When I was growing up there was a plethora of stories about missionaries who sacrificed the comforts of home and sometimes family (a la the water toilet & other amenities) in order to give of their lives on the known and unknown “mission fields” of the world. These fields were usually found in Africa, the South Pacific, South and Central America and the Caribbean where I live. Then there were those services held where the focus was on monetary or prayer support for those called to the ministry or missions overseas; there was as well the call of the Senior Pastors for young people to respond to the “call for ministry”. In this paradigm this inevitably meant a call to Bible school where the youth would study for pastoral ministry. What became deeply ingrained in the “spiritual psyche” of us at that time was the concept of ministry or sentness as a peculiar calling for a spiritual elite; for a few chosen who had been called aside to be the leaders in evangelism and discipleship. This “clergy” or “Priesthood” or “Pastorate” would adopt behaviour which confirmed that sense of being set apart and different from other Christians. This may have included dress, a certain manner of “sobriety” or seriousness and of course the running title of Reverend, Pastor, Bishop or other. Am I trying to make light the many sacrifices and the great work done by many of our founding fathers and mothers in the past? That is definitely not my goal or purpose because for many of us raised in evangelical churches we can and do most definitely appreciate the level of seriousness that was and still is directed towards the concept of a “call to ministry”.
These movements most definitely facilitated the growth of our churches and spewed the development of many of the denominations in existence today. I’m not one who thinks however that because something seemed to work or served a purpose that it should not be re-evaluated especially in light of the truth of scripture. We humans, especially in the church, have a way of simply feeling comfortable with a thing simply because we’ve always done it; our comfort usually has nothing to do with whether or not it was right; that’s simply called “being religious” in my book. Having however acknowledged the growth of Churches in the modern era, are we now contented and happy with the level of influence which the church has today? How do we feel about the fact that there is an entire generation which does not seem too bothered or concerned about joining our Christian clubs even though individually they may acknowledge a belief in God?
One of the obvious derivatives of the modern movement of church growth was a separation between the secular and the spiritual and a misunderstanding of the biblical teaching of separation from the world. Christianity and its Christian pursuits and professions became the essence of a private experience of God; everything not in the Church but in the “world” or the culture of the world was relegated as evil; this included music, dance and many aspects of the arts. The focus of Christian evangelism bcame a need to pull individuals from the world to build the church; which in essence became a private club of believers who were “Christianised” and socialised into the culture of Church-life; this by the way included a hefty fear of the big bad world. If you were a singer by profession and you became a Christian therefore, it meant that “singing for God” was translated into singing only gospel music; never mind if you were a teacher and you became a Christian this did not mean that You only taught Scripture or Bible verses. It never seemed to occur to the Church then, that possibly as a Christian, you could write love songs that would be wholesome and uplifting and have some positive influence on the music industry.
While these new believers and converts schooled in the ways of Church-life were being primed to draw others in (from outside in) the brunt of responsibility for evangelism and ministry effectively laid smack dab on the shoulders of the clergy or called out ones. Everyone else in church did perhaps see some minimal responsibility to witness from time to time by sharing the gospel message in word ot by handing out literature but the essence of a lived gospel among the world we were trying to reach (the essence of incarnation) was basically a foreign concept because we were taught to fear the world. Pastors and Ordained Ministers and those of like titles were those seen as responsible for carrying out the great commission and Christianising the world. The “laity”, on the other hand, became obsessed with ensuring that they were in the “right” church with the “right” Pastor(s) who could meet their needs. Thus the consumerist or “needs-focussed” bent of Church was born.
The Great Commission; really given to the Church for all time (the ecclesia/ called out ones: yes all of us); given to the priesthood of all believers and not just a few specially titled Priests and Bishops or Clergy has regretfully become the Great Omission; because we’ve missed it big time. All of us are sent; all of us are called; all of us are set apart by virtue of the fact that we are now called Sons of God; all of us (and not a select few) are responsible for the evangelisation of the world. We must now in our minds balance out the scripture which says “love not the world neither the things that are in the world . . .” with the understanding of “For God so loved the world that he gave. . . “. God’s word specifically instructs us about what we must NOT love in the world “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life” it says nothing about the people nor does it suggest that every aspect of culture should be denounced. We are God’s humanising force in the world; God made us in His image; sin interrupted the flow and now He calls us to extend the light of His presence; to participate with Him in His mission; His work of transforming the world for which He died. It does not necessarily start with us catching the next plane to the remotest part of Africa; (yes some may still do that) but more so, it calls for an understanding that missionaries are who we are; right here in our own cultures with the people we rub shoulders with daily; so BE who Christ has called you to be; Break free from the old mindsets; be a missionary; you definitely don’t need to catch a plane.
Denise J Charles
