How our going to church is destroying the church

How can going to church, be destroying the church? Isn’t it the people who aren’t going to church that we should be worried about?

Let’s take a step back and come with me to the area I have just moved into in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

For security reasons, I’ve made my location slightly unclear, but otherwise this map gives you an accurate picture of my area.

Within 1 mile of my house, we have:

• 2 Presbyterian Churches (with 2 more just outside the mile walk)
• 2 Roman Catholic (with another 2 just outside the mile)
• 2 Church of Ireland congregations (with another just outside the mile)
• 1 Independent Methodist (with 1 denominational Methodist just outside the mile)
• 1 Congregational church
• 1 Baptist
• 1 independent evangelical church
• 1 pentecostal church
• 1 Brethren Gospel Hall (with another just outside the mile)

Without visiting them all, I could fairly confidently say that within a mile of me, at least 7 of these churches would hold to historic evangelical doctrine. 2 would be reformed in their understanding of doctrine and practice.

I go to none of them.

Instead, I choose to drive 6 miles into the city, to a church which has its membership on average commuting similar distances.

What difference does this make to church life?

Dr Carl Trueman in his (free) lectures on the Reformation, famously said that the greatest impact on the church post-reformation, was the invention of the motor car. In our cars, we become the arbiters of churches.

In our cars we can get to churches miles away in minutes (I travel to mine in 12 minutes on a Sunday).

In our cars, we can be tempted to go elsewhere. Many of those who I’ve sat beside in church recently (deliberately sitting beside new-comers where I can), said they’re just popping in to visit from their home church – miles away.

In our cars, church discipline (in the positive sense of the term), no longer is effective, as we can jump in our cars and drive to the next church, where the elders know nothing about our character or actions.

In our cars, we no longer see each other as much, as we all live so far from each other. Scripture has 52 “one-another” actions which the church community are called to practice. Can we do them from distance? Debatable.

In our cars, if we were to do these “one-another” practices, we would spend a good chunk of our time driving, and thus dwindle our time with non-Christian friends (who are unlikely to see the need to drive the same number of miles, past perhaps past 50 other churches, in order to go to one which meets our theological niche or stylistic preference).

Is geographical proximity necessitated by New Testament Church principles?

Of course not! You don’t find Paul stating that the main problem in the church was their lack of geographical proximity. But you do find the New Testament authors giving 52 “one-another” practices they see the Church ought to be fulfilling, whilst living as a missional community together. I could imagine geographical proximity was never a problem in NT times, apart from, for example, Ethiopian Eunuchs passing by, who might need to go and plant their own church amongst their own servants and people.

Take a look at this next picture, in the same city (Belfast) that I live in:

Lots of churches still here, but now the breakdown might be more like:

• 3 Roman Catholic Churches (with another just outside the mile walk)
• 1 evangelical church
• 1 brethren Gospel Hall (just outside the mile walk)
• 1 Church of Ireland hall (1 Church of Ireland just outside the mile walk)

Here, for a similar density of population, in a Irish Nationalist community, we have only one evangelical church (that I’m aware of). I could imagine some places in West Belfast where there would not even be this.

Is it really a problem?

In some ways, no. Middle class people, due to cars/transport, are not geographically bound anymore, particularly in the cities. Our friends are not our nieghbours (often). Consider 3 scenarios:

1. If I was to live in London, the people I see most during the week are my colleagues in central London, or my friends I meet with after work. Not as many are bound by the area they live in. Many travel on the Underground 30 minutes to meet for coffee or a pint.
2. If I was to live in Ballingeary or Goleen in rural West Cork, it would take me over 30 minutes to drive to an Evangelical Church. But many farmers, although tightly knit to their communities, drive this distance to the shops or for other things.
3. If I was to live in Khemisset, in central Morocco, with a population of over 130,000, I might have to drive well over 1 hour to find an accessible underground church community (given as a local I may be not allowed to attend a foreign-led one). This may be an advantage to me, as I may not want to be seen going to a local fellowship.

But really, is there not a problem?

Could I suggest there are several problems here, which are destroying the church, because of travel. We can come back to each in due course.

