You Just Might be a Redneck

You Just Might be a Redneck by Dave Wilson

Judges 13-15

While reading this passage, I see lots of material for Jeff Foxworthy and his redneck jokes and stand-up comedy. Samson goes to another town in search of his wife, but his parents try to convince him to look among his relatives first (because we all know that a family reunion is a great place to find a date!). Later, on the way to his wedding, he scoops out honey from a lion carcass to eat while he is walking (I hope he didn’t drop some on his tuxedo). Soon, he discovers that his nagging and manipulative new wife has given away the secret to his riddle, which costs him a great deal. At this point, being the loving, kind and sensitive man that he was, he refers to his bride as a “heifer”. Perhaps my favorite story is when he catches 300 foxes, ties their tails together, lights them on fire and sends them into the fields to destroy the crops of his neighbors (this was long before P.E.T.A. and the A.S.P.C.A.) just because his father-in-law gave away his wife to a friend! At this point, the story goes from ‘redneck’ all the way up to ‘hillbilly’.

Even before Delilah, Samson was a colorful character. Before his birth, he was dedicated to the service of the Lord by his parents. Being a Nazirite of God was a great honor and responsibility for both the boy and his parents (John the Baptist was also a Nazirite who liked to eat honey). He was not to touch anything unclean (like dead animals), cut his hair, nor drink the ‘fruit of the vine’. Throughout his life, the Lord’s presence was evident in Samson’s life, even though he had moments of weakness. The Lord always answered his prayers when he asked for deliverance. Our scriptures clearly state, time and again, that “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power.” (Judges 14:6; 14:19; 15:14, etc)

Here are some questions for your day as you think about this wild and crazy man of God. How are you like Samson? Have you been dedicated to the Lord’s service in some specific and special way? Do you have a temper? And if so, have you sought out positive ways of dealing with your weakness? Do you make decisions based on the heat of the moment, or can you step back and consider a wiser course of action? How do the decisions that you have to make today affect the way others see God at work in your life? If you’re not careful in your decisions, “you just might be a redneck!”

Missionary: More than just a Title

“We are all missionaries – right?”

We often hear this from people who should know better: Elders, deacons, pastors and even some missionaries themselves. The truth is, we are not all missionaries. As Christ followers, we are all called to be witnesses. However, some are called to do ministry locally while others are called to do missions elsewhere.

Just to explain, I am not interested in endorsing the overuse of titles. When we get to heaven there will be little need for titles there, so I don’t believe we should spend much of our time clinging to earthly titles here. That is why this is a blog post and not a book. However, we need to give honor where honor is due, while at the same time exposing some of the subtle sins of pride, arrogance and misrepresentation of the Lord.

In this brief treatise, we will look at this misunderstanding practically and biblically. We will also explore some of the root causes for this misuse of the word so that we will know how to handle the next person who makes this proclamation.

The problem in misusing this word is that there is a dumbing down of what it means to be a missionary. Just because you give someone an aspirin for their headache doesn’t make you a doctor. Nor are you a talent scout when you shout criticism at Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers starting pitcher) during a ballgame.  Why would we call someone a missionary who simply shares their faith with a neighbor or co-worker or maybe does a little ministry on the side? It’s like saying I am a car just because I am hanging out in my garage.

The truth is, all Christians should be actively sharing their faith and serving people in the communities, workplaces and in their church. Scripture says that God called “some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers…” Therefore, we see that there are a variety of different roles, and yes, even titles, for people to fulfill within the body of Christ. As we will see later, the title of ‘missionary’ developed later in the progression of the church to fulfill a specific need and task, just like the roles of evangelists, pastors and teachers.

The term ‘mission’ is not found in scripture, yet its’ concept permeates both the Old and the New Testament. The Latin word missionem / mittere means “The act of sending” and was first used to describe Christian activity in 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad to set up centers for Christian work in other cultures. The word missionary, therefore comes from this root as “one who is sent”.

Mission is a task on which God sends a person whom He has called to introduce another group of people to salvation in Christ. The word missionary describes the person who is sent, and the mission of the church is to send missionaries into all parts of the world until everyone has the opportunity to hear and respond to the message of Jesus.

