (v 0.9.7). Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 22 Nov. 2008. <Dictionary.com 1http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paradigm shift>.

Winter, Ralph D. “The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 220-229.

Winter, Ralph and Bruce Koch. “Finishing the Task: The Unreached Peoples Challenge.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. 509-524.

Additional Appendix, “Notes of Experience” is available.  This appendix is a small collection of notes and quotes of missionaries interviewed for the background of this document.

 

Recommended Reading: 

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3^rd ed. Eds. Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999.

 

Yohannan, K.P.  Revolution in World Missions.  Carrollton: GFA Books, 2004.

 

Hickman, Claude.  Live Life on Purpose.  Enumclaw: Winepress Publishing, 2003.

The author can be contacted at jpwiega@gmail.com