Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Getting rid of "missionary..."

Mike Lamson is wondering about the appropriateness of the term "missionary":

However, Ryan said that the term itself is not very loving. He said that saying that he was a missionary to the neighborhood he was in were making people into "projects." That the reason he was there so they could be his "mission." He asked questions on if we would like to be treated that way with some other way of life.

I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Actually it was so good that I'm just getting rid of the term altogether. I'm not going to use it anymore.

While I know we care about people encountering Jesus, I don't think the point is to go live in a particular place, call it your "mission," and try to get them to get on board. I think what Jesus would want us to do is to be the best neighbor and friend we could be, with no intention of trying to "convert" people to anything.

Emphasis added. I disagree. I think that it's pretty clear that Jesus intended that his followers seek the conversion of non-believers, as most clearly expressed in the Great Commission:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

The Apostolic church also engaged in evangelism with the objective of converting others. After Peter's first sermon:

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

This text indicates that Peter regarded regarded conversion as a desirable goal for his own activity -- and one that he achieved.

After he was converted, Paul went:

"...and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

And others, too, preached in Antioch:

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

But Paul and Barnabas were directed by the Holy Spirit to be missionaries further away:

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

Apparently the Holy Spirit did not regard it as demeaning to designate Salamis as a mission field. After leaving Antioch, Paul and Barnabas went to Pisidian Antioch and preached:

"And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.' As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.' Therefore He also says in another Psalm, 'YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.' For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:
'BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.' "

Emphasis added. In this passage, Paul and Barnabas have traveled to a distant community to quite deliberately preach the Gospel and to preach with a specific aim in mind from their audience. Paul is engaging in the form of missionary activity extending beyond what Mike considers appropriate:

I think what Jesus would want us to do is to be the best neighbor and friend we could be, with no intention of trying to "convert" people to anything.

And all of this is just from a cursory glance at the first thirteen chapters of Acts. I don't see how one can read from the Gospels or the experience of the Apostolic church that missionary efforts are improper for the people of God, nor that conversion is a laudable goal.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

John, I don't think getting caught up terminology is the best course. I believe this is part of what Mike was saying.

I also believe that not trying to convert someone is sometimes the best way to do so. After all being a loving neighbor and friend, sharing Christ's love really shows what Christianity is all about. The conversions should flow naturally from this.

Richard H said...

Come on people, let's get biblical here. My translation doesn't have the word mission/misssionary in it. Let's just be good old fashioned Apostles instead (since it means the same thing, just drawing from a Greek root instead of a Latin one. ;-)

John said...

I agree that being a good friend and having a morally pure and socially conscious life may be the best way to evangelize, but Mike is arguing that our intention should not be to convert others. That appears to be contrary to the 1st Century church experience.

Mark said...

Where did Jesus say, "Stay ye, therefore, and be a nice neighbor"? Must be in one of those Lost Gospels I keep hearing about.

Anonymous said...

John and all,

Maybe I should do a follow-up blog-post to this one. I wrote it very quickly and soon after the event.

I guess if I could amend my post, I would echo Bob's sentiment on what I was getting at. I don't want to say I don't believe in conversion, but I guess a more appropriate question I've been wrestling with is what are we converting people to? I'm just not satisfied with the version of Christianity that's been put before me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about Jesus being the only way to God, and all about people walking in tune with the way of Jesus, I just think the approach needs reworked. I would echo Brian McClaren's sentiments in More Ready Than You Realize, that we should not count conversions, but conversations. Again, what are we converting people to?

I am constantly thinking about what Jesus said to his disciples in John 13:34-35: "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." What does this look in the context of evangelism?

So Bob was on the pulse of what I was saying, that "conversions" will occur when we are enacting what Jesus commanded. And I think part of enacting what Jesus commanded is by loving others as God has loved us.

My whole thrust behind the post is that I don't want to have an agenda with the friends I'm making. I don't want to be their friend only because I want them to convert to Christianity. I believe the way of Jesus is the best way to live (and the way to God as Jesus echoed), but I think part of that means I'm not trying to spit out some canned speech to get them across the line.

Oh crap...I just need to post a follow-up...this is getting too long.

I hope that makes sense and thanks for the dialogue.

Grace,

Mike Lamson

Jody Leavell said...

I think Mike is on to something and I hope his follow-up blog post will help him and us gain some more insight.

When I think about the idea of going on a mission to convert people I must have already determined and judged that they are in need of conversion and are not already "converted". Mike's question about what we are seeking to convert them to is very appropriate. Every time a couple of LDS witnesses come knocking on my door I realize that what really irks me isn't that they want me to believe as they do but that they are judging me as unconverted, a non-believer.

Let's face it, we are not living in the first century of the church when it was new and very counter-cultural. The Apostles were given a very specific mission and the power to carry that out. Today the Church and the message of Christ has been spread throughout the world with very few exceptions. It may be challenged greatly, to which we are the living witness of the message. There is hardly anyone on the planet, Christian or not, who hasn't heard of Christ. Sadly the witness provided by so many before us, and even many among us, has tainted His message. But more importantly, anyone living in the "Western" world probably is a christian, many baptised at birth. Their lives may not reflect the indwelling grace of the "converted", but we must remember to not prejudge the work of Christ in their life. Frankly, to declare a local community your mission ground is lazy and insincere. It is the easy way out.

Did the Church in Antioch go on a mission to convert the Church in Rome? Was there an early civil war of conversion between competing churches? More importantly today, do we seek in arrogance to convert our brother in Christ because we think he hasn't heard the "right" message? If that is our mission we will reap the rebuke we deserve. The words we choose to use often reveal this attitude.

Mark said...

Mike,

Do you run across a lot of Christians who worry about converting others as much as you do? Given the mainline hemorrhage of the past few decades, not too many seem to be that concerned about it.

Yes, I have come across the occasional "notch in the belt" Christian who counts a bottom-line conversion as his only goal. And, yes, conversations and friendships are important in the whole disciple-making process. I'm not for canned speeches, either, but I would think the mark of a true friend is to introduce others to the saving power of Jesus Christ--the same Christ who saved us.

Sometimes we don't have the luxury of time, like if we meet someone on a plane who is clearly unsaved and struggling with something. We are to be prepared in and out of season (II Timothy 4:2) and be ready to speak forth the mystery of Christ when doors open to us (Col 4:2-6).

Anything less, and we're just practicing "niceianity."

Jonathan Marlowe said...

I like what the great missionary Lesslie Newbigin once said: Christians don't convert people, since conversion is always the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. What Christians do is witness, and leave the rest to God. If we are faithful in our witness to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit may use us to convert people to faith in Christ.

Anonymous said...

Mark,

Yes, I do run across a lot of people who are as concerned as I am. Not only that, my non-believing friends have a lot of barriers along these lines that turn them off to Christianity. I want them to see that the Good News is Good News. Honestly right now, all they see is that churches are just "holy clubs" that you need to get a membership into, and that comes with a certain set of rules. I'm not saying that rules shouldn't exist, but challenging the "rules" that many churches have in unwritten form that keep my friends from the church.

They want the saving power of Jesus, and trust me, I am trying my best to set up an environment to embrace them. And I think that's it, setting up the best environment for them to let the Holy Spirit work in their hearts.

I really should get workin' on this post, tryin' to free up some space.