Mobilizing Near Culture Mission Efforts

It is not about who can do it best, or the quickest and easiest.  And it is certainly not about who can do it for the least amount of money!

It is about results.  It is always about results.  And the best part is that it is also about relationships.

So, Who is the Best?

Suppose there is an unreached people group somewhere in the world your church wants to reach.  Actually there are over 6600 of them as of today.  How might you reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Consider the fact that there are most likely Christians and churches in nearby societies who could reach them better than you.  This is because they look more similar, speak more similarly, and understand so much more than you.

Consider also, that it is probable that they might need and want some training in strategy and skills, or other foundational matters.  It is highly likely that you would be able to provide what is needed, or find it for them.

And be aware that there might be an enormous amount of history of which you are unaware.  This history is reality, and it comes with fears and misunderstandings.  It will take patience and perseverance to bring transformation with the Gospel.

What will you do to build relationships, and share a common vision?  What will you do to truly share the mission, not take it for yourself nor push it all on them?

It is Not Us or Them, but All of Us Together

Doing it alone, especially if you are well resourced, can accomplish a lot sometimes, but not most times.  What appear to be astounding results very often prove to be very short-lived, if you take the time to honestly examine the long-term results.

In the long run developing partnerships will have the greatest impact.  It is not about who is better equipped.  It is about equipping, and even more important, it is about empowering others!

There is one People of God spread out over the globe.  The key is working together in spreading the Gospel, planting churches, developing leaders and fulfilling the larger vision of the Kingdom of God.

The concept of working together is not usually worked on enough.  If it hasn’t become hard to do, then you probably haven’t yet attained real togetherness, real partnership or deep relationship.

Think Resourcefully

When considering reaching the unreached, let us consider how near-culture cross-cultural mobilization might be more effective in both the short-term and in the long-term.  And let us allow this to inform our strategy, correct our assumptions and channel our desires for the Gospel mission.

Let us not be quick to assume a solution.  Let not our first assumption be that we alone need to place our own residential missionaries to get the job done, or simply pay national workers to do it, or get them the best materials, or send the best short-term teams, or whatever sounds quick, easy and inexpensive.

Very often, most of the resources necessary are close by!

For The Thrill Of The Hunt

Each year a delight of many young children is an Easter egg hunt.  Finding each egg brings great excitement!

Similarly, God has hidden His elect, those chosen for salvation, all around the world for the Church to find by going out and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Election and Effort

It is popular today to think of the doctrine of election as contrary to evangelistic effort.  If God has already determined whom He will save, then why should we share the Gospel, what difference will it make?  Yet, at the beginning of the modern mission movement, it was those who cherished these doctrines of God’s sovereignty in salvation who so often led the way in pioneering mission.

The Apostle Paul spoke and wrote very strongly about God’s sovereignty in salvation in many places in Scripture.  At the same time he was the most zealous and successful of all missionaries.  Such ideas are often combined closely as a good fit.

For example, he summarized his life and ministry, and his motivation with these words in 2 Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

Guaranteed Success

We have a guaranteed success.  We know that God will save His chosen ones and that He will do it by means of the Gospel.  So, when we speak about Christ, people will get saved!

There is a great sense of freedom when we understand that our faithfulness extends to proclamation only.  God does the converting.  We should ask ourselves therefore, if we are preaching enough?

It is easy to become preoccupied with building comfortable Christian lives and churches.  And then, one day it dawns on us that when we talk about evangelistic efforts, our best stories are further in the past than we realized.

We need to regain the vision, the courage and the sacrifice.  We need to get out there and re-experience the thrill of the hunt.  This can be done any day we choose to do it—whether it is in our own communities, or in less reached communities nearby.  Better yet, just get on a plane and go to the places where no one has yet heard!

The thrill of the hunt can be experienced as pleasant and fun as children on an Easter egg hunt.  The thrill can also be experienced as wild as a safari hunting expedition filled with real dangers.  Which adventure would you like to try?

Knowing The Gospel Better Than Jesus

How is this possible?!

Jesus Christ is the Lord God who came from heaven proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom.  Obviously, He knows it best. It is His Gospel. He preached it. He lived it. He Himself is it!

No one actually claims to know the Gospel better than Jesus, of course. Yet, Christians sometimes take these three approaches to the Bible and life that make it look like they do.

Some Add to the Gospel

One approach is to add information or requirements to the message Jesus preached.  But, what He actually preached is infallibly preserved in the four accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Listen and make careful comparison.

Many people like to read between the lines and add information that is not in the biblical text.  They often assume certain motivations on the part of biblical characters in order to reach a particular pre-conceived conclusion about a matter.

But even more often, people read their own experiences and desires into the Bible.  They find their own guidelines that they think should be in the Bible in order to generate greater holiness among God’s people.  Such impositions are one form of legalism.

