Let me begin by stating a few salient facts. First, I am a Baptist. I am not ashamed of that. I am not ashamed that God saved me through the teaching/preaching ministry of a Baptist church. I am not ashamed to have been called to preach under the preaching of a Baptist preacher. He was a "Landmarkist." The particular Baptist denomination where I was at that time had statements that were so exclusive in their nature that I could not continue there.
Second, I am a Baptist missionary. I am not ashamed that God called me to missions through the ministry of a Baptist missionary and her husband. I am not ashamed to be a Southern Baptist missionary. I take joy in that.
Third, I have been a church planter and continue to participate in church planting, though my role is much larger. It's one of those things that cannot be equaled in other walks of life. The joy of seeing souls come to faith in Christ is incomparable. The satisfaction of seeing a church formed is unspeakable.
So that leads me to an important question: when a Southern Baptist missionary sets out to plant a church, what does he have in mind? What is the "final product" that any SBC M wants to see?
Logically, we want to plant Baptist churches. I happen to live in a megacity somewhere in South America. I happen to be able to plant Baptist churches. Those churches suffer mild persecution (mostly emotional), but they can paint a sign with the words "Baptist" on it and their non-evangelical neighbors will understand that it "ain't mainstream."
Now I don't plant Southern Baptist churches. I don't live in the United States; the SBC is not here, except incarnationally through its missionaries. My national brethren would not appreciate me planting an SBC church when they are attempting to plant churches that affiliate with their own convention.
That is as simple as it gets. But I want to complicate the matter a bit. First, the least complicated thing is the following scenario: SBC missionary V lives and works among a people group in a closed country. They are antagonistic to evangelism, church planting, and open Christianity. They cannot post their name on a sign. What do missionary V and his team do? They plant baptistic churches; that means the church is baptistic in doctrine, but not in name. To openly identify it as "baptist" could jeopardize the entire church planting effort.
SBC missionary Z, on the other hand, works among a people group that is ever-so-slightly tolerant of evangelicals. But the people group has no concept of denominational ties. Their fledgling work has been what we could describe as "independent." Missionary Z has the opportunity to work with and train some national church planters, none of whom are Baptist. What kind of church does Missionary Z then plant? Does he impose his origin (Baptist) upon the group, or does he teach and promote baptistic doctrine?
This is my humble opinion: SBC missionary Z should plant New Testament churches, which I believe will be baptistic in nature. He can later return and shore up the doctrine and reveal his Baptist origin in that subsequent teaching. But if this is a New Testament church, and we hope it is, that church will still have the responsibility to choose whether or not to be identified as a Baptist church. Missionary Z cannot force that upon them.
For that matter, neither can I require that the churches I help plant choose the name of Baptist. It is a matter of local church autonomy. The chances are that they will choose the name of Baptist, because we wield much influence. But I cannot require it. I will not require it. I will only seek to be baptistic and hope that the name "Baptist" finds its way on the sign. Anything more could be construed as paternalistic and counter-productive to the missionary enterprise.
Kevin, from Somewhere in South America
Monday, April 03, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The Right to Fight
Let me be clear from the outset: this is not one of those "Rodney King-like" appeals, pleading that we all just get along. This is a mosaic; we need to know when to fight and when not to fight. After all, if any of you read Wild at Heart you know that a man's gotta fight (pardon my grammar). I mean, just look at King David: 2 Samuel 11:1 says, "Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that . . . David stayed at Jerusalem." Guys, we are princes; we are made to bend a bow of bronze. (2 Sam. 22:35)
It's right to fight for the faith. That is what Jude said, "Contend earnestly for the faith." A century ago a group of men decided that needed to be done. They set forth what we now call the essentials of evangelical faith: the virgin birth, deity, and lordship of Jesus Christ; the efficacious death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus; salvation by grace, through faith in Christ alone; the innerant authority of the Bible as the word of God. Add to that the imminent return of Jesus, the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, the missionary mandate given to the church, the importance of personal evangelism, and the power of prayer. Those (and perhaps a few others I did not mention) are the essentials.
Oh, by the way, back then they called them "The Fundamentals of the Faith." Today we call a fundamentalist anything but right. We allowed the world to influence our use of a perfectly good word, making it pejorative. Forgive me if I do not allow the world to steal perfectly good words and destroy them. Ask God's forgiveness if you think all fundamentalists are crazed lunatics (yes, that is redundant) who only seek to steal your freedoms.
It's right to fight when that fight is spiritual warfare. Paul said we wrestle all kinds of principalities, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces in the heavenlies." - Ephesians 6
I did not learn about spiritual warfare in South America. I learned about it in south Mississippi. I learned plenty about spiritual warfare in south Mississippi. I know we say that we don't see demons behind every bush, but there were days it seemed as though there were as many demons as there were pine trees.
