Christianity must be relevant. I hear this so often nowadays. Our church won’t grow until it becomes relevant. People in our community won’t join us until we show them that Christianity is relevant to their lives. Do you hear this? Do you agree with it?
I agree with it. I believe that we need show that the church is relevant. We need to provide people with ways into the church ways to discover it‘s relevance. These things might be parenting courses or toddler groups or things of this sort. However, we need to be careful. Are we, in trying to make the church relevant, providing people with their pudding without providing them with their main course? In today’s society people believe that truth is found in the fact that something works for them, makes them feel good. If something makes you feel good it must be right. You go to yoga and you feel more relaxed and therefore you agree that the systems behind it holds some truth for you. You go to your doctor with a headache and he gives you some medicine and it works you therefore have trust in that medicine and in the doctor (even if all he gave you was a tic-tac). What if the church is doing this? We are providing things for people that make everything feel ok. We’ve looked after their children, we’ve taught them to be better parents and how to drug-proof their kids. We’ve made them feel relaxed and comfortable. They feel good about themselves, they feel there is truth for them in what they’ve been experiencing. The question is though, what have they been experiencing? It isn’t Christianity. It might be the love of Christians, it might be some life skills initiative, but where is the challenge of the gospel? Where is the connection between what Christians can offer and what they really believe.
The church has something that is relevant. Our job is to show people just how relevant it is to them. At present aren’t we acting like a company who finds a cure for HIV, Cancer and all other known diseases and markets it as a cure for a headache? People buy it thinking that it is relevant to them as they get headaches. It’s only years later that, in a bored moment, they read the little leaflet and find in the small print that it also cures everything else. Yet they’ve only been taking it twice a year to cure a headache. These people may have died because they were only shown a superficial aspect of the drug and therefore not put it’s saving powers to work.
If, as we believe, Christianity is true and the claims of the Bible and Jesus are true then Christianity is relevant. We need to celebrate it’s truth and relevance. Are we not moving towards putting the trimmings of Christianity on display and not showcasing it’s truth, relevance and main draw. We are trying to sell Christianity through offering parenting skills, children’s groups, youth entertainment and so on when Christianity has to offer the complete forgiveness of sins, eternal life, a relationship with our creator, help on earth and a hope for the future, being a part of the body of Christ and so much more. If that is not relevant to people’s lives I don’t know what is.
Footnote: Please don’t get me wrong I believe that such initiatives that reach out into the community such as parenting courses and toddler groups (I run one myself) are brilliant and I’d love to see more of them. However, I do believe that we need to look at the whole picture and see how these initiatives are used to move people from the fringes of faith to a full belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ. We have a huge responsibility to the people on the fringes of our church not to let them stay there.
Showing posts with label fellowship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fellowship. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
When did church become so different?
When you look at the western church today what do you see? Well, I don’t know about you but this is what I see both personally and when trying to look at it from a non-church-attendee’s point of view.
1. A building
2. Services on a Sunday
3. House groups - attended by about
10-20percent of attendees
4. The odd prayer meeting
5. Some social action
6. A cluster of peripheral groups
7. Occasional meals together
8. Some youth work
Now this isn’t, of course, the whole picture. Churches differ but the majority would have something of the list above about them. So then I look at the early church, a church started by Jesus and build upon Peter and I see.
1. Devotion to the apostles teaching
2. Devotion to the fellowship
3. Devotion to prayer
4. Devotion to the breaking of bread
5. All believers were together
6. All believers had everything in common
7. Together they met the needs of the fellowship
8. They met together every day
9. They met in public
10. They met in each others homes
11. They ate together
12. They praised God
13. They enjoyed the favour of all the people
And the result… The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
When you look at the two lists they are poles apart. So it begs the question when did the church change so much? To my mind the 13 points of the early church should be our basis for church today. After all it certainly worked as the Lord added to their number EVERY DAY! When was the last time we had even two consecutive days when the Lord added to our church those who were being saved? (don’t stop and try and work it out - you’ll be there far too long). We can look at the list and find some things that we are doing - I guess praising God would be the obvious one. However, I’d also guess that the first 9 are pretty far from what most churches are doing today. The word devotion would defeat most of our churches in the first four items, Yes, we pray as churches but could we honestly say that as a church we are devoted to prayer? In reality most of us pay prayer a bit of lip service and wonder why we don’t get answers.