1. By traveling miles to church, when we could go to a closer evangelical (or in my case, reformed) one, we put ourselves at a major disadvantage in “one-another”ing, each other (discipleship)
2. By traveling miles to church, when we could go to a closer evangelical (or in my case, reformed) one, we put ourselves at a major disadvantage in evangelism because we turn it into an individualistic burden instead of living out authentic community: “that they might know that you are my disciples by your love for one another”
3. By traveling miles to church, when we could go to a closer evangelical (or in my case, reformed) one, we refuse to keep the main thing, the main thing. We divide over secondary issues and often form our identity round them (great as they may be). In this, we fail to prioritise the most unreached areas, instead prefering our own style or theological nuance.
4. By traveling miles to church, we are telling some communities (whether linguistic, geographical or cultural) that they must become “other” in order to believe. The trouble is, this “other” isn’t often commanded by scripture.

Now all this I say with two caveats. (1) I am part of the problem and (2) I have no intention of moving house or church right now. I would like to think I’m a bit of a unique case (don’t we all??) but lest I get caught up in justifying myself, I’ll refrain from telling you all about it, and allow my elders and church family to ask those questions, my neighbours and friends to decide how effectively I’m living for Jesus amongst them, and my friends of other denominations to see whether I’m dividing us all by placing too much weight on secondary things or not.

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You can read more about these specific issues numbered above, here:

• discipleship (1)
• evangelism (2)
• reaching the unreached (3)

Missionaries are just adventurers?

“I’m not going to the Missions Conference” said my friend in church. Having just given everything to help organise the conference that hundreds of people came to every year, I was deflated to hear these words from a core member of the Christian community. Why?

“Missionaries at conferences are just a bunch of extroverted adventurers who tell cool stories about their adventures following God elsewhere in the world. I’m not supporting their adventures under the name of Jesus.”

And to some extent, I could see where they were coming from. So many missionaries to gain support, tell story after story of impressive things, in scary situations, or radical moves of God. The story often revolves round them, their work, or their experience, and that’s somewhat natural.

And so many mission teams and people, end up doing things abroad that they would never dream of doing at home, or never think was wise or sustainable to do. Spending your time painting orphanages may seem wonderful, until you rob the local painter of a job. Blitzing the city of [insert name] that is predominantly [insert other religion] with gospel literature before leaving may seem brave and fearless, until you realise the negative impact it has on sustainable work of local Christians.

If those were the missionaries we were having on stage, I might go to be entertained, but equally I might decide to stay at home.

Thankfully, they’re not. For at least three reasons:

1. Every Christian is a missionary

God is on mission – the Mission Dei. And He calls us along to partake in His vision, which we glimpse as we see His heart in the scriptures, and see His hand at work across the nations. It’s not an optional calling. It’s not a thing for adventurers or extroverts. It’s for everyone, both at home and abroad. And I hope our conferences reflect that – this year, we’d a diverse range of people speaking, from a teacher, to a student, to a golf green-keeper, a church worker, a stay-at-home parent and many more. Forget the scary terminology, or questioning whether missionaries are good for the world. They are. Because we’re all on mission. And His mission is His church, which is the best thing to happen to the world.

2. Every personality type is used in the body

There was a generation who delighted in Myers Briggs personality tests. “I’m in introvert” and “I’m INFP” were things you often heard. Those were very useful (and still are) but often were labels that people hid behind and used as excuses. “I can’t tell people about Jesus like that, because I’m not that kind of person.”

But while respecting the diversity of Christ’s creation, we can’t simply hide behind personality types as a reason why we’re not living and speaking for Jesus wherever we are. Yes, we must cherish the different parts of the body of Christ, value our unity in diversity, and not try and force everyone into the same mold, but we must also always push ourselves out of our comfort zones a little, so that we grow in areas we are not comfortable in. Perhaps that’s what might challenge even the current “Strengthfinder” generation, who like to build on people’s strengths primarily.

It’s why some of the people who’ve left Cork to go on mission to some of the more extreme places in the world, are actually introverts and humanly speaking far from being the stereotypical “adventurer”. And it’s beautiful when God does that – so changing people’s hearts and convictions as to who He is, that they can’t help but radically be re-orientated to His call. It’s who they were made to be, even if that doesn’t seem obvious to them years ago.

3. We must tell God’s story, rather than our own

This is something I struggle with. When does telling an incredible story about God working, actually point to me? Does every story I tell, necessarily have to be about me failing or being weak, but God still using it? I look at some of this in chapter 2 of my book.

And what do we expect of our cross-cultural missionaries….do we ask them to be normal church leaders in a local context, plus have the ability to speak other languages, learn other cultures, thrive amongst other worldviews and perhaps have a normal job on the side too? It’s very hard to say the sentence “God primarily uses ordinary followers of Jesus” when you’ve just said the sentence before it. That doesn’t appear like a normal person to me. That appears like an extremely gifted person (humanly speaking) in certain things, which we could not expect everyone to be. There’s a joke in some circles that love to emphasize how God uses “ordinary” people, that it’s a bunch of extra-ordinary personalities trying to persuade us that we can all be ordinary.

