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Hall of Tyrannus

a place to discuss and learn together what it means to bring the truth of Jesus Christ into a secular world by words and deeds

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Location: Central Asia or Kentucky--quite a range huh?
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  • Wednesday, January 17, 2007

    Minister in Weakness...Seriously?

    Recently I posted about a little incident my family had over a few days and how my own pride and other character flaws came out. I concluded the post by commenting on how we are always with our weaknesses and how we carry the name of Jesus in our weak bodies and that Jesus knows this. Paul makes it very clear in 2 Corinthians that the reason we are weak is so that God gets the glory from any ministry we do. So I stand by my words. I believe them, objectively. I want God to write them on my heart so that I can honor Him by living and serving with my human weaknesses. But as I thought about this I couldn’t help but wonder if I really want to minister from a perspective of weakness. And, on a more general note, do we have any hope in America of producing people to do foreign missions from a perspective of weakness?

    Let me start by acknowledging that we are all weak. Everyone is weak in many ways. I believe when the Bible delineates between the weak and others it means those who recognize their weakness and those who do not. So we really don’t have a choice but to minister in weakness in the big picture. However, our perception of our ministries and others perceptions of them may not acknowledge, let alone embrace, weakness.

    I should begin with myself. Without spending a lot of time in this post on what I consider my ministry (hopefully this can come later), suffice it to say that my educational credentials are a big asset. I bring a Ph.D. to a place where there are few. There are even fewer US-earned Ph.D.’s and there are basically no westerners holding Ph.D.’s who want to be a part of the university. So right away, I come into the picture from a posture of superiority. I have something to offer. Now, I believe my education is nothing less than a gift from God. I believe it is possible, right, and good to use it in a way that honors Him and that I could do that anywhere in the world. But the fact remains that it gives me something to offer. Something that gives me an “in” to places that would otherwise be closed.

    Think, also, about the broader missions activity from America. It is, by and large, from a perspective of strength and power. It is true. Friend, if you have a blue passport you have a power that many people in the world do not. You come from the richest and most powerful country in the world. You come from a country where people have enough disposable income to fund huge missions projects. This cannot be overlooked. I have no way to know the statistics but the vast majority of our missions efforts must be tied to bringing help to the poor. Again, I must stop and qualify what I am writing. We must be about helping the poor. God has a heart for the widow and the orphan and we are to treat the least of these as we would treat our Lord. It is non-negotiable. But helping the poor is not the problem. I am afraid that the problem is that we have inextricably linked providing for the less fortunate or destitute with sharing the Gospel. Think about it. How much easier is it to conceive the notion of bringing food to the hungry and then sharing the Gospel than the idea of sharing the Gospel with your socioeconomic peers? There is a reason that people will do ministry to the homeless on weekends yet feel overwhelmed by living out a visible faith in front of their boss. It is much more difficult when you bring nothing extra to offer.

    Consider this for minute. If you go to the person who has the same job as you, as much money as you, as much education as you, as nice a family as you do—what then? You have only one thing to offer and that is Jesus. No promises for better living. No money for community projects. No educational credentials. Just Jesus. See, it gets a little uncomfortable doesn’t it?

    In concluding, let me say again that we are to about helping the poor. We are to be about welcoming those marginalized by society. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners. By all means do these things. Let me also say that those who do these things in America and around the world have my utmost respect and I pray God’s blessings on your work. But in our system of doing foreign and domestic missions, is it possible that the relative wealth and affluence of a large portion of evangelicals has become a crutch? Is it possible that we are more comfortable with the destitute, not because Jesus was comfortable with such people, but because we know we have something else to offer these folks? We have the Gospel PLUS food, medical help, job training, or fill-in-the-blank. I say these things not to produce guilty consciences or condemn the work that is going on. I say them because have examined my own motives and often found them deficient. I say them because as long as we feel that we need the Gospel PLUS anything, we are being prideful.

    May God create hearts in us that are more like His. Hearts that long of for justice. Hearts that long to see the poor lifted up and the hungry fed. Hearts that yearn to see the widow and orphan come to the table to eat. But let our hearts also want these things for the right reasons. Let our hearts be strong and courageous in knowing that we can show Jesus to the less fortunate by our actions but that they need Jesus no less than we do. Let us know that all people need Jesus and that our confidence in proclaiming the freedom he offers need not be in anything apart from Jesus, himself.

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