***Background note: I wrote this article about three years ago while was still coaching an evangelism / church planting team in an unreached region of MalI, West Africa. Now I’m privileged to work in a Christian relief organization where my responsibilities involve coaching leaders and volunteers in evangelism and discipleship across Central Africa. I don’t think a lot has changed in the last three years when it comes to reaching the unreached with the Gospel, so I’m putting this exhortation – or whatever you wanna call it – out there again. Thanks for reading!
I’m going to share something that might irritate some of you. It might even offend some of you – although that is definitely not my intent! I might come off sounding like a grumpy old man, even a judgemental, grumpy old man. That’s not how I want to be perceived, but I am sixty years old and I can’t help that. I shared these things with college students in a missions-themed chapel service last week and most responded positively, though I heard at least one person was offended and did not like what I had to say – or maybe it was how I said it. I’m sorry that person took offense, but I’m not sorry for what I said or how I said it, so I’m going to say it again, here.
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.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Here are Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples, and by extension, to us as well.
These instructions are abundantly clear and beautifully simple:
- Go… to all nations (ethnic or people groups)
- Make disciples… Okay, how?
- Baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What’s the point of that? We’re inviting people into the divine community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, offering them them a new identity (name) and a place of belonging.
- Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. This is not the communication of head knowledge in a classroom but more like an apprenticeship where one learns how something is done (in this case following Jesus) by watching and doing in the context of community and committed relationships.
- And, Jesus says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Attached to Jesus’ instructions is the promise of His presence.
Do you see how simple this plan really is? (I didn’t say easy, but it’s definitely not complicated). There is no talk here of building giant buildings or creating giant organizations. Just GO. Invite people into the family and show them how to follow Jesus. The last time I checked, these words of Jesus were still in the Bible and as far as I know, they are still in force. So how are we doing with this simple task? Here are some 2018 statistics I got from www.bethany.edu.
Are you getting this? Less than one half of ONE PERCENT of those who are going, actually go to an unreached people group that have never heard the Gospel. WHY?? When I consider all the thriving mega churches full of talented, creative, energetic young people (at least if social media feeds are to be believed), and then I see stats like these, it makes my head want to explode. And when I think of the region in Mali where I’ve been working for the past seven years, where there are still nearly four hundred villages with no believing communities or ongoing Gospel witness, it makes me want to cry. I just don’t understand. I’m not by nature a cynical person. I like to be positive and believe the best about everyone. But I am completely underwhelmed by all the rock-concert style Christian conferences with smoke and lights, off-the-hook worship and amaaaazing speakers bringing powerful words. If all we can say was that ‘a good time was had by all,’ if all this hoopla hasn’t produced the kind of heart change that results in at least some people who believe that Jesus is worthy enough for them to lay down their lives and GO, then I don’t give a rip about your fancy conference. You just wasted obscene amounts of money. Congratulations! Now you can pat yourselves on the back and tell each other that ‘something shifted in the heavenlies.’ In the meantime, the unreached world is waiting for some of us to shift our backsides from here to there and actually do what Jesus said. You know, ‘may Your kingdom come, May Your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.’ Maybe I’m confused, but I kind of thought that’s why we’re here.
Okay, so maybe that was a little harsh, so let me back up and put what I just said into perspective. I understand that not everyone is called to go to a village in rural Africa, and not everyone can. I understand that there are plenty of lost and broken people here who are coming to faith and getting their lives restored. As a pastor of a local church near Baltimore for sixteen years, I was privileged to introduce a number of people to Jesus, and also to help a number of people experience God’s healing grace in the midst of all kinds of brokenness. And even now, when I’m in the States, I’m privileged to serve as a pastor/counselor for a drug and alcohol recovery community. I’m not trying to heap condemnation on anyone. At the same time, however, I would like to stir up those who could, at the least, consider going to an unreached people group. I’m not even talking about the rest of your life. Just some part of it. Maybe a few years, or four or five years, that could very well change many other lives – or maybe just a few others, I don’t know – for eternity! I’m being serious here. There are plenty of you who could do it. Maybe you just don’t want to, maybe you’re waiting for a heavenly vision, or maybe you just don’t realize yet that YOU could actually do this. I’m telling you that you can.
How do I know this? Because I’m doing it (probably very poorly and I wish someone would show up who can do it better because I’m definitely not the best candidate for the job, but for now it’s slim pickings). I didn’t plan on doing it. I’m not a pioneer missionary/evangelist/church planter by nature or gifting. I’m a Bible teacher, dreamer, musician, writer and counselor. I like nice things, I like to be comfortable, I like good food and drink, and trendy cafes. And working out at the gym. And the symphony. And I do love Africa. But I’m sixty years old, dagnabbit! My back hurts when I get up in the morning and sometimes I wake up grouchy. Oh yeah, I also have an incurable blood cancer that will eventually take me out unless Jesus heals me or researchers come up with a viable cure, and sometimes the maintenance chemotherapy makes me feel like crap. (But I’m actually doing pretty well at the moment so don’t feel bad for me – that’s not what this is about). My wife and I did the missionary thing in Congo back in the 80’s and 90’s, and I even planted a church in an unreached village in a remote region during those years (I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but it worked anyway). Some have said that we’ve ‘paid our dues,’ which is a wrong and twisted way to think about the greatest privilege on earth and some of the best years of our lives.
