Today, I’m teaching a class at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures entitled “What’s New and What’s Needed in 21st Century Missions” The things I want to say will be something that you will be interested in also, so I want to share them with you. My plan is to divide the hour-long class into three written parts for you and publish them all this week.
Introduction
As most of you know, Sherrylee and I have been involved in foreign missions in Churches of Christ since 1968, with my first survey trip to Europe, trying to determine where God wanted us to work. This led to our spending eight years in Germany, working with two other couples, planting a new church.
Upon our return to the States (which had been God’s idea, not ours!), we began the Let’s Start Talking ministry, which now 33 years later has taken us to 70 countries where we have visited and worked beside literally hundreds of missionaries and national evangelists and seen as many mission churches from our fellowship.
Our work has also given us two other fairly unique touch points which allow us a sense of the pulse of our fellowship.
First, recruiting workers and raising resources among Churches of Christ has given us opportunities to speak to many of our churches—most often with the mission committees and/or mission elders/deacons in those churches. Many of our impressions and insights come from these conversations.
Second, almost all long-term American missionaries from our movement have a short-term mission as the experience that launches them on their life’s path. Both our work in recruiting, training, and sending thousands of students as well as our association, often partnership, with other short-term mission groups, and having had this vantage point for over thirty years, allows us to speak from firsthand experience about what has changed or not changed in our lifetime.
So, for today’s conversation just remember that I’m speaking from experience not research and that I’m speaking from the context of American Churches of Christ and our foreign mission efforts, not broader Christendom and not global churches.
What’s Now?
Churches of Christ are more tolerant. Most of our churches no longer preach and act like we are the only ones going to heaven! We have discovered God’s graciousness and admitted our own infallibility, but it has made us a little unsure of who we are or why we should try to persuade others of anything. We are less urgent about evangelizing because many of those we “evangelized” years ago, we are less sure that they really need it. Our earlier evangelism had been persuading someone that they didn’t really know what they were doing when they were baptized, so their previous baptism was invalid. We probably still disagree with them on the biblical teaching about baptism, but we are no longer willing to deny fellowship to someone whom God has offered His gracious forgiveness of their errors as He continues to forgive ours.
The meaning of mission among Churches of Christ is being redefined. Again, this was a needed correction. It was always a mistake to think that the mission of God was always somewhere else—probably overseas—accomplished only by special people. We now talk about missional churches¸by which we mean churches who encourage all members to live their daily lives, confessing Christ in word and deed. But in making this adjustment, a whole generation in our churches now thinks that missions is painting houses, building church buildings, serving the poor, playing with orphans, or any act of what is most often called social justice ministry.
Of course, missions ARE all of the above—but it is also telling the story of Jesus to those who don’t know Him, bringing the Word and the Light to people in ignorance and darkness. While many have gone on mission trips, very few in our churches under 40 years old have actually shared the Word and told someone the Good News.
Church leaders are looking for mission work that allows greater involvement by their members. For this reason and others, our churches seem to be looking for more domestic mission sites. Cost, oversight issues, and maintaining relationships all are more difficult with foreign mission points—and don’t we have growing unbelief in the States anyway!
More older Christians and Boomers are involved in foreign missions, through supporting it, but also in going on short-term missions projects. This is a terrific development, occurring mostly because of the changing demographic in our churches. These people are old enough to still be evangelistic, and now they have the funds to do what they have always wanted to do.
One interesting corollary of this is that many, perhaps most of our missionaries are finding their financial support from wealthier individuals instead of from our churches. Churches are considered too bureaucratic, too self-centered, and too capricious. Getting support from an ardent supporter is considered vastly superior than to run the daunting and often fruitless gauntlet of trying to find supporting churches.
Churches are relying more on independent ministries for missions. You may see this as either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your own ideas, but I think it is a good thing to admit, at least. Notice this list:
- Great Cities – Latin American missions
- Eastern European Missions – Bibles, literature. and resources for Eastern Europe
- China Now/China Vision -placing Christian teachers in Chinese universities
- Mission Alive – Church Planting
- Kairos – Church Planting
- World Bible School/World English School – Correspondence courses
- Let’s Start Talking – Short-term missions,
- FriendSpeak – English Outreach in the United States
- Sunset International Bible Institute – training of missionaries and mission internships
- Missions Resource Network – missionary care, missions education, center for missions information
Churches are only interested in successful missions. And why should anyone support unsuccessful missions! But successful is a tricky word. What most of our churches mean is that the mission is
- Affordable
- Accessible
- Quantifiably impressive and motivating for the local church
- Safe
So, taking this picture of missions in today’s churches of Christ, what do you see happening in the near future? That’s tomorrow’s blog—and it won’t be this long, I promise!
