MISSIONS: Are You a World Christian?

The mission statement of our partnership says: “The e-mission of our church is to exalt Jesus Christ as Lord, evangelize others to know him as Savior, to encourage believers to become equipped and empowered disciples who engage the world with faith, hope and love…and the greatest of these is love.” My focus is on the last phrase. What does it mean to be disciples of Jesus who engage the world?

This may sound a little daunting at first. How can our small churches touch the big, complicated world out there? It could be more possible than we might think.

Last Monday morning when I turned on the morning news some of the first images I saw was of that of the President trying to sell Health Care, then more news about Michael Jackson’s death, a picture of Hurricane Bill, and then right at the end, a personal photograph of a normal, average Minnesota couple on an outing, with a little squirrel jumping up in front of their camera as if he was posing with them. The picture they made quickly became national news. How? It was posted straight from their digital camera on the internet. Some people first figured the picture was doctored in some way, but right when the guy was taking a picture with his remote, the little squirrel, living in the park, very used to humans, and thinking the clicking sound of the camera might mean some free food, just happened to pop up in front of the camera at the right moment.  What captivated me most was not just how quickly the little squirrel popped up, but how quickly this simple, small, intimate personal photo shot reached the eyes of the watching world.

We live in that kind of time when the lines between what is local, what is national or considered worthy of being called world-wide is being blurred. The smallest, most remote message can quickly emit into the whole, wide world and in a matter of seconds. The world is within seconds of even the most trivial message.

While there are many ways the church must engage the world with its message, I want to consider, based on the biblical text John 3: 16-17, three major motivations for the world-wide Christian mission.

I.

“For God so loved the world…”

Here we are taken directly to the heart of the matter. The whole idea of the church on mission in the world or the Christian being involved in God’s mission begins with God, not us. Christian mission was born not out of an invention of the church, the disciples, or even in suddenly in the life of Jesus, but mission began in the very heart of God, the Father.

Draw your attention briefly to three biblical texts that show the beat of God’s heart. Take your Bible and turn to Genesis 12 where God calls Abram to leave his country, his kindred, his father’s house and to go on journey to a new, unknown land. It is this final part of the blessing that still echoes in the mission of the church today: “...in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3, and also Isaiah 51:1ff, and Revelation 21:22-26).

Throughout the biblical revelation God has a heart for the nations---the world. “For God so loved the world….” Even though there is, in the Bible, a continual struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, between spirit and flesh and faith and worldliness, don’t ever take this to mean that God hates the world he has created. God hates what sin, evil, and corrupt worldly powers have done to the world, but God still loves the world. To join in with God in mission and to become a world Christian means you know and have God’s heart of concern for the world.

Several years ago, as a family, we were struggling with our daughter’s mental illness. We paid for and search out every resource we could to help her until one day, when she reached 18, she informed us that she was moving out. We had all kinds of fears for her. We loved her. We did not approve of where she was going. We did not approve of the decisions she was making. From every possible angle, she was going not just a different way, or simply her own way, but a dangerous way that would be a very difficult way. As we worked through this with one of the family counselors helping us and when it became clear that our daughter was not going to listen to reason, and probably could not reason on her own, the counselor looked at me and gave me this word of advice. “I know you don’t approve of where she is going or what she is doing, but whatever you do, don’t close your door to her. It is so easy to say, “If you go out that door now, you can never come back?” I’ve seen parents say this, and even mean to do well by it, and they may or may not stick to it, but so often it tragically happens that the child goes away, gets into trouble and then believes they have no place to come home. That is the greatest danger of all.”

At the very core of the gospel God opens his heart to the world he loves. Even though the world turns away from God, God does not turn his back on the world. This is where the Christian mission begins, when we begin to see straight into the heart of God.

II.

Second, ...he gave his only son.” God does not wait on the world to come to him, but he makes the offer of ultimate love to the world. Becoming a world mission-minded church means that we don’t wait on the world to come to us, we go to the world with the offer and the invitation of believing on and trusting in God’s son.

But this is where it gets more challenging. When we repeat those very biblical words of Jesus who says, “I am the way, truth and life and no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14: 6) or the words of the early church who preached so boldly in Acts 4: 12, that “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved”, this is where the world may not share God’s heart or ours. How can we be world Christians when the world doesn’t agree with our core message?

