mr. t.......... on mission

encouraging one another to be on God's mission

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

as we are going ... looking for the person of peace

This post is in part a response to a blog about Missionary Strategy
by David Rogers posted on June 28. I admire David and appreciate his ministry in the new last frontier of Western Europe. It is hard soil with hard to find “good soil”. Like David, I do not want to get into an argument either. I love David’s blog and it is one of the missionary blogs that inspired me to start my own.

The passages in Matthew 10, Mark 6 and Luke 10 concerning Jesus’ instructions to His disciples as He sent them out, should not be written off as proof texts for recent thinking from some missions strategists. These passages are from the Word of God and deserve our careful consideration. Like much of Scripture, these passages reveal some principles that can be applied differently in different contexts. They are not meant to serve as a cookie cutter approach for missionary methodology. Rather, they are meant to teach us some principles that can be applied in different ways depending on the situation:

1. Pray for the Lord to send more laborers (Mt. 9:38)
2. Receive authority and power from Jesus (Mt. 10:1)
3. Go where God calls you, to a specific people (Mt. 10:5,6)
4. Proclaim His word (Mt. 10:7)
5. Be an instrument for God’s power (Mt. 10:8)
6. Don’t take extra money or stuff (Mt. 10:9,10)
7. Find the “worthy” person and stay there (Mt. 10:11)
8. If his oikos receives you, stay, if not, move on (Mt. 10:12-14)
9. Don’t go alone, go two by two or as a team (Mark 6:7)
10. Depend on the hospitality offered by your hosts (Lk. 10:7,8)
11. Don’t go house to house after you find the person of peace, but stay to disciple their oikos (Lk. 10:7).

The above list is not meant to be exhaustive, just examples of principles that we can learn from Jesus on the “how” of going. These principles (and others) can be applied in different ways in different contexts. We practice many of these principles in our context and God has blessed. We trained our indigenous partners using these principles, along with others, and saw wonderful things happen as they obeyed the Lord.

Not every person of peace will be the one to reach the rest of the city or region. There may be that exceptional person that multiplies “a hundred fold”. However, it has been our experience to find multiple persons of peace, most do not multiply out, but a few will.

There are not persons of peace in every village, town or city. However, they can be found among every people group, otherwise, Christ would not have commanded us to make disciples of all peoples. We “shake the dust off”, or leave a place, when we cannot find that person. We keep going to the next place until we find the “good soil” that God has prepared. Again, this is a principle that requires different applications.

As far as the part about not taking extra money or stuff, … we teach that and try to practice that ourselves. We also teach to pray for people who want prayer for their needs. We see healings take place on a regular basis. Demons are cast out. We have not had any dead raised, yet.

Concerning judgment of entire people groups in the Old Testament … I don’t know, that is God’s arena. The New Testament judgments pronounced by Jesus were on cities or regions, not on entire people groups. I believe there are plenty of examples in Scripture of a holy remnant that God spared even as He severely judged a people. As for the Dark Ages – who knows? (Only the “Trail of Blood” people know ;-).

The apostle Paul practiced the principle of finding the “Person of Peace”. Look at Acts 16 (Lydia and the Philippian Jailer), Acts 17 (Jason), Acts 18 (Justus and Crispus), etc. The Holy Spirit leads in all of this … Paul was following His lead.

Concerning how long to stay, etc., that will vary from place to place. We don’t use MAWL for training here, we use MODEL … Model a Biblical Pattern, Observe Obedience, Delegate Authority, Encourage Faithfulness, and Leave to Start New Work. We get this pattern for discipleship/training from Scripture. We never abandon, we follow up after leaving with: 1. Correspondence, 2. Timothy/Titus types, and 3. Personal revisits. Remember we are talking about missionary ministry here, not pastoral ministry.

Our “plowing” occurs through prayer. The Holy Spirit prepares the soils, we sow/plant and water (hopefully in His power).

“One size does not fit all.” Correct. That is the application part, and it can vary. However, the Scriptural principles remain the same for all.

Thanks to David Rogers for the good dialogue.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

worship outside the walls ... WOW!

"... and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship ..." (Jn. 4:20).

One thing we are reminded of every day in South Asia is that we are created for worship. We have this innate desire to connect with God even when we don't know who He is, or how to communicate with Him. Every morning on the roof of an apartment building next to ours, a lady prays to a plant. All around us neighbors are performing elaborate rituals before their favorite idol nearly every day. On the streets people are bowing down by the side of the road before a temple statue or shrine. These people are a worshipping people! We know of a man who spends 3 hours every day in worship before his house god! I don't know about you, but that puts my quiet time to shame! People here spend huge chunks of their time, energy and resources giving glory to their god. While most in the western church give little time, energy or resources to the one true living God. God is seeking true worshippers, He desires authentic worship (Jn. 4:23). Worship is not about a certain place or religion, it is about a real relationship with the living God.

"You worship what you do not know..." (Jn. 4:22).

One of our colleagues in South Asia taught us a great truth about evangelism. God is having a conversation with people, even people who do not yet know Him (Ro. 1:20-25). God is speaking through His creation, through circumstances and other people in their lives. They are trying to understand, but unfortunately they worship created things instead of the Creator (Ro. 1:25). I believe many are sincerely looking for God. But there is no one to introduce them to the one true living God (Ro. 10:14). As we are going, we can enter into their lives and join in the conversation, picking up where God left off. If we have a transparent life walking in the light with nothing to hide, they will let us in on the conversation. We may not reach the conclusion and see them receive the Lord, but we can play a part in moving them closer to knowing God. Worship is not about a certain code of behavior or ritual, it is about an honest conversation with the living God and others.

