Tis a Gift to be Simple

In the past few days, many of us have been bombarded by the news of failed economy and the endless searching for someone to blame. Some of the more interesting observations have been made by Suze Orman (the loud lady with white teeth). She says (and I am paraphrasing) that all of us who have been greedy and have been driven by a panic to have more than we could afford have fed the financial crisis in which we now find ourselves. I heard Anderson Cooper of CNN say that it is the American Dream that has gotten us to this crisis.

In such an environment, I could not think of a more timely book to read than Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicity . Although it the book was originally written in 1981, it is more applicable to us than any of the financial help books that are currently on the market. Foster's basis for "finding harmony in a complex world" go far beyond finances to the very heart of what life in Christ was meant to be. As I read the following quotes from Freedom of Simplicity, I am struck by the need for "real" Christianity to offer an alternative to madness in our confused world:

“Contemporary culture is plagued by the passion to posses. The unreasoned boast abounds that the good life is found in accumulation that “more is better.”

“Indeed, we often accept this notion without question, with the result that the list for affluence in contemporary society has become psychotic: it has completely lost touch with reality.”

“Christian simplicity frees us from this modern mania. It allows us to see material things for what they are – goods to enhance life, not to oppress life.”

“Simplicity is a grace, but is also a discipline.”

I find myself in strong agreement with all of this, but at the same time, I find myself caught up in the same whirlpool of greed and the false assumption that possessions will in some way make life more complete. Foster's words are needed medicine for all of us who claim Christianity, but how do we go beyond saying "yes that is good", to a transformation of life?

Perhaps confession is the best option, and perhaps a reminder that both holiness as well as missional should make our lives focused on something other than piling up stuff and adding franticness to my life. I welcome your comments, suggestions, disagreements, etc.

Christian Mission in a Post-American World

By David Wesley

I enjoy receiving and collecting newsletters sent out by missionaries. These letters as well as missionary blog sites lead me to pray for those who are serving Christ in exciting ways. I recently received a bulk email which was sent to a large number of people from a missionary who told an incredible story of missionaries being sent from Latin America. The letter told of a young woman preparing to go from Latin America to Europe. That in itself is an amazing, and historical story. The missionary’s letter told how the young woman had been preparing to leave her home country by training for her new cross cultural experience and also by raising support for two years in Europe. Raising this much money in her home country is enormous, and even though churches had been generous in their offerings, she was still lacking funds. The missionary’s letter went on to tell how a 15 year old boy in her Central American country heard about this, and made the decision to give a computer which he had at home to support this young woman. The boy’s parents were proud that their son had given in this way, even though this computer represented a great sacrifice that his father had made to save money from his small salary.
The missionary told how he went to this family’s humble home to pick up the computer. He also mentioned that he would be looking for someone to purchase the computer so that the money could be passed on to the work of the young woman going as a missionary to Europe. As I read this story, I thought, this is a great story of how missionaries had worked alongside people with whom they were serving in order to carry out the mission of God. The missionary assumed that the people in the country where he was serving could be missionaries just as he was a missionary; he also assumed that people could participate in sending missionaries. What an incredible story of God’s work which does not have political or economic boundaries.
For those of us, for whom a computer does not represent the equivalent of income for one year, we struggle with stories like these. We ask ourselves, “What is my offering in comparison to one like this?” or we come to the conclusion that this family’s willingness to give is great, but that we should step in and find a way to give the computer back.
In the global society in which we live, we find many complex situations like this. For those of us who live in North America, we cannot ignore the fact that even those who live at a basic level are still at the top 5% of the world’s most wealthy. What do we do with that?

Historically, the church in parts of the world with greater amounts of financial capital has struggled with developing good practices for using money in mission work to impoverished parts of society. There was a time in history when Europeans and North Americans understood mission activity to include not only spreading the Gospel, but also spreading the culture and the wealth of their nations to parts of the world that were perceived as being impoverished in the areas of Christianity, economics and advanced areas of culture. Several authors[i] in the past ten years have noted the incredible growth[ii] of Christianity in areas which historically have been recipients of missionaries from North America and Europe. At the same time, authors such as Lesslie Newbigin have noted the waning spiritual vitality, primarily in Europe. Without doubt, the center for “spiritual capital” is not one specific nation which has the responsibility to tell its story to the other nations. In the words of Peruvian missiologist, Samuel Escobar, mission’s is not an endeavor of “the west to the rest[iii].” God’s mission moves from any place where there are people whose lives have been transformed by the Gospel. It is only natural, therefore, that brothers and sisters in parts of the world who begun a journey of faith with Christ would desire to participate in God’s Mission to the nations. It is also only natural that thousands of people in local churches have a desire to participate in hands on missions through short term mission activities. Missions are not limited to “professionals”, it is not limited to those who live in wealthy countries, and it is not limited by our resources. If we truly believe that it is God’s mission that we are involved in (and I do) instead of missions being just another activity of the church which can be controlled in a mechanical manner, or just by those with resources to purchase international airplane tickets. We would also believe that God will work through brothers and sisters who are of many different cultural backgrounds and who participate in missions in ways that we never imagined. The task of missions “is being carried out by the missionaries of poorer churches who demonstrate in their own lives the truth that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life for the poor, the destitute and the hopeless –and not just for the rich…these missionaries are on the cutting edge of the expansion of the Kingdom today.”[iv]
In the face of these realities, some have asked, “why then do we send missionaries from North America?” or “what is a healthy way to use resources in a world with enormous disparity between those who have resources and those who do not have resources?”
In Fareed Zakaria’s recent book titled “The Post-American World”[v]. The very first phrase of the book is, “This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else.” Although this is primarily a book about global economies, the very same words could be said in relation to Christianity and particularly the Church of the Nazarene. The church is not so much declining[vi] in America, but it is growing at an unprecedented rate everywhere else. What does it mean for North American Nazarene’s to participate in God’s Mission to the nations in a “Post-American” World in which Westerner’s are still a vital part of the mission, but equally a part are brothers and sisters from every part of the globe?

Although we don’t always get it right, I do believe that within the DNA of those called Nazarene’s is a deep desire to give sacrificially and to be actively involved in God’s Mission to their fellow Christians, to their community and to “the nations”. Before his untimely ‘home going’ a couple of years ago, I often had the honor of interpreting for Dr. Bruno Radi in mission services and rally’s in the U.S. With tears of gratitude, he would often make it a point to thank those in the U.S. for giving sacrificially to send missionaries through which his life and his family’s life were changed for eternity. This very same spirit of giving can be seen in the new generation of Nazarene’s in Central America, and in many other parts of the globe today where the Gospel is spreading, not because of money or technique, but rather because people are absolutely desperate for God.