Some Subtract from the Gospel

The second approach is the opposite.  Sometimes people overlook or conveniently leave out the uncomfortable parts of the Gospel message, because it is personally difficult or it is embarrassing to have to put forth in their society.

But even more often, people seek to reinterpret passages in order to keep certain parts of their lives untouched, even though the Holy Spirit is convicting them otherwise.  One tell-tale sign is the length of time and amount of reasoning it takes to persuade other Christians of their view.  Such detractions are one form of libertinism.

We can trust God with His Word.  God didn’t leave anything out, nor add anything unnecessary.  It is perfect exactly the way it is.

Some Distort the Gospel

This is either great arrogance or even greater stupidity.  That is to think that the message and will of the Lord Jesus Christ is only contained in those four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  This is a more serious form or subtraction.

Some want to pit the Bible against itself and discount anything and everything Jesus isn’t recorded as saying, denoted by red letters.  This is to throw away God’s Word and its clarity and authority in our lives.

Jesus Christ is the eternal God, the second person of the One Triune God.  The will and intent of God is unified.  And so the Holy Spirit wrote it all in concurrence with the Father and the Son.  In a very real sense Jesus wrote the whole Bible.

Cherish the Word

It is disappointing to say the least, to hear Christians reason in ways that exalt themselves above God and His Word, thinking they actually know the Gospel better than Jesus.  It is not that difficult to understand.

These words of Moses to the Israelites are later quoted by the Apostle Paul about the Gospel in his letter to the Christians in Rome:

Deuteronomy 30:11–14 ESV ““For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

We cannot improve upon the Gospel, upon the Bible.  Instead, we ought to cherish the Word as God’s holy Word to us, for true knowledge of Him and true instruction for our lives.

The Last Thing The World Needs Is Another Church Like Yours

Churches are expected to do certain things, church things.  But, one of the worst things a church can do is to just do church, in general terms.

No Church Needs to be a Generic Church

Many churches spend all their time, energy and resources on only fundamental church activities.  These include preaching, teaching, praying, counseling, programming, worshipping, supporting missionaries, outreaching and fellowshipping to name a few.

A lot of pastors and people think church should just be about doing church and the basic things the Bible says.  This sounds noble and spiritual, but the more you think about it, it sounds lazy.

Even if it works, it could work so much better if we put serious effort into crafting a specific vision for the future.

For example, although the Bible teaches about marriage, no one wants to live out marriage in general terms, just doing marriage.  The same goes for our jobs and recreation.  We long for uniqueness, passion and purpose!

Push your leaders.  Leaders need to do the hard work of leading, not simply managing ministry.  No one should have to suffer a generic church.

Each Church is a Unique Church

It is so invigorating to discover God’s specific calling for your specific church!

Analyze your community and other locations where you are doing ministry or would like to be doing ministry, even globally.  What makes the society the way it is, and the people the way they are?  Do you need to do more research?  Make a long list.

Evaluate your currently available resources.  What knowledge, skills and ministry desires do people in the congregation have?  Who are your leaders?  What assets might you have that no other church nearby has?  Do you need to acquire anything?

Identify opportunities.  What does the community need that is not currently being addressed?  Who else cares about this that might be a potential partner?  Who has the connections?  Many amazing opportunities are hidden and it is going to require effort to search them out.  Create a team to do this, perhaps.

By now there should be a lot of ideas, almost too many.  Select a few and develop them into big broad goals to work on for 5-10 years.  Soon you will realize that these need to be broken down into 2-3 key strategic initiatives for each major goal.  And leaders are going to be needed for all these new initiatives.  You get the idea.

By a lot of serious prayer and strategic analysis, think about what God might accomplish through your church in ten years, if He directs and blesses all these plans of yours?

Embrace your context, resources, opportunities and think, pray and dream big!

Every Church Can be a Great Church

Some churches need to realize that they are not as great as they think they are, or as great as others say they are.

And even if it is true that they are great, it might not be the case given a different social and ministry context.  We shouldn’t cheat in doing ministry by copying one another.  The last thing a community needs is a ministry approach that doesn’t fit it well.

It is not that hard to craft a vision unique to your church and truly relevant to your ministry communities.  In fact, you might be the ones that know best how to make a significant Gospel impact!

We should be encouraging growth, creativity, and development of all sizes and all types of churches to fulfill their God designed potential and accomplish the goals put before them using the array of gifts granted to them at the present time.  And celebrate it all!

When Your Enemy Falls

We teach our children to be good winners in sports.  We teach them not to gloat, to be humble and show respect for others.

Similarly, this approach works in all areas of life, as this Proverb instructs.

Proverbs 24:17–18 ESV “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.”