Regardless, every time we organise a conference, we try and excite people, not primarily with big personalities or intrepid story-tellers, but with God’s Word, His work and His story.

The Christian hostel community that I stayed with in Scotland the other night.

Regardless, every time we organise a conference, we try and excite people, not primarily with big personalities or intrepid story-tellers, but with God’s Word, His work and His story.

But it brings me back to thinking….

Perhaps if God uses all personality types and gifts, we should play to the strengths of those who are adventurers at heart? Shouldn’t it be a natural recruiting pool for people who could go to the hardest-to-reach spots in the world where there are still Unengaged People Groups? Sure, we must be careful that this is not the prime reason we pick them – Godly character, a love for God, and for His Church should still ooze from them. But to not tap into the adventurous spirit of many – to overlook travel – is to overlook some of the people most humanly fitted to going.

What if, instead of ranting about travelling people being always on the road, we were to empower them to do what they do well, to the glory of God, and for His mission? What if the way they learnt to love the local church, was to see that their adventurous spirit can be a key part of local church community, without making them feel like they are tied to a chair and strait-jacketed by Christianity?

By loving them, in their diverse gifts and passions, we give them an example of loving people of radically different gifts and passions, and serving and honouring them. And we trust that they’d start to do the same – to value to 9-5 office worker and the stay at home parent. To show love to the disabled kid, or the person who would rather sit at home playing computer games. To intentionally demonstrate that God’s community includes all sorts.

It’s why I wasn’t surprised that out of all those I talked to at a recent Christian hostel, many (even new believers, who’d come to faith in another hostel, and were now plugged in to local church) were considering overseas mission in hard places where Jesus isn’t known.

Perhaps, we should stop looking down on travel as a subsidiary luxury of the western church?

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PS: A question for another day is what church looks like in those hard-to-reach warzones, nomadic tribes or other places, when a bunch of extroverted adventurers turn up together on the doorstep. What does diversity look like then? Answers on a postcard please (or in the comments below).

Business as mission

I’ve had the privilege of travelling Ireland recently with someone who is an expert in business as mission.  Working in major corporations for his whole life as he travelled the world, he’s decided to spend the last ten years of his career encouraging Christians to take business seriously, to take mission seriously and to do them both together, whether here or abroad in lesser reached places.  You won’t find any of his friends in business just doing it to get access to places.  No they’re serious and authentic business people.  And I many of us should be too – not having to abandon business to serve Jesus.

What a great way to use travel!

Here’s one website he recommended:

http://www.bamedu.com/

 

Photo copyright Peter Grier 16/03/18

 

Abandoning my first love…

[This is part 5 of a 5 part series on seeing God’s glory across the nations.]

“I’m ready to go to Somalia, whether that means death or anything that God has for me”

They were bold words from a young person, in their late twenties, sold on following Jesus.  Here was a person we’d dreamed of finding.  Someone who valued everything else as rubbish, for the sake of knowing Him and making Him known.  Someone who would care nothing for finding their ideal spouse, living in comfort, or travelling the world compared with the joys of being united to Jesus, sharing in His glory, and following Him.  Someone who’d been shaping their life around heading to unreached peoples, for years.

Not many young people reach such convictions at such an age.  And so here we were.

A tear welled up in my eye, as I turned to chat to their church leader.  They, as a church, had affirmed her calling and were willing to send her.  But first they suggested with all that she was to face in future, that she would need to be equipped theologically, or else she would struggle to survive long term out there.

“We recommend 2 years in Bible college before you go.”

The words hit like lead balloons.

Tears formed in her eyes.  She couldn’t do that, could she?  2 more years of cold ivory tower learning, while passing thousands in Somalia died every day and headed to a lost eternity.  Did these church leaders not care?  Do they not understand her heart for these people now?  I won’t be ruined by not having yet more theological study, she thought.  And so she refused, thinking that they’d see her logic with a bit more explanation.  But they didn’t budge:

“I’m afraid if you’re not willing to go with us on this one, we’d struggle to send you to Somalia.  Perhaps it’s best if we wait a few more years”

And so she stormed out, in a rage.