That only increased down here in South America. But regardless of when, where, or how many, the truth still remains that "greater is he that is within us than he that is in the world." Amen to that! Lift the sword of the Spirit and stand firm in Christ's strength!
It's right to fight those social ills that plague us. Abortion is a plague. Gender neutrality is a plague. Those so-called sexual preference rights are plagues on society.
Down here we can add to that list the rampant drinking. That bottle of alcohol is one baby we can toss out with the bath water. Europe may love its booze; you can keep it to yourself. And yes, I can quote all the Bible verses you can throw back at me; so please don't bother.
But it's not right to fight when that fight is motivated by selfish, sensual, and worldly desires. James 4 says, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel." Flesh fights are from the same poisonous tree as worldly wisdom.
That man who slips in front of you in the line of traffic suddenly becomes your enemy; he invaded your space. He took your place in line. That one who buys the last imported soft drink (only those living overseas will relate to this) has suddenly stolen what is "rightfully yours." After all, you wanted a soft drink. Now he took it. It doesn't matter that the can is past date. It doesn't matter that you prefer Pepsi and they only sell Coke. It only matters that someone else got it.
For those North Americans who read the above and shook their heads in dismay, just recall last Christmas. I watched the news videos of my fellow compatriots as they wrestled over dolls, action figures, and stuffed toys. I saw women claw and scratch. And I have been in church business meetings that had plenty of verbal clawing and scratching.
As I look at what is going on in the SBC today, I greatly fear that we have some King Davids who did not go out to battle. We have some princes who cannot or will not bend that bow of bronze. Now they are bored, looking for a place to vent the energy God intended for them to expend against their true enemies.
When my words and actions are detrimental and do not have the ultimate goal of edifying, instructing, protecting, encouraging, and even expanding the citizens of the kingdom of God--as well as expanding the kingdom itself, then my words and actions are wrong. My motives are wrong. My fight is not right.
I defend your right to fight. But make sure your fight is a right fight.
It's right to fight for the faith. That is what Jude said, "Contend earnestly for the faith." A century ago a group of men decided that needed to be done. They set forth what we now call the essentials of evangelical faith: the virgin birth, deity, and lordship of Jesus Christ; the efficacious death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus; salvation by grace, through faith in Christ alone; the innerant authority of the Bible as the word of God. Add to that the imminent return of Jesus, the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, the missionary mandate given to the church, the importance of personal evangelism, and the power of prayer. Those (and perhaps a few others I did not mention) are the essentials.
Oh, by the way, back then they called them "The Fundamentals of the Faith." Today we call a fundamentalist anything but right. We allowed the world to influence our use of a perfectly good word, making it pejorative. Forgive me if I do not allow the world to steal perfectly good words and destroy them. Ask God's forgiveness if you think all fundamentalists are crazed lunatics (yes, that is redundant) who only seek to steal your freedoms.
It's right to fight when that fight is spiritual warfare. Paul said we wrestle all kinds of principalities, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces in the heavenlies." - Ephesians 6
I did not learn about spiritual warfare in South America. I learned about it in south Mississippi. I learned plenty about spiritual warfare in south Mississippi. I know we say that we don't see demons behind every bush, but there were days it seemed as though there were as many demons as there were pine trees.
That only increased down here in South America. But regardless of when, where, or how many, the truth still remains that "greater is he that is within us than he that is in the world." Amen to that! Lift the sword of the Spirit and stand firm in Christ's strength!
It's right to fight those social ills that plague us. Abortion is a plague. Gender neutrality is a plague. Those so-called sexual preference rights are plagues on society.
Down here we can add to that list the rampant drinking. That bottle of alcohol is one baby we can toss out with the bath water. Europe may love its booze; you can keep it to yourself. And yes, I can quote all the Bible verses you can throw back at me; so please don't bother.
But it's not right to fight when that fight is motivated by selfish, sensual, and worldly desires. James 4 says, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel." Flesh fights are from the same poisonous tree as worldly wisdom.
That man who slips in front of you in the line of traffic suddenly becomes your enemy; he invaded your space. He took your place in line. That one who buys the last imported soft drink (only those living overseas will relate to this) has suddenly stolen what is "rightfully yours." After all, you wanted a soft drink. Now he took it. It doesn't matter that the can is past date. It doesn't matter that you prefer Pepsi and they only sell Coke. It only matters that someone else got it.
For those North Americans who read the above and shook their heads in dismay, just recall last Christmas. I watched the news videos of my fellow compatriots as they wrestled over dolls, action figures, and stuffed toys. I saw women claw and scratch. And I have been in church business meetings that had plenty of verbal clawing and scratching.
