“Thinking Like a
Missionary” – Part III
Message #3 in
TLAM Series
INTRODUCTION:
A missionary is someone
who crosses lines of culture to introduce other people to Jesus Christ. He or
she leaves the safety, familiarity, and comfort of his own “natural”
environment to cross boundaries into a “different” culture to impact others
with the Gospel.
The greatest missionary
who ever lived was Jesus Christ himself, who left the glory and splendour of
Heaven to dwell among people on earth. He made the ultimate jump across
cultural barriers. John 1:14 says, “He became flesh and dwelt among us (literally “tabernacled” or “pitched His
tent”). He came as “THE Missionary” (from Latin: “one who is sent”). He
leaped across time, space, languages, age groups, and cultures to reveal God’s
unconditional love for us, and His mission gave birth to the Church.
Now Jesus tells us, “As the Father
has sent Me, so I send you” (John 20:23). We are called and sent
to continue Jesus’ mission, to invite everyone to experience His love and
forgiveness. We leave the comfort of our homes to bring Jesus to our
neighbourhoods, communities, schools, and workplaces. We cross into other
people’s daily cultures. To live out this call, we need to think and act like
missionaries.
Two Sundays ago, we
began a six-part teaching series that I am calling, “Thinking Like a Missionary.” My goal is to help us begin to see
our church’s mission and ourselves in a new way—to see ourselves as aliens and
missionaries in a foreign land, and our community as our divinely assigned
mission field.
I explained that being a
missionary is a matter of attitude, not geography or distance from one’s
home country. Getting on an aeroplane and travelling halfway around the world does
not make a person a missionary. I also explained that mission is more about being
than doing. It is a state of mind, a way of looking at ourselves in
light of the love of God and the lostness of the world. It is based not on
trading cultures, and clothing, and customs, and cuisines as much as thinking
in a new way about how to win lost people to a saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ, wherever we might be.
To help us begin to
think in this new way I described a scenario in which I asked you to imagine
that we are a team of missionaries sent to this little country called, “Ourtownistan” for the purpose of
sharing the Gospel and planting new churches. In this role-play we have all
come to this foreign country from other places and are just beginning to get
settled in and we are looking around, trying to figure out how to best approach
the challenge before us. I explained that most of the native people here have
no idea of what God is like, or who Jesus is. They have heard of Christians,
but many of them have never met a real one, much less had one for a friend or a
neighbour. Contrary to what many of us have assumed, most of the Ourtownites
are relatively happy with their lives and sense no need for what we are here to
give them. Moreover, the Ourtownites have their own religious systems,
their own culture, value system, language, and social
structure. Ourtownistan is a unique country, and we must find effective
ways to bring the Gospel to these native folks in ways that are culturally
relevant to them.
TRANSITION:
I explained that there
are several things that differentiate missionaries from other Christians. I
shared with you that missionaries build their lives and ministries around a collection
of 15 commitments or principles. So far, we have looked briefly at the first 4
of those. Let’s review them.
Principle #1:
Missionaries take individual ownership of the Great Commission.
By that I mean that missionaries, even more than other Christians, accept that
the Great Commission has been given to them personally by God, rather than just
to the Church as a whole. When Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples…”
rather than waiting around for someone else to act, true missionaries take that
as their individual marching orders and they set out in faith to act upon that
conviction. They take personal ownership of the mission.
Principle #2:
Missionaries personally embrace God’s call on their lives. I
explained last Sunday that by this I am NOT referring to the common idea of a
specific “missionary call.” Many Christians have used that myth as an excuse to
leave the job of witnessing to the “professionals.” However, I believe that every
Christian has already received a missionary call from God. It came the
moment when we received our salvation. It is part of the job description of
being a child of God. Every Christian is called to serve God “full time.” There
is no such thing as a “part-time Christian.” Moreover, we all have a mission
given to us by God, thus making us “missionaries,” wherever we might be,
whether in our own country or across the sea. Distance is not the issue!
The Bible says that we are all “called” of God. We are all called to believe
and trust in Christ, called to worship and serve Him, called to walk worthy of
our calling in Him, and called to share Christ with others.
Principle #3:
Missionaries identify God as their source of strength and acknowledge their
own weaknesses. If we are to be effective missionaries for Christ,
then we must do the same. Paul tells us in Romans 14:23, “Whatsoever is not
of faith is sin.” That means that if
we are trying to serve God in our own strength and by our wits rather than in
the strength of His might and wisdom then we are sinning. God certainly never
promised to bless our ideas, methods, or programmes. On the other hand, He did
promise to bless His Word and to build His Church. We are not strong enough,
smart enough, wise enough, or creative enough to accomplish our mission without
His anointing. And anything we do manage to build on our own will not last! If
we are to be effective missionaries here in Ourtownistan it will be through His
power and by doing things His way. We must take to heart Paul’s words in 2
Corinthians 12:8, “When I am weak, then I
am strong.”
