Missions Misunderstood

Acts 28:28 "You may be sure that God wants to save the Gentiles! And they will listen."

This verse in Acts really bothers me. Paul is being quoted here, and it just doesn't seem to make sense. It doesn't make sense because of the passage that comes just before it, where
Paul quotes Isaiah the prophet:

"You will listen and listen but never understand. You will look and look, but never see. All of you have stubborn hearts. Your ears are stopped up, and your eyes are covered. You cannot see or hear or understand. If you could, you would turn to me, and I would heal you."

So I'm trying to get this straight- God wants to save the Gentiles. The Gentiles will listen. They will never understand (it actually says that part twice!)

Here's why I dislike this passage so much- I have seen this to be true among the people of Western Europe. God wants to save people in Western Europe. He has brought us here to minister to them in love. He has a plan for them.

They listen. I've sat down to coffee with a national and talked about my faith for literally hours. They listen!

They do not understand. "That's great, for you" they say. "I guess that's one way of looking at it." "We have tried Christianity- look where it got us!"

If they could understand...
So many times I see hurting people who are desperate for healing. If they could understand, they could be healed. But they don't, so they aren't.

This verse bothers me because, despite all of my efforts, it is true.

Many of us on the field are active recruiters. We are always looking for people who would be especially suited for ministry in Western Europe. Many strategists find new partners by talking about their people group. They describe the beauty of the culture, the proud history of the people, and the great spiritual need among them. The idea, I suppose, is that God would use the stories to stir the hearts of listeners and get them excited about being part of ministry overseas. 

As I talk with other Christians about life and society and current events, it strikes me how suspicious we are of everyone. The atheists have taken over the public school system. The homosexuals want to turn all boys gay. The Mexicans are invading. The Muslims want to outlaw Christianity. Universal health care is communism. Don't watch The Golden Compass. The Mormons own Coca-Cola.

How are you involved in international missions? In the past, mission agencies gave you three options: pray, give, or go. Hopefully, you're doing at least one of these things.

I'd like to invite you to a fourth way to participate in what God is doing around the world. You may not be aware of this, but there is a way for you to build a personal relationship with an unbelieving person from an unreached people group that is free, requires no training or time off work, and doesn't require you to learn another language.

You can be a pen pal.

Thankfully, the internet has taken the old idea of corresponding with a complete stranger on another continent and made it, well, faster, cheaper, and more fun. Here's how you can get started:

1. Visit an international classifieds website like kijiji.com, craigslist.org, or tribe.net
or a social networking site like facebook.com, myspace.com, or any of the hundreds of similar sites listed here.
Classified sites tend to be a bit easier to manage (London's gumtree.com, for example, actually has a section titled "pen pals.") and are especially good if you already have an idea of what people group or city you'd like to connect with. For now, let's assume you're using kijiji.com.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the site, and select the local site of your desired country. Many countries have classified ad sites, but it people in Western Europe are so web-connected, these countries are a great place to find someone who is likely to correspond with you.

3. Register a username and password, if necessary.

4. Search through the classified ads to find someone with whom you have something in common. Amateur authors in Wales? A guitar player in Spain? How about moms in Dublin?

5. Post a response to an ad. Or, post an ad of your own. Maybe you'd like to swap recipes with someone in Basel or find a pen pal in Berlin who likes NASCAR. (Good luck with that one). Just be yourself! Remember: for you, this may be a strange and frightening way to make friends, but for them, meeting people online is a pretty normal thing to do.

6. Wait for someone to answer your ad. Many of theses sites will email you when you receive a response. Be sure to keep security in mind as you introduce yourself and get to know the person. Don't make promises you won't be able to keep.

7. Share life with your new friend. Don't treat this as a confrontational evangelism tool- let the person get to know you. For many Western Europeans, you may be the only practicing believer with whom they've had contact. Even those who know about Jesus are unlikely to have seen life in Christ lived out before them. They need to hear what a follower of Jesus thinks about all sorts of things. Tell your stories. Listen to theirs. Send photos. Have a voice conversation on Skype. You may eventually get to meet your pen pal in person some day.

Now, this isn't for everyone. If you're the type who can't stand to talk with someone with whom you disagree, please don't bother. If you're not willing or able to personally invest in a "virtual friend," this isn't for you.

I think there are a lot of believers out there who didn't even know this is an option. I imagine many of you that don't have the time or money or desire to go on a mission trip may be intrigued my the idea of meeting someone online for the sake of sharing life intentionally.

Who knows? God may use you to start an online church planting movement.

As a missionary, I am tempted to lie on a regular basis. It may or may not surprise you to read
that statement, but its true nonetheless. What's more, I find the temptation strongest when I'm talking with a coworker, partner, or supporter. It all starts out innocently enough; someone asks, "How is your ministry going?" or "What are you seeing God do among your people groups?" For some reason, it's always difficult for me to know how to respond to these questions. And for some reason, I'm often tempted to offer a less-than-honest answer.

The lies that pop into my mind aren't usually grandiose- I'm not talking about making up a church planting movement or a new great awakening. No, my temptation is to elaborate with, um, ministerial hyperbole the things that are actually happening. You know, for effect. Perhaps what I'm tempted to offer isn't a lie, per se, but the result is the same. The only examples I share are those I've carefully selected. Certain details are emphasized. Some information is conveniently left out. Our small seeker group of four suddenly becomes a viable church plant of six. My casual interaction with national leaders grows into a full-blown partnership. I find myself taking credit for the successes of others by frequent use of the collective "we." Everything suddenly becomes over-spiritualized.

The temptation isn't limited to embellishing our successes. There's something super-spiritual about suffering on the missions field, so I often feel the urge to overstate the modest struggles we face in Western Europe. Poor customer service becomes enemy opposition, and a hard time at the immigration office is persecution. If life here is too easy, my obedience is somehow less pleasing to God and fellow believers.

Maybe the temptation to stretch the truth is rooted in our performance-based culture that encourages us to value activity over identity. Maybe it's my desire to be important or well-known. Whatever the reason, exaggerations and half-truths are trouble. Lying is one of those sins that tends to have the "snowball effect;" the liar quickly finds himself having to compose bigger, more elaborate, and (if it were possible,) more deceitful lies to cover the first one.

It occurs to me that a great deal of the misunderstanding is my own fault. How can I expect others to know and relate to my experience if I'm not being completely forthright? Besides, God's constant and protection and provision for my life means that there is always a truth to be told.