When you look at that second list, don’t you just pray that we could capture something of that list in our lives and in our churches? Just think for a minute what it would feel like to be a part of such a church? Just think what it would feel like and how encouraging it would be to have people added to your church everyday not just once in a blue moon? To be apart of something that is vibrant and moving and united and encompassing and driven must be a wonderful feeling. The church has changed from a movement to a stop. When did the idea that a church had to be housed in a grand building separating it from the rest of the community come from?
When I look through the early church list something in my spirit yearns to get back to that. Do you feel the same? I’ve thought of a few ways that I might start - though most of the ideas I have hinge on finding likeminded people (it’s pretty hard doing church on my own). I’d love to find a couple or couples (or families) where we could meet each week and have a meal together and talk about Godly stuff. Where we can build such a depth of relationship that prayer, sharing, devotion to one another, praising God and learning from each other becomes natural, becomes the norm. I believe that God would use such a gathering powerfully. I’d challenge you to have a think about how you could implement an early church ideal in your life. I’d love to hear your ideas and any progress you make.
1. A building
2. Services on a Sunday
3. House groups - attended by about
10-20percent of attendees
4. The odd prayer meeting
5. Some social action
6. A cluster of peripheral groups
7. Occasional meals together
8. Some youth work
Now this isn’t, of course, the whole picture. Churches differ but the majority would have something of the list above about them. So then I look at the early church, a church started by Jesus and build upon Peter and I see.
1. Devotion to the apostles teaching
2. Devotion to the fellowship
3. Devotion to prayer
4. Devotion to the breaking of bread
5. All believers were together
6. All believers had everything in common
7. Together they met the needs of the fellowship
8. They met together every day
9. They met in public
10. They met in each others homes
11. They ate together
12. They praised God
13. They enjoyed the favour of all the people
And the result… The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
When you look at the two lists they are poles apart. So it begs the question when did the church change so much? To my mind the 13 points of the early church should be our basis for church today. After all it certainly worked as the Lord added to their number EVERY DAY! When was the last time we had even two consecutive days when the Lord added to our church those who were being saved? (don’t stop and try and work it out - you’ll be there far too long). We can look at the list and find some things that we are doing - I guess praising God would be the obvious one. However, I’d also guess that the first 9 are pretty far from what most churches are doing today. The word devotion would defeat most of our churches in the first four items, Yes, we pray as churches but could we honestly say that as a church we are devoted to prayer? In reality most of us pay prayer a bit of lip service and wonder why we don’t get answers.
When you look at that second list, don’t you just pray that we could capture something of that list in our lives and in our churches? Just think for a minute what it would feel like to be a part of such a church? Just think what it would feel like and how encouraging it would be to have people added to your church everyday not just once in a blue moon? To be apart of something that is vibrant and moving and united and encompassing and driven must be a wonderful feeling. The church has changed from a movement to a stop. When did the idea that a church had to be housed in a grand building separating it from the rest of the community come from?
When I look through the early church list something in my spirit yearns to get back to that. Do you feel the same? I’ve thought of a few ways that I might start - though most of the ideas I have hinge on finding likeminded people (it’s pretty hard doing church on my own). I’d love to find a couple or couples (or families) where we could meet each week and have a meal together and talk about Godly stuff. Where we can build such a depth of relationship that prayer, sharing, devotion to one another, praising God and learning from each other becomes natural, becomes the norm. I believe that God would use such a gathering powerfully. I’d challenge you to have a think about how you could implement an early church ideal in your life. I’d love to hear your ideas and any progress you make.