Principle #4:
Missionaries build and rely upon a support team of “rope holders.” When
William Carey, often referred to as the “father of modern missions,” was leaving
for India as a missionary, he told a group of interested friends: “Saving
souls can be likened a to a man drowning in a deep well and a volunteer can do
nothing unless there are people who will hold the rope for him to be
lowered till he reaches the drowning man, and then pull them both up to
safety.” Carey added, “I will go to India as a volunteer to seek sinners
drowning in the well of sin. But I cannot do it alone. I need rope holders.
Will you be my rope holders?” Obviously not everyone can be on the
frontline at the same time. The army has known this principle for centuries. For
every soldier on the front line of the battle there are several others who act
as his support team. In the same way, missionaries have always depended on a
support network of faithful people doing the unsung but necessary work behind
the spiritual battle lines. That is because mission is all about teamwork.
There are lots of things to be done, including praying, giving, serving, and
encouraging other team members. We are all missionaries, but we all come to the
mission with different skill sets, different gifts, and different levels of
training and ability. But God wants to use every one of us to accomplish His
mission here in Ourtownistan where
He has placed us. We are all needed.
MAIN BODY:
Principle #5:
Missionaries are committed to go where “they” live.
That statement needs some clarification. First, who do I mean by “they.”
I am talking, of course, about the people to whom we have been sent by God, to
share the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ, the people here in
Ourtownistan. We all know that just getting on an airplane and flying to
another country does not transform a person into a missionary. In fact, during
my years in Brazil I met lots of American Christians who were not missionaries.
Some were businesspeople, working for big corporations. They generally lived
lives that were 100% American. They ate only American food, always hung out
with other Americans, they sent their children to American schools, attended
Calvary International Church with services in English, spoke only English, and
had almost no social contacts with Brazilians. Yet they lived in Brazil! How
sad and how short-sighted!
But sadder yet were a
few “missionaries” I knew who were almost as bad. They learned Portuguese, more
or less, and could preach and teach in the language, and they were usually
involved in some kind of Brazilian church, but in their homes and in their “off
duty” social contacts they had little voluntary contact with Brazilians. They
had been sent to Brazil as missionaries. Their supporters back home thought
they were real missionaries. They wrote missionary letters to their supporters
giving glowing reports of all that God was doing, but in reality they did
everything possible to avoid living with the people, getting to know and
understand them, and getting to be known and accepted.
So when I say that as a
missionary I need to “go where they live,”
I am not talking about the place as much as a mindset that reveals my
commitment to live among the people, have them for my closest friends, spend
time in their homes and have them over to my house, take vacations together,
celebrate our kids’ birthdays together, laugh at one another’s jokes and cry
when we have to be separated from one another. Here are some practical
suggestions about things we can do to truly “live among the people”:
GO TO THEM –
You must take the initiative. It sounds strange, but sometimes we can be so
busy doing church stuff that we do not ever have a chance to spend time with
non-Christians. I learned while serving in Brazil that it was easy to get busy
with “missionary stuff” and fail to spend time in the community. How pointless
is that! Why go all the way overseas, if you are never going to walk out your
front door and meet some people?
DO TALK TO STRANGERS – Ignore what your mother always told you. Learn to do
“small talk” and develop the art of conversation.
ü Shake hands and introduce yourself by name.
ü Ask people questions about themselves. We all love to
talk about ourselves. If you want to know what their interests are or what they
think, ask them – then listen to their answer. They may follow suit and
do the same, opening a door for a new friendship to begin.
ü At a wedding reception ask: “So how do you know the bride
and groom?”
ü At a little league game or football match say: “So which
one is yours?”
ü At a community gathering ask: “So have you always lived
here?”
FIND COMMON GROUND –
Look for relational connections. You may not have Jesus in common, but there
must be a hundred other things you could have in common. You just need to find
out what they like to do. Are you willing to learn some new tricks? Let
me ask you, what do you think a 2020 Christian “fisher-of-men” might look like?
– A golfer maybe? A ballroom dancer? A community-theatre actor? A library volunteer?
Too often our only contact with unbelievers is when it is on our turf and our
terms. I recently read about a guy who wanted to carry the Gospel where “no man
had gone before,” so he joined a group of Muslims for prayer at a mosque and
ended up having the opportunity to respond to their questions about
Christianity. I would never have thought of that, but he did.
REMEMBER THAT NON-BELIEVERS ARE NOT ALL BAD – Just because they are not believers, does not mean
they cannot contribute something meaningful to your life. Going deep in
relationships comes because of sharing and doing life together. If you share
openly with them and let them participate in your life, they will do the same
in allowing you to go deep with them relationally.
FORM INTER-CONNECTIONS – Think in terms of networks—with their friends and family, and they with
yours (e.g. a backyard barbeque with some neighbours and some friends from
church). The advantage for you is that your scope of influence expands, and you
gain credibility. For your new friend, they benefit from getting to know more
believers like you and feel like they are more a part of your life. It is also
possible that a Christian friend of yours will serve as a better connection to
one of your non-Christian friends.