 

And so often my heart has done the same.  Weeping uncontrollably at passers by in the University of Nottingham, as they went to lectures.  Struggling to do what God had set in front of me first, and to honour Him in that.  Wanting to be the quick fix solution to a problem that I couldn’t ever solve by myself.  To some extents, a Messiah Complex.

It’s the trouble when Unengaged People Groups become our first love.  It’s a minor problem of great sites like Called Together which match people by calling.  What happens when God says dying to self looks different?  What happens when your church leaders and all those wiser than us think differently?  What happens when circumstance ruins the dream?

I’ve been in sad situations in Morocco where God has allowed a death of a husband (and father of four) to ruin someone’s Unengaged People dream.  I’ve been in others where longterm, life-debilitating illness has taken the dream from others.  And I’ve been in places where people’s church leaders have simply said “no, we don’t feel you are right to be sent.  Please stay at home and serve God here”.

It’s a common problem with us evangelists – we can slip into thinking it’s godly to sacrifice [insert thing] on the altar of mission.  Family.  Friends.  Church.  But disaster after disaster has unfolded.  Broken marriages, hurt families, kids rejecting all faith, individualism.  I’ve been in the sad place where even once, my non-Christian friends have noticed what I was doing and warned me.  “Peter, you’re obsessed.  If you want us to consider all this stuff, stop running around trying to know hundreds of people”.

You see, despite the fact that the people who go to the unengaged world are few and far between, God’s glory will not be shared with another.  His plans are bigger than ever needing any individual, much as he dearly loves every one of us.

And so my prayer for my own life, and for yours, is that we love Jesus, and let everything else click into place.  Simple I know.  But so very difficult.  May we never glory in Jesus’ words about unreached peoples, more than we glory in Him.

Otherwise you may as well be travelling the world for your own pleasures.

Good, better, best.

[This is part 3 of a 5 part series on seeing God’s glory across the nations.  Please bear with me on this one, as it’s thoughts in process – feedback welcome!]

Choice is paralysis.

They told me we were a fortunate generation to have the world as our oyster.  They told me we should be grateful for being able to re-train and learn any occupation in a few years and do what we love.  They told me that we’d be able to travel the world and find others with similar interests and passions.  They told me we’d be able to spend our lifetime exploring the rich diversity of personalities, cultures, countries and languages on this earth.  But they didn’t tell me this.

Choice is paralysis.

And I find myself part of a generation who have so much at their fingertips, we have nothing.  Because we can’t decide what we want.

The green fields and castles of Munster, on a summer day in Ireland (copyright me)

We come back from our travels, and we’re so taken by dreaming of the next one, that we struggle to fit in.  And the freedom and exhilaration of new things, new cultures and new people, gnaw away at us when we’re back to brass tacks, sitting at the office desk, wondering when we can next escape.  Perhaps we’re in the wrong job?  Should we change again?  But the last one felt like chains too…and I thought this one was more “me”.  And so I’m left wondering whether the next pay cheque really needs to go on car insurance, or whether we can abandon the car in a bid to travel the road even further.

So many places.  So many experiences.  So much on the bucket list.  So little time.

Choice can be paralysing!

And for the Christian it often is no different.  Just because we have the Holy Spirit, doesn’t mean that life becomes easy or that the golden path is suddenly there.  The Bible doesn’t promise a soul-mate.  The Bible doesn’t promise to outline what country you should live in.  The Bible doesn’t even give a ranking list of professions either.  In fact, the Bible doesn’t even promise you an easy ride this side of eternity – far from it!

But what Jesus does do, is to let us know that He is Lord over everything, and that we can serve Him in the vast array of different giftings, cultures and personalities that we all have.  How freeing!

So no need to try and endlessly interpret whether one door is closing or opening.  No need to wait on someone to come along and confirm your life calling.  No need to wait til all the circumstances perfectly line up in your life for something.  No need to mysteriously open your Bible at a verse that matches the numbers on the car number plate that you’re following at the time.  That’s often more superstition than Jesus.

BUT…

There are certain things Jesus would say we should bear in mind: 

 

1. Things the Church should do/be (eg. The bride of Christ…individuals cannot fulfil this role)
2. Things individuals should do/be (eg. a part of the body)
3. Things Christians with certain gifts can do/be (eg. Evangelists or speakers of tongues – neither are for everyone)
4. Things mostly all Christians can do/be (eg. “be my witnesses” – we’re all called to this)

My work in progress – sorry to those who don’t think like this!

1+2+3+4: Many things, like putting our hope in God’s Word.

