I'm not afraid to admit it. I need some Help!

Home | Living Words July 2009 | I need some help!

I'm not afraid to admit it. I need some Help!

by Greg Liston

Let me explain. Missions has always been a thing of mine. An incredibly important part being a follower of Jesus is this idea of going into all the world and telling people about Jesus. I love the fact that Christianity has a global edge to it, that it works for all people at all times in all cultures. That it’s not just a Jewish thing, not just a Western thing, it’s an “everyone” thing. I love that!

One of the things that I love to do is to get alongside missionary type people and talk to them about the challenges that they’re facing in their roles. There’s nothing better than chewing the fat with these guys about what kind of problems they’re facing, trying to help them see things from a new perspective. In fact, sometimes, I get invited by missionary organizations to help them think and strategise about what is the very best way for them to do missions in their particular locations. It’s a blast, such a privilege.

But that’s where the problem comes. That’s where I need some help. You see, right at the moment I’m talking with one of these mission agencies, and they are facing some of the biggest challenges I’ve ever come across. And I’m feeling a bit stumped.

Let me explain. The location where this mission agency is working is not a particularly difficult place to be. Admittedly there aren’t many followers of Jesus there, but the people who are genuinely following Jesus are a small minority and getting fewer by the year. The outlook is not that positive. People who aren’t Christians are incredibly suspicious about Christianity. They don’t really understand what Christians believe but they know they’re against it! It can be a difficult situation to work in. The cynicism gets to you.

Wilfrido & Anita Flores, Linguist-Translators
in Mexico and teaching at CILTA in Peru.

On the other hand, there is a wide open door. Most of the time the government is not really an issue and they even give tax breaks to mission organizations. Money is not a problem. In fact this particular mission agency – the one I’m working with – has enough money to support four or five workers and still give away nearly a quarter of its income to overseas charities and missions work. The incredible thing is that scores of people who live and work in this area have already signed up to be part of this mission agency. The numbers are quite staggering, to be honest. There are six or seven hundred of them all up, willing and ready to be useful for God. They’re great people! They work hard. Not just the full time ones but the volunteers as well. It’s an incredible sight to see them all gather at the agency on their days off or after their work has finished.

When you think about it, the potential here is massive. Jesus changed the world with twelve, and the early church started with a hundred and twenty; the Cambridge seven had - well, seven. This group has many times that number. Imagine what a difference six or seven hundred people could make living intentionally as agents of the Kingdom of God. Imagine the possibilities as they share their life with other people around them. Imagine them becoming part of the community’s business and commercial life, participating in its social networks, building relationships in their residential units. God’s grace could seep out to heal and transform, and God’s truth could be heard and seen in every day contexts. The potential here is extraordinary.

One of the first things I did when I went to that mission agency was ask the leaders to write down what they thought was their priority as a mission agency. You’d never believe it, the 12 different leaders at the time, came up with 12 different answers! Some of them thought that they should be focusing on overseas mission. Others thought they should be looking at a building project, still others thought that they should be joining with other local mission agencies in the area. Everyone had a completely different opinion, so they defined exactly what they were here for.

David & Keren Brewerton, Linguists – Translation
and Literacy in the Mara cluster, Tanzania.

The first question was that of priority. There are only two different types of mission agencies in the world. Those that look inward – their priority is meeting the needs of the members within the mission agency. And those that look outward – their priority is serving the community they are in. This mission agency decided they wanted to focus outwards. In this agency everything has to be voted on. Sometimes it’s a system that works well, sometimes it drives you nuts. So they all voted, and 100% of them agreed to endorse this statement … “Without neglecting the care of one another within the church, we will give first priority to reaching those outside the church in terms of budgeting, staffing and programming.”

The second question was that of purpose. After a lot of discussion they came up with this really pithy statement about their purpose. They exist to “Grow Passionate Followers of Jesus”. The word “growing” referred to them as ministers, building up the body. The word “passionate” referred to them as worshippers, motivated by a deep love for God. The word “followers” referred to them as disciples, imitating the life of the master. And the word “Jesus” referred to them as missionaries, like the first and greatest missionary who travelled across the cosmos to tell us about God’s love. So they voted again and agreed on this statement.

The third question was that of values. They had a priority and a purpose, but what made them unique? They came up with a set of eight core values. Two of the values related to them as ministers: Every Member Ministry and Developing Godly Leaders. Two related to them as worshippers: Prayer Inspired Risk Taking and 24/7 Worship. Two related to them as disciples: Committed Caring Relationships and an Inclusive Church. And two related to them as missionaries: Every Member Mission and Embracing the Neglected.

How were they going at living out these core values? They measured their performance in each core area, and it turned out they were doing really well at all of them … except for one. And that one was Every Member Mission.

The clearest growth area for this mission agency was Every Member Mission. It wasn’t hard to see that. A survey revealed that only 17% of the people felt at ease talking about their faith. They were happy to talk about it if it came up, but they weren’t actively looking for opportunities. They were reactive rather than proactive evangelists. It also showed that only 16% of the people in the mission agency were involved in outreach activities. While there were lots of successful programs in the community – indeed this mission agency was regarded as a model of community activity in the area – these activities had little flow on effect. Few people were being drawn from way out there in the community to deep into the centre of the family of God.