Mark's Blog 
Ho letto l’argomento, con una traduzione google da inglese a italiano certamente non completamente affidabile ma utile. Condivido un pò le incertezze delle Comunità che impegnano le loro forze nella sovvenzione delle missioni all’estero, ma non condivido la propensione delle Chiese che sono solo interessati a missioni di successo. Ho letto: “E perché qualcuno dovrebbe sostenere le missioni senza successo!”. Cosa è il “successo”? Riguardo alla missione della Chiesa il successo è intrinseco alla parola missione. La Chiesa è mandata nel mondo per predicare l’Evangelo ad ogni creatura. Il successo è nell’azione della predicazione dell’Evangelo, la quale porta ad un risultato certo:” E disse loro: Andate per tutto il mondo e predicate l’evangelo ad ogni creatura. Chi avrà creduto e sarà stato battezzato sarà salvato; ma chi non avrà creduto sarà condannato.” (Marco 16:16-17). La Parola di Dio non è relativa alle circostanze di fortuna o alla pianificazione di un programma umano, ma è relativa all’azione di Dio per tutti gli uomini, infatti Gesù e la Parola, il Verbo di Dio (Giov 1:1), un “nome” che indica azione (ogni verbo nella grammatica indica azione ed esistenza, anche se non visibile e tangibile). Il profeta Isaia dice: “E come la pioggia e la neve scendon dal cielo e non vi ritornano senz’aver annaffiata la terra, senz’averla fecondata e fatta germogliare sì da dar seme al seminatore e pane da mangiare, così è della mia parola, uscita dalla mia bocca: essa non torna a me a vuoto, senz’aver compiuto quello ch’io voglio, e menato a buon fine ciò per cui l’ho mandata.” (Is. 55:10-11). Isaia conferma il risultato “certo”, “sicuro” di Dio; qualcuno l’ascolta crede e si battezza, qualcun altro sente ma non ascolta, non crede e si condanna. La missione quindi non è una scelta, ma un comando di Dio per i suoi seguaci, il feedback (credo si dica così) cioè la scelta appartiene ad ogni creatura a cui è rivolta la Parola. Esempio: Se alcuni fratelli americani non l’avessero pensata così negli anni post guerra nel mio paese (Oria, in Puglia) non ci sarebbe stata l’evangelizzazione da parte di Guy W. Mayfield (che non ho conosciuto), o di Evelyn Jones e Charles Phipp (che ho conosciuto), di Malcolm Coffey (che non ho conosciuto), non sarebbe venuta la conversione del mio caro “fratello” Stefano Matarrelli che ha dato tutto il suo sforzo per me, non ci sarebbe stata l’opera d’evangelizzazione di Jim e Caranita Wolsieffer (servi di Dio a cui voglio molto bene), non sarebbe venuta la conversione di mia moglie Enza Toma , ne sarebbe poi venuta la mia conversione, ne… e per quanti il Signore Iddio ancora ne chiamerà (Atti 2:37-41). Una piccolissima Comunità la nostra, forse ad alcuni e potuta sembrare poco fruttifera o in alcuni periodi completamente infruttifera, ma è il risultato certo e sicuro della missione della Chiesa. Sia ringraziato Dio che ha preparato le opere al posto nostro, perchè noi faremmo sicuramente un disastro. Siano ringraziati tutte le sorelle e i fratelli che hanno ascoltato il Suo comando. Ricordo che l’unico frutto che Dio richiede è l’amore. Chiedo scusa per il mio parlare. Che Dio vi benedica tutti quanti, in Cristo Gesù. Angelo Santese.
Brother Angelo, I thank you for your heartfelt outpouring. I have taken the liberty to let Google translate the Italian into English, so more of my readers can share your thoughts. I hope you don’t mind.
“I have read the topic, with a google translation from English to Italian is certainly not completely reliable but useful. I share some uncertainties in the Community who commit their forces in the grant of the missions abroad, but I do not share the propensity of churches that are only interested in successful missions. I read: “And why would anyone support the missions without success.” What is “success”? With regard to the Church’s mission success is intrinsic to the word mission. The Church is sent into the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Success is in the action of preaching the Gospel, which leads to a certain outcome, “And said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. “(Mark 16:16-17). The Word of God is not about circumstances of luck or planning of a human program, but it is about the action of God for all men, in fact, Jesus and the Word, the Word of God (John 1:1), a “name” that indicates action (each verb in the grammar indicates action and existence, even if not visible and tangible). The prophet Isaiah says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be goes out from my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. “(Isa. 55:10-11). Isaiah confirms the result “of course”, “safe” of God, someone hears it believes and is baptized, someone else hears but does not listen, and he does not believe is condemned. The mission therefore is not a choice, but a command of God for his followers, the feedback (I think they say so) that the choice belongs to every creature to which it is addressed the Word. Example: If some American brothers had not thought so in the years after the war in my country (Oria, Puglia) there would be no evangelization by Guy W. Mayfield (which I have not known), or Evelyn Jones and Charles Phipp (which I knew), Malcolm Coffey (which I did not know), would not come the conversion of my dear “brother” Stephen Matarrelli who gave all his effort for me, there would have been the work of evangelization of Jim and Caranita Wolsieffer (servants of God, to whom I am very fond), would not come to convert my wife Enza Toma, it would then come my conversion, I and … as many as the Lord God shall call again (Acts 2:37-41). A very small community as ours, and perhaps some may have seemed a little fruitful or unfruitful in some periods completely, but the result is reliable and safe operation of the mission of the Church. Thanks be to God who has prepared works for us, because we’d surely a disaster. Are thanked for all the sisters and brothers who have heard His command. I remember that the only fruit that God requires is love. I apologize for my talk. May God bless all those who, in Christ Jesus Angel Santese”
Thanks for sharing this Mark. Wishing we could be there to enjoy it in person. And all the rest.