The Vanishing Ministry Called Missions

by Dick Gelina, Church Planter to South Africa (ABWE)
Published in GBMI ADVISOR, April, 2001

INTRODUCTION

If you are older than 55, then you probably will remember those week-long missionary conferences. Those were the days when Christians were challenged to pray, to give, and to go into missions. It was then, too, that many of your friends began their career on the mission field.

However, if you are younger than 55, you probably have never been in a missionary conference. Those intensive meetings have long since been consigned to the church archives. It is also very possible that you have never been challenged to consider your place in missions. Your world is different. It's fast; it's selfish; it's post-Christian.

You, too, have probably changed with it. One thing is evident: Not many, if any, of your friends have accepted the challenge of missions; not many of the churches you are acquainted with are focused on missions. Therefore, a challenge is in order. It is a challenge to recommit to the essential function of evangelism. It is a challenge to find new forms for evangelism that will penetrate the world in which we live.

I. How are you really doing in missions?

You have to start with goals, not yours, but God's. The first is recruitment. Recruiting workers is the Lord's explicit command, "Then saith he unto his disciples, 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" (Matt. 9:37,38). Our task can't be more clearly stated than that, can it?

Dr. Paul Beals estimates that it takes one missionary couple about 15 years to learn the language and culture of their field, sow the seed faithfully, and plant a growing, vibrant church among a group of 5,000 people. In 1984 missiologist David Bryant estimated that it would take 600,000 more missionaries than we then had to complete the task of world evangelization by the new millennium. Does it shock you that we did not, nor do we yet, come even close to that target?

Training workers for missions is a second and equally important goal. The Lord did it when he called and appointed His original 12 apostles. "And he appointed twelve, that they should be with Him, and that he might send them forth to preach" (Mark 3:14).

It is highly questionable that we are training our young people for missionary work. Although we, in the USA, are not, others are. In fact, there are 16 other nations who are sending out more missionaries per citizen than we are. Ninety percent of them are Roman Catholic. However, many Protestant young people in places like Ireland naturally assume that upon graduation from high school they will serve several years on the mission field. But what are they doing in foreign lands? Not all of them are planting churches. Paul G. Hiebert, a veteran missiologist, states, "I estimate that only 28 percent of missionaries around the world are directly involved in church planting." Yet our Lord Jesus' program is planting churches. He says, "I will build my church" (Matt. 16:18).

Can it be that American churches do not consider church planting a high priority?

Our goals should include the matter of raising funds to support the missionary cause. Paul praised the Philippian church for their generosity in giving to missions, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again" (Phil. 4:10). The support of the missionary cause was so important to them, as poor as they were, and as personally needy as they were, that they begged Paul that he "would receive the gift" (2 Cor. 8:4). Money is available in the United States and it is available in our churches. However, there are an increasing number of other projects, more important in our minds, that are taking priority.

Furthermore, the generation preceding the baby-boomers has been the principle source of financing missions and they are dying off. It is one thing to say we are doing missions; it is another to examine ourselves more closely. What we see is often very uncomfortable. It may be that our profession does not match up with our practice. A true disciple goes on to ask where he went wrong so he can make plans to correct it.

II. How did you get where you are in missions?

The missions dilemma probably came upon you without notice. You planned to slot missions into the church calendar and you did so. However, the average church develops plans without looking at either past or present trends or the growth of anti-Christian theologies. Some time ago we developed an evangelistic program in our church in northern Virginia. It worked. The church people bought into it. Some became trainers; others were being trained; still others waited their turn by supporting the program with prayer. About 60 soul winners came out every Thursday to do the work of the ministry. On one occasion two laymen made a call on an African-American couple. Both husband and wife called on the Lord for salvation and were baptized shortly thereafter. That same couple went on to Bible College and then to the inner city of Syracuse, N.Y., to plant an independent Baptist Church. Remember it started with just two laymen who were concerned about winning men to Christ. We were so thrilled, we determined to institute the same evangelistic program in the next church we planted. It fell flat. Why? Frankly, we did not read the trends in the new community. The people were not ready for it. The function of soul winning was still essential but the form had to be changed. That form could be understood only by reading the trends.

Likewise, the missionary task is doomed to failure if we do not read the signs of the times. What of the present six and a half billion people living in the world? How do we get to the masses? How shall we train them to do the work of the ministry? How do we get into those countries closed to missions that make up two-thirds of the world? What of globalization? What do we do with multiculturalism and the challenge of pluralism ("many ways to God")? How do we communicate the Gospel to people in other cultures? How can we bear witness to Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists of the uniqueness of Christ as the only way to salvation, and do so in love and without arrogance? What needs does Christ meet of people in other cultures, and where does he stand in judgment of those cultures? We cannot preach and plant churches as we might do in our own home town. Experience helps, but very little. We must read the trends. It is an overwhelming task but it is not one that is impossible for our Lord. The early church had the same responsibility as you do. Their world was "overwhelming" as yours is. So, how did they do it?