Gary & Clenys Sweetman, Literacy work in
and Literacy in the Mara cluster, Tanzania.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There was an awful lot of good stuff going on at this mission agency. Seven of the eight core values were unreserved success stories. But the core value of Every Member Mission was not – and they couldn’t escape the sinking feeling that this was the one that really mattered. It is, after all, a mission agency we’re talking about here!

So this is where I strike the problem. This is where I need the help. How do we make Every Member Mission a reality for this mission agency? What is stopping us from doing missions well?

Here’s something I’ve noticed. This might be part of the problem. Here at this mission agency, missions always seems to be competing with something. Missions is always in tension. Here are four big tensions I’ve noticed.

The first is a tension between missions here and missions overseas. Particularly with the people who have been in this mission agency for many years, overseas missions is very important. And so it should be! But sometimes it almost feels like we use the fact that we’re supporting so many missionaries overseas to make us feel less guilty about not doing so well at missions here! But surely overseas missions shouldn’t be in competition with missions here. Our overseas missions should inspire us to do local missions. And our local missions should inspire us to support our overseas missionaries. Instead of being in competition, it should be symbiotic, a virtuous circle. Shouldn’t it?

Tension

The second is a tension between busyness and local mission. Particularly with the people who are middle aged in this mission agency, what’s going on in their lives is very important. And so it should be! But sometimes it feels like being busy is used as an excuse for not giving the time we would like to missions. “I would love to get involved in missions”, people say, “but I am so busy doing everything else that I do – raising a family, working my job, getting a degree – that I don’t have time for all that.” But surely our mission isn’t in competition with the “normal stuff of life” but is an intrinsic part of who we are as we go about our everyday life. Isn’t it?

The third tension is a tension between community work and local mission. Old, middle aged, young – lots of people in this mission agency desperately want to reach out to the poor and needy among us. And so they should be! But sometimes it feels like we’re so taken up with feeding the poor, looking after the sick, helping out at the local school that we forget that the people we are helping are fundamentally lost. Justice and justification are not mutually exclusive. The core value of “Embracing the Neglected” is part and parcel of the core value of “Every Member Mission”. Surely it would be deeply wrong if all we did was to feed the hungry on the Titanic? Wouldn’t it?

David & Christine Foris, Linguist-Translators in
Mexico, and Trainer-Recruiters in NZ & Peru.

And the final tension is between self fulfilment and local mission. This is really important for the younger members of this mission agency, who are often driven by the desire to discover who they really are. And so they should be! But sometimes “discovering who we are” is emphasized at the expense of “becoming who God made us to be”. “I’d love to get involved in mission”, they say “but I can’t because I’m still discovering who I am and what I believe. I’m still discovering what God has made me to be.” Somehow we need to help these young people make the mental shift that you discover who you are not through contemplation but through action. That character is not discovered but forged. Surely engaging in missions will help them find who they are, and define who they are! Won’t it?

The root cause of the challenges facing Hillsborough Baptist Church (the name of this particular mission agency) is best summarized in the phrase “Missions and …”. The problem is that missions doesn’t sit in the centre of who we are and what we do, but it’s off to the side. Surely missions must be the centre around which everything else revolves. Missions should be the centre of our jobs, our families, our training, and our lives. Taking missions away from the centre of a church is like taking an axle away from the centre of the wheel. It might still move us forward, but it’s incredibly uncomfortable, and it won’t last long.

Hillsborough Baptist Church people

So our goal for the next phase in the life of Hillsborough Baptist Church is to take all of who we are – our services, our small groups, our community activities, our prayer life, everything, and make it all centre on mission. How do we relate with our overseas missionaries? We ask them to input into our mission. How do we help our young people define their character? We take them on mission trips. How do we teach people to cope with the busyness of life? We teach them to bring missions into the centre of their life and their jobs. Why do we reach out into the community with service and support? We see it as an opportunity to build a bridge from the community out there back into the family of God here at HBC.

We want each bit of our life as a church to become part of a process that draws people from “way out there” deep in secular Kiwi community to “way in here”, right in the centre of the family of God. We want the lives of the people who are part of our “mission agency” to have the same focus.

Certainly the jury is still out on whether we’re doing the right things the right way so that missions get back in the centre of our agency wheel. But we are trusting that the gracious hand of God is upon us, and we will keep you posted!
____________________________________________________

Nehemiah said “And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests”.

Einstein said “If I have seen further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”.

Scott Adams said “Hard work is rewarding. Taking credit for other people’s hard work is rewarding and faster”.

People tell us that Hillsborough Baptist Church is resourcing overseas missions well. Apparently for a church of our size to have 27 missionaries effectively working in 17 countries, consuming nearly 20% of our budget is not too bad. I hope they’re right.

But I can’t (and won’t!) take any credit for this. For one thing, the missions committee at our church do all the hard work of recruiting, preparing and resourcing our missionaries.

And they can only do this because they stand on the shoulders of giants. The heritage of saints from the last 50 years who have made overseas missions part of our DNA.

And missions has only become such a central value here because the gracious hand of the Lord has been upon us, granting our requests.

To Him be all the glory and honour,

Greg Liston, Senior Pastor
Hillsborough Baptist Church

www.hillsbc.org.nz

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