There was no lightning bolt from heaven that convinced me to start working among the unreached in rural Mali. I was still the pastor of a nice little church in Maryland, on my yearly teaching trip for Youth With A Mission in Mali. A Malian friend, who had started a development project in his home region, knocked on my guest room door one day during the afternoon break. He had a map under his arm which he spread out on the desk in front of me. 400 villages, no churches or Gospel witness, but wide-open doors. Would I pray about joining him, to spearhead the evangelism / church planting side of things while he did the community development part? In his words, “The Gospel with two hands.” I had that sinking feeling… ‘Dang. Here we go…” Maybe I’m plain stupid, but I couldn’t believe missions groups weren’t jumping on this – a Muslim region with friendly people and wide open doors to share the Gospel! (And I admit, no electricity or running water – forget internet – snakes, scorpions, clouds of flies, and heat that can make you feel like you’re in hell’s waiting room). Anyway, I didn’t see how I could reasonably refuse, so I said yes. I don’t know your story or how it’s going to turn out – I don’t even know how my own story will turn out – but I hope that in some way, shape or form, you say YES. Anyway, I started thinking about the reasons people don’t say yes. What holds us back? Here are a few simple objections that I want to address:
- ‘I don’t like change, and this would actually involve GOING and adapting to an unfamiliar culture.’ Well, I can’t disagree with you there! It will require change, and a big learning curve, and in the beginning you will lose all your ‘coolness’ and be a dumb foreigner who doesn’t even know how to communicate. It’s like being born again… but then you start to learn and change and a whole new world opens up to you. Life becomes so much bigger, and you will never be the same! But first you will feel stupid and bewildered, and it will be so good for you and your spiritual growth!
- Sometimes, when young people ask me about Mali, and I explain to them that they’ll need to learn French (start learning before you come, and then Bambara later on), the conversation grinds to a halt. ‘Oh.’ As if learning a language were some kind of impossible barrier that only a select few can break through. My answer: IT’S NOT THAT HARD, OK? Really, your brain is an amazing piece of equipment that is designed for this kind of adaptability – especially if you get out of your comfort zone and start speaking. Also, there are so many great language learning apps now! And think how much your social circle will expand when you can speak more than one language!
- ‘I can’t deal with critters and creepy crawly things!’ Jesus says you can. OK, you might end up in a city setting where you won’t have to worry about snakes and bugs, just crazy traffic and choking air pollution and crime. But in the village, yes, occasionally we have to deal with poisonous snakes and scorpions. But generally these things are not out to get you, they are not going to drop from the trees or launch themselves through the air with you as their target. If a viper slithers across my path, I just grab a big stick and bash the #$&#@ out of it until it stops moving. Ok, if I come across one in the pit toilet enclosure at night when it’s the I last thing I expected, I shriek like a girl, drop my flashlight and run out of there yelling ‘snake!’ Then someone else shakes their head, grabs a stick and smashes the #$#@ out of it. This scorpion showed up on my kitchen wall as I was fixing dinner one evening. (These things creep me out worse than anything else). I grabbed a composition book I use for Bible study notes, took aim, and smashed it with all my might. Then I dumped it outside and went back to making dinner. And decided to wear shoes the rest of that night.
- It’s not safe! You’re risking your life going to these places! Sorry, but ‘safe’ is such a relative word. Really, you can break your neck getting out of bed in the morning. (Maybe the chances of that are slim, but still). And you get in a car and drive, or get in a car and let someone else drive! Do you even know how many car accidents happen every day in your city or state? Of course not, because you’re not going to dwell on that. You have to live and get to work and do things and you can’t obsess about things you can’t control. On the other hand, I know exactly how many westerners have been kidnapped in Mali by terrorists, and where the latest attacks have happened – but it’s still way safer than walking around in Baltimore city. Besides, Jesus never promised his followers physical safety, so we need to get over it and just count on the fact that He promised to be with us.
- ‘I’m just so fulfilled drinking fair trade coffee in my favorite cafe, scrolling instagram, posting witty things, wearing cool kicks, and making sure my living space adheres to current trends.’ I don’t mean to be unkind. But the world is so seductive. It’s why The apostle John says,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17).
The thing about this seduction is that it feels so good, and we’re not even aware that anything is going wrong or that we’re literally wasting our lives on totally insignificant crap. OK, now I really am going to sound like a grouchy old man, but I hope you listen to me anyway. I’m totally amazed at how fashion-forward every popular pastor and leader has to be these days. It’s like big church leaders MUST be cooler than the coolest, trendiest performers that Hollywood and the music industry can produce. And for the rest of us average folks, we’re not really allowed to be average. We have to be trendy and chic and we have to keep posting it on social media, or else how will we be relevant? I really believe that this – this love of the world – is keeping some of us back from investing our lives to reach unreached peoples. Please, please, please. You have one, beautiful, powerful, God-given life. Invest it somewhere, plant it somewhere that will make a difference. You will experience a sweet fellowship with Jesus, and a thousand other things over the course of a few years, that you will never regret. Here’s a promise and an invitation from Scripture:
Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (Psalm 126:5-6)
In Mali, sowing time, at the start of rainy season, is hopeful – but it’s also painful. I understand the sowing in tears part like I never did before. Preparing the ground is a back-breaking task. Then you’re going to take a significant portion of your rice, or corn or millet, that you could eat just when food stores are getting low. But instead of eating it, you’re going to throw it in the ground with no guarantee. Then you’re going to work like mad to tend it, and pray desperately that the rains are sufficient to produce a good crop. But if you don’t take the risk, do the work and sow, you will definitely have nothing at harvest time. So I appeal to you, find a field that needs Jesus, pray, get counsel and direction, and then go plant yourself.
Know This Love 