1+2: Sins of omission: Many things where the Church and individuals ought to do something or be something but don’t/aren’t

3 alone (eg: using tongues in private or chatting to lots of lonely people) or

4 alone (eg: wearing a cross at work or being kind to everyone) or

(3+4) : (eg: telling someone they ought to be kinder)

Some gifted people use their gifts outside of formal church context and outside of where they’re called specifically to use their gifts.  Consciously this happens for example, in the business world or anywhere we work.  Unconsciously, this happens ALOT, when people think they’re using gospel gifts, and are actually just acting culturally rather than Biblically.

1+3: eg. Go to unengaged peoples (this is a unique subset of certain gifts which individuals within the Church need to act on)

2+4: eg. Partner to help reach some of the unengaged peoples (this is what everyone else is required to do as individuals, to have God’s heart for unengaged peoples)

Why go to this length with an infographic (that is far from perfect)?

Well, what I think this shows us, is that everyone can sit back as individuals, in a highly individualised church scene, and confidently say that they don’t feel called to unengaged peoples.  And to some extents they may all be able to justify their decision making in highly logical, Biblically good and God glorifying ways.  And no-one would go.  Ever.  And this is what I would argue has happened for centuries of church history (with notable exceptions).

Who would be to blame?

Well, it’s hard to say, isn’t it?

No single individual could be held responsible.

No single church could be expected to guarantee folk to go to the unengaged world.

Even no single denomination necessarily should be held responsible Biblically speaking.

But the Church at large is not doing what it ought to do: making disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us.

We’ll look at a collective response to this in due course, and what this means for churches.  But for now let me suggest one thing for us as individual Christians: that we cannot afford to give ourselves the luxury of thinking that others will go and that we are not the ones to go.

When I speak to most people with obvious gifts of evangelism in the church, they don’t think they have such a gift!  Because to acknowledge it would be daunting, and to them, it’s just God’s gracious provision in giving them opportunities to speak a word in season (in their weakness).  It doesn’t seem like it’s for them.

And similarly with going to the unengaged.  Please, please do not wait for an angel from Heaven to tell you to pursue opportunities to see whether you could go.  Jesus has already told the Church to pursue those opportunities.

Perhaps rather, I’d ask you to pray over, and be asking yourself this question:

Why should I not go to the unengaged world?

You’d be surprised like Moses in Exodus chapter 3, with how many reasons God can answer!

• Feel too weak? Good, God is with you.
• Feel too sinful? Good, God has a history of using such folk who realise their sin.
• Feel you need to get married to someone who isn’t willing to ask the same questions? You could marry someone who would keep the possibility real, instead of closing doors unduly.
• Feel you don’t have the right gifts? I’ve seen virtually every type of person on the field!
• Feel you’re indispensable to the church at home? Perhaps God can show you, you’re not.
• Feel like you’ve a great career ahead of you and don’t want to throw it away? Do something career related in your unengaged people, but primarily, weigh up in your heart what Christ is worth.
• Don’t think you’re an evangelist? Good – teams need all sorts.
• Don’t want the responsibility of intentionally giving years of your life to working towards the unengaged world? Christ is worth it!

And so I’ll pray this evening that you join me in praying that question, regardless of your age.  There are enough really genuine reasons that will stop you going without adding. any of the above to them!

The women changing the world

It must be one of the most ironic reasons out of our 5 for why the unengaged and unreached people groups in the world are still unengaged and unreached.  We’ve already seen that the evangelical church scene is plenty large enough to reach the world with the good news of Jesus.  But then yesterday we saw that a fair percentage of us have little awareness that there might be different needs or priorities other than the immediate on our own doorstep.  So little priority or energy gets put into reaching the unengaged world (that has no church, few [if any] Christians and sometimes even no Bible in their language).

And so today we tackle reason 2:

2.  The Church in many areas of the world is greedy to keep its “best”

As you look round the mission field of unengaged and unreached peoples in the world, you will find many incredible individuals.  Many of them are women who have responded to Jesus’ words to go to all nations/peoples, and have given up much at home to do so.  They’ve moved far from their loved family and friends, given up jobs, wealth, status, comforts and far more, and have landed in what so often is the back of beyond, in harsh environments, where women are often treated as second class citizens.

Many of them as the years have gone on have realised as they’ve looked around even at the largest of their mission conferences that their organisations run, that for those that desire it, the chance of marrying anyone with the same heart as they do, is negligible.  Why?  Because there are no single males there.

Nada.  Zero.  Zilch.  None.