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Gaining a Sense of Urgency
A few months ago I attended a seminar at Spring Harvest run by a friend of mine Rachel Gardener. It was an excellent seminar (I’d better put that in case she reads this!!) and as part of it I took part in a very thought provoking role-play. We were asked to imagine that a group of newly converted refugees had started attending our church. They were, however, going to be deported back to a country with no Christian presence in six months time. We were asked to devise a programme that would equip them with the Christian skills and knowledge they would need on their return.
There was quite a buzz as everyone in our group had something to contribute to this discussion. We talked about discipleship, links to be forged to mission agencies, trades to be learnt, prayer support to be set up, practical support for their six-month stay, gifts to be prayed for, the list went on. There was a sense of urgency and an eagerness to help. People really felt that it was something they could back and get their teeth into.
Then came the damming question…
Why don’t we do that for every single member of our congregations? It certainly is a challenge and one to which I shall return.
Many years ago I was challenged by a friend about the kind of films I watched. He said would I sit and watch 18 certificated violent films if Jesus was sat next to me? I replied that is Jesus was sat next to me I would not only not watch 18 certificated films I wouldn’t go to church, pray or go to work. I would be so interested in talking to him, getting him to pray for me, picking his brain and getting to know him more I wouldn’t have the time or the desire for anything else.
It was not until years later that I realised the absurdity of my words. Jesus IS sat next to me! Jesus IS praying for me! Jesus has given us His Word and His Spirit in order for us to get to know him better! I can pick His brain any time I want! So why don’t I?
Jesus left the disciples with a real sense of urgency. He hinted that some would still be alive at his return. They were left knowing that they had to get the job done, there was no time to waste. What has happened to this sense of urgency. Why do we constantly put off for tomorrow what we should be doing today? We have gotten so good at putting things off that we not only put things off until tomorrow we put things off permanently. We never get around to doing what we know we should. We put off things in our teens until we are adults and then put them off until we are married and then until we are retired and then we die never having done them. Yet if we knew Jesus was coming again at the end of the year we would accomplish so much for Him. We would draw close to Him in ways we have never attempted before. We would swerve Him with new vigour and determination. We would serve others with renewed love and concern.
I remember working for major supermarket in my teens. They used to display a poster in the staff area that said “Things that need to be done in the event of an Area Inspection… Absolutely nothing!!”
The implication being that good practise should be taking place at all times and when an inspection comes nothing should change. So it should be with our lives. Whether we know Christ is coming tomorrow, not for a million years or whether he is sitting right next to us nothing should change. This is far from the truth in my life and, I’m guessing, in the lives of most other Christians as well so why is this the case and what can we all do about it?
So why is this the case?
1. We live in the present and our mind is mainly focussed on the near past, the present and the near future.
2. Our lives are more easily moulded by the physical than the spiritual. What I mean by this is that we live with an “out of sight - out of mind” mentality. We are distracted by things and those around us rather than things like God and Jesus that are out of sight. The spiritual gets pushed out by the physical.
3. We focus on God’s loving, forgiving, patient, grace filled nature. We know when we fail God will forgive us, pick us up, brush us off and give us a fresh start. We conveniently forget His Wrath and Judgement and that we are created to glorify Him.
What can we do about it?
1. Take small steps. If we don’t break the task before us into small steps we will look at the big picture be overwhelmed and therefore do nothing. There is no point in diving headlong into a spiritual change, overdo it and after a week be back where we started. Think of one thing that we could do this week to improve the situation. Once you’re mastered that move on to something else.
2. Why is our spiritual life any different to the rest of our life? If we want to lose weight, be better organised, further our career or take up a hobby we plan. We set goals, make lists, plan our diary, seek advice and so on. So it should be with our spiritual life. We need achievable goals to head towards and advice on how to achieve them. I remember Graham Cooke saying that we should always ask ourselves how our relationship with God, how our praise and worship of God and how our service to God will be better this year than it was last year. This won’t just happen we need to work on it.
