| Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - Matthew 28:19 (ESV) |
Many times when Christians read this passage, they see "all nations" and think "Oh, that means foreign nations!" Yes, it does include foreign nations, but you don't have to live somewhere exotic to be a missionary. In fact the word "Christian" should be synonymous with "missionary".
Have you ever met someone who has gone on a missions trip, say to Mexico, and they say things like "Oh, the poverty there is just atrocious, the people there have never heard the gospel plan, it's just horrible! I'm definitely thinking about going into full time missions."
I've heard things like that before when our college students or youth come back from a mission trip. But I wonder if the students have ever gone to the bad part of town and done missionary work there, where the poverty is atrocious, and the people have never heard the true gospel plan? Have they ever gone to where the homeless people spend the night and given them blankets and socks and jackets and said "You're important to God"? Do Churches regularly go into the slums to share the gospel with the smelly old crazy lady, or the drug addict, or the vet who is scarred so deep it's impossible for him to sleep without nightmares? Do youth groups go on summer mission trips to the southeast part of town, where the kids run around in gangs and carry guns?
I've never heard of that. I think one of the reasons that isn't done widely is that Christians have a tendency to think that we're "clean" and we don't like to see dirty things. We'd much rather go on a mission trip to Chicago, where we can see the Sears Tower, and watch the White Sox play.
Matthew 9:10-12 says:
| Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?" Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders. (The Message)" |
If we truly want to be like Jesus we need to get out of the suburbs and into the slums. If we don't we're doomed to be Christ's lazy servants.
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Amen.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty convicting. I know from running around town with Mrs. Christy and Mr. Ben many years ago when FAITH was still going on Monday nights at church that the problem isn't that people here haven't heard the Gospel, it's that they HAVE. Or they went to a church with a pastor who only wanted their money. Or they've had Jehovah's Witnesses bug them. Or they just hate God for "abandoning" them and have turned agnostic/atheist. One woman accused us and said that instead of teaching her some silly Biblical nonsense, we should start giving out money if we REALLY wanted to be Christians (I substituted other words to replace her unsavory ones).
I wish that I could go back to these homeless people and actually start a relationship with them to show them God/Jesus' TRUE love but every time we tried to come back, they would have changed their location and we would never see them again. It's hard to be a "one hit wonder" with a homeless/impoverished person. They're either Christian, or dead-set against it. You can't just walk up to them and say "Hi! Here's Jesus! Invite him into your heart today!" They'll think you're crazy or trying to con them.
I think the appeal of foreign missions isn't that they've never heard the Gospel, it's that's they're so WILLING to hear it. They walk from 5 miles away to hear a missionary talk. They sit on your front porch begging you to read them a story. They ask 5 questions in one minute. Their minds haven't been confused by 5 missionaries of different religions who were there before you. That's what's so encouraging for missionaries around the world
It's because the natives are living, grown-up proof of the childlike faith that Jesus commanded us to have, but that Americans below the poverty line have been ruined for.
Hmmm... Good point, however, It's not a lost cause. It may be more rewarding to be a missionary in Africa, or Asia, or South America, and there definitely are and should be many missionaries to places like that. But you as a Christian aren't always called to be rewarded. Jeremiah preached to the Israelites for over 60 years and he didn't have anyone who believed him until all that he said came true! The point is you plant the seed, Wherever you are, and God will provide the increase.
ReplyDeleteI also encourage you to read "The Same Kind of Different as Me". It is about a homeless man and the man that brought him the Lord