My sister, a missionary in an unreached people group, who always wondered whether she would be able to get married.

Mission team, after mission team, are so often comprised of a few missionary families, and a bunch of single females, some of whom are happily living the single life and many others who would rather have married or are still looking, particularly for those reaching out in cultures where being single is (sadly) the most abnormal, socially bizarre thing possible.  Shame and rejection by their communities would be felt every day for such single women in some parts of the world.

So where are the men?

Well a small bit could be down to the statistics of gender ratio in the church in general (supposedly there are far more females than males in the western evangelical scene).  To consider that, there are plenty of other places we might turn to see what could be done (restoring a right view of preaching in the church, and fighting a dualistic understanding of the world that tells us that the physical is bad, might be two brief ways I’d start).

But the more directly connected thing taking males away from unengaged peoples and the mission field, is complementarian, conservative evangelicals.

Another town which is technically “unreached” in Ireland, where I’ve been reaching out this summer.

Yes, you heard me right.  One of the top 5 hindrances to world mission is complementarian theology.

But before you start to complain, let me first confess that I label myself a complementarian (someone who considers male and female to, although equal, have different roles and giftings in life and particularly in the church).  And secondly let me say that much as this is a consequence of such a theological view, it need not be.  Now let me explain…

• Church attendance in Europe and (north) America is in decline (regardless of whether you think true Christianity is in decline in these areas)
• There are many denominations with many buildings that house now dwindling congregations
• The denomination is left with several choices that I could perceive:
  1. Keep the church going and trust God will turn things round and see genuine conversions (the ideal world?!  But few match that reality.)
  2. Re-plant the church, to get rid of old attitudes and make it more likely to engage a modern-day audience (high intensity, needing more man-power)
  3. Keep the church going until it fades out (uses one minister for a small flock)
  4. Join the church with another in the denomination, miles away (one minister is stretched to the maximum capacity, trying to cover double the work, and what was meant to help the church, often hinders it in the long-run)
  5. Bi-vocational ministry (where the minister is asked to take on another job to supplement a part-time role with the church).  Often resisted by those with a particular view of “calling” to the ministry, but often successful at re-engaging with the local community, as the minister does a “normal” job.
  6. Join the church with another from another denomination (rarely is such humility seen to allow this to happen)
  7. Shut the church (rarely is such realism seen to allow this as a progressive option)
• Most denominations for various reasons, despite many of them having other evangelical churches nearby, opt for 1-4, which are the labour intensive options.  They need a full-time workforce and that in conservative evangelical circles is a man or men.
• Where should they get these men from?  Well, we’ll start to emphasize it early on, and make sure we get them young before they can do anything else.  And so, as many of the smaller congregations aren’t sustainable, all the young men from the bigger churches become the workers in the smaller churches.

And there we have it.  Regardless of how your church denomination works (or whether you’re independent), I could guess you’ll fall into similar issues, often unconsciously.  It can be from the best of motives, and from the greatest statements of faith (we want to believe God can still grow the church in the west), but ultimately all the male workers are being used for our small patches in areas which have had gospel witness over centuries or at least decades.

At the same time as many parts of the evangelical church scene look to train up men for ministry, often the development of female gifts and roles within church life are not being given as much of an emphasis (sadly).  Females within a congregation can, regardless of theology, be left feeling like second class citizens.

United Beach Missions in one of Ireland’s oldest Christian heritage sites, but one that would fall into Europe’s “unreached” category.  Here, female giftings are grown and developed in public proclamation of the gospel in a setting to kids.

But on the positive, many of them take this freedom from responsibility to end up going overseas, pioneering evangelism, and shaping the Christian scene overseas, some in ways that their churches probably wouldn’t even allow them do back home (rightly or wrongly)!

They are the heroines of our Christian scene today.  The drivers in world mission.  By conviction, and also just through pragmatically being part-ignored by a western church obsessed with keeping churches going and training every possible gifted male to fill those pre-existing gaps.

It was United Beach Missions that drilled into me the great blessing of sacrificially giving of the best that I had, so that I would receive the blessing of living in light of the God who gave the best that He had (Himself) to rescue a dying world.  It was my church families and actual family who bathed me in such a good news of a generous Father, that I revelled in knowing Him, in growing in the knowledge of His will, in the likeness of His Son.