3. We need to surround ourselves with people that will join us, encourage us, share our struggles on this journey. Our Christian friends are the best physical aid to our growth as Christians. We need to be there for each other, we can’t journey successfully on our own. We need to work on devices with our friends that can enable us to be that motivation for each other.
4.We need to develop a sense of urgency. Be this through prayer or conversations with friends we need to have a sense of immediacy in our lives. I used to work with someone who lived with a sense that tomorrow she could be hit by a bus. Somehow we need to find that urgency. Jesus may not return tomorrow, we may not die tomorrow but we need to learn to live as if one of those possibilities were the case.
There was quite a buzz as everyone in our group had something to contribute to this discussion. We talked about discipleship, links to be forged to mission agencies, trades to be learnt, prayer support to be set up, practical support for their six-month stay, gifts to be prayed for, the list went on. There was a sense of urgency and an eagerness to help. People really felt that it was something they could back and get their teeth into.
Then came the damming question…
Why don’t we do that for every single member of our congregations? It certainly is a challenge and one to which I shall return.
Many years ago I was challenged by a friend about the kind of films I watched. He said would I sit and watch 18 certificated violent films if Jesus was sat next to me? I replied that is Jesus was sat next to me I would not only not watch 18 certificated films I wouldn’t go to church, pray or go to work. I would be so interested in talking to him, getting him to pray for me, picking his brain and getting to know him more I wouldn’t have the time or the desire for anything else.
It was not until years later that I realised the absurdity of my words. Jesus IS sat next to me! Jesus IS praying for me! Jesus has given us His Word and His Spirit in order for us to get to know him better! I can pick His brain any time I want! So why don’t I?
Jesus left the disciples with a real sense of urgency. He hinted that some would still be alive at his return. They were left knowing that they had to get the job done, there was no time to waste. What has happened to this sense of urgency. Why do we constantly put off for tomorrow what we should be doing today? We have gotten so good at putting things off that we not only put things off until tomorrow we put things off permanently. We never get around to doing what we know we should. We put off things in our teens until we are adults and then put them off until we are married and then until we are retired and then we die never having done them. Yet if we knew Jesus was coming again at the end of the year we would accomplish so much for Him. We would draw close to Him in ways we have never attempted before. We would swerve Him with new vigour and determination. We would serve others with renewed love and concern.
I remember working for major supermarket in my teens. They used to display a poster in the staff area that said “Things that need to be done in the event of an Area Inspection… Absolutely nothing!!”
The implication being that good practise should be taking place at all times and when an inspection comes nothing should change. So it should be with our lives. Whether we know Christ is coming tomorrow, not for a million years or whether he is sitting right next to us nothing should change. This is far from the truth in my life and, I’m guessing, in the lives of most other Christians as well so why is this the case and what can we all do about it?
So why is this the case?
1. We live in the present and our mind is mainly focussed on the near past, the present and the near future.
2. Our lives are more easily moulded by the physical than the spiritual. What I mean by this is that we live with an “out of sight - out of mind” mentality. We are distracted by things and those around us rather than things like God and Jesus that are out of sight. The spiritual gets pushed out by the physical.
3. We focus on God’s loving, forgiving, patient, grace filled nature. We know when we fail God will forgive us, pick us up, brush us off and give us a fresh start. We conveniently forget His Wrath and Judgement and that we are created to glorify Him.
What can we do about it?
1. Take small steps. If we don’t break the task before us into small steps we will look at the big picture be overwhelmed and therefore do nothing. There is no point in diving headlong into a spiritual change, overdo it and after a week be back where we started. Think of one thing that we could do this week to improve the situation. Once you’re mastered that move on to something else.