The following are a few steps toward “good practices” in mission giving for consciences Christians who want to participate in God’s Mission:

1) Work with missionaries and others who understand the mission context as well as the donor’s context.
- Long term missionaries who live with the people you wish to serve, learning the language and culture are vital. From outside, one may think they understand the needs, and the best ways to use funds toward those needs, but many times my perception of the need or the solution is not correct. Long term, career missionaries who can serve as links between two cultures, matching real needs with the available funds are the first step in wise mission giving.
2) Connect giving with ‘Kingdom objectives’.
- Since buildings and projects are easy to measure and count, we often say that our goal is to “build a church”, or “show a film”. These are both excellent activities, but they are not our goal. If our ‘mission work’ does not somehow connect to the ultimate goals of the Kingdom of God, we can easily get lost in activity with no direction. Our giving should connect to long term objectives which flow out God’s Mission. This not always easy to measure or count.
3) Build integrity by working with reputable institutions rather than individuals.
- Working with a reputable institution builds integrity from the beginning. Partnership in our world is a given. In the past, dependency was seen as negative. We, however, live in an interdependent world. It is non-sense to say, “Don’t put money in a specific world area so they don’t become dependent”- you should put money into key projects that accomplish key objectives. A partnership makes both sides responsible, resulting in healthy use of available resources which reduces the risk of unhealthy dependency from person to person giving.
4) Treat people who receive as adults who are equally accountable.
- Although there may be culturally distinct values related to money, how it is to be used and accounted for, both the donor as well as the recipient or administrator of any funds must be mutually accountable and mutually respected. This implies open book accountability on all sides. Those who give should never think that their giving places them in a place of authority over those who receive.
5) Appreciate ‘spiritual capital’ as well as ‘financial capital.’
- Donors must realize that although they may have “financial capital”, the people to whom they go may have incredible “spiritual capital” and other resources which cannot be measured in Dollars and cents. Instead of assuming that you are just going to complete a project, teach other people, or build a building. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from those in other cultures who have learned to be Christian in a context that most of us struggle to live in as visitors for two weeks. It is nothing more than arrogance to assume that we cannot learn from those on the cutting edge of the Church.
6) Value giving that is two directional.
- Don’t assume that giving is one directional. The offering of the boy from Central America has value in the Kingdom of God, just as much as the wealthy person who can give large sums of money. It is exciting to see Nazarene missionaries who raise their support from churches who never thought of themselves as capable of sending missionaries. If we are to be a truly missional church which is driven by God’s Mission, this will increasingly be seen as a normal activity of the church.
7) See individual projects within the greater overall mission of the church.
- Many projects are short lived or have limited impact. The reason for this is not because they are bad projects, but rather because they are not within the vision of the area where they are implemented. The result is that there is limited follow through, or support to continue the project is not available.

There is an Umbuto, Zulu proverb which says, “A person is a person through other persons”. A similar African proverb is: “Without you there is no me.” Within the global Church, there are incredible spiritual, financial, and other resources available to edify one another and to participate in what God is doing to bring justice and reconciliation to the world. Christianity was meant to be lived as a community endeavor. Independence or Dependence are not options that we have, interdependence, however, is a real option with real possibilities for participating in God’s Global Mission.



[i] See Andrew Walls and Philip Jenkins in particular.
[ii] This is primarily spiritual vitality and passion which has resulted in numeric growth.
[iii] See Samuel Escobar’s, The New Global Mission: The Gospel from everywhere to everyone.
[iv] See Jonathan Bonk, Missions and Money
[v] Zakaria, Fareed. The Post American World
[vi] I use the word “decline” not simply in relation to statistics and church growth, but rather in a holistic manner that refers to the Church as a whole.

Money and Missions

I enjoy receiving and collecting newsletters sent out by missionaries. These letters as well as blog sites lead me to pray for those who are serving Christ in exciting ways. I recently received a bulk email which was sent to a large number of people from a missionary who told an incredible story of missionaries being sent from Latin America. The letter told of a young woman preparing to go from Latin America to Europe. That in itself is an amazing, and historical story in itself. The missionary’s letter told how the young woman had been preparing to leave her home country by training for her new cross cultural experience and also by raising support for two years in Europe. Raising this much money in her home country is enormous, and even though churches had been generous in their offerings, she was still lacking funds. The missionary’s letter went on to tell how a 15 year old boy heard about this, and made the decision to give a computer which he had at home to support this young woman. The boy’s parents were proud that their son had given in this way, even though this computer represented a great sacrifice that his father had made to save money from his small salary to buy it. The missionary told how he went to the house which was a very humble home to pick up this computer. He also mentioned that he would be looking for someone to purchase the computer so that the money could be passed on to the work of the young woman going as a missionary to Europe. As I read this story, I thought, this is a great story of how missionaries had worked alongside people to carry out the mission of God. The missionary assumed that the people in the country where he was serving could be missionaries just as he was a missionary; he also assumed that people could participate in sending missionaries. What an incredible story of God’s work which does not have political or economic boundaries.
As many bulk emails, people began to respond to this incredible story. Some responses were that North Americans should raise money to buy the computer and thus provide funds to support the young missionary woman. Other responses were that North Americans should give money so that the computer could be paid for and then given back to the boy who gave it.

What are the issues involved?
I open this blog for your thoughts:

DAD

This past week, my father, who has struggled with a form of cancer known as Multiple Myeloma for the past three years made the decision to discontinue treatments and to go home with hospice care. I made a quick trip to Oklahoma to be with my dad and mom for the weekend and to spend some time talking to my dad while he is still lucid. At moments such as this it is interesting how conversations become more focused on what is important. I know that we took every opportunity possible to let each other know how much we cared for them.

An Umbuto, Zulu proverb says, “A person is a person through other persons”. When the moments of life are measured we realize how much our lives are formed by the relationships we have with others. In the case of my father, I took time to tell him how much his life has influenced my life and how much I thank the Lord for an amazing father, through whom I can easily understand get a glimpse of what a heavenly Father must be like.

I trust that you will take time this Christmas season to focus on important things in life. And by the way, if I haven’t said it before, I thank the Lord for your life and for the opportunity to journey together with you during this time that we have the tremendous gift of life.

The following is a reading from George Carlin that he wrote just after the death of his wife:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Saint Sabina

This past Sunday I was in Chicago and attended the Saint Sabina Church located in South Chicago. St. Sabina is a Catholic, African American congregation. When I arrived at the St. Sabina church, at approximately 11:20 am, I parked one block from the Sanctuary on the opposite side of the main entrance. I parked in front of a bar, and within one block walked past a store front African American churches which was in session and the preaching could be heard from the street as we walked by. As we approached the church, I first noticed a large lighted sign with the words: “Stop the violence, our children are dying”. Walking closer, I noticed a playground at the front of the church which had 31 wooden, mock coffins, each with a wooden cross and plastic flowers on top, which surrounded the playground. After the service, I noticed a woman standing and looking at the coffins. I asked her why there were 31? She told me that when they put the display up a few weeks earlier, “31 of our innocent children have been killed by guns this year”. I asked her, “31 from your church or from your community?” She said, “31 from the community, but since the display had been put up, 3 or 4 more children have been killed as well”. She said that just last week a young boy was sitting on his porch when he was hit by a bullet.
As I approached the main entrance I noticed a line of youth waiting to enter the sanctuary. Each were wearing a red T-Shirt which said, “Young Warriors for Christ” in the middle of the shirt, just under the word “warriors” was a crusader shield. As I entered the sanctuary, which was quickly filling to capacity (I would estimate 500-700 people were in the service) the service was already started. I first noticed several TV cameras along the sides, and also that Jessie Jackson was speaking from the front with the priest and a couple of other people at his side. Jackson told about the experience of him and the priest being arrested the day before as a result of a boycott of “Chucks Gun Store” . "Jobs are going out, guns are coming in." was a theme which Jackson had the congregation repeat with him. Jackson tied his comments to a history of African Americans who have had to fight to gain victory over slavery and in battles. As Jessie Jackson left the sanctuary, he shook hands with people, and held up a small boy.
The 3and half hour service which started when Jackson left, was an experience easier experienced than described. The mixture of Catholic and African heritage was quite unique and blended together in a very natural way.
The mission of the church is making disciples of the believers. The whole thrust of the service had a tone of moving the church outside of its walls and making an impact on a destructive society. In every sense, I would call St. Sabina a missional church. Their primary focus is not being relevant in order to get people to come into their church, but rather mobilizing the believers in the church to go out and change the world. I would encourage you to look up the website for St. Sabina, and get an idea of what a missional and yet contextualized church looks like. While you are on the site, listen to some of the sermons of father Pfleger. http://www.saintsabina.org/index2.htm (if you would like a complete ten page description of my visit along with cultural observations, let me know and I will e-mail you a copy)

