Skip to main content

Real, Live Missionaries

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?

Comments

Elaine said…
What a great encouragement to all. I too was enthralled when at the age of 10 a missionary stayed in my home. I am a1997 graduate of Central and am now a missionary in Ghana. I formed a nonprofit called FosteringHopeInternational. We are reaching childrren who have been orphaned or disadvantaged by providing a boarding/day school for them. I so enjoy reading your post. Elaine Brown

Check these out

Confessions of a Recovering Southern Baptist

I am grateful for my heritage as a Southern Baptist.  I was exposed to the Bible and worship from a very young age.  I grew up in a church in south Alabama that supported the Cooperative Program of missions giving.  This meant that our church had the benefit of being part of a supportive group of local churches and the educational opportunities that afforded. Our state convention provided varied and effective ministries with groups like orphans, ethnic groups, and college students.  We supported missionaries at home and abroad.  We had good Bible study and training literature (which we paid for, of course).  I went to an accredited seminary and paid a remarkably low tuition.  Wherever you went on a Sunday morning (in the Southeast and Southwest, at least), you could find a church that sang the familiar hymns and studied the same Bible lesson. In hindsight, I realize that this Southern Baptist utopia was imperfect.  There were significant theological differences, often geograp

The Bible Tells Me So

As I read the story of the Good Samaritan during my devotional today, I was reminded of the times that I have heard the story in the Christian education setting of the local church--as a youngster in primary and intermediate classes (old terminology), as a young adult in college classes, and then as an adult, often teaching the passage myself.     The characters and story line are very familiar due to these experiences of Christian education. These are challenging times for Christian education in the church.  Like so much of what is happening in the church today, the old forms do not seem to support present needs.  What once worked no longer seems to be effective.  Christian education or the formation of believers is in a state of flux. In an article on ethicsdaily.com , retired professor Colin Harris addresses this issue. He points out that the period of the 60’s and 70’s  “saw the beginnings of a loss of vitality within the educational dimension of church ministry, as the

Metaphors of the Kingdom of God

In a recent blog , consultant Seth Godin addresses the power of metaphor.   He points out, “The best way to learn a complex idea is to find it living inside something else you already understand.”   In other words, “this” is like “that.” “When you see a story, an example, a wonderment,” says Godin, “take a moment to look for the metaphor inside.”   Jesus turned this around.   In the use of parables, he told a story or provided a metaphor and challenged his hearers to see the truth within. For example, in his teaching on the Kingdom (or Reign) of God in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to such things as a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a net, a king, and a landowner.   His hearers are encouraged to use their imaginations to understand something that they had never experienced.   He also attempted to shift their perspective so that they might see signs of the Kingdom breaking into their present reality.  These are metaphors for the Kingdom. Where do w

The Tragedy of Willow Creek Community Church

File photo of Steve Carter, Heather Larson, and Bill Hybels As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to pray for Willow Creek Community Church.   On the eve of the Global Leadership Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by the church in cooperation with the Willow Creek Association, church leadership imploded as a result of further allegations against former pastor Bill Hybels. Last year, Hybels introduced the team who would assume church leadership upon his retirement--lead pastor Heather Larson and teaching pastor Steve Carter.  Although the founding pastor planned to stay on to assist in a time of transition, reports of sexual impropriety involving Hybels surfaced early this year.  He accelerated his departure from the church and left the board of the Willow Creek Association. When other charges emerged last week, teaching pastor Carter resigned. On Wednesday evening, Larson and the entire elder board--lay leaders who provide accountability on behalf of the congreg

A Future for the Global Leadership Summit?

Craig Groeschel, the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. The Global Leadership Summit which began as a project of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and its founding pastor, Bill Hybels, over 25 years ago was held this week without Hybels. For several years, the GLS has been now produced by the Willow Creek Association, a spin-off organization and a loose network of churches but Hybels has been its driving force. Attended by thousands at the church facility in South Barrington and broadcast to thousands more at satellite locations, the annual meeting brings together not only evangelical leaders but outstanding speakers from business, charitable organizations, politics, and business.  For the first time, Hybels did not appear due to allegations of sexual impropriety brought against him over the past year by former employees, staff members, and business associates.  He has already left the church and resigned from the board of the association.