I still have the newspaper clipping inviting readers to
come to a local Baptist church and hear “a real live missionary.” Some of my earliest heroes were
missionaries. I grew up with a high
regard for them, whether they served in the United States or overseas. I can remember when I was a college student
and had the opportunity to actually host a missionary who had served in Africa
and to take her to dinner. I bombarded
her with questions about the country where she served and the work she did, and
she graciously responded with information and insights about the people she
served and loved. To many in my generation,
being a “real, live missionary” was the highest calling a Christian could
attain.
Times have changed and the way that we do missions is certainly
changing. Although we have been
encouraged by leaders in recent years to “keep your mission gifts coming or we
will have to bring the missionaries home,” the truth is that most denominations
can no longer sustain the missionary enterprises they once supported. This is certainly not the end of world
missions, but the way we do missions must be reconsidered. There are any number of options available.
Some believe that missions is now the responsibility of
the local congregation. The “golden age”
of world missions actually began with mission societies and fellowships that
were not part of the churches but sought their support to put missionaries on
the field. After a time, denominations took
the lead in missions and simply asked the churches to provide the people,
money, and prayers to keep the endeavor going.
In the 21st century, churches—especially larger congregations—can
actually “do” missions themselves. They
do not want someone far away making the decision about where they mission
dollars will go and where their mission projects will be done. Although they sometimes seek denominational
support, many churches are taking the initiative to put missionaries or even
entire missionary teams on the field.
Some congregations are, in reality, becoming mission boards in their own
right.
Of course, some individuals who feel a call to a
particular mission develop their own mission boards or organizations to respond
to the need. They are entrepreneurs who
discover the place of need, develop the strategies to respond to that need, and
then mobilize the resources to accomplish the mission. A hybrid of this approach is the individual
or couple who discern a calling to a particular ministry, find a missions organization
that does that type of work, then raises their own support from family and
friends to become part of the organization’s work.
Perhaps one of the more radical approaches (but by no
means unusual in this day) is adopted by those who take seriously the idea that
every Christian has a missionary calling and seek to insert themselves in
places where they can live, work, and be the presence of Christ in that situation. Like the Apostle Paul, they are tentmakers
who pursue their secular vocation in a place where they can also follow their
vocation of being a believer. In a
global economy, this approach is becoming even more attractive and feasible.
What other options are out there for those who recognize
not only the barriers but the opportunities in our world? I have no doubt that God continues to call men
and women to go to places where the Gospel has not been heard, but the way that
they go about it is certainly changing.
What is the spirit of God saying to us?
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