Our good God, relentlessly revealing to us greater depths which we can dive into of His goodness, deeper than the deepest sea. Photo taken 30/07/17, Aberdeen

And it was people like Lindsay Brown in IFES World and Kinsale Baptist Church plant who practically gave me the example of Christian mission, that cared not about keeping their young people for their “own cause” (small and struggling as some of the teams/churches were) but freely giving them to the needs of the world Church.

And the small, struggling, local churches that have sent their “best” have often been blessed out of proportion because of it.  They get to participate outside their context to what God is doing worldwide.  They get to understand contextualisation better for their own setting.  And they often get wiser, more experienced workers coming back to them in a few years, buoyed on by what they’ve learnt, and ready to serve back home.

What a joy!

This joy and blessing of looking outwards is why when some friend approached Lindsay Brown recently and proudly declared that his life calling was “to reform the Church of England”, Lindsay said to him:

“Only that?!  That’s not much.  Your God has a worldwide Church that He is building.”

As we revel in His goodness, may we pour ourselves out as drink offerings, and praise our God for His army of women across the nations, who are sharing glimpses of what they have received from Him!

Titus: 3: 3-7

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

And then there were…

Recently, we found most of our travelling friends had deserted us.  But still a good few hundred million remain on God’s mission in this world, sharing His heartbeat for the nations and ultimately for His glory.  We’re on our travels to share the good news of Jesus with unreached and unengaged people groups.  Easy with all of us hundreds of million, right?

Well, no, as we’ll soon find out.  Why?  I’m going to suggest five main practical reasons, one main underlying one.

1. We don’t understand what Unreached and Unengaged People Groups are
2. The Church in many areas of the world is greedy to keep its best
3. Christians across the world are quick to replace the “best” with the “good”
4. Denominational boundaries hamper witness, but lack of ecclesiology kills teams 
5. We forget our first love

And the underlying story in all of these:

The devil will try anything to prevent God receiving the glory he deserves.  Sin will creep in at any and every level where Christ is not seen as more beautiful and true.  But in the end, His name will be lifted up and those from all peoples will one day praise Him.  And so here, I try to paint Christ as exactly that via thoughts on travel.

So firstly, surely all people who aren’t Christians are unreached?  What is this about an unreached people group (UPG) or unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPG)?

Photos and definitions all taken directly and copyright to www.peoplegroups.org

WHAT IS A PEOPLE GROUP?

An ethno-linguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. For strategic purposes it is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.  There are 11,741 people groups in the world, with 7.2 billion people in them.

WHY ARE THEY UNREACHED?

A people group is considered unreached (UPG) when there is no indigenous community of believing Christians able to engage this people group with church planting. Technically speaking, the percentage of evangelical Christians in this people group is less than 2 percent.  There are 7,024 unreached people groups which have approximately with 4.3 billion people in them.

WHO ARE THE UNENGAGED?

Unreached people groups are unengaged (UUPG) when there is no church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, under way. Gathering believers and planting churches are the keys to establishing an effective and multiplying presence among these people groups.  3,178 of these people groups are in this condition, consisting of 220 million people.

You see, regardless of whether you see the definitions as technically 100% helpful/accurate (is 2% a realistic figure for “unreached” peoples?), it at least gives us a reference point, and a helpful one at that.  Because it answers many common objections to prioritising unengaged (and unreached) mission fields:

• most people could hear of the good news if they wanted to. (No, no they couldn’t)
• we have great unreached needs on our own doorstep. (Great needs, but not many of them “unreached” officially, nevermind unengaged)
• everyone can go online to find out about Jesus in English [/insert colonial language here]. (Internet in some places doesn’t exist, many cultures can’t understand colonising languages, and I would argue it’s not a Biblical model of evangelism to leave people to such means)
• we must build our own church before reaching others. (I’ll respond more extensively to this in the days ahead, but sadly where this attitude prevails, very little outreach ever happens in future, if patterns in history are observed)
• Europe is largely under 2% reached.  (In many places, no, but even if where you are is under 2%, then at least look to the unengaged world!)

I would assume this would mean that Unengaged (Unreached) People Groups will get more of our attention as a worldwide church for future work.  Instead sadly, few churches have even heard the term “Unengaged” and even fewer prioritise supporting mission to the unengaged.

I would assume this would mean that many of us would be praying for workers to go to potential unengaged people groups and training up people in light of that.  In reality, the pressing needs of our local church and local area often crowd this important need out.

I would assume that mission organisations would gradually be shaping sustainable future options to withdraw from places with huge Christian resources, and move towards less engaged shores.  Instead, for comfort, many mission organisations go wherever they can get funding in Christian hubs and see big results, quickly.