2. Why is our spiritual life any different to the rest of our life? If we want to lose weight, be better organised, further our career or take up a hobby we plan. We set goals, make lists, plan our diary, seek advice and so on. So it should be with our spiritual life. We need achievable goals to head towards and advice on how to achieve them. I remember Graham Cooke saying that we should always ask ourselves how our relationship with God, how our praise and worship of God and how our service to God will be better this year than it was last year. This won’t just happen we need to work on it.
3. We need to surround ourselves with people that will join us, encourage us, share our struggles on this journey. Our Christian friends are the best physical aid to our growth as Christians. We need to be there for each other, we can’t journey successfully on our own. We need to work on devices with our friends that can enable us to be that motivation for each other.
4.We need to develop a sense of urgency. Be this through prayer or conversations with friends we need to have a sense of immediacy in our lives. I used to work with someone who lived with a sense that tomorrow she could be hit by a bus. Somehow we need to find that urgency. Jesus may not return tomorrow, we may not die tomorrow but we need to learn to live as if one of those possibilities were the case.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Don't stop meeting together...
If I’m honest I’ve never really been much of a fan of going to church. Don’t get me wrong, I’m passionate about God and Jesus and worship and other Christians etc. but it’s just church I struggle with. The church is filled with human beings and will therefore never be perfect, I accept that and also know that I am as bad as the worst of them. I’ve recently read an excellent book by David Murrow called Why Men Hate Going to Church. I would recommend it to anyone, both male and female. Having read it I now understand a little better why I don’t love attending church and have been given some good ideas on how churches could change in order to better accommodate men. However, it doesn’t give me all the answers and doesn’t help me cope until those changes are made (and let‘s face it some of the changes will never be made). Yet, I’m commanded to attend church and therefore that is what I do. I’d be interested to hear if others feel the same.
I’ve never been entirely convinced of the analogy of the church being a fire and when a coal is removed it survives for a while but then goes out. I was thinking about the whole church issue and coals dying when removed whilst I was gardening the other day. In one of those moments of clarity I believe God gave me a new analogy that for me made far more sense and also brought with it a challenge.
I was studying a group of sunflowers that are in desperate need of attention. They like us are growing towards the sun (son), reaching heavenwards, growing and flourishing. They’ve been planted and watered and with the heat from the sun have grown to their present height. However, as I previously stated, they now need attention. If they are not staked and tethered the wind will snap their stalks. If they are not watered the will shrivel and die. It the soil around them is not weeded the weeds will over-take them and crowd out their light. If they are not fed they will grow weak and feeble and may not reach maturity. If their seeds are not gathered in there will be no future sunflowers from this line.
And so it is with us Christians. We can survive on our own, at least for a little while. As we look heavenwards and lean towards the Son we need to be tended and cared for. We need to be encouraged to grow and enabled to flourish. We need to be pruned and shaped, fed and watered. We may be able to feed and water ourselves through on-line sermons and private devotionals. However, the weeds creep up un-noticed and we’re not brave enough to prune ourselves. It is in meeting with each other that we provide support against the storms of life. We feed off each other and lead each other to water. It is together that our fruit is recognised and harvested and that our gifts are recognised and honed and used.
I love Proverbs 27: 17 which states that As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. As we meet together we sharpen one another, we help to bring each other into focus. We help give each other that edge that we need to grow as Christians.
So the challenge!! I see the challenge as two-fold. Firstly, are we being supported by our church, are we being fed and watered? Are our gifts being identified, practised, honed and used? Are we supported and are we being anchored to the stake which is Jesus? Are people helping us in clearing the weeds out of our lives and are we being pruned and disciplined? If not why not? Are we allowing people that freedom in our lives to help us? So what happens if we find ourselves in churches where this isn’t happening? Well I believe that we need to be proactive. I reckon most Pastors or Vicars would be thrilled if you sat down with them and said that you would like more personal discipling or discipline or want to discover your gifts and start to put them into practise. Pastors are surely longing for their congregations to be taking radical steps to move forward with God. If you take this step and your pastor doesn’t respond it is then that you need to seriously question why you are going to that particular church. The pastor won’t always have the time themselves to explore with you in the depth that you would like, but he should have the time to find someone to get alongside you.