"In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Teacher, eat!" ... Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (Jn. 4:31, 34).

I don't know about you, but it takes a lot of pressure off when I am reminded that this is HIS work. I don't need to fret about my schedule or plans as long as I am worshipping God for real. He will let me in on what the real agenda is, His agenda. His will becomes quite obvious and all that is left for me is obedience. If we love Him, we obey Him. We are more than servants, we are His friends. A servant does not know what His master is doing, but as friends God makes His plans known to us (see Jn. 15:9-16). Worship is not about following a certain program, it is about doing God's will (Ro.12:1, 2).

If we experience authentic worship on a daily basis, no place, ritual or program will contain it. We will worship outside the walls (both spiritual and physical), and people will say, "WOW! So that is what I am looking for!"

Friday, June 23, 2006

who is going? ... everybody!


"Who is this?" I asked one of our church planters about a 12 year old boy who had accompanied him to our training event. "Oh, he is one of us," replied the church planter. "He is one of your family?" I asked. "No, he is part of our team, he is going with us to plant churches." He added, "our team member's wives and children go too, so that they can relate to the families we meet in the villages."

What a breath of fresh air to meet people like that, where the Great Commission is interpreted so literally and perceived as something that every follower of Christ should obey! Jesus, with all authority, commands us: "As you are going, make disciples of all people groups" (more literal translation). Jesus assumes that everyone in His church will be going somewhere. Not everyone will make it to the "uttermost". Most will be going in their own Jerusalem (Acts 5:42). Some will go to their Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:4, 5). A few will be sent to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:1-3). But everybody in the church is going somewhere. Maybe most are not going where the Lord desires, but they are going. Most are not doing what the Lord has in mind, but they are doing something. Somewhere and something is better than nowhere and nothing, right?

After 200 years of the modern missionary movement the ratio of Christian missionaries to lost population in some places in the world remains shocking. The average for South Asia is less than 10 missionaries for every one million lost persons ("Closing the Gap," Garrison). That includes all evangelical groups. The average for IMB, SBC in South Asia right now is about one missionary for every six million lost. Of course we have a good number of national missionaries, and then many more indigenous workers in some areas (as it should be).

But it still boggles my mind how many people are going somewhere else. Are they hearing the Lord correctly when He calls? Upon hearing where we were going, one of my relatives asked, "Are you sure the Lord said _____? Maybe you heard wrong, maybe He was saying Indiana." I don't think He would say Indiana to me, but you never know.

There are two possible explanations for the ratio imbalance of missionaries to lost population here on this side of the planet. The first is ... this part of the world, and the hundreds of unengaged people groups living here, are reserved for the Gideons. No, not the organization "The Gideons," that distribute Bibles. I mean a type of Gideon. God determined that Gideon only needed 300 to deliver the enemy into the hands of God's people (Judges 7:7). The enemy (the Midianite people) was innumerable (Judges 7:12). The reason given by the Lord to Gideon for this strategy: "The people who are with you are too many (Gideon had 32,000 soldiers at first) ... lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved ...' (Judges 7:2)."

Hummm ... maybe that's it. I don't know, it very well could be ... but you haven't heard the second explanation. Could it be ... God is calling and His people are not listening? Missional churches SEND. Everbody is going. Hopefully not to Indiana.

Monday, June 19, 2006

in the name of missions

The summer season for "mission trips" is here! Churches send their people to destinations near and far in the name of missions. Individuals, and sometimes families, sacrifice personal finances and vacation time to go "on mission". Projects usually include ministry to the poor, maybe teaching in a children's Bible school, helping to construct a house for a needy family, or possibly even a church building. Some will do personal witnessing by sharing their faith in Christ with total strangers (if the locals speak some English, or are blessed to have a translator). A few will preach a sermon in a local indigenous (native) church, or give a musical presentation with a gospel message.

A lot of things are done in the name of missions. They are usually helpful and good things to do. But are we really obeying the Great Commission, or the "Mission", when we do these things? What is the Mission that Christ gave to His disciples (to us, the church)? According to Mt. 28:18-20, He has all authority (privilege and power), therefore He commanded His disciples to do the following: Make disciples (followers of Christ) of all nations (peoples). The "make disciples" part is in command form. That is the part that we should obey. There are three other actions that accompany the making of disciples: Going, baptizing and teaching them to obey.

Could the community service, construction, personal testimonies or sermons help to accomplish the "Mission"? It's possible... but most of the time that is as far as the mission trip takes us. We go back home, give a great report about what we (God) did, and forget about it a few weeks later when the next initiative in our church grabs our attention.

The challenge: Next time you plan a mission trip, make it more than a trip. Begin a missionary journey with God. I used to take trips... no more... I am on a journey with God. In South Asia I discovered that He is more than my Master and I am more than His servant. He is my Friend (Jn. 15:15). I am part of His mission, He is letting me in on His plan for redeeming a people. The Mission is a journey with Christ, but there is a task to obey as well (Jn. 15:14). In the next post I will begin a series about how to obey the Great Commission, or the Mission.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

on-mission on-line

Hi, I am mr. t ... not the Mr. T from the A-Team. Sorry to disappoint you. I am a missionary in South Asia. Cannot give my real name or exact location because of security concerns. Today I became a blogging missionary (or missionary blogger?) to begin a dialogue with you about missions. My hope is that we can help each other to be on mission, or be "missional", as they like to call it these days.


So, if you would like to kick the tires (give it a try), or even change a tire ... please join in the conversation...

What verse or passage from the Bible best describes our mission (really God's mission)? My vote is for Matthew 28:18-20. I believe this passage is the best mission statement we have from Scripture for the church. I will post about this in the coming days.

on mission to the uttermost,
mr. t