Dr. Paul Hiebert

During the past two years I have had the privilege to get to know an incredible person. On several trips to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School I struggled to find economic housing in the area. Dr. Paul Hiebert, generously opened his home to me and several others as well. In the evenings we would share a meal together, and then return to work. At about 9:00pm we would gather in the living room for ice cream and for a time to talk about anthropology. To have the opportunity to sit down and talk about current trends in anthropology with Paul Hiebert is about as good as it gets for a missiologist. I would compare it to sitting down to talk with the apostle Paul about the New Testament.

The last time I stayed with Dr. Hiebert was in October. At that time he knew that his cancer was progressive and that he might not survive it. After teaching PhD courses all day, he worked until 9:00pm each evening in order to complete two new books. He completed these books during the last two months of his life and they will probably be published later this year. During the last two months of his life, he also completed a graduation address which I have copied below from the Trinity web page. http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/newshiebertcommencementaddress
Dr. Paul Hiebert's Final Message to Students Read at Commencement
The late Dr. Paul Hiebert, a renown missiologist, missionary to India, and distinguished TEDS professor of mission and anthropology, was invited to deliver the Commencement address for Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity Graduate School on May 12, 2007. Dr. Hiebert died of cancer on Sunday, March 11, 2007, but his message was read at Commencement by his close friend and colleague, TEDS Academic Dean Dr. Tite Tienou.


TEDS Academic Dean Dr. Tite Tienou reading Dr. Paul Hiebert's Commencement address on May 12, 2007.
A Rapidly Changing World
The world in which you minister is radically different from the one Frances and I entered in 1960. Then it took us three months by ship to reach India; three weeks for mail to go and return, and three days to book an underseas cable to phone the U.S. People returned once every seven years on furlough. Today transcultural flights and instant communication have become routine.
Every few centuries, we seem to pass through an "Alice in Wonderland's mirror" and enter a world radically different from the one we left. In the past we adjusted old theories and methods of ministry to a changing world. Today we do not need old theories and methods. We need new kinds of ministers and missionaries who learn to think in new ways, to exegete their social and cultural contexts as well as others, and faithfully communicate the Gospel to our new world. Most of us leave seminary with a deep understanding of the Gospel, but with few ways to exegete humans. The message we preach often touches the surface of people's lives but does not transform them deeply. We must develop more effective methods of understanding and go deeper to understand the central questions people are facing. We need to show them that the Gospel provides definitive answers to their felt needs and their deep theological needs. In other words, we need theologians and missionaries who do both theological and anthropological reflections on the human scene more deeply and who learn how to incarnate faithfully the Gospel in contemporary human contexts.
Our Unchanging Lord
In our fractured, changing world, the great news is that Jesus Christ, the lord of all history, and the commander in world mission is the same today as he was with Adam, Moses and David. He is the Lord who took on human flesh to bring us salvation, and a new creation.
We who have walked before, commend you into God's hand. We have lived in changing worlds, and have experienced our Lord's faithfulness and constancy throughout our lives. If you asked us: if we had the chance would we live differently, I know most of us would say no, not at the deepest levels of our lives. As we grow old, we can look back at the story, "the plot" of our lives, and see that God has been writing a drama in our years of living. When we were young we sometimes saw our life stories as detective stories, as mysteries, as tragedies, possibly as comedies, but in looking back we realize that these are great Love Stories. He who created us is coming back to bring us home as his bride.
Our Challenge to You
We who have gone before today charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus: be ready to minister in season and out of season; reproving, rebuking and exhorting with complete patience and teaching. Like Paul we encourage you to share the Gospel you have heard among us… with the world. YOU are already the leaders of the world church in the 21st century. Remember, central to your task is to train leaders who will, in turn, train leaders—not followers. Remember that God is writing a story in your lives as you minister in his kingdom, but your story takes on meaning because it is part of an eternal story. Paul received that Gospel and passed it on to Timothy, who passed it on to those who followed . That Gospel has come down through the centuries through our spiritual genealogy, and we must pass it on to those who follow us. When Christ returns, he will continue establishing his eternal reign of peace, justice and love over the universe.

A WESLEYAN MISSION OF JUSTICE

By David Wesley
Nazarene Theological Seminary

There are very few movies which I have attended that people actually applaud as the ending credits begin. The movie, “Amazing Grace” was one of those movies.

In the early 1800's William Wilburforce was an up-and-coming member of the English Parliament, when he was converted under Wesley’s ministry. He couldn't see how he could ever remain in the parliament while being committed to Christ. His uncle, John Newton (writer of the song Amazing Grace) and others encouraged him to stay in politics and see what God might have him do. Little did he know that he would be called upon to lead the fight for the abolition of the slave trade which led to Parliament finally outlawing England's participation in the slave trade in 1807.

It is interesting that the last letter that John Wesley wrote was to William Wilberforce. The letter concerns his thoughts upon slavery and encouragement for Wilberforce to take action for change.

While this is fascinating history, I am not sure how to process it. Perhaps I have more questions than answers at this point, but in this year of the 200th anniversary since British Parliament abolished slavery, wouldn't it be ironic if Wesleyan Christians were more excited about what God did through William Wilberforce and John Wesley to fight slavery in 1807 than about what God wants to do through us to fight slavery in 2007?

There are incredible similarities in the world of Wilburforce and Wesley and contemporary global society. According to Gary Haugon, founder of International Justice Mission (IJM), “there are more slaves in the world today than were extracted from Africa during 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade. More than 25 million human beings are slaves in 2007. They are not slaves in a metaphorical sense. They are held in forced servitude by other human beings”
( http://www.ijm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=178&srcid=-2) .

If we interpret our mission to actually be participation in God’s mission, we have to ask ourselves the hard question of “what is God’s mission in our world which is plagued by slavery and genocide?” and “how do we participate in what He is doing?”

I would be the first to say that I don’t have an easy answer to those questions. I do know, however, that we cannot answer with indifference. Perhaps God is calling you, or calling me to be a part of His mission and to be the voice of “Real Christianity” in a desperate world.

I invite your thoughts and reactions!

The following is from the last letter of John Wesley written to William Wilburforce:

Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be fore you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.

Global Mission Conference

On March 30th, I will be in Amsterdam for the first Global Missiology Conference that, to my knowledge, has been organized for the Church of the Nazarene. The conference was born out of some conversations that several of us were having in relation to a dream to form a network of Wesleyan Missiologists who could share resources and ideas.