We all know is that you can do Christian relief work in the world without much of a problem. You can even be a follower of Jesus most parts of the world and most people will leave you alone. Many will even admire you for your faith. But in some places and among many people, if you dare to pray exclusively in Jesus’ name or you teach that Jesus is the one and only savior, you will find increasing resistance. How can we preach Jesus in a world more complicated and even more colorful than we’ve imagined?

I think there is an approach we can take that remains true to our central claim but does not intend to insult or condemn others. Once Jesus told his disciples who were about to stop a man from casting out demons and who was not one of their group: “Do not forbid him…for he who is not against us, is on our side.” (Mark 9: 39-40). This is God to know. Everyone not following Jesus is not necessarily against him.

I’m reminded of something former Baptist missionary George Braswell once shared with his students about his own mission work in Iran before the religious revolution there in the early 1980’s. He was a Christian working in a Muslim land, but at that time he was allowed to speak for Jesus as long as he didn’t speak against Islam. He told us how he learned to be a gracious guest in that strange land and how he was mostly welcomed, even appreciated by many, even as a Christian. One day, while roaming the streets, where Islamic religion seemed to permeate every nook and cranny, leaving little room for the light of Jesus, he found himself in a barber shop. What did he find on the wall of that barber shop but a picture of Jesus? That Islamic barber had Jesus on his wall, because he said, "Jesus died for him, too." Though still a Muslim, this man was open to Jesus---not against him (See Braswell’s “To Ride a Magic Carpet, Broadman, 1977).

Perhaps the most important, qualifying biblical picture of Jesus’ intention not to condemn others comes in Luke’s gospel, as Jesus has “set his face” to go to Jerusalem. In Luke 9: 51-56 we read messengers went ahead into a Samaritan village to see if Jesus could pass through their town. But the Samaritan village rejected Jesus. When James and John, some of his most trusted disciples learned of the rejection, they are ready call fire down from heaven to consume them just like Elijah did when he called fire down upon the false prophets of Baal. But when Jesus heard their desire, he rebuked them saying, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the son of man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (KJV).

What manner of spirit are we of or do we have when we teach, preach and witness to the gospel of Jesus? This is the most important question we must ask ourselves, isn’t it? Do we teach that Jesus is the only way in order to help save and include all people in that salvation, or do we teach Jesus as the only way in order to exclude and curse, even wishing their own destruction if they don’t receive what have to share? Jesus says, the manner of Spirit we have makes all the difference.

After reflecting on this text, one wonders if Jesus could have realized is that the same Jerusalem that made the Samaritans angry enough to reject him is the same Jerusalem that made Jesus weep. Perhaps in his heart, Jesus knew the Samaritans were not really rejecting him, because they didn’t even know him. Maybe they were rejecting the corruption, the hypocrisy and the failure of Jerusalem to be the light it was called to be.

Who doesn’t think here of how the great Hindu and social leader, Gandhi, also a great admirer of Jesus and even a follower of his teachings, once considered becoming a Christian until he encountered the prejudice and narrow-mindedness of some Christians in South Africa? I personally believe the “manner of spirit” present or absent from our witness to Jesus makes all the difference in what we proclaim. The gospel clearly says that Jesus is the only way, but this is not mean to exclude people but to invite all people to this one, sure, true way that God has established wholeness, salvation, mercy and eternal hope in the world. Jesus is the brightest light God has given, but this does not mean God desires to insult others or has left himself without a witness in other ways that will lead people toward Jesus and to his saving spirit of grace.

I want to consider one more text concerning Christian world witness, where Paul faced the Greek Athenians in Acts 17: 1-32. When Paul encountered firsthand their own religious ways and even more surprisingly, that in their ways they were still open for more light and new understandings, rather than condemning them for their “false” religion, he commends them and especially points to the altar they have dedicated to the “unknown god.” Seizing upon this opportunity and their open-mindedness, he then proceeds to proclaim to them the God now revealed more fully through Jesus Christ.

