A Loss of Life-long Missionaries

Posted on July 2nd, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Deep Thoughts.

It seems like all the buzz these days is short-term missions. Teens, twenty-somethings, church groups - everyone is signing up to go save the world. Pardon my sarcasm. It’s something I feel strongly about. It just appears that more and more of this generation is getting the idea that missions is an activity that you do maybe once or twice during your summers - almost as if you’re filling up your missions quota for being a good Christian. What I see lacking, is a sense of life-long missionary passion. Where are the young people whose desire is not to spend two weeks, but to spend a life? I know they are out there, but they seem to be few and far between.

Instead, we settle for the consumerism model of missions. Let me spend my two weeks and see what I can get out of it. I may not build lasting relationships, I may not culturally connect with anyone, but by golly, I sure feel good about myself after getting back. Hey, and didn’t we save ten thousand people at that street rally? Im sorry - I’m really getting sarcastic here - but it frusterates me that we think missions is all about immediacy instead of a long term approach to building relationship and sharing the gospel in the light of cultural context.

I don’t even think that you have to go overseas to be a missionary. I do think, that every Christian is called to be a missionary. This does not mean that we will all live in the jungles of Africa or the inner-city. But I do think it is a call to a missionary lifestyle - a permanent lifestyle, not just a summer fling. How are we connecting to the culture around us? Are we building relationships and studying those around us to truly show Christ into their lives? Or are we enjoying are peaceful American lives, happily buying our boats and toys, and maybe once a year going overseas to get that nasty guilty feeling off our shoulders.

I’m speaking as much to myself here as anyone else. When is it that you become a missionary? Is it when Christ enters your heart? Or is it when you sign the papers to go to India?

Don’t get me wrong - I do think short term missions have their place. I do think that God can use whatever means he sees fit to bring more into his kingdom. Personally, I think short term missions should focus on service projects and maybe learning and working alongside life long misssionaries already on the field.

Although I don’t agree with all of their doctrine, I do think that New Tribes Mission gets it right here. They often get criticized for “taking too long” to evangelize a tribe. Sheeesh. They train for four years here in the states - two years of solid Bible teaching, a year in the missions practical training, and a year in language/cultural school. Then they head out for the field. Do they enter a tribe and get up on a soapbox and start preaching? No - they spend years - years! - studying and learning the language and culture around them. They don’t start bringing the gospel to these people until they are sure that they have a way to communicate with them effectively. You have to understand idioms - otherwise, what you might call the cornerstone could be the pigpen to them. Then comes the teaching. Do they simply follow the Romans road? No, they start in the Old Testamaent tracing God’s story. I think some of these tribal people who have gone through this training would put elders in our churches to shame with their overall knowledge and understanding of how the Bible fits together. Lives are spent here, years are cheerfully given and seem like nothing in the midst of God’s eternity.

So as I sit here typing examining my own heart, I wonder - am I living a missionary lifestyle right here, right now?

I think it’s John Piper who said something to the effect that you cannot impart that which you do not have. In other words, if you don’t have a passion for God, then what are you expecting to pass on to people? A good moral way of living? A passport out of hell?

My guess that the missionary lifestyle starts with our passion for God. It starts with our love for an awesome God. It is the natural overflow of our hearts when we are so full of who God is, that we cannot help but share it with others. So I think that is where we should start right now. Are we imparting to our teens, our friends, our peers, the wonder of God? Is that what drives us? If it isn’t, is it no wonder that missions is lacking in life-long supporters?

5 comments.

Fellowship in the Church

Posted on June 15th, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Deep Thoughts.

Our pastor (who has only been here for a year) believes that it doesn’t matter what doctrine you believe in as long as you believe in the basics. He believes that there is no reason for leaving a church short of heresy. So I pose this question: Can we really have fellowship with other believers who we don’t agree doctrinally with in a church setting?

The thing is, some of what is being preached from the pulpit is quite contrary to what we (and a good deal of the church) believe. Yet, the pastor believes that that is good, because it makes us question our beliefs. But he doesn’t agree with the people who have left the church because of this.

My thoughts: generally, I keep coming back to the thought of children. Yes, we are supposed to guide and teach our children at home - but shouldn’t this match up with what they are being taught in church? Are we supposed to patch up fuzzy church doctrine every week after church? And our poor (future) kids - what if we strived so hard to teach them truths, only to have them shot down week after week at church. At such a young age, I don’t know if they could handle it.

I’m not talking here about silly church issues like should all the women wear dresses or something like that. I’m talking about serious doctrinal issues. We’ve tried talking with our pastor, but he doesn’t seem to understand that these issues trickle down to how you live your lives. When you say that we can all be perfect and should try to live perfect lives, that trickles down - and leads to quite a lot of frustration, especially for younger Christians who might not understand what is really being taught. When you say Jesus could sin, you are making implications that trickle down. At least for us, our doctrine affects our lives, and it is disconcerting to be told that none of it matters as long as you “love Jesus” because we believe our doctrine teaches who the real Jesus is.