In the Old Testament, there are a few examples of ‘missionaries’ whom God sends personally:

• Abraham  - to be a blessing to all the families on the earth
• Jeremiah – to be a prophet to all nations
• Jonah – sent to call the people of Nineveh to repentance

Aside from these rare Old Testament figures, Isaiah instructed Israel to be a ‘Light to the Gentiles’. This means that the primary vision was that the world was expected to ‘come’ to Israel to receive salvation, but Israel was not necessarily sent to the world. They were to serve as an example for all to “come and see.”

In the New Testament, a new mission is birthed where God sets up the first “sending agency” known as the Church which replaces the nation of Israel as the keeper and protector and proclaimer of the gospel. He gives this entity a mandate to do four things:

1. go into all the world
2. make disciples
3. baptize the followers of Jesus
4. teach the gospel (commandments, repentance and forgiveness of sins)

The change is made from a “come and see” salvation to a “go and tell” proclamation of redemption and forgiveness of sins. This great commission mandate is not optional and was our last instructions from the Lord Jesus. He also made a promise that He would be with the church until the end of the age.

Paul and Barnabas are prime examples of missionaries that were called by God and sent out by the Church in Antioch. We see in Acts 13 that God spoke through the Holy Spirit to the church leaders concerning Paul, “’Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’. Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”

Three things from this passage that are critical in our understanding of what constitutes a missionary calling. First, the missionaries were called by God to a particular task. In this case, they were called to preach to the gentiles. Second, God confirmed this calling to the church leaders. This sending entity, the church, heard from the Lord directly and was instructed by God to set them apart for the task. Thirdly, the church responded by ceremonially “commissioning” them by fasting, praying, laying on of hands, and then sending them off. These four elements can be further elaborated upon by looking at what they represent within the body of believers:

1.     Fasting – A physical demonstration of support that likely lasted for more than just one day. This means that the decision to support Paul and Barnabas was not an immediate response, and it came with serious thought and consideration of all the implications associated with sending someone to another culture.

2.     Praying – A spiritual demonstration both corporately and privately to discern the will of God in this decision. Prayer meant that the church leaders did not just engage their intellect, but they surrendered to wisdom that does not come from an earthly way of thinking.

3.     Laying on of hands – This is more than just a show of support or a gesture of alliance. This was a sign of unity in body, mind and spirit. The church leaders were communicating to those who were being sent that “we are a part of you, and you are a part of us”. Commissioning of missionaries is similar to ordination of pastors in that there is a long lineage of those who have gone before us. This is a passing of the mantle of church leadership to a new generation, which has been passed down for many years. They are communicating that their new task is an extension of our corporate mandate as a church.

4.     Sending them off – A tangible demonstration of support whereby we can only assume what took place. These missionaries were getting on a boat and heading for a distant land. The church likely took an offering and collected supplies that were necessary for such a journey, and then threw a farewell party. Continuing with conjecture, we can assume that people who had previously traveled to these places spent time with Paul and Barnabas to help them prepare for a change of culture.  Others agreed to take care of family members, belongings and other matters of home.

We should begin to see that this is a serious endeavor that required much thought, prayer, support, recognition and endorsement by more than just the individual doing something across town.

Missionaries are called to go to difficult places, exchanging what they know for something they do not know. They cross barriers: national boarders, cultural differences, languages procurement and even socio-economic variations. They study for years and acquire experience that qualifies them for a certain specific type of work. They have to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, sell their belongings and move their family to places that are often hostile to their presence. Sacrifice is the predominant trait because many times their families suffer as a result of their calling. American missionaries often have children who leave the sterile secure learning environment of their western schools for substandard schools in the majority world. Aging parents are sometimes left back home in need of care, but the missionary is far from home. Home visits are infrequent and generally are not a vacation, but what is now being called “home assignment” where the agency expects them to be on speaking tours to inform supporters of their activities.