Secondly, are we being all theses things for those around us? Are we encouraging others to grow and giving them all we can to enable that growth? Are we being a weed in anybody’s life that is stunting their growth?
This analogy has certainly helped me in thinking through lots of different issues, I hope you’ll find it useful also.
I’ve never been entirely convinced of the analogy of the church being a fire and when a coal is removed it survives for a while but then goes out. I was thinking about the whole church issue and coals dying when removed whilst I was gardening the other day. In one of those moments of clarity I believe God gave me a new analogy that for me made far more sense and also brought with it a challenge.
I was studying a group of sunflowers that are in desperate need of attention. They like us are growing towards the sun (son), reaching heavenwards, growing and flourishing. They’ve been planted and watered and with the heat from the sun have grown to their present height. However, as I previously stated, they now need attention. If they are not staked and tethered the wind will snap their stalks. If they are not watered the will shrivel and die. It the soil around them is not weeded the weeds will over-take them and crowd out their light. If they are not fed they will grow weak and feeble and may not reach maturity. If their seeds are not gathered in there will be no future sunflowers from this line.
And so it is with us Christians. We can survive on our own, at least for a little while. As we look heavenwards and lean towards the Son we need to be tended and cared for. We need to be encouraged to grow and enabled to flourish. We need to be pruned and shaped, fed and watered. We may be able to feed and water ourselves through on-line sermons and private devotionals. However, the weeds creep up un-noticed and we’re not brave enough to prune ourselves. It is in meeting with each other that we provide support against the storms of life. We feed off each other and lead each other to water. It is together that our fruit is recognised and harvested and that our gifts are recognised and honed and used.
I love Proverbs 27: 17 which states that As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. As we meet together we sharpen one another, we help to bring each other into focus. We help give each other that edge that we need to grow as Christians.
So the challenge!! I see the challenge as two-fold. Firstly, are we being supported by our church, are we being fed and watered? Are our gifts being identified, practised, honed and used? Are we supported and are we being anchored to the stake which is Jesus? Are people helping us in clearing the weeds out of our lives and are we being pruned and disciplined? If not why not? Are we allowing people that freedom in our lives to help us? So what happens if we find ourselves in churches where this isn’t happening? Well I believe that we need to be proactive. I reckon most Pastors or Vicars would be thrilled if you sat down with them and said that you would like more personal discipling or discipline or want to discover your gifts and start to put them into practise. Pastors are surely longing for their congregations to be taking radical steps to move forward with God. If you take this step and your pastor doesn’t respond it is then that you need to seriously question why you are going to that particular church. The pastor won’t always have the time themselves to explore with you in the depth that you would like, but he should have the time to find someone to get alongside you.
Secondly, are we being all theses things for those around us? Are we encouraging others to grow and giving them all we can to enable that growth? Are we being a weed in anybody’s life that is stunting their growth?
This analogy has certainly helped me in thinking through lots of different issues, I hope you’ll find it useful also.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Missionaries Overseas
Now don’t get me wrong I think it is good and right to send people abroad to spread the Gospel amongst different people groups around the world. After all we are commanded to go into all the world... However, what I find myself constantly questioning is how we send them and how we receive them back.
Now in writing this I know I’m lumping all missionaries from every church and mission agency into one basket and for that I apologise. These observations come from a limited experience but also from many conversations with those who have had much more experience that I. I also want to state that this in no way based on missionaries that I know or trying to call into question the call that missionaries have to go overseas.
The sending out of missionaries perplexes me. You take one person and dump them in the middle of a strange country and expect them to model the Christian life of community, fellowship and relationship. To me it makes no sense. Surely the ideal would be to send out teams and I know some mission organisations do. Yet still we send out these individuals . Even Paul took along companions. I would have thought it obvious that a team of missionaries would have far great an impact that a series of individuals, but perhaps that’s just me!!