KEEP IT REAL –
Let them see what a Christian’s life is really like. Let them see the good and
the bad. People are drawn to authenticity. Hypocrisy repels.
ATTACK OBSTACLES TO FAITH THROUGH PRAYER – Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.” We need to be
alert to the spiritual strongholds and barriers to faith whether physical,
social, or spiritual and address them in prayer.
POINT THEM TO JESUS – not to the church, or to other believers, authors, Christian musicians,
speakers, etc. What they need is to meet Jesus. He is the only One who can save
them and free them.
Principle #6:
Missionaries start out by carefully surveying their mission field. What
do I mean by that? Well, if you were sent to a new mission field what would be
the things you might want to know about your new home and the people who
already live there? Upon arriving in his mission field, a good missionary
begins to observe where people hang out. He watches. He keeps his eyes open and
he asks questions. He looks for places where men congregate, and he begins to
hang out there. He notices where families go on the weekends and he makes a
point to take his family there too. He learns about the national sport and goes
to a few matches. He begins listening to their music and learns about the
musicians and the various musical styles. Instead of tuning in to the BBC or
CNN he makes a point to listen to local stations in the language he is trying
to learn. He avoids spending time with other Expats in favour of spending time
with the native people. He goes to cafes and initiates conversations with
college students. He eats local food every chance he gets.
So then, how about our
mission field? How might we benefit from doing a better job of observation and
strategic planning?
Principle #7:
Missionaries make it their goal to learn the heart language of the people
they are trying to win. You might be thinking, “Well at least there is one thing we can
scratch off our list.” But not so fast! By “language” I am not only
referring to English, Spanish, or Portuguese. I am talking about how people
communicate with one another, and the fact is, Christians and non-Christians
speak two vastly different languages. If Sam and Silvia Seeker were to walk
into our average adult Sunday School class how much do you think they would
really understand? If Sam and Sylvia Seeker happened to drop in on a Sunday
morning worship service, how much of it would really be intelligible to them
and make any sense? Not much!
That is why it is so
interesting that we Christians continue to hold on to a broken and unbiblical
way of doing church. To what am I referring? The only experience most of us have ever had is the church pattern referred
to by mission strategists as the “Attractional
Model.” By this we mean that for the most part, Sunday morning is an
event that is intended to attract people. We live in the eternal
hope and expectancy that lost people will just magically show up at church to
hear the Gospel and get saved. The thought chain goes like this: “They will come on Sunday morning because
our church is so pretty. When they come through the door, we will dazzle them
with our genuine caring and hospitality and our coffee bar in the narthex. When
it is time for the sermon the preacher will clearly explain the Gospel. At the
close of the service he will give an invitation for people to make decisions.
They will come forward and ask Jesus into their hearts, and then the church
will process them through various programs to turn them into real disciples.” It
is a perfect picture except for one thing. This model expects that the
“outsider” will just up and decide to come to the church. However, the clear
biblical mandate is that the church is to go to the lost, not the other
way around. And it is obvious that in this post-Christian era
we who are in the church can no longer
assume that people in the world have any context or category by which to filter
the church experience or the message about Jesus and His saving grace. The
Attractional Model has never been biblical.
Moreover, it no longer works! A wise man once observed, “If your horse has died, dismount.” Enough said.
CONCLUSION:
So,
what is the alternative to the “Attractional Model?” It is what we call the “Missional Model.” Briefly, it
acknowledges that Jesus has sent us into the world to accomplish a mission.
Jesus expects us to go out to the “highways and byways” and to literally “beat
the bushes” to find those who are lost.
The attractional model assumes that the lost will come looking
for us. In a missional model the church finds ways to go into all the
world, to be among “the tax collectors and sinners” and to introduce them to
the Saviour.
Our mission statement
says, “We are here to win people to Jesus Christ and to help them grow to be
like Him.” Having a mission statement implies that we have a
mission, and having a mission leads us to the obvious conclusion that we
are missionaries. The only question is: Are we good missionaries or lousy missionaries? Are we being successful
in carrying out our mission or are we caught up in status quo maintenance jobs
that sap our energies and blind us to what we are here on this mission field to
accomplish?
FEEDBACK:
What
is your reaction to what I have shared in this session? The Bible teaches us
that we are all missionaries, but are we all genuinely invested in this
missionary venture? Does any of this make sense to you or do you think I am all
wet? And if I am on the right track, what difference might it make in helping
us accomplish our mission here in Ourtownistan?
15
Guiding Principles that Govern All Missionary Service:
- Own
the Great Commission individually
- Embrace
God’s call personally
- Identify
your source of strength and acknowledge your weaknesses
- Build
a support team of “rope holders”
- Go
where “they” live
- Survey
the mission field
- Learn
their languages
- Love
the people genuinely
- Adopt their culture and history as our own
- Feel their needs and sincerely empathize
- Contextualize the Gospel and proclaim it in culturally relevant ways
- Develop friendships that last
- Conserve the harvest
- Celebrate the results
- Return and continue the process
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