In Response to Arguments (whether spoken or unspoken) against Missions (part 1)

I started to write a response to 5 arguments but realized that it was just too much to post at one time. I'm not out to make anyone read a dissertation. Basically I made a list a few days ago of various conflicts people have (or I once had) with missionary work and thought I'd give a brief response to each. If you'd like me to answer another objection in the coming days feel free to let me know.

These aren't in any particular order, but here's two for now...

1. The Sovereignty of God Argument

This is an argument that hopefully nobody even knew existed, and it seems that it probably does not even exist anymore for the most part. In an overly simple summary, this is the belief that essentially views missions as unneccesary because God is sovereign, has chosen who He will save and who He will not, and since there's nothing we can do about it we might as well let God be God and sit around and do nothing. Such a stance is infamously summarized by the pastor who strongly discouraged the great missionary to India, William Carey, to pursue his call to missions: "When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting you or me."

My guess is that the pastor who said that looked something like this:

Now this is not an attempt to get into any sort of Calvinism-Arminianism discussion (I promise to never blog extensively on that-ever). But I did feel it neccessary to respond to this view. This argument is always made from Scripture which certainly does affirm the sovereignty of God (such as Romans 9), but it misses the forest for the trees. Sure, someone can pick a few verses here and there to justify missional complacency, but what is ignored is the HUGE theme of missions that is consistent throughout the Bible. From Genesis (the original purpose of Abraham's call and the call that would soon come for Israel to be light unto the world) to Revelation, there is a consistent theme of the responsibility to go and tell. I guess I don't understand why someone would use verses written by Paul as a reason to ignore missions when he was the greatest missionary in the history of the church.

2. The "Isn't that dangerous?" argument

Southeastern and the International Mission Board (IMB) send missionaries into parts of the world that most sane people wouldn't enter with John Rambo. I've heard people say that it's irresponsible to send missionaries into dangerous areas or where lives may be threatened. Basically it's the view that, "you're not much use to God if you're dead." This argument also stems from a feeling that there is something wrong with living in and engaging a country other than the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe due to the difference in the "quality of life."

I wouldn't say that we should be irresponsible and simply go into any area like James Bond into a room full of bad guys in Goldeneye (for any of you N64 lovers out there). However, there would not be much of a church had the early church taken such a view that dangerous or less industrialized areas should be avoided at all costs. Look at the price that all eleven (subtracting Judas) of the remaining disciples paid once given the Great Commission. Deaths, crucifixion, beatings, stonings, etc. Paul was beaten, threatened, put on trial, but remained faithful to his call until dying for his faith in Christ. We should not be foolish, but "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" (Jim Elliot).

And the Best Superbowl Commercial was...

If all else fails, just have small animals scream for 30 seconds...

Marleyanity?

Megan and I went to see "I am Legend" a few weeks ago and both of us came away thinking that the movie is below average. However, one of the best parts of the movie was the inclusion of Bob Marley. His music is pretty much the soundtrack to the film, and if you look at this clip below you'll see that it included more than just his music, but also his worldview.

WARNING: if you're one of those people that doesn't like to know anything about a movie going into it I don't want to spoil it for you, so I've also posted what Robert Neville (Will Smith) says in the clip here:
ROBERT NEVILLE (talking about Bob Marley and explaining why his daughter is named Marley): He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why - He said, "The people, who were trying to make this world worse... are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."


While the movie wasn't that great I couldn't help but want to listen to more of Bob Marley's music and even know more about him. During this clip I was thinking that it would be interesting to read a biography about him. I have listened to some of his music since the movie, and I believe this is because they were able to make him an attractive historical figure in the film.

