Modern Missions part 2

Friday's post was about the deputation process. Today, I want to talk about an idea of means of support for a missionary were they not to "do deputation."

This is a theoretical idea that I have here - not scriptural, but logical to me. What if the missionary's pattern was to work hard on finding 10 families on their mission field. The missionary goes and teaches them the gospel, baptizes the believers, and then teaches them to observe all things... like tithing. Were a missionary to find 10 families who would be obedient to God in all those steps, the missionary could be supported the equivalent salary as those to whom he is ministering.

I know, I know... we Americans couldn't live on the salary of some of the countries to where we go. We would need to have more than those people in order for us to live. Because we... well... um... we need more, right? I mean, because we're Americans we need more money to live on... um... huh.

Anyway, just another missionary thought

Modern Missions

Let me begin by saying that today's thought hasn't been fully formulated in my mind. However, it's something I've been tossing around for a couple days, so I want to get it out there... (Since, so few people touched my Assassins post, maybe this will have more interest.)

Modern Missions (at least, in America) generally works like this. A man surrenders his life to do whatever God would have him to do. He then will determine the "where." (I remember hearing a preacher down in Georgia say, "You do the 'what' until you know the 'where.'" It's a good charge.) Once he knows where to go, he'll usually start off by talking to his local church's missions director, whoever that may be. The next step is usually a survey trip. They go and see the field where they are interested in going, and begin to gather pertinent information. Then they return and begin the process called "Deputation."

This "Deputation" process is what I want to consider today. The purpose of deputation is to raise the financial support needed for the mission field, by presenting the work that God has laid on their lives to churches around the country. The missionary's desire is that those churches would decide to commit to helping the missionary, financially, on a regular basis. Once the missionary has enough committed churches to meet the financial needs that were calculated, then the missionary prepares to go to the field and begin the work. In the process, he also gains much needed prayer and, hopefully, encouragement from other believers.

Matthew 10:9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Matthew 10:10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

Now, when Jesus sent out His disciples on the mission that He had for them, He did say to do the exact opposite. He wanted them to go, preach the gospel, and worthy recipients of the gospel there would provide the needs of His apostles. Of course, He also told them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils! So, I can accept the argument that I am taking this passage out of context, and that it shouldn't apply to modern missionaries.

(Can I add real quick here, that I have a lot of missionary friends, even my parents(!) that have gone through this same process. There is nothing anti-biblical about it, and I do not think they are wrong in doing it that way.)

I wonder what would happen if a missionary today tried it like Jesus did with His missionaries for that specific project. I wonder what would happen if someone just got up and went somewhere else preaching the gospel, and trusted that God would provide his needs - that the converts would be obedient to the message of the workman being worthy of his meat. What a reliance the missionary would put on God, and not on the money coming in from back home.

Maybe I can develop this thought some more in the upcoming days, but am I way off base in this line of thought?

Just a thought...

Assassin

Confessing my faults here... I am a fan of the Bourne Trilogy of movies. If you don't know, they are stories about a government assassin. I had a question for you: Could a Christian ever be right with God and have that profession? You know, those black ops guys that the government denies they exist, etc.

Well... why not? I mean, if an infantry person's task is to kill the enemy in front of him, because he is being obedient to the government (who has been given the "sword" to execute good for God's sake - Romans 13), that is excused as being ok. Now, when the same task is done in secret, but for the same goals, does that make it wrong?

hmm.... just a thought.

Vanity...

Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

So, I was thinking of Vanity, and how full of themselves some people are. I heard about Oprah Winfrey's magazine, and how on each of her magazine covers, her face is always on there.

It seems to me that she wants to be the "star" of the show. Well, since it's her show, I guess that make sense.

Vanity, Self-Centeredness (nope, that's not a word, I checked), Pride... all of these things ought to have no place in the Christian's mind, like they are in the mind of the Gentiles.

Anyway, just a thought...

By the way, how do you like my new blog header?!

:)

Living or Walking?

Gen 5:7 - And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years...
Gen 5:10 - And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years...
Gen 5:13 - And Cainan lived after he begat Mahaleel eight hundred and forty years...
Gen 5:16 - And Mahaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years...
Gen 5:19 - And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years...
Gen 5:22 - And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years...

I posted a while back about how I was amazed that Enoch was faithful to walk with God for 300 years. But now I want to contrast what the Bible says about Enoch vs. the rest of his forefathers.
First of all, we notice that they all "lived." That's profound. They had breath; they walked around; they related with other people. They lived. We don't know much about their lives other than they procreated. However, Enoch did not just "live." Enoch did more than that; he "walked with God." His life was not wasted, but rather was spent in communion with God. What a great example.

Second, we notice the lengths of their lives. 807, 815, 840, 830, 800... that's how many years Enoch's forefathers "lived." Now, when we get to Enoch, we find that after he begat Methuselah, he only was around for 300 years. Why would God take him at such a young age? (I mean really, 365 years old is not that old!?) It reminds me of a quote from Jim Elliot (who, coincidentally, died on this date in 1956 (thanks Pastor Curran for the reminder), written in his journal:

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus. (1948)

Are we willing to give up just "living" and actually spend our days on earth faithfully "walking with God"? And if that requires that God takes us earlier... are we ok with that? Jim Elliot recognized that the length of life was not as important as the quality of the walk with God. Enoch knew it too. Let's learn it.

Just a thought...

Giving In...

Ok, Fine, I'll give in to all the hype!

You should check out Barone's new blog site: www.PrayForItaly.com

I wonder what everyone's thoughts are on a missionary doing something like that. Is it a waste of time? Is it a good way to keep awareness up? What other thoughts do you have?

As always (Oh wait, I forgot that I hadn't posted in forever, and probably don't have any readers, let alone returning ones...), Anonymous posts are welcome.

Conceived of the Holy Ghost

Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Happy New Year, everyone! I have started my new reading plan today, and when I read this verse that last phrase jumped out at me: "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." Now, I know Christmas was last week, and we all know the actual point of this verse is that Jesus was born of a virgin. But, it made me ask myself: What in me is conceived of the Holy Ghost?

I mean, I desire to do things for God. I desire to please Him. Mary was also a "good" woman. She was a faithful, pure (though not sinless), devoted follower of God. But, even still, the best thing in her life was that which was conceived of the Holy Ghost.

So, my desire is that this year, we will be driven by the Spirit, and that ALL (lofty goal?) that we do would be conceived and driven of the Holy Ghost.

Just a New Year's thought...