As I look at what is going on in the SBC today, I greatly fear that we have some King Davids who did not go out to battle. We have some princes who cannot or will not bend that bow of bronze. Now they are bored, looking for a place to vent the energy God intended for them to expend against their true enemies.
When my words and actions are detrimental and do not have the ultimate goal of edifying, instructing, protecting, encouraging, and even expanding the citizens of the kingdom of God--as well as expanding the kingdom itself, then my words and actions are wrong. My motives are wrong. My fight is not right.
I defend your right to fight. But make sure your fight is a right fight.
Friday, March 10, 2006
What Are You Doing about the Lost?
I’m in Quito, Ecuador as I write this. For the geographically challenged, that’s somewhere in South America.
My purpose in being here is to dialog with a dozen other missionaries, all with a fiery passion to win their peoples to Christ Jesus. We are mobilizers. That means we work to mobilize South Americans to go into all the world.
I was singularly impressed by one thing: there are millions of lost in South America. There are peoples of hundreds of tribes who have never heard the wonderful message of eternal and abundant life Jesus Christ offers them. One man shared with us today about Colombia. I could only shake my head as I saw the graphics that revealed the numbers of tribes who have never even been contacted. As far as anyone knows, not one believer exists among those tribes.
Someone once asked me about that kind of tribe. What will God do with those who never heard the gospel? Will he send them to hell? No one I know likes the answer to that question. But here it is in clear words: the lost go to hell, period. Does God delight in that? I seriously doubt it. God is infinitely greater than you or I. If we don’t delight in that thought, how much more does it grieve our Father in heaven? But man must respond to the revelation God has given him. Man, by his nature, too often rejects that revelation. But when man does respond, God moves towards him. Someone once said that he believed God would go as far as to wreck a plane to get a man to an unreached tribe if someone in that tribe had responded to the revelation God had given him. I agree.
But let me ask an even more pointed question. If you know there are tribes that have never heard, and you have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, what are you going to do about it? Your very smallest responsibility is to obey the words of Jesus, found both in Luke 10 and Matthew 9, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray to the Harvest Master, therefore; ask him to send out workers into his harvest.” (My paraphrase) Your very minimal responsibility before God is to ask him to send laborers.
Your next response could be sacrificial. God may be answering our prayers by telling you to go to one of the thousands of tribes around the world that have not heard about Jesus. He called me to the gospel ministry twenty-eight years ago this week. That is, I heard his call that long ago. I recall something about being called before the foundations of the earth. After all, God’s plans are eternal; this is an eternal truth we are speaking about here.
You are also expected to be financially involved. If you can’t go, you can give. You may be able to give far more than Americans give (as a rule). I know people who spend thousands on their dogs and cats. That’s a yearly expense. Do you know what God can do with a few thousand dollars? Imagine, if he can multiply 5 biscuits and 2 fish, he can certainly use your giving to win hundreds to Christ.
Let me ask it again, what are you going to do about the lostness in the world? When you stand before Jesus, what answer will you give to that question?
My purpose in being here is to dialog with a dozen other missionaries, all with a fiery passion to win their peoples to Christ Jesus. We are mobilizers. That means we work to mobilize South Americans to go into all the world.
I was singularly impressed by one thing: there are millions of lost in South America. There are peoples of hundreds of tribes who have never heard the wonderful message of eternal and abundant life Jesus Christ offers them. One man shared with us today about Colombia. I could only shake my head as I saw the graphics that revealed the numbers of tribes who have never even been contacted. As far as anyone knows, not one believer exists among those tribes.
Someone once asked me about that kind of tribe. What will God do with those who never heard the gospel? Will he send them to hell? No one I know likes the answer to that question. But here it is in clear words: the lost go to hell, period. Does God delight in that? I seriously doubt it. God is infinitely greater than you or I. If we don’t delight in that thought, how much more does it grieve our Father in heaven? But man must respond to the revelation God has given him. Man, by his nature, too often rejects that revelation. But when man does respond, God moves towards him. Someone once said that he believed God would go as far as to wreck a plane to get a man to an unreached tribe if someone in that tribe had responded to the revelation God had given him. I agree.
But let me ask an even more pointed question. If you know there are tribes that have never heard, and you have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, what are you going to do about it? Your very smallest responsibility is to obey the words of Jesus, found both in Luke 10 and Matthew 9, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray to the Harvest Master, therefore; ask him to send out workers into his harvest.” (My paraphrase) Your very minimal responsibility before God is to ask him to send laborers.
Your next response could be sacrificial. God may be answering our prayers by telling you to go to one of the thousands of tribes around the world that have not heard about Jesus. He called me to the gospel ministry twenty-eight years ago this week. That is, I heard his call that long ago. I recall something about being called before the foundations of the earth. After all, God’s plans are eternal; this is an eternal truth we are speaking about here.