When on the field, they are held accountable for their actions by the church and their agency. They set goals which are measurable and are evaluated for their effectiveness. They are grouped into teams for support and encouragement. This is more than just being Christ’s representative. They have assignments, tasks, duties, and a “MISSION” for which they are responsible.”

For someone to say that “we are all missionaries” is to bring disrespect to the memory of Tom, an American Doctor who served for 30 years in Afghanistan and lost his life when a group of Taliban hijacked his convoy heading out to treat patients in a remote village in 2010. His wife Libby still lives there and brings hope and true, honest and heart wrenching forgiveness to people who are far from God.  

Who can compare themselves to Jim, who surrendered his life on Palm Beach in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. And even more so, can there be such a thing as a ‘local missionary’ when compared to Jim’s wife Elizabeth who decided to stay and work toward reconciliation with the natives that took her husband’s life, so that they could receive the gospel?

What about Hudson Taylor, David Livingston, William Carey and all the early missionaries who packed their belongings in their coffin because they were leaving on a steamer to travel for weeks and even months to arrive at their final destinations. They knew that they would not be coming back home, but for the sake of the gospel, they endured much hardships, so that Jesus could be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. When someone says “we are all missionaries”, do you see this kind of sacrifice in their lives?

Today, missionaries spend much of their time trying to get visas for their ministry post. Many modern missionaries don’t go to school for Bible degrees, but they study for a trade that will earn them business visas to Restricted Access Nations (RANs). There is an intentionality present in real Missionaries, because they know God has called them to do something very special. Something that is different from most other people. Yes, I believe that all Christians are called to do ‘ministry’, but not all are called to be ‘missionaries’. Ministry is done locally in our Jerusalem and Judea. Mission is done globally in our Samaria and to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).

There are a few who have tried to bridge this gap with words that may be acceptable for what someone does with their neighbors who are a little different than oneself: ‘Commissionaries’ is becoming more popular these days (see article in the April 2013 edition of Evangelical Mission Quarterly titled: “Are we all Missionaries?”)

To help define what a missionary is not, here are some personal examples from my life. My neighbor comes from Mexico and speaks Spanish. I do not speak Spanish, but I have built a friendly relationship with him so that I may have the opportunity to share Christ with him through a translator. I am not a missionary, but just a caring Christian neighbor. I also travel all over the world for two week trips to visit missionaries on the field. Here again, I am not a missionary, but a pastoral coach providing for the needs of missionaries. In our church, I serve as the director of an after-school center in a high-crime, low-income neighborhood full of people with different ethnicities and languages on the other side of town. When I am there, I am not a missionary, but a pastor to kids and families without a home church.

The word Missionary is so easily abused for many of the wrong reasons: Pride, arrogance, profit, naïveté, ignorance. Sometimes it is for financial gain. We all know that if it is for missions, people will be more likely to give money toward the fund. Some people just want recognition or notoriety – A baptized form of Christian pride. And for some, it is just out of plain ignorance. Very few people sit down and consider their words and the effects they may have.

A good evangelical will understand the concept of ‘the priesthood of the believer’ – that every Christ follower has been called by God to be ‘a witness’. The Lord has also empowered each believer with the Holy Spirit. In fact, the early disciples were not to go out into the world until the Holy Spirit had come upon them in Acts 1:8. Some were called to go and do mission, some were called to stay and do ministry but all were called to ‘witness’.

Let’s be satisfied with the distinction between “Ministry” and “Mission” and not try to exalt one over the other. Seek to give honor to whom honor is due.

Kingdom Business

Kingdom Business

God’s Marketplace Mission Movement

The Urbana 2012 Mission Conference, held in St. Louis during the last week of the year, had over  16,000 university students in attendance. This week-long gathering, sponsored by Intervarsity, is held every three years and has an incredible history of assembling the ‘best of the best’ Christian thinkers to invest their time and talents into the next generation of mission and ministry leaders.