Papers have been written for this conference which deal with the realities of Globalization, Global changes, Anthropology of Globalization and of a flat world which affect every aspect of the world and time in which we live. These changes whether they are just a popular trend or whether they are indicators of greater changes to come are causing many to rethink paradigms of transnational organizations including mission organizations which deal directly with people in a variety of social situations. Mission organizations are forced to address how an increasingly interdependent world is changing the dynamic of mission organizations themselves. While these dynamics do indeed have a great impact on sociological, financial and structural implications of organizations on a global scale, the anthropological issues of individuals and local culture are essential aspects which missions cannot overlook.The purpose of this conference and the papers which have been written is to address how the Mission of God is carried out by the Body of Christ in this context. Our particular focus is on the role of the Church of the Nazarene.

It will be fascinating to listen in and participate in the conversations with missiologists who teach in various educational settings around the world, with mission administrators, as well as missionaries who live in the reality of a changing world. Hopefully the diversity will bring greater depth to the conversation.

I would invite you to read the papers for yourself in order to get a good idea of the discussions. You can locate the papers at the NTS Center for Intercultural Studies Site (see link on the right side of this blog). Shortly after the conference I hope to post photos and follow up conversations about the conference on the same site. I welcome any comments that you may have about any of the papers posted for the conference.

Should We Continue to Send Missionaries From The U.S.?

David Wesley
Nazarene Theological Seminary


In a last minute effort to put together a workshop for the M7 conference, I am wrestling with the theme which has been given to me. The theme comes from a common question in the U.S. “If the need is so great at ‘home’, why do we send missionaries?” For my own purposes, I have reduced the title to just “Why Send North American Missionaries?”

In my grandparents, or parent’s generation, this question would not have even been asked. The question, more, likely would have more to do with sending people who are not North Americans.

The map of global Christianity that my grandparents knew, however, has been turned upside down. At the start of the 20th century, only ten percent of the world’s Christians lived in the continents of the south and east. Ninety percent lived in North America and Europe, along with Australia and New Zealand. But at the start of the 21st century, at least 70 percent of the world’s Christians live in the non-Western world—more appropriately called the majority world. Just to give an idea:

- There are more members of the Anglican churches in Nigeria than all of the Episcipal and Anglican churches in Britain, Europe and North America combined.
- There are more Baptists in Congo than in Britain.
- Ten times more Assemblies of God members in Latin America than in the U.S.
- From the Nazarene World Mission Website: “Statistics indicate that World Mission can anticipate church membership in excess of 1 million members in World Region areas by September 2007” (there are currently 640,000 Nazarenes in North America).
- The growth rate of the Church of the Nazarene in the U.S. last year was 0.59%, in world areas it was 5.58%.

What used to be the peripheries of the Church is now the center. The old center of the church is quickly becoming the periphery.

Philip Jenkins book, The Next Christendom which describes the realities of a southward movement of Christianity, has brought this reality to popular attention in the past few years.

While many would argue that “Christendom” in reality does not exist, and the “Majority world church” is not clamoring for some kind of political or church power (on the contrary, many desire to help the U.S. in the struggle to shift from survival mode to mission mode) the reality of an enormous shift in Christianity is, in fact a reality. This is partly because of the incredible success of the mission movement of the past 100 years.

With enormous sacrifice on the missionaries’ part as well as the sending churches part, the church has been established throughout the world. While it is popular to evaluate and critique the mistakes of colonialistic missionaries (and there were many mistakes that we can learn from), the missionary movement of the 20th century was an enormous success. It was such a success that today there are more Nazarenes outside the U.S. than within the U.S.

This brings us around to the question, “so what?” What does all of this mean for mission?

In such a changing and unstable global environment, there are a few ‘indicators’ which serve to guide us.

1) Our mission and our mission strategies (including where we send missionaries from) must be addressed from a theological and scriptural reference point.

Jurgen Moltman said: “It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church” (1977:64)

There are various implications of this statement. One of these is that the church does not organize itself and it’s strategies in order for God to move in our world (that is magic). Instead, we ask; “what is God doing in our world?” and “how can we open our church structure to participate with God in His activity in the world” (that is true worship)?

We often ask, “Where does God fit into the story of my life?” when the real question is, “Where does my little life fit into the great story of God’s mission?”

In all of our discussions of the “emergent church” we wrestle to “make the gospel relevant to the world.” But God is about the mission of transforming the world to fit the shape of the gospel.

Lesslie Newbigin has prophetic words for the church in this regard:

We are being called to reclaim the church for its missionary purposes…there is a fatal dichotomy that marks Christendom ecclesiology: church and mission. Mission is often treated as a stepchild or, even worse, in some cases an orphan. That is to say, traditional ecclesiology has no place for mission. Yet the church was instituted by Jesus Christ to be a sign of God’s reign and the means of witnessing to that reign throughout the world. The church that refuses to accept its missionary purpose is a deformed church.

Paul Orjala definitely had it right when he said, “God’s Mission is my mission”. Mission is the nature of God, and the church reflects the nature of God as it participates in His mission.

2) We will increasingly need to realize that Christianity does not have a territorial or national center. Our center is God, and His passion for a lost world.

Mission begins anywhere there are believers who follow the passion of Christ, who reach out to areas where people do not know Christ.

The church has always been multidirectional in its mission. We often use Acts 1:8 as an argument for concentric circle type of mission, but if we look at Acts closer, we notice that Jerusalem was just one of the sending points for the church.

- Peter goes from Jerusalem to Samaria, to Gaza, to Azotos, and to Ceasaria (Acts 8).
- Believers from Cyprus go to Antioch and initiate a multiethnic church there (Acts 11:19-21).
- Barnabus goes from Antioch to Tarsus to get Saul (Acts 11:22-26).
- Priscilla and Aquilla come from Italy and end up in Corinth (Acts 18)
- Apollos comes from Alexandria to Ephesus, then ends up in Corinth (Acts 18-19)

What held this early, multidirectional church together is found in 3 John where you will notice the use of letters of recommendation and the exhortations to treat traveling church planters and teachers “in a manner worthy of God”. In this we see a sense of cohesiveness in which the church is not separated independent sending nations, neither is it a church dependent on the church in Jerusalem. It is, however, an interdependent network which is centered in Jesus Christ.

The real mission boundary is not between “Christian countries” and “the mission field,” but between faith and unbelief, and that is a boundary, according to Christopher Wright, “that runs through every land and, indeed, through every local street.”

What does this mean?

Since M7 is primarily comprised of people from the U.S., I will frame the questions in relation to that perspective:

- Is there no longer a need for the U.S. to send missionaries? (Is the task done?)
- Should we focus on sending missionaries from other countries to the U.S.?

If we looked at the church as a business that was ours to control and run like machinery, one could possibly say it would be more practical to declare a moratorium on U.S. missionaries. There are many denominations that have been doing just that over the past 15-20 years. The interesting phenomenan is that these denominations have consistently decreased in the U.S. as they brought missionaries home. One of these mainline denominations had a goal of have a decrease of only 5% in the U.S. last year.

Why??

I believe that is because of the fact that mission is God’s nature. God is a mission God, and if the church is focused on itself and not outwardly toward the lost that God is seeking to redeem, it no longer functions as the healthy body of Christ.

Are ‘missional’ churches the answer?

I have found, as I have come back to the U.S. after 14 years that the word “missional” is in vogue. At first, I thought this meant that the church was actively focused on God’s mission. I have found, however, that:

- We often use the term “missional”, but that usually means that we are about relevant communication.
- “Missional” language is used to infer that we are all about living incarnationally, which means having real conversations with people that are similar in a postmodern, secular society. That is relevance, and is a need in our world today.
- This is not, however, taking the kingdom of God across cultural boundaries, or going to people who are nearby, but who are culturally or socially different and who are separated from God.

Although cultural relevance is necessary, the key which will awaken the Church in the U.S. or in any other part of the globe is to seek God’s holiness. I am not, in anyway, trying to use that phrase as a cliché or “Nazareney” term. What I am saying is that the life of the church can only be found in being in the likeness of God. This means that we reflect “His glory” and “His passion”.

So to finally answer the question: NO!! In no way can we afford to stop sending missionaries from the U.S. or from any point where the body of Christ find’s itself. There are many motives for which people become missionaries, but it has become increasingly evident that we do not go because of nationality; we do not go because we are more intelligent or resourceful. We go because we are called of God to participate in His mission, His salvage operation to restore broken and lost people.

"A Salute to All Nations....but Mostly America"

David Wesley, Nazarene Theological Seminary


In an article posted on January 22, 2007 in Christianity Today, Christopher J.H. Wright has a fascinating article which he titles “An upside-Down World”. His primary argument is that Christianity has always been polycentric, and gives examples of that from the New Testament. A great quote in the article, although it is not cited is from Andrew Walls:
“The emergence of genuine world Christianity and the ending of Western assumptions of heartland hegemony simply marks a return to normal Christianity, which looks much more like the New Testament than Christianity ever did.”

Wright says that “the language of home and mission field is still used by many churches and agencies, but it fundamentally misrepresents reality”. This is not a new concept and in my opinion is in line with the whole tone of scripture which emphasizes mission as God’s nature and God’s activity in which the Church is called to be “co-workers with God.”

While the article represents the heart of missional thinking, there are some pragmatic issues which are difficult for our post modern ears. In a time when being “purpose driven” is the norm, Wright states, “we want to be driven by a purpose tailored for our individual lives, when we should be seeing the purpose of all life, including our own, wrapped up in the great mission of God for the whole creation.” Issues of contextualization and “user friendliness” are also difficult to synchronize with Wrights statement, “we wrestle to ‘make the gospel relevant to the world.’ But God is about the mission of transforming the world to fit the shape of the gospel.”

Without doubt, mission never has never had a territorial center, and it was never meant to be a gospel from the “west to the rest”. Colonialism and nation pride, sadly to say, many times overshadow the mission of God. I am reminded of the American eagle of the muppets who is quoted to say, “a salute to all nations of the world…but mostly America”. We want to be inclusive, but we end up with “mostly America”. When we sing “we’ve a story to tell to the nations”, we often think that it is “mostly America” who has a story to tell to the nations. We put together mission statements which state that our mission is to make disciples of all or in all nations, and yet we often mean that it is “mostly Americans” who are to make disciples of all other nations.

To quote Wright (again), “the real mission boundary is not between ‘Christian countries’ and the ‘mission field,’ but between faith and unbelief, and that is a boundary that runs through every land and, indeed, through every local street.”

I welcome your comments about Wrights article as well as my thoughts. Wright's article can be located at http://www.christianvisionproject.com/2007/01/an_upsidedown_world.html

Amateurization vs. Professionalism

The Cutting Edge of Missions in a Flat WorldPart I: Amateurization vs. Professionalization of Missions
David Wesley, Nazarene Theological Seminary
April, 2006

My first reaction when I read Thomas Friedman’s book, “The World is Flat” was that he was looking at the world through the lenses of someone who was in love with technology, and that the world he described was the world of the wealthy Americans who stayed in nice hotels and had technological gadgets which most people could not afford. On a second glance at Friedman’s thesis, however, I realize that although the majority of the world may not own the same technology, the interconnected nature of our world is a phenomenon of globalization which is rapidly bringing people and cultures of every economic echelon into an increasingly interdependent relationship.

Several of the most recent missiological books which have been published within the last year deal with this same dynamic of globalization and what that means to minister in a “flat world”. This short paper is the first in a series in which I would like to dialog about the implications of these global trends on the miseo dei to the Church of the Nazarene.

A growing area of study in missions today is the issue of short term missions. This can be seen in the increasing number of people who are involved in Work and Witness, Mission Corps, and other aspects of short term missions which are organized by World Mission. Without doubt, this trend has made a great impact on the Church of the Nazarene as well as many other denominations. The results of this shift can be seen in the emphases which are made on college campuses and at denominational gatherings. In the past, the emphasis was on young people called to a career as a missionary. A growing emphasis is on young people going on a short term mission trip of two weeks to six months. The fact that the world is now “flat” has made this phenomena even more prevalent, and some have labeled this movement “the amateurization of missions”. Amateurization in this sense does not so much refer to an inferior or less professional manner to approach missions, but to those who participate in mission activity on a short term basis, instead of approaching missions out of a call to a lifetime vocation.

Ralph Winter, founder of the US Center for World Mission, Pasadena CA speaks of the “re amateurization of missions”. He calls it re-amateurization as he recounts the history of the great number of students who volunteered for “foreign missions” toward the end of the nineteenth century.

The Student Volunteer Movement came out of a time of great enthusiasm and commitment. This was a time in the U.S. when there was a great spiritual awakening and desire to expand the gospel to all people. The difficulty, according to Winter, is that they ignored the insights of earlier missions workers. They made serious mistakes that resulted in many unnecessary deaths among missionaries and a demoralization and spiritual decline among national pastors. This amateurization set missions back instead of propelling the work forward. David Hesselgrave, author and leading spokesman for evangelical missions says that it took forty years to relearn the lessons that had been so quickly forgotton. (Paradigms in Conflict p.204).

As we look at the current trends in missions today and we can see similar enthusiasm and popularity of missions as there was during the time of the Student Volunteer Movement. The difference in the current movement and the movement of the SVM is in the definition of missions. Missions, according to Winter has become “any Christian volunteering to be sent anywhere in the world at any expense to do anything for any time period.” - Although this is a fairly recent phenomenon, Winters asks if this is a wave of “re-amateurization” of missions.

In a later, 1996 article, Winter states that people who are currently involved in missions tend to be steered in one of two directions. Winters says that they go either over prepared, or they go with little or no preparation at all. Either places the missionary as well as their ministry at a “decided disadvantage.”

Over preparation comes from an over reaction to amateurization which assumes that more education will make a person a better missionary. As a result, people build up enormous debts which they must pay off after graduating, and by the time they arrive on the field their minds are too old to master either the language or the culture.

In the second situation, to avoid educational expenses and time, many missionary candidates forego any theological or missiological education. They arrive on the field young enough to learn the language and culture but without the theological, hermeneutical and missiological tools, they have difficulty interpreting culture or understanding the theological and missiological application of their role in ministry. Undereducated missionaries lack the broader knowledge and experience needed to work effectively and so their work is usually short lived.

Both scenarios tend toward the same result, the re-amateurization of the missionary enterprise. Work too often is carried on by missionaries who lack what they need to be effective, either because they have invested too much of their lives in education or too little. Winter’s solution, which is echoed by many leading missiologists, is to encourage earlier candidacy and earlier training in language and other needed tools. The result of this would imply a more integrated system in which mission students become involved in the actual practice of missions simultaneous to their educational process.

The cutting edge of missions is not a return to the “re-amateurization” of missions. It is, however, in the internationalization of missions which integrates practice with solid foundational knowledge. This movement toward the internationalization of missions is fueled by the “flattening” of the globe in which missions is “the Gospel from everywhere to everyone” . The phenomena of people from every part of the globe desiring to participate in the “Miseo Dei” has a long history that didn’t just happen in a vacuum. It is the fulfillment of the goals and prayers of long-term missionaries who have consciously fostered the formation of national church leadership with a passion for missions in the non-western world. Since the earliest days of cross-cultural ministry, missionaries have given their whole lives to planting churches that are equipped to fulfill Christ’s commission.

God has used the efforts of “traditional” missions in such an outstanding way that today the numbers (and perhaps the spiritual vitality) of the non-western church outstrip that of the West. Possibly the main reason “traditional missionaries” have been so effective is because they have taken the time to learn the culture, cultivate trust with nationals and learn the language well. The patient endurance of long-term missionaries is a critical factor in their success. I would like to suggest that the cutting edge of missionary strategy is still long-term missionaries working together with national churches to win the rest of the world. As we work in interdependent collaboration, we model the unity that God intended for His church and we become more effective in the task of world-wide evangelism.

God’s call to “go” must continue to be answered in every culture and era. If we ever dilute that call to simply “send money,” or merely travel during our vacation time, we will lose our sense of God’s heart for “incarnational ministry” to the world. Our missionary vision will be reduced to fund raising and mission tours. Of course we must help national churches to fund their ministries. But we need to help responsibly without creating an unhealthy dependence that robs churches of initiative and ownership in their missionary outreach.

In a changing, flat world, we are forced to ask ourselve vital questions about the “miseo dei” and how we carry it out. Without doubt, God is raising an army of Nazarenes who are giving their finances, their vacations and are willing to go for weeks or months at a time. This dymanic is making a great impact on many people, and we must continue to find ways to equip these people for more productive ministry. The vital cutting edge of missions however, is in those who are sent from every culture working together in an interdependent relationship who form the most powerful strategy in missions. Globalization will continue to change many aspects of our world. These changes will be social, economical, anthropological, and technological. The cutting edge of world evangelism, however, hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years. God still calls, and sends people to live incarnationaly in order to carry out His commision in an ever flattening world.

The implications of Wesleyan Intercultural Studies in a ‘Flat World’:

David Wesley, Nazarene Theological Seminary. February 14, 2006


A current and popular understanding of Missiology is that it is a way of doing theology. This understanding takes my cultural perspective of scripture and theology and applies it to culture and context. The questions that I would like to address in this brief time involve the “doing of theology” within the changing and diverse global context in which we live. In addressing intercultural dynamics I hope to find a balance between low context theory and high context pragmatics. Both extremes are dangerous and detrimental to the Kingdom of God. In combining the two you could come to several possible solutions. Our goal for students is that they understand the theoretical background of missiology (scriptural and theological) and how to apply that to a variety of contextual situations.
There are key questions that we, as a denomination must ask ourselves.
• Where do we a Wesleyan Church fit in God’s global plan?
• What are the future challenges of mobilizing the church in the West?
• What roles does a Western Church fulfill when we find the Great Commission being undertaken by a worldwide church?
• How can students of theology become learners who contextualize good theological and hermeneutical practices within a global context?
The title of this address,” The implications of Wesleyan Intercultural Studies in a ‘Flat World’”, may have lead you to believe that I am geographically ignorant. I am using the term “flat world”, however, in the same sense that Thomas Friedman uses it in his book “The World is Flat”. Friedman’s thesis is that in 1989 a series of events began which that have rapidly moved us toward globalization. Globalization is evidenced through an interdependence and interaction in such a way that the world seems smaller. Although Friedman’s book is written within a geopolitical and financial framework, it has enormous implications for the Christian Church. I have chosen this framework intentionally because it addresses the changing character of Missiology.
My discussion here is not the larger context of the Miseo Dei.
Scripture from Genesis to Revelation indicates that God is not a local, tribal, God but the God of all creation. From Genesis 3 onward, scripture points toward God’s “salvage operation” for all the nations- this is the overarching theme of scripture. In Genesis we see God’s plan for salvaging all nations through Abraham. Even in Revelation 22, we can see the Miseo Dei as God restores fallen creation as “all things are made new”; everything in between shows God’s compassion and redemption. God’s plan of salvation is carried out through missions. Throughout all of scripture, one can see, over and over again, God’s compassion for the Gentiles, and the “foreigners”. Throughout all of church history, beginning with the Christian Church of the first century, the church has sent missionaries to reach “all nations”.
Missiology as an academic discipline, however, has more recent roots. Missiology has been a major part of Catholic Seminaries for some time with emphasis on theology and history. (Only recently have the humanities, such as anthropology, been included.). A major shift in missiology for the evangelical church came with the formation of the school of world mission at Fuller Seminary (1965). Donald McGavern wanted to “re-train” missionaries with a focus on evangelism that lead to church planting. He wanted Fuller to be a seminary where they could form a school of mission. Peter Wagner, Ralph Winter and others were invited to be a part of the team. Ralph Winter emphasized the need to move missiology toward being an academic discipline. As a result, Fuller formed a school of mission and the American Society of Missiology was also formed. Shortly after the formation of the “School of Mission” at Fuller, other seminaries developed schools of mission with similar objectives. I find it incredible that Paul Orjala, in 1964 (a year before Fuller formed their school of mission) was forming a new school of mission at NTS with a focus on “re-tooling” missionaries for evangelism and church planting that was consistent with our holiness tradition. Today we can be thankful for those such as Paul Orjala who pointed toward the future and played a key role in pioneering the field of Missiology within the Church of the Nazarene.
The particular issue that I would like to address today is that of the implications of Wesleyan Intercultural Studies in a ‘Flat World’. If we define Missiology as a way of doing theology we must ask ourselves how we can do Wesleyan theology within a changing global context. I would like to present what I perceive to be the major challenges for Wesleyan missiology today
The question of The role of the Western Church in world missions is, in my opinion, the greatest ecclesiological and missiological issue that faces the West. The issue becomes increasingly important as the church de-westernizes. What is the role of the “church of the western world” in advancing the Gospel?
After an honest reading of Philip Jenkins’ book, “The Next Christiandom: the Coming of Global Christianity”, as well as Samuel Escobar’s book, “The New Global Mission : The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone” , one could conclude that churches north of the equator will, within a very short time, have little or no part in the global, Christian Church.
In the words of Samuel Huntington the world is divided into the “West and the rest” (Huntington, p. 183). I ask, once again, how can the Western church best serve God’s global purposes?
In October I attended a meeting of Nazarene Educators in Campinas Brazil. With great admiration for the missionaries who established the Church of the Nazarene in Brazil, a Brazian leader described the lasting influences they had on the current objectives of the Church in Brazil. He told the Brazilians present that they should not forget the names and the influence of these missionaries. It is interesting to note that The Church of the Nazarene was established in Brazil close to the same time that the Nazarene Church was established in South Korea. It is also fascinating to see the many similarities between the two areas today. The work began in Korea in 1948 and in Brazil in 1958. Both of these areas had developed significantly during the sixties under missionaries who were heavily influenced by Peter Beyerhaus and Henry LeFever’s book, The Responsible Church and Foreign Mission. The three-self theory (self-government, self-support, and self-propagation) is developed in this text. Today, the Church of the Nazarene in Brazil, as well as South Korea, is financially strong and has a tendency toward independence. In Jenkins’ work the fourth “self” has been implicitly added to include “self-theologizing”, wherein theology is developed according to the respective cultural context. This brings up other issues that relate to the contextualization of theology which is beyond the scope of this paper, but is a major issue the church must address.
All of this leaves us with some very difficult questions in respect to an “international church” and how it should function in a “flat world”. The work of Beyerhaus and LeFever has been a great contribution to mission development and has moved us away from paternalistic patterns. Paul Orjala’s 1964 induction address provides remarkable insight at this point. Orjala says that the three-self theory should be seen as a method and not a goal. I would add here that the goal is not independence, but rather interdependence in which the church in any world area is not in a paternalistic relationship with the church in the United States, but rather joins as interdependent partners with the rest of the globe. Interdependence, of course, has great implications for the “western church” as well as other areas. A key element in a “flat world” is that of interdepence”, which is not only a geopolitical reality, but it is an ecclesiological and missiological reality as well. For the western church this means that the Kingdom of God cannot be painted in nationalistic tones of red, white and blue. The Wesleyan Churches’ commitment to the Kingdom of God and relationship to the greater global church must supersede any national identity or any political agenda.
For the western church an interdependent relationship will mean taking the posture of a servant. For the emerging church of the south, interdependence will mean sacrifice and a vision beyond “self” to “others” in which they are called on to collaborate in the miseo Dei rather than acting as independent, nationalistic mission agencies.
Being part of God’s global mission in a “flat world” implies many changes. True global partnership means being willing to redefine our roles. Missionary teams will become multi-cultural, international and non-western. Missionaries and local leadership will need to work in collaboration in setting strategies and finding ways to serve those strategies. Financial management will mean balancing the desire for good stewardship against our Western propensity towards paternalism and the non-western temptation towards dependency.
A second challenge which must be addressed as to living in a “flat world” is that of Religious Pluralism. For those of us old enough to remember, mission services of the past were often defined by the song “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.” Despite the obvious imperialistic overtone of the song, it reflects the core conviction that Jesus Christ is unique, and His divinity compels us toward evangelism and outreach.
The spirit of this age does not necessarily accept this belief. The impact of post-modern relativism puts pastors in front of people every Sunday who are asking, “Do we really have a story to tell to the nations?” “Is there any thing unique in Christ that constrains us to make such bold claims?”
Pluralsim is one of the greatest theological challenges facing the church. Tim Dearborn, writing in “Christ, the Church, and Other Religions” states it this way: “Every local church – whether in Kansas City or Kinshasa , in Toledo or Tokyo , in London or in Latvia – will serve in a religiously pluralistic environment” (Stackhouse, p. 139). Pluralism is not a philosophy reserved for the classroom; it’s the worldview of the common person.
The idea that Jesus Christ and Christian faith is unique – a basic motivation for global missions – is far from acceptable in a world that responds “all of the above” to questions of truth. The spirit of our “post everything” age leans away from the proclamation of the deity and uniqueness of Christ. If the implications of scripture about Christ and eternity are true, there are enormous implications for missiology and evangelism.
In the face of global pluralism, the church must proclaim Jesus Christ with theological integrity, critical contextualization and, above all, with an open and transparent spirit.
The challenge of pluralism obligates us to evaluate our training: do the missionaries and leaders of our churches really understand the beliefs and worldviews of other religions? Are they capable of dialoging about these differences?
Tim Dearborn, again writing in “Christ, the Church, and Other Religions”, observes that “Without a basic comprehension of other’s beliefs, our encounters will be characterized by prejudice, paternalism, and pride” (p. 139). We must be willing to interact with other faiths believing in the uniqueness of Christ, but willing to listen, to learn, and to dialogue.
Globalization – is the third challenge. What does Christianity look like in a flat world? In The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins points out that, “Over the past century…the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa , Asia , and Latin America . Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America. If we want to visualize a ‘typical’ contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela” ( Jenkins, p. 2).
David Barrett states that as of 2000, only 39% of the world’s one and a half billion Christians live in the industrialized West. Barrett further predicts that by 2025, fully 70% of Christians will live in Asia , Africa , Latin America , and Oceania . (Cited by Ian Douglas, “Globalization and the Local Church”, in Stackhouse, p. 203).
Some believe that globalization leads to greater cohesiveness and integration. Others view globalization as homogenization in which the “rest of the world” begins to look and act like the western world. I agree more with those, however, who think that globalization more likely will lead to greater fragmentation.
Samuel Huntington says:
“The dangerous clashes of the future are likely to arise from the interaction of Western arrogance, Islamic intolerance, and Sinic [Chinese] assertiveness.” (Huntington, p. 183)
We serve a global church with a global commission in a globalized world. What will it mean? Will having North American citizenship hurt or help?
Territorialism is perhaps our greatest anthropological challenge. In recent history there has been a growing resistance to Westernization which has given impetus to a renewed nationalism in many parts of the world. This nationalism, as we have seen is often attached to religion such as Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Sharìa Islam in northern Nigeria, or communion tables draped with the American Flag in the USA. Territorialism is a growing trend which posses a great anthropological challenge for missions as we seek ways to relate to others.
In recent history we have seen what happens when ethnic specific religion degenerates into tribalism and racism as we have seen in the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Rwanda and Burundi.
Our global society is not a post-religious society. The world is fueled by religion.
If anything Rwanda reminds us, especially as Wesleyans, that that the great commission is to make disciples, not just converts, and that these disciples must grow deep in understanding Jesus’ mandate to love and forgive our enemies. The disciple in a territorialized world must not only be taught to look upward to Jesus but also outward in love to those around them whom Jesus loves. If any group has reason to minister in terrorized and war torn sections of our globe, it is the Church of the Nazarene! If any doctrine has reason to be clearly seen in such a world, it is the optimistic, radical doctrine of holiness!
Tribalism challenges us to build up holy disciples who know how to break down the barriers, the “dividing walls of hostility” through Christ.
Concluding Observations:
In the context of these global challenges, what are the localized, specific issues that we face in the seminary and the global church where we serve? I’ve identified five for your consideration.
#1. Short Term Missions and the “amateurization of missiology”:
Short term missions are an exploding phenomena which is making an enormous impact on the mission efforts of the church. There is an increasing need for North American Pastoral staff to understand the mission endeavor of the church so that they can exercise wise and informed leadership in this emerging trend. There is also a need to develop courses which will facilitate youth pastors, pastors, and missionaries whose responsibilities involve working with visiting short-term mission groups. Closely related to short term missions is the rapidly increasing number of individuals with resources but little or no intercultural awareness who are taking the task of missions into their own hands. Recent examples of this are Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Rwanda” and “Prayer of Jabez” author, Bruce Wilkinson’s failed effort to establish an orphanage, and Disney type park in Swaziland primarily due to a lack of intercultural awareness. At the present this is an under-studied area of missiology which needs development.
#2. A Global, Wesleyan Missiology
There is a need to “retool” our current missiology in such a manner that missiologist from outside the U.S. can work together with missiologists within the U.S. in developing a global, Wesleyan Missiology and understanding of mission. There are a growing number of centers for Nazarene mission education and training outside of North America, a growing number of Nazarene missiologists who are not North Americans as well as Nazarene missionaries/missiologists who have a wealth of experience and understanding of the mission of the Church of the Nazarene in a Global context. It is my prayer that we can develop an interdependency in which we can learn from one another and work together toward common goals of being transforming agents of God’s Grace. My vision is that NTS will be a catalyst in forming a global consortium of Nazarene Missiology.
#3 Managerial Missiology:
One of the recent criticisms of current western missiology from Latin American Missiologist, Samuel Escobar is that missiology from “the west” has become too managerial. His primary argument is that missiology from “the west” relies on secular managerial techniques of strategic planning more than spiritual/theological models of mission. Escobar, in my opinion, overstates his case, but he does have a valid point in that our strategy should be primarily driven by our theology and our understanding of scripture, not by the pragmatic. Our theological understanding of God, of humankind, and of faith should form every practical aspect and every strategy of mission. If missionaries are driven by the pragmatic, we will have no filter to evaluate trends of church expansion which have enormous theological implications. If our practice is driven, however, by our Wesleyan Theology in the Church of the Nazarene, I truly believe that the practical results will the transformation of thousands of lives as we partner with God in His mission to “break the power of cancelled sin, to set the prisoners free”.
In a time when many mission organizations are focusing strictly on mission training, we must seek a balance in which our theology is missiological and our missiology is theological. The implications of this for NTS is that students who are preparing to serve in intercultural settings must have a solid theological as well as biblical perspective which will focus their missiological understanding of mission as “doing theology”.
#4. Intercultural Studies
One of the outcomes of a “flat world” and the interconnectedness of the world is that the definitions for missiology have become somewhat vague. In the past, we have relied on what has been termed “salt water missiology” in which a missionary is not a missionary unless they cross over saltwater. The result is that an increasing number of people will go on short term “mission trips” to a Spanish speaking country to do missions, and return to the U.S. where there are 41 million Latinos (that is a higher number than the number of Canadians living in Canada) and not see the need to minister to them since they are next door. New terminology should, perhaps be developed to identify those who are called to specialize in ministry which we have historically called “overseas” missionaries. NTS must also be a leader in preparing the growing number of those who will minister outside of their passport culture. NTS cannot, however, assume that those ministering within the U.S. can avoid issues of intercultural ministry and religious pluralism. Intercultural studies must be in integrated part of a theological education which prepares people to minister in a flat world. A person who does not understand the intercultural nature of our context, does not understand our global society. I propose that our “missions” program not be strictly “Mission studies” but rather intercultural studies for several reasons:

1. The increasingly used term “intercultural studies” is more relevant to Nazarene Theological Seminary’s commitment to understanding and practicing mission and evangelism ‘in context’.
2. The term “missiology” is not widely understood in the academic community and connotes, for some, an academic provincialism.
3. There is an international political agenda behind the increasing reference to “Intercultural Studies.” The unfortunate legacy of colonialism means that some governments reject visa applicants with degrees in “Mission” or “Missiology,” while being much more favorably toward applicants with degrees in “intercultural studies”.


#5. Toward a model of learners, partners and servants.
The Western Church must commit itself to being global learners. “Western arrogance” will nullify its’ Christian effectiveness; therefore, the Western Church needs to reaffirm its’ commitment to humility. The Western Church needs to listen and learn.
• From Christians in Cuba or China who can teach us much about carrying the cross daily.
• From Christians of the third world, who can teach about finding ones identity in Christ, not things.
• From Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, who know about staying faithful under the pressure of dominating Islam.
Besides being global learners, we must also commit ourselves to being global partners. I have already mentioned the implications of an interdependent global church. I would add here, that as a seminary with a mission to be a global theological resource we must continue to find ways to partner with the global church in learning and in offering resources.
The globaIization of missions will mean a deeper commitment than ever before to mission efforts that are multi-cultural in composition. This will mean that, as Patrick Johnstone observes, “Much greater sensitivity to multiple missionary cultures as well as target cultures will be an essential component of training and orientation on the field (Gree nlee, p. 189).
Finally as learners and partners we must also be global servants. This was the heart of Paul Orjala’s 1964 induction address, in which we see the dramatic shift away from the missionary being over the national church to serving alongside the national church. Even with the best strategies and techniques, we will not change the most difficult parts of our world if people cannot see Jesus in our methods and our message.


Conclusion:
I thank the Lord for great people such as Francis Xavior, William Carry, Paul Orjala, and others. They have made a great impact on the global church. Today, however, is our day. This is our generation to boldly join Christ Himself in praying “Thy Kingdom Come”. My prayer for all of is that we will passionately teach, preach and live in such a manner that our world will be transformed by Jesus Christ.





WORKS CONSULTED OR CITED

Bonk, Jonathan, ed. Between Past and Future: Evangelical Mission Entering the Twenty-first Century ( Pasadena , CA : William Carey Library, 2003).
Borthwick, Paul, Address made to pastors and church leaders at the URBANA 03 student missionary convention., December 30, 2003.
Cox, Harvey. Fire From Heaven, (New York: Addison-Wesley Press, 1995).
Escobar, Samuel. The New Global Mission : The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone (Christian Doctrine in Global Perspective ( Downers Grove , IL : Inter-Varsity Press, 2003).
Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
Guder, Darrell L. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).
Greenlee, David, ed. Global Passion , ( Cumbria , England : Authentic Publishing, 2003).
Radi, Bruno and Bustle, Louie . New Solutions .
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity ( Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2002).
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order (New York: Touchstone, 1996).
Sanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West ( Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 2003).
Seminary Tower, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Summer 1965. pp.14-18

Stackhouse, Max, Tim Dearborn, and Scott Paeth, eds., The Local Church in a Global Era: Reflections for a New Century ( Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 2000).

What's Wrong with the Label "Managerial Missiology"

Levi T. DeCarvalho

Levi T. DeCarvalho, Ph.D., is a member of the Training Department, Latin American Division, U.S. Center for World Mission.

A new label has recently been proposed in the field of mission studies. I am referring to the epithet "managerial missiology," which—to my knowledge—was coined as a way of criticizing the kind of missiology that has been produced by the "Pasadena think-tank." The epithet is unfortunate for several reasons, some of which I discuss below ….
Christianity Today recently reported on a missiological consultation held in Iguassu, Brazil, in October 1999, where the term "managerial missiology" dominated the intense debates, under the guidance of William Taylor, WEF’s Missions Commission head. David Neff reported:
Peruvian missiologist Samuel Escobar was unable to attend the consultation . . . But in a paper discussed at the meeting, he criticized the ‘managerial missiology’ practiced by certain North American groups. ‘The distinctive note’ of this approach to missions ‘is to reduce Christian mission to a manageable enterprise,’ Escobar wrote. Practitioners of this approach focus on the quantifiable, measurable tasks of missions and ask pragmatic questions about how to achieve goals. Escobar called this statistical approach ‘anti-theological’ and said it ‘has no theological or pastoral resources to cope with the suffering and persecution involved because it is geared to provide guaranteed success.’1
The other two names most readily associated with the use of the term (and who admit to having borrowed it from Escobar) are James Engel (Escobar’s colleague at Eastern Seminary) and William Dyrness (a professor and former dean of Fuller Seminary’s

own School of Theology). Neff states, somewhat paradoxically:
This managerial approach is ‘a major leap onto the secular stage of strategic planning,’ according to a monograph from retired Eastern College professor James Engel. In the event’s opening address, consultation director William Taylor quoted extensively from Engel, who was among the first to foster evangelical adoption of marketing principles.2
The critics associate the proponents of "managerial missiology" with the plans fostered by selected agencies to evangelize the world by 2000 AD. Following Escobar’s lead, Engel