That was one of the greatest strokes of missionary genius found in Scripture----Paul didn’t condemn their own religion or religious efforts, but he commended them. Seeing their own religion as human part of the search for God, he then moved on to share his witness to God who is now searching for them through Jesus Christ. Paul didn’t compromise his faith by respecting or even finding areas of agreement, but he used their religion as a bridge to present good news of Jesus. Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world (John 3:17) or open-minded religion that seeks truth, but to save the world through its openness to new revelation---the true revelation of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps more than anything else, we need this kind of respectful, positive approach in our preaching, our teaching and our witness. We need to watch how we approach people, respect people as we offer them the truth we share.

III.

“Whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

After you gain God’s heart for missions and after you preach the truth respectfully to others, it is also important to realize that world Christians carry out their mission as a rescue mission, believing that people are still perishing and that, more than anything else, the world really needs God’s message of love and grace as revealed through Jesus Christ.

Do we still believe that people are perishing? Today if you talk about perishing or Hell, people think of God in the category of something worse than what Michael Vick who brutalized animals. Should we then do away with Hell in our preaching and teaching? Some Christians think so. In one recent book entitled “If Grace Where True” two theologians argue that if God’s love never fails and if grace is really grace that is full and free, then it will eventually cover everyone’s sins. Sounds good, doesn’t it? If we are caring, compassionate, and loving Christians, we might at least wish this were true. But if we are going to be biblical, evangelical, and even realistic about the world we already know all too well----a world that is filled the very real drama of both tragedy and redemption---with both the good that saves and the evil that destroys, where the actions we humans take do matter and have lasting consequences that can’t be taken back. If this is the real world, then how could we accept such an idealistic view that says all will be saved, no matter what they do or what happens? In fact, what is salvation, if it is not salvation from the very destruction and perishing that threatens all our lives?

Before we consider more about what Hell means in theological and biblical terms, let me first tell you a story that puts our hearts in right place. It puts us in the right “manner of spirit”, Jesus recommends in Luke 9.

I recall hearing years ago how a mother lost her son to addiction and an early death. During his youth, he got addicted to alcohol and drugs and ended up living a meaningless and otherwise worthless life. After his funeral the mother went to her pastor fearing that since her son had never made a profession of his faith, he was now in hell. Hearing the mother’s fears, the wise pastor attempted to comfort her. He said, “I know you are very troubled with what has happened to your son. I also know you feel a sense of guilt, whether you are really guilty or not. But what I want to ask you now is one single question. Did you love your son?”

“Of course, I did,” she answered. “Even thought he was a failure and wasted his life,” there was nothing he could do that could make me stop loving him.”

“Well, do you then think your love to be stronger than God’s? If you could love and forgive your son, no matter what he did, do you think God’s love was less than your own? The pastor continued: “If you really believe in God’s love, then rest your own troubled heart in his love. Know that there was nothing your son could do or didn’t do, that could thwart, hinder or change God’s love for him. If God’s love is not stronger and more compassionate than our love, how then could he still be God? Go back home and rest yourself in that love that is many times better, stronger and more patient than your own.

I like that story. It doesn’t do away with Hell, but it puts our hearts in the right place---with emphasis upon God’s unfailing, conquering, and unrelenting love. If there is anything we can be sure of, it must be that God is love and that his love can save us, and yes, it can even save us from ourselves. Because you see, it not just the devil that is our worst enemy, we are sometimes our own worst enemy. God’s love is so great that he can even save us from ourselves. This is at the core of the good news.

If you doubt that God’s love is this great, greater than our sins and all our wrong choices in life, just think about the one dying thief on the cross alongside of Jesus. This guy messed up his life big time—his whole life. He messed up the very gift of life he had been given all the way to the very end. We don’t know exactly how he messed up, other than being a thief, nor do we know why he did it. What we do know is that when light finally came to him, and when he found himself in presence of the Savior, he was broken, humbled, and sorry for his sins. And because he was willing to humble himself and surrender to God, Jesus forgave him and made the most wonderful promise: ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’

This is what God’s love can do. It can reach into the evil that has laid hold of us and can redeem the worst in us and the worse of us. We should never attempt to play God and know who can or can’t be saved. His power to save is not the problem. We can rest in God’s perfect knowledge, his unfailing love and his limitless power to forgive any sin. With this understanding of God’s love that never refuses us, even while we are still in our sins, our understanding of Hell must somewhere be located within God’s love. But how can that be? How can the fires of Hell have anything to do with love?