However, it got me wondering- what if when Will Smith was asked his daughter's name he instead responded something like, "Christina, she's named after Jesus Christ," and then went on to describe Jesus' worldview, who He was, some of His famous sayings from the Bible, and what he wanted for the world. Chances are, it would make many moviegoers uncomfortable. And that leaves me asking why someone like Bob Marley can be made attractive in a movie but Jesus can't. This isn't a post complaining that it's not fair that we as a society are naturally drawn to the scene above when if it was the same scene, but instead talking about Jesus, it would be offensive or laughed at by many. My point is to ask why this is? Has society become so calloused that they can't take an honest look at Jesus without a thousand negative presuppositions. Have we as the church given society good reason to have that callousness?

As usual, the blame probably lies with both parties. We as the church haven't done a great job of presenting Jesus Christ as someone who is much greater than Bob Marley (is the stuff that Will Smith said in that clip really all that different then what Jesus said?). And the world is rarely willing to look at Jesus with a fresh and humble outlook. Somebody has been in church before, or saw a documentary on the History Channel, or took a religion class in college, or once read part of the Bible, or grew up in "Christian America," and they aren't willing to acknowledge that they may not have Him figured out after all. Hopefully we as the church can live in such a way that they want to know more- "Light up the darkness" or better yet, "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'" (John 8:12).

The Responsibility to "Go"

Megan and I made a decision to use our blog for something more than a place where Gamecock football videos are posted (you can probably tell I had more to do with the videos), and more importantly use this as a place to discuss our upcoming trip to Acuna, Mexico, which will not only be our first mission trip together, but also my first mission trip. We plan on giving updates on the trip as we prepare to leave March 15th to go to Acuna, as well as our reflections afterwards from our trip. We are sending out our letters tomorrow morning requesting both prayer and financial support, and we thought this would be a way to send out more than a letter- inviting those who are interested to participate more in our upcoming adventure. If you have any comments please post them, as we would love to know someone is actually reading this!

I felt it was appropriate to begin this new phase of the blog by giving a few thoughts on missions in general, and also briefly respond to a few arguments that people have against missions, which I will do at some point in the next few days. I had never given the appropriate level of thought to missions prior to coming to Southeastern. Fortunately, that has changed. The heartbeat of Southeastern is the Great Commission: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20). Our president, Dr. Akin, has a contagious spirit to truly pursue this call and it has grabbed Megan and I's hearts.

We have reguarly been attending Promised Land Community Church in Creedmoor, NC, which is filled with wonderful people. One family we have been fortunate to become aquainted with are the Pyle's. The first time I met their oldest daughter, Claire (age 8), she not only asked me if I knew where I would spend eternity when I die, but also let me know that she felt called to the mission field (clearly she already is living out her calling)! I responded to her letting her know that I did know Jesus (fortunately) and told her that she didn't have to wait to be a missionary, but could be one right now. Thinking that I had impressed her with my observation, Claire simply responded with an "I know," and went on to tell me the places she could have an impact.

She gets what many of us in the church don't get, and it's the reason I titled this post The Responsibility to Go. I think that Claire understood that whether we ever leave the country or not, all Christians are called to be missionaries. I challenge you to find someone in the New Testament who became a sincere Christian and didn't live the life of a missionary as a result of it. They may not have gone across the world (many of them did, though), but the people who met Jesus and chose to follow Him lived transformed lives with new priorities. For many, the greatest mission field may be the home or the neighborhood, but the responsibility remains for the church to touch the nations in a hurting world, and Christ's call remains to go.

Brett Fav-rah

Today may be the last time we get to see legend Brett Favre play football, and get to see plays like this...

Greek!

I feel like I've officially started my seminary experience by starting
my first language class- Greek. It's definitely a challenge, but there is a wealth of knowledge to gain in understanding the New Testament by understanding the Greek language. If one feels like taking up the language in their free time (kidding) I've provided the alphabet here to start!

Read the Bible in a Year

I highly recommend doing this - I did it in 2005 and it was one of the most worthwhile experiences I have had. If you remain disciplined (pretty much just have to read 3 Old Testament chapters and 1 New Testament chapter per day) you can easily read the entire Bible in a year. Here is a link to the program that Megan and I are using for 2007:

http://eword.gospelcom.net/year/47/ojan01.htm

It's definitely not too late to start!