You are also expected to be financially involved. If you can’t go, you can give. You may be able to give far more than Americans give (as a rule). I know people who spend thousands on their dogs and cats. That’s a yearly expense. Do you know what God can do with a few thousand dollars? Imagine, if he can multiply 5 biscuits and 2 fish, he can certainly use your giving to win hundreds to Christ.
Let me ask it again, what are you going to do about the lostness in the world? When you stand before Jesus, what answer will you give to that question?
Friday, February 24, 2006
Missional Musings
I am a missionary. I am writing from somewhere in South America. We are that other part of the world that so many people think has such ready access to the gospel that perhaps it is reached. But it is far from reached. In fact, if Jesus were to come today, 95% of South America would be left behind.
So that is why I am writing this today. It's my chance to remind the Christian church of the hundreds of millions of lost men and women in South America.
Let me define "lost." "Lost" means that a person has not repented of their sin. "Lost" means that person stands condemned already because he or she is separated from God by their sin. "Lost" means being controlled by a sinful nature, led by the passions of that nature and by the Prince of this world--Satan. "Lost" means that if a person were to die in the condition of being lost, that person would be eternally separated from God in a very real place called Hell.
Let me define "saved." "Saved" means being delivered from the condition of lostness. "Saved" means being rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred, or placed, in the kingdom of light--which is the kingdom of God. "Saved" means being purchased; the price was blood, pure blood.
How does one go from being lost to being saved? One must believe; he must repent. In other words, a person must exercise his will to turn from lostness to the salvation that has been offered.
Believe? Believe in what? One must believe that one person and only one person can be their savior. That would be Jesus, the Christ. He is God come in the flesh. His life was a perfect one. His singular mission was to seek and to save that which was lost. He lived perfectly, died perfectly, and was perfectly raised from the dead. Jesus' death was a barbaric and cruel death. It was a cross, a torture instrument. Yet neither the Romans nor the Jews killed him. Jesus gave up his soul. No one could take his life from him; it was his to lay down for us. And he did. But God raised Jesus bodily from the dead. And Jesus lives today. To be saved, one must believe that.
To be saved, one must make Jesus Lord of his or her life; this is because Jesus is Lord! To be saved, one must turn away from that Christ-less life to a life with and in Christ. That is called repentance. You turn your mind and your heart to Christ. You do it with your will.
As I said, some 95% of those living somewhere in South America have not made such a commitment to Christ. They are lost. They are in danger of dying lost.
While so many of my group's leaders and "theologs" are debating procedural events, I want to try to use this to call a few of us back to focus on the main thing. Some days I will write about Somewhere in South America. Other days I will take on issues special to the United States. Everyday I hope to exalt Jesus Christ.
Just another missionary
So that is why I am writing this today. It's my chance to remind the Christian church of the hundreds of millions of lost men and women in South America.
Let me define "lost." "Lost" means that a person has not repented of their sin. "Lost" means that person stands condemned already because he or she is separated from God by their sin. "Lost" means being controlled by a sinful nature, led by the passions of that nature and by the Prince of this world--Satan. "Lost" means that if a person were to die in the condition of being lost, that person would be eternally separated from God in a very real place called Hell.
Let me define "saved." "Saved" means being delivered from the condition of lostness. "Saved" means being rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred, or placed, in the kingdom of light--which is the kingdom of God. "Saved" means being purchased; the price was blood, pure blood.
How does one go from being lost to being saved? One must believe; he must repent. In other words, a person must exercise his will to turn from lostness to the salvation that has been offered.
Believe? Believe in what? One must believe that one person and only one person can be their savior. That would be Jesus, the Christ. He is God come in the flesh. His life was a perfect one. His singular mission was to seek and to save that which was lost. He lived perfectly, died perfectly, and was perfectly raised from the dead. Jesus' death was a barbaric and cruel death. It was a cross, a torture instrument. Yet neither the Romans nor the Jews killed him. Jesus gave up his soul. No one could take his life from him; it was his to lay down for us. And he did. But God raised Jesus bodily from the dead. And Jesus lives today. To be saved, one must believe that.
To be saved, one must make Jesus Lord of his or her life; this is because Jesus is Lord! To be saved, one must turn away from that Christ-less life to a life with and in Christ. That is called repentance. You turn your mind and your heart to Christ. You do it with your will.
As I said, some 95% of those living somewhere in South America have not made such a commitment to Christ. They are lost. They are in danger of dying lost.
While so many of my group's leaders and "theologs" are debating procedural events, I want to try to use this to call a few of us back to focus on the main thing. Some days I will write about Somewhere in South America. Other days I will take on issues special to the United States. Everyday I hope to exalt Jesus Christ.
Just another missionary
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