This brings me to the other thief on the cross. You remember him, don’t you? He’s the one who never surrendered to anyone or anything. It was his way or the highway. When he found himself in the presence of Jesus, he was unremorseful, stubborn, belligerent and cruel. No matter how hard we look into his soul, there was nothing there---there was no sign of any kind of remorse, no repentance, no sign of any humility, and no willingness to feel the heart of the Savior. There was, as the biblical text reveals, seemingly nothing left in him to save. It was not the thief’s crime or sin that was the problem, but it was because of his heartless, stubborn unwillingness to surrender to God’s light and love being revealed right before his eyes. Because he rejected the light he was given, he was left to suffer the consequence of his own actions. Because he did nothing but call good evil, and evil good, because he blasphemed the Spirit that flowed from God’s own heart to his, this man’s own words and his own selfish will became his own sentencing. God did not send him into hell, but he was already there, beginning in his own heart and mind. (Luke 23: 39-42).

This is one of the major reasons I can’t let go of the biblical teaching about hell. It’s not because God sends people to hell. The Bible does doesn’t give a picture of God sending people to hell. Hell is primarily reserved “for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). But out of his love God has made us free agents with free will so that we have the real ability to determine our own destiny and fate. True love has not only the power to hold on to us, it also must have the capacity to let go. It is not out of God’s hate for us, but his holy love that he allows us the freedom to do the unthinkable….to deny the very life, the very love and the light he gives. Love is not love unless there is freedom to absolutely reject it. The fires of hell Jesus talks about both figuratively and literally are the ultimate warning that our actions will have consequences---lasting ones. God is love, but he is love that is both holy and just. (In fact, the philosopher Kirkegaard once asserted how evil could take hold of someone in such a way it becomes debatable whether or not they are still to be called a person).

But who would reject such love and justice? Who in their right mind would reject the love God has for them? That very question is where our knowledge is limited, but God’s knowledge is not. We don’t know who rejects love out of their right minds or who rejects love out of a troubled, or injured mind that can’t grasp the light they have been given. This is why we too must be humble in our witness to God’s truth.

Grady White was a Baptist circuit riding preacher and dairy farmer in northern rural Iredell County, back in the early 20^th century. For a while, it is reported that he preached at no less than 12 churches at one time in this area. Of course, that was a different day and time, but there is no doubt he was a very wise, gifted and respected pastor and preacher. One story I was told about Pastor White concerned a funeral he once preached when everyone knew that the guy who died was a scoundrel. There was nothing good that could be said about the fellow and everyone knew it. How was he going to reconcile this bad guy’s life with a funeral service that should be respectful of the dead?

The lines with which pastor White opened the service went something like this. “What we need to know more than what this man did or didn’t do is is that now he is in the hands of a just and loving God as one day we all will be. We entrust his soul into hands of the only one who sees and knows all things---even the deepest corners of all our hearts.”

What I like about these words, is that Pastor White knew human viewpoint is always limited. It’s not our responsibility to figure out eternity, but we are called to join with God in his rescue mission to bring love, light and hope into the places where the powers of hell still need to be conquered.

Finally, if you still doubt that we still have a world rescue mission, just consider the brokenness, corruption, darkness and oppression we still see in Afghanistan, where our soldiers are fighting this very moment. Did you see those oppressed woman on TV who had just had a new law made against them that if they refused their husbands they could be withheld food or worse, jailed?They were in prison having to have their own children come to visit, which was the only joyful moments of their lives. Tragic. Sad. Evil. Such a real, dark place of terror and destruction is real in this world. The battle is all around, and is not simply a battle resolved with bullets and bombs.

In the book, Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen tells how books, not bombs are making the real difference in the Islamic culture of Afghanistan. His story tells how he was once helped to survive a mountain climbing injury by Afghans and has stayed in that country to build schools. This simple decision to be one man on a mission is already changing the educational landscape of that country one community at a time. If battles can still be better won with books than with bombs---with the pen rather than with the sword--- just think what could happen when that culture is literate enough to encounter the message of the greatest book of all?

This is why we must stay on mission: God's heart is still for the world. He has sent us to share in his rescue mission. Does your heart beat with the heart beat of God?

© 2009 All rights reserved Charles J. Tomlin, B.A., M.Div. D.Min.