So, let’s have a look at the people we send. My question here is if we are sending people to another country to share the Gospel shouldn’t these people be the very best we have to offer? Shouldn’t they have a wealth of experience, the best possible training and most complete support package that we can offer? After all if we were a business trying to sell a new service to another country we would send our best salesman or even the MD would go himself. However, what I’ve noticed is that churches send people as missionaries that are ill equipped, inexperienced and under supported. Time and time again I hear of people being sent abroad as evangelists and church planters. When I hear of church planters being sent I always ask the question of how many churches have they planted here. The answer always comes back as, you’ve guessed it, none. We’re sending out people to foreign climes to cut their teeth and make their mistakes and play with people’s lives. They then return to plant churches in this country? Well, not that I’ve ever heard of! Doesn’t this seem a bit topsy-turvy? I have also seen missionaries sent abroad where the sending church doesn’t believe in them enough to employ them themselves in the home church context. In fact when many return with all the experience of being a missionary they return to the pew rather than the pulpit. So, are these churches missing an opportunity in using these returning missionaries? I believe we have so much to learn from those who have been out on the mission field. So much is learnt there, experienced and encountered that it seems a waste not to use that resource within the home church. Now, of course many missionaries return and are well used in the local church or continue the good work they were doing overseas back in their home country but I think it is something that each sender needs to consider. It’s exciting to send people overseas to spread the Gospel but we need to bear in mind the very practical aspects of their return as well. This may include such things are culture readjustment, housing, employment, pensions and as mentioned putting that wealth of experience to good use.
Now in writing this I know I’m lumping all missionaries from every church and mission agency into one basket and for that I apologise. These observations come from a limited experience but also from many conversations with those who have had much more experience that I. I also want to state that this in no way based on missionaries that I know or trying to call into question the call that missionaries have to go overseas.
The sending out of missionaries perplexes me. You take one person and dump them in the middle of a strange country and expect them to model the Christian life of community, fellowship and relationship. To me it makes no sense. Surely the ideal would be to send out teams and I know some mission organisations do. Yet still we send out these individuals . Even Paul took along companions. I would have thought it obvious that a team of missionaries would have far great an impact that a series of individuals, but perhaps that’s just me!!
So, let’s have a look at the people we send. My question here is if we are sending people to another country to share the Gospel shouldn’t these people be the very best we have to offer? Shouldn’t they have a wealth of experience, the best possible training and most complete support package that we can offer? After all if we were a business trying to sell a new service to another country we would send our best salesman or even the MD would go himself. However, what I’ve noticed is that churches send people as missionaries that are ill equipped, inexperienced and under supported. Time and time again I hear of people being sent abroad as evangelists and church planters. When I hear of church planters being sent I always ask the question of how many churches have they planted here. The answer always comes back as, you’ve guessed it, none. We’re sending out people to foreign climes to cut their teeth and make their mistakes and play with people’s lives. They then return to plant churches in this country? Well, not that I’ve ever heard of! Doesn’t this seem a bit topsy-turvy? I have also seen missionaries sent abroad where the sending church doesn’t believe in them enough to employ them themselves in the home church context. In fact when many return with all the experience of being a missionary they return to the pew rather than the pulpit. So, are these churches missing an opportunity in using these returning missionaries? I believe we have so much to learn from those who have been out on the mission field. So much is learnt there, experienced and encountered that it seems a waste not to use that resource within the home church. Now, of course many missionaries return and are well used in the local church or continue the good work they were doing overseas back in their home country but I think it is something that each sender needs to consider. It’s exciting to send people overseas to spread the Gospel but we need to bear in mind the very practical aspects of their return as well. This may include such things are culture readjustment, housing, employment, pensions and as mentioned putting that wealth of experience to good use.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