This was my second time attending Urbana, so as I compare the workshops offered, as well as the main presentations, there was definitely a ‘swing of the pendulum’ in what the organizers were attempting to guide students to consider. In 2009, there was a heavy emphasis on social issues and justice causes. Sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS and poverty alleviation were high on the list of seminar offerings as well as presentations from the platform. The theme was built around incarnational ministries, which was emphasized by the title He Dwelled Among Us. This year, however, the theme carried a more evangelistic emphasis The Great Invitation based on Jesus’ parable of the great banquet.

There are two observations from Urbana which work in tandem. First, there was an overwhelming attempt to communicate that the “center of gravity” for the world Christian movement has shifted. Today, the majority of Christians in the world is non-white, non-western, non-wealthy and non-male. To put it another way, the typical Christian is a poor, dark-skinned woman living in an urban slum somewhere south of the equator. As an example, in 1910 the continent of Africa was only 9.4% Christian. Today, 48% of Africa is Christian, and some have predicted that by 2025 there will be over one billion Christians on the ‘dark continent’ (a term that was previously used to describe the spiritual condition).

With this new understanding, we see that some of our terminology is changing. We no longer call this area of the world ‘third-world,” which is a remnant from the cold war, rather we call these regions ‘global-south’, ‘developing-nations’ and more accurately the ‘majority-world’ which is a great descriptor that helps rich, white, western Christian men understand they are now in the minority.

What this shift of the ‘center of gravity’ means for us in the church of the western world, is that we are no longer the primary sender of missionaries and full time Christian workers. Countries like Nigeria, China, South Korea, India and Brazil are sending out missionaries all over the world in astounding numbers. Operation Mobilization reports that they have over 6,000 workers in more than 100 different nations, and 70% are from non-western countries.

Actually, one of the workshops which I attended was entitled Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? Paul Borthwick spoke about his work with majority world mission agencies and cross cultural workers. He commented on how he had expected to see the church in North America take the lead of the ‘global church’ into the new millennium. However, after all of his exposure to what the global south church is doing, he has changed his prayer to “Lord, please don’t leave the church in North American behind as you move powerfully into the world.”

This leads into my second observation from Urbana 2012. There was a very clear message from the organizers in helping college students prepare for cross-cultural mission service for the next great movement of God in the world. They are no longer being encouraged to just train in a traditional seminary or to get degrees in Bible, Theology, Church Planting, etc. Mission strategists at Intervarsity are steering young people to consider studying for degrees in these fields:

·         Business

·         Medicine

·         Education

·         Finance

·         Film making

·         Journalism

·         Entrepreneurship

·         Politics

·         The Arts

·         Engineering

·         Architecture

These seminars were specifically designed to encourage students to obtain vocational degrees which can be used on the mission field. Out of the 144 workshops offered, 41 (28%) were on the topic of Business as Mission, Vocational tracks, and other marketplace alternatives to the traditional missionary route.

Mission thinkers understand that someone with a degree in Bible or Theology will not be allowed access into countries like Mali, Yemen, Bhutan, Myanmar or the 56 other R.A.N.s (Restricted Access Nations). However, western business people are already in those nations conducting trade on a regular basis. This perspective not only makes sense practically speaking with regard to gaining access (Visa issues are one of the missionary’s greatest struggles), but it also makes financial sense. When this next generation is gainfully employed, either as an entrepreneur or as an employee, they will not require as much support from churches, agencies and individual partners, thus allowing for more people to be sent out with less financial commitments.

One quote from Dr. C. Neal Johnson helped me see the necessity of embracing this new way of thinking. He said that “Business is the only human institution that affects every person on earth. All people, everywhere, are seeking a better life. Therefore, missiologists are putting out lots of resources for the next generation to begin preparing for a new method of world evangelization. There are over 1,500 books through Amazon on Kingdom Business.” You will find titles like:

·         Business as Mission (BAM)

·         Business 4 Transformation

·         Tentmaking

·         Vocational ministries

·         Marketplace Mission Movements

·         Enterprise development

·         Great Commission Companies

·         Bottom Line Faith Integration

·         Micro-enterprise / Micro-finance

·         and the list goes on…

Previous mission attempts to do BAM in restricted access nations produced negative results due to a fatal flaw in missional thinking. Missionaries set up shell companies that were not doing ‘real business.’ An example could have been a coffee shop in a city that served as a meeting place for believers, but did not make a profit by selling coffee. When government officials looked into the accounting books, they became suspicious because there was no profit for the business. Frankly, as I think about it, if something like that were in my neighborhood, I would be suspicious too. Shell corporations are how drug dealers launder money, organized crime syndicates restructure their unlawful gains and white collar criminals shelter funds in off-shore accounts. Why would God’s people engage in that kind of activity?  