Millions are perishing into everlasting death without Christ, and we’re sending at least 95% of our money, resources and missionaries to reached places.  It’s a tragedy that must stop.

We’ve whittled down our Gideon band of people concerned and informed for the unreached world to a small posse that is INCREDIBLY small.  Sadly we’re about to go smaller.  But throughout history, it’s been what has showed that God is on the throne, that it is Him who is acting in this world, and that it is for His glory alone.

For more, see:

The Joshua Project: https://joshuaproject.net/resources

Southern Baptist Mission Board: https://www.imb.org/research-reports/

People Groups website: www.peoplegroups.org

 

When assuming…

My old maths teacher used to repeat the mantra to us in our A-level (Leaving Cert.) classes

“what does assuming do, boy?  It makes an ASS of yoU and ME.”

And so we were taught to never assume something and always to prove it from first principles.  But years go on, and in Christian circles, people often wonder why we preach the same message (with variations) to each other so often.  But when one of my good friends in Cork, who has recently found faith, is getting highly disillusioned with the church and indeed with the human species at large, I’m reminded that we need to remind each other that humans are fallen creatures.  No-one, even your greatest hero of faith, is worth ultimate trust.

And then another of my friends in Cork said this to me the other month:

“Sure, Peter, I read somewhere recently that there aren’t really any unreached peoples anymore, because of the internet and all that.”

I was shocked.

Here was a mission-minded young person who’d been on mission trips abroad lots, saying that there weren’t “unreached” peoples.

And then two lasses who’d done our graduate intern and discipleship program in the UK, were sitting next to me over dinner last week as we met up again, and they said:

“It was only recently that we heard of unreached peoples and their need.  It’s very fresh to us and what you’re saying is very different to the way most people talk.”

Clearly in writing a blog about a theology of travel, I’d assumed something fairly major.  That people would come here with a great knowledge of missional needs, and a passion to act.  But it appears I’m back assuming things, and that even my heart must be reminded of this great world need:

to participate in God’s great mission in this world, through the means He chooses, in the way He wants, is one of the greatest joys known to mankind (and to Him!).  As we share in his out-ward-looking heart for all nations or more specifically peoples (“ethne”), we’ll be enthralled by glimpsing a small part of His hand at work in this world, largely through His children (the bride, the Church) sharing of their groom (His Son).

But first let me ask some of you to part company with me on this road I’m about to travel on, to unreached shores, if you think Christianity is not good news worth sharing.  For example:

• if you assume that getting people to think for themselves about what they believe is not worth it (“Come let us reason together, says the Lord”)
• if you assume truth can’t be known exhaustively before it is shared (can I ask you how you came to this conclusion about even this statement you shared with me?!)
• if you assume that giving society a framework for pluralism is not helpful (the Triune God: completely united, yet utterly different within His being – find me a worldview that has that at it’s heartbeat and you should find a very real tolerance)
• if you assume that the Christian core teachings are something not to be emulated (yes, plenty of worldviews teach the golden rule to love each other as we love ourself, but few ground it in the central reality of a God who lays down His life for His people, and a people who morally ought to do the same)
• If you assume that the way the Bible gives all humans equal status in this world is not a worthy bedrock to teach people
• if you assume and feel that the Christian sexual ethic isn’t a life-enhancing one for everyone, and so you daren’t explore with those who’ve found the opposite
• if you assume that the repulsive way some professing Christians (including some major churches) have lived out what a faith should look like, is what faith is like (because don’t worry, a forgery banknote means there are no real banknotes out there)
• if you assume that we’ll all, despite His warning otherwise, be able to impress God on the day of judgement by our amazingness, and so we’ll all be alright in the end
• if you assume that thankfulness is not a good motivator in life, and you don’t want a forgiven people, overflowing with thankfulness and gratitude, trying to live that our in life.
• and if you assume that there’s no conclusive evidence for Jesus, and conclude that despite the evidence for His existence, His resurrection and the changed lives He gave, is all nonsense and this type of god doesn’t exist anyway

Given we’ll probably have a very few readers left reading, perhaps we may proceed tomorrow.  Don’t worry, you’ll find our numbers will drop sharply again.  Enjoy a night sleeping with a fairly large group in the world’s population called the evangelical Church.  Hundreds of million of us.  Together.  Nice and snug and growing in number.

Comforting, eh?  Sleep tight!  See you in the morning!

(Taken 31/07/17, Belfast Lough) The storm is brewing…