III. What attitudes are needed for missions?

The apostles learned that every spiritual victory is first won at the knee of the Lord. They had to learn that submission was all-important. Jesus was the prime example of this. He submitted Himself to the will of the Father; they must also. His example was to be followed and the priority of His proper attitude to God's will was to become theirs. Many of His lessons for those men who would replace Him in building the church are recorded in Mark 3:13-6:6. However, the first helpful word (Mark 3:20-35), dealing with proper attitudes, underlies all the others. A disciple lives for God's will. Notice the Lord's exaltation of everyone who does God's will. "For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother" (3:35). He Himself was the great example of this for he was committed to know God's will (3:20-21). Jesus knew what His heavenly Father wanted of Him. His friends—notice they were not enemies—challenged it saying "He is beside himself," but our Lord did not bend. Then His foes challenged Him attacking both His person and work. It is obvious that their claims were based on what they saw Him doing. He was working out God's will in His life. He was committed to more than just knowing God's will; he was doing God's will (3:22-30). He never wavered from His assignment though he was charged with being demon possessed and doing ministry by demonic power. This is where missions must begin: a commitment to know God's will.

Before you ever decide to be involved in missions you must be sure that missions is a valid task for the church today. Surely Matthew 28:19,20 makes it clear that evangelism is one of the three functions of a healthy church. "Go and teach all nations [evangelism], baptizing them [identification] ... and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you [discipleship]."

Once you are convinced, you must practice it with all your heart even if both friends and foes oppose you. Your church friends might question your wisdom in serving God on the mission field but you must never turn aside. Your family might resist your efforts to give to the missionary cause but you must not quit. The will of God is all-consuming. Missions must never be treated as an apple to be tasted and then discarded or a food sampler to be picked over. It is a life-time task that God Himself lays upon you. It is important that you develop a vision for God. William Carey is known for stating, "Ministry rises and falls on vision." Visionaries have more than insight, i.e., an understanding of spiritual things and times. They can see into the future and they become venturesome. Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and based upon an accurate understanding of God, of self and of the circumstances. Jesus gave such a vision to His apostles when he stated, "Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee]" Mark 4:35. Traditionally, godly Jews, those living on the western side of the Sea, did not go over to the other side. They prided themselves in separation from the citizens who worshipped Baal on the eastern shore. However, Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. He thus demonstrated His authority over the strategy of His new servants.

It is not up to you or me to lay out life's work without Jesus' counsel. It is very possible that the church, in sincerely pursuing the glory of God, will go only half way. They obey God as separatists and defend the faith but they disobey Him when they disregard His "Let us go over the other side." A fortress mentality in defending the faith, can become an obstacle to attaining a vision for God. The Lord of the church emphatically states, "Go and teach [disciple] all nations, baptizing them ... and teaching them" (Matt. 28:19,20).

Another obstacle is fear. What strange things will the apostles find in the other land? Jews herding pigs? Jews offering pigs to Baal? Facing other cultures may be unnerving but the Lord who sends us is big enough to protect us. Jesus then demonstrated His authority over Satan. In Mark 4:38, 39 Jesus rebuked the wind. This is not an act the Lord would do to something impersonal. You rebuke persons, not things. Satan was behind the storm and he was rebuked. Likewise, Jesus rebuked the demons and cast them into pigs; he didn't rebuke pigs. Mark 5:11-13. He has authority over Satan and you can count on that when you are driven by a vision of Him. You mark the presence of God in your vision when you face and solve impossibilities. Later, you look back on a difficult mission and you see the fingerprints of God. We do not deny the fearfulness of stepping out of a comfort zone. We simply insist that great opportunities are masterfully

More people today have not heard the Gospel of salvation than at any time in human history.

disguised as insoluble problems. Unfortunately, fear keeps many of us from taking advantage of those opportunities. Did not Moses face an insoluble problem in Pharaoh? Did not Paul likewise when he entered pagan Ephesus? Are the big liberal, immoral cities of our own country too much for us, even though God calls us there? It is important for us to remember that on another occasion, but in reference to the same land on the eastern shore, Caesarea Philippi, Jesus assured His disciples, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against me" (Matt. 16:18). What do we have to fear with such a great Leader?

Conclusion

I would suggest that our churches need heritage parents today. We have too many Christian parents who spell "Christian" with a small "C" and promote capitalism with a large "C" in their homes. They counsel their children to avoid ministry as a lifetime career in favor of a work that will earn them power, prestige and profit. They cannot bear to send children or grandchildren far away to a foreign land. Instead Christian parents should train their children to serve God in anyway possible.

I would suggest that our church leaders should be Barnabas pastors. They should be as Barnabas of old who sought out Saul of Tarsus to help him in the ministry of church planting in Antioch. Our leaders should be on a continual vigil, searching for promising young people and faithful couples who will join them in ministry. They will be found as missions is taught, as missionaries are invited to the church and as missionary opportunities are provided. I would suggest that our churches become more aggressive in reaching the lost. There was a day when the unsaved would come, on their own, to our churches. That day does not exist any more. In many minds, it is an embarrassment to be found in a local, gospel preaching church. In fact, we will reach them only by a changed lifestyle. We need to be serious about a holy life.

Certainly the needs are greater than ever before. More people today have not heard the Gospel of salvation than at any time in human history. God is already at work in the world preparing the hearts of people to hear the Word, and saving those who turn to Him in faith. The challenge comes to us as individuals and as churches to be obedient to God's specific call to us.