The Task Remaining

In the Perspectives course I'm taking at my church we have moved from the history of missions to a look at how the Gospel is communicated in other places and cultures. Last week we looked at how God is moving forward with His passion to see all the people groups of the world have the ability to hear the Gospel in a culturally relevant manner. Our study included the following definition.

Strategic: people pursuing a God-given vision live with strategic intent. The vision virtually captures them. They no longer dream about what could happen. They become convinced that certain things must happen. They make choices as if each day held abiding value. They are not driven by obligation. They live in the dignity and liberty of knowing they give their utmost for God's purposes.

My organization talks a lot about strategy in how we live. It is important to be strategic in the planting of churches for their growth and reproduction. But how am I to be strategic sitting in an office here in Plano, Texas? How does God want me to live each day in dignity and liberty? I am pondering these questions and putting them out there for you to mull over as well.

Image-Bearers of God

Last night Lena and I watched the movie Hotel Rwanda, about the genocide that took place there in 1994. A million people were brutally killed, and the movie tells the story of a man who put his own life on the line over and over to save his family and over one thousand others he kept in his hotel. It was a very intense movie, because of the violence and the emotions the characters went through.

The thing that stuck out to me from whole movie was a statement that a journalist made to the main character, Paul. Paul was asking if he thought the raw footage the journalist had gotten of the killings would mobilize people in the West to help stop the violence. The journalist said that when people saw the footage they would say, "Wow, so that's so sad and horrible". But then they would go back to eating their dinners and go on with life like nothing was happening.

This struck me because I did the same thing just recently. Lena read me a story from a Voice of the Martyrs magazine about the persecution of Christians taking place in North Korea. I said, "Wow, that's horrible, we have it so good here". But, what did I do then? Nothing. If I really cared about my brothers and sisters in North Korea, couldn't I pray for strength and God's special grace for them? Couldn't I tell others about the persecution going on there, and try to find ways to make a difference?

So, why do we ignore the atrocities going on around the world, and go back to our dinners as though nothing is going on? I admit, sometimes it's hard to empathize or understand when violence or tragedy doesn't touch us directly. But all of us, whether we live in Rwanda, North Korea, Italy, Colombia, or Texas, are created in the image of God and we bear His stamp. I think this gives us the duty of taking care of our fellow image-bearers. I'll be honest, I haven't quite figured out what it all means. Do we in the US step in whenever another country is in conflict? What can we as western Christians do about persecution that takes place? Prayer is an awesome way to start and so important, but is there more that we need to do?

I don't have all the answers, or any really, but watching the movie really challenged me. I'm going to start by praying for the Christians in North Korea and then I am going to trust the Holy Spirit to prompt me when the next move is necessary. If you have any thoughts you would like to share, please let me know!

The Glory of the Impossible

In both my Missiology and Perspectives classes I have been learning about the eras of missions history and the pioneers who saw many come to Christ and who laid the foundation for the movements to Christ we are seeing today. Some of the people I had heard about or studied before, such as William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone. Others I am learning about for the first time and their stories have impacted me with the power of God's working in their lives.

One person in the latter category is Samuel Zwemer. He became a part of the Student Volunteer Movement in the late 1800s and served in the Middle East for over 20 years. He went on to be a writer and speaker, opening up the Muslim world and training people to go and serve among Muslim peoples. He challenged people to go to the fields that were unoccupied by other missionaries.

In 1911, he wrote an article in the Student Volunteer Movement publication The Unoccupied Mission Fields of Africa and Asia called "The Glory of the Impossible". Here are some quotes from Zwemer, and from others that he included, that really stuck out to me.

~ The challenge of the unoccupied fields of the world is one to great faith and, therefore, to great sacrifice. Our willingness to sacrifice for an enterprise is always in proportion to our faith in that enterprise. Faith has the genius of transforming the barely possible into actuality.

~Does it really matter how many die or how much money we spend in opening closed doors, and in occupying different fields, if we really believe that missions are warfare and that the King's glory is at stake?

~ When [Adoniram] Judson was lying loaded with chains in a Burmese dungeon, a fellow prisoner asked with a sneer about the prospect for the conversion of the heathen. Judson calmly answered, "The prospects are as bright as are the promises of God".

~ From Bishop Phillips Brooks- "Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle".

Samuel Zwemer was not an extraordinary Christian (that I know of) but he was a man who was passionate about seeing those who had never heard come to Christ. His dedication and love for God and for God's people is such a great example for all of us today.