Don’t Rejoice

This is a great temptation—to gloat in victory over our enemy’s loss.

We all have personal enemies, people who don’t like us.  Some will take every opportunity to disparage us.  Others may directly oppose us, even to the point of violence.

It is challenging to rejoice in God and His victory for us over our enemies, which we should and must do, and then not rejoice in the wrong things.  We must not give ourselves glory for the victory, or think we are on equal moral standing as God Himself, or turn justice into torturous vengeance, or play the Judge in a twisted delight at the pain of others even though it is deserved.

We are to be concerned for people, even our enemies, because even they are made by God in His image.  As the Lord Jesus taught us, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

We might even hope for their salvation, or simply ask God for mercy for them in their misery.  Have you ever known compassion for your enemies in their troubles?  What do you think such compassion might accomplish in your own soul?

Yahweh Sees It All

We don’t want to displease God by our improper delight in His victory on our behalf.  Yahweh is perfectly holy in all His dealings.  He is also perfectly holy in His delight in His own justice and wrath.  But, we are not so holy.

Supporting His People’s unholy attitudes is almost worse than the injustices of the enemies themselves, because we then pervert His perfect justice, and the way it will be viewed by others.

We would then make Him look bad, and as the Proverb says, He would recoil from us and our cause, at least for the time being.  Eventually, He would accomplish all His purposes.  This Proverb is drawing our attention to His holiness and our lack of it.  God Himself, warns us, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay!” (Deuteronomy 32:35)

Have you ever seen God do this:  support the cause of His people, then when they pervert what He is doing He withdraws?

Dealing uprightly with our enemies is a lifelong challenge that brings about greater maturity in Christ.  When your enemy falls, be a good winner.  You will be winning quite often with God on your side.  May we please God in our response to His works of righteousness, rejoicing in Him and remaining humble.

(See related blog:  O Lord, Smite My Enemies, But In A Loving Sort Of Way.)

Censorious Christians

We all know them in real life.  They are those people who scrutinize our words, actions and choices, and who are ever ready to impose their scruples on others.  Such Christian censors also lurk on social media, inspecting your life, examining your lifestyle and comments.

What They Do

They severely criticize.  That is what they do.  They are self-appointed policemen of your social media life.  They examine your comments, posts and life choices and then confront you in a public online forum.  Often, they hardly even know you personally, just slightly and only as acquaintances.

Sometimes I wonder if such people live anything resembling a real life, a normal life.  How can anyone have so much time on their hands to meddle in other peoples’ lives?! 

We ought to trust the Holy Spirit to bring about holiness in one another.  We ought to trust one another to grow in character, and to mature in our judgments.  Wisdom and guidance from the Spirit is needed to know when and how to insert ourselves into others’ lives.

Believe it or not I have received phone calls within minutes of posting, liking, tweeting or commenting on something.  And what is even more ridiculous is when I get a call, text or message about the social media activity of friends or family of mine.  

Using Spirit-empowered self-control, I find a diplomatic way of saying, “Contact them directly and see what happens, coward!”  This is to curtail the inordinate amount of gossip that happens under the guise of concern.

What to Do with Them

There are a number of options.  The best option is to delete and block them, thus consigning them to internet oblivion.  (Oops!, I might get a comment about that one.  Oh, well.)

If you are not comfortable with that option there are other creative options.  Another choice is to do nothing.  Let the comment hang there without a response for a few days.  It frustrates them and their purposes, while others are watching and waiting to see what you might do.

Or you might enjoy commenting directly and fully engaging with them.  This can be a lot of fun.  But you really have to have the time, because they certainly will make the time in their schedule.  It will require vigilant monitoring and quick-witted responses.  You will almost always win, but it can be exhausting and it leaves others wondering about you.

In the end, I have found it is simplest to create a special category for the “censorious,” exclude them from viewing certain things, thus protecting them from what they just can’t handle.

A Mediating Solution

Some of my best friends and colleagues qualify as censors.  And I love them dearly.  Many of them are genuinely concerned about the spiritual well-being of others.  Yet, I often pray for them to gain much greater humility and much greater wisdom.  

Sometimes I wonder how well they know the Gospel and its freedom and understand its full applications.  Do not give in to them.  (See related post and more direct application of this verse at “Christian Freedom Spies.")

Galatians 2:4–5 ESV “Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.”

Also, I counsel them that initial confrontation, if truly warranted, needs to be private and one-on-one (Matthew 18).  If they do not have the spiritual courage to approach it this way, they should probably recuse themselves from social media censorship.  They will sleep much better, and so will the rest of us.

Real and genuine accountability is only going to take place in a real and genuine local church, among friends.  This should be a high priority for all of us to find such a place and submit ourselves to its fellowship and leadership in our lives, and take responsibility to help others on their journey of holiness in Christ.