the christian mission...
today we started a section of coursework called "missiology"...the study of the christian mission...not anything earth-shattering...but there was one section of the study that i found particularly interesting...did you know that this idea of going across the world to do mission work is really only about 200 years old?...i mean, when you stop to think about it, it makes sense...travel would be difficult...money would be an issue...and so on...but here's the real deal...most mission organizations use the matthew 28 passage that says "go and make disciples" as their foundation...they...and to be honest, me in the past...see the word "go" as the key word in this passage...we read it and feel like god is saying "hop on a plane...go to africa...and help people like the kid in this picture...and do it now"...at least i do sometimes...and i suspect that it is the misunderstanding of many mission organizations as well...
today in class, we had a presentation by doug preist...president of christian missionary foundation...the interesting thing he told us today, though, was that the above understanding of this scripture was incorrect...he stated that a more correct interpretation of the original text was "as you go through your life, make disciples"...he suggested that making disciples was the key part of the passage...not necessarily the going...he suggested that going was only part of the disciple-making process...along with baptizing and teaching...and going across sea or to another country or to another state...that was something that only some would be created to do...others would be created to make disciples as they go through med school and set up practice in iowa...other would be called to make disciples as they go about fixing cars at their auto repair shop in florida...and so on...
so i guess that's not the most "wowing" learning experience...but it was kinda important...i remember watching slide shows of visiting missionaries as they came home for r & r times...they usually stayed at our house for at least overnight since my dad was a minister...and i remember conversations over pizza after the sunday night missionary presentation...i remember being fascinated by their experiences...and frustrated by their intrusion into our home all at the same time...(even as i say that, i'm ashamed of it)...but most of all, i rememeber feeling guilty...i just remember feeling like i was a bad person because i wasn't going to go to africa or india or papua, new guinea after college...and i cant say that this new teaching today has really changed a whole lot of that...i dont know...
i remember hearing about the situation in sudan, africa a few years ago...my reaction was total shock...i could not believe that i had never heard anything about this horrible attrocity that was so real...i couldnt believe that i hadnt heard about the huge measures that our country wasnt taking to help...i couldnt believe that i hadnt heard a sermon on it...and as i researched...i became more and more offended and hurt and confused...but something else happened too...i felt like i needed to do something...and that excited me...and it still does...
so wow...that was a really long stream-of-consciousness thoughts...and all that to say this...i dont think there's a need for guilty feelings...as long as we are making disciples as we go...as we go through our lives...and i'm gonna go to help with the situation in sudan...
today we started a section of coursework called "missiology"...the study of the christian mission...not anything earth-shattering...but there was one section of the study that i found particularly interesting...did you know that this idea of going across the world to do mission work is really only about 200 years old?...i mean, when you stop to think about it, it makes sense...travel would be difficult...money would be an issue...and so on...but here's the real deal...most mission organizations use the matthew 28 passage that says "go and make disciples" as their foundation...they...and to be honest, me in the past...see the word "go" as the key word in this passage...we read it and feel like god is saying "hop on a plane...go to africa...and help people like the kid in this picture...and do it now"...at least i do sometimes...and i suspect that it is the misunderstanding of many mission organizations as well...
today in class, we had a presentation by doug preist...president of christian missionary foundation...the interesting thing he told us today, though, was that the above understanding of this scripture was incorrect...he stated that a more correct interpretation of the original text was "as you go through your life, make disciples"...he suggested that making disciples was the key part of the passage...not necessarily the going...he suggested that going was only part of the disciple-making process...along with baptizing and teaching...and going across sea or to another country or to another state...that was something that only some would be created to do...others would be created to make disciples as they go through med school and set up practice in iowa...other would be called to make disciples as they go about fixing cars at their auto repair shop in florida...and so on...
so i guess that's not the most "wowing" learning experience...but it was kinda important...i remember watching slide shows of visiting missionaries as they came home for r & r times...they usually stayed at our house for at least overnight since my dad was a minister...and i remember conversations over pizza after the sunday night missionary presentation...i remember being fascinated by their experiences...and frustrated by their intrusion into our home all at the same time...(even as i say that, i'm ashamed of it)...but most of all, i rememeber feeling guilty...i just remember feeling like i was a bad person because i wasn't going to go to africa or india or papua, new guinea after college...and i cant say that this new teaching today has really changed a whole lot of that...i dont know...
i remember hearing about the situation in sudan, africa a few years ago...my reaction was total shock...i could not believe that i had never heard anything about this horrible attrocity that was so real...i couldnt believe that i hadnt heard about the huge measures that our country wasnt taking to help...i couldnt believe that i hadnt heard a sermon on it...and as i researched...i became more and more offended and hurt and confused...but something else happened too...i felt like i needed to do something...and that excited me...and it still does...
so wow...that was a really long stream-of-consciousness thoughts...and all that to say this...i dont think there's a need for guilty feelings...as long as we are making disciples as we go...as we go through our lives...and i'm gonna go to help with the situation in sudan...
posted by Danny Sells at 6/07/2005
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