One day, we will all be able to have fellowship in Christ. But is that day today? Should we give up on all our doctrine and simply join together in a “love Jesus” fest? I think most would say no, but I’m a bit confused as to our pastor’s feelings that our church needs to “grow up” and put doctrinal debates aside and just focus on the basics of loving each other and Jesus.

3 comments.

On Church

Posted on June 6th, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Deep Thoughts.

We just found out tonight that a family in our church that we like quite a bit are leaving. There may be others that are leaving as well. It seems there are issues with what the pastor has been saying in the pulpit that I won’t go into too much detail here. It’s really difficult to see these people leaving. We understand why they are leaving, and we have had our questions about some of what is being said as well - but we really are committed to the teens that we work with at this church (besides the fact that there really is no other church in town preaching the gospel).

During communion tonight, I just prayed that God would be showing me more of what it meant to be his body -his church. Between the church situation down in Virginia and the church up here, it seems like there’s definitely something at work in Philip’s and my lives teaching and showing us what the church is. It’s tough times. We don’t want to give up on church or become bitter. May God use these times to grow us closer to him and a true understanding of a loving relationships with our church as well. I don’t think being a part of a church is ever going to come without its difficulties and pains - we are human and bound to let each other down.

Please be in prayer for us as we sort through this sticky situation and how God would have us respond.

1 comment.

You’re Grounded!

Posted on May 26th, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Deep Thoughts.

Recently, we’ve had many of our teens grounded from youth group for one reason or another. As the leaders, it’s a little hard to understand this concept. Do the parents think that youth group is only all fun and games? Do they think that since their children value it, they should use it as leverage? I wonder if the teens were really excited about church, would they be grounded from church? We want to support our parents. We want to come along side of them in the raising of their teens. But it’s a little difficult when we are doing a series, or announcing something important, or working on projects, and someone is always missing because they are grounded. It’s not just one teen, but several. It’s hard, because I think for many of the parents, we are seen as just another after-school activity - just another club. I wish more of our teens had been there last night. We did an awesome intro to our summer focus - missions. We aren’t going on a mission trip this summer. We want to talk about why we do missions, what missions is, and how we do missions. We will be doing some little projects here and there, but we wanted to convey how missions spills forth out of a passion for God - it’s not just a fun trip. We’re excited about teaching the kids about who God is and His worth, and how they can show that to those in their community first, before they go to strangers (which is sometimes the easier route to go). Anyway, it was sad that some of the teens missed the talk.

6 comments.

But their band is better than ours!

Posted on May 15th, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Deep Thoughts.

Here’s my heart’s struggle tonight as I reflect on this past evening’s events.

Our church played host to a band of teenagers who comes every year to perform. They started coming six years ago, and have grown from six teens to nineteen.

My first reaction - prior to even hearing them - they’re going to make our little praise band look like mud.

You see, I know all the right answers when it comes to worship. I could lecture you up and down on what true worship is and the breakdown of worship within the youth arena. I could preach to the masses on how music is only a tool and the words of the song should be what causes us to think more deeply about God - and how we should not just focus on the catchy tune. I can count on my fingers and toes how many times I have told our youth group or even others that worship isn’t a performance.

Yet when it all comes down, when I truly examine my heart, I know all the “right” answers, yet my heart is far from them.

So, I sit and stew that our band isn’t as good as theirs. I sit and think how it’s not fair that I’ve only been playing the guitar for nine months and Philip the bass for four. I grumble in my heart how our kids aren’t willing to try more difficult songs - how they only want the popular ones. I complain to myself that our band isn’t talent-wise where this one is, and probably never will be.

And I get frusterated with my heart. I can’t even listen to their songs without critiquing what I think the members of our praise band are thinking right now: “When Hannah plays that song it doesn’t sound like that”, “Why can’t we be cool like them?”, “Hey, their worship leader can actually sing!”

The songs they play don’t lead me to worship. They lead me to sin. All I can think of when they are singing “It’s All About You, Jesus” is our parody version “It’s All About Me”. When they do the Waterdeep version of “You Are Beautiful My Sweet, Sweet Song” all I can focus on is the time in college when I went on an IV retreat which members of Waterdeep lead worship at and pounded this song into our heads with incense and rhythmic beats (it made me sick). I can’t even practise what I preach and center in on the words of their songs and what they are saying about our awesome God.

So why am I focusing on the performance? Why am I focusing on how inadequate they are making me look in the eyes of our youth? Why can’t I listen to others play and have it lead me to worship instead of critique? And especially, why am I not content to think that our band can worship where it is at right now - instead of thinking that we are just playing at worship and maybe five years down the line we’ll actually get it right?

Needless to say, my heart is deeling with some issues right now. I’m dealing with connecting what is in my head with what is in my heart. And in my own discombobulated way, hopefully my search for true worship in my own heart will lead me closer to the author and perfector of my faith.

3 comments.

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