Dr. Johnson, who wrote the book “Business as Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice” said that there are three different ways of doing business in C.A.N.s and R.A.N.s (Creative Access Nations / Restricted Access Nations): Job Makers, Job Takers and Job Fakers. Job fakers are what I described above. Job makers are the entrepreneurs, and job takers are those who have accepted a position in a company doing business overseas. Here is a brief sketch of the five broad categories which he has identified as Kingdom Business:

1.       Tent Making

a.       Biblical example – Paul earned a living apart from the church

b.      An employee, not necessarily an entrepreneur

c.       Modern example – Teaching English overseas, Finishers / Retirees

2.      Marketplace Ministry

a.       Biblical example – Zachias (after Jesus)

b.      Business owners, CEO, and managers

c.       Kingdom Companies which are led for the good of the Kingdom of God

d.      Faith integration with multiple bottom lines and managed with biblical principles

e.       Modern example – Chick-fil-a

3.      Enterprise Development

a.       Biblical example – Deuteronomy 15, Gleaning, Sabbatical Year

b.      Poverty alleviation, or ministry to the poor

c.       Includes micro-enterprise / finance

d.      Development in the majority world

e.       Modern Example – Grameen Bank, Kiva.org, group lending

4.      Social Enterprise

a.       Biblical example – Daniel (Prepare for the famine), Jesus (Widows, orphans, etc)

b.      Focused on social justice issues (i.e. disaster relief, homeless, disabilities, orphans)

c.       Usually has a hybrid finance model (donors + external support)

d.      Modern examples – Goodwill, Salvation Army, Red Cross

5.      Business as Mission

a.       Biblical example - Joseph

b.      A for-profit business venture which is Christian led and devoted to holistic mission operating in a cross cultural environment

c.       Modern example – Business 4 Transformation (OM - Nepal), Hodge family (Honduras)

Kingdom Business is not a fad. All indicators are pointing to an integration of faith with the marketplace. We are no longer seeing a divide between the sacred and the secular, the spiritual and the physical. Rick Warren, who did a six week sermon series in October 2012 entitled Doing Business with God said, “Some people actually think that work is punishment from God. It is not… because there was work for Adam and Eve to do in paradise.” People want to use their creativity for employment gains. A proper biblical worldview should promote a seamless and holistic view of life, therefore business as mission should be a natural expression of this assimilation. In his book “Developing a Biblical Theology of Vocation,” Darrow Miller says:

The biblical worldview provides a framework for work being sacred, for labor having dignity. This concept of work is that it is a vocation – one’s calling… This biblical concept understands that God is at work in the world building His Kingdom, and that, among other things, He calls us to participate in the building of His Kingdom through our work.

There are a few implications for a church becoming involved in kingdom business. This means that the whole church, takes the whole gospel to the whole world. Because of a warped worldview that separates the sacred from the secular, many business people check their business brains at the door along with their hat. They conceal their ability to negotiate a deal, leverage their assets and network with colleagues for the glory of God. As a mission pastor, I want to affirm and mobilize business people within the body of Christ. I want to release them to use their gifts, talents, skills and abilities to bless people living in difficult places, transform communities through entrepreneurial strategies and to carry the good news of the gospel with them as they travel to the ends of the earth.

The goal of BAM is to reveal Christ through business, and the bottom line is for the greater glory of God the Father. Here is a great little addition to the old adage about giving a man a fish:

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day

Teach a man how to fish, feed him for a lifetime

Help a man start a fishing business

Feed many families, and their community for generations

So that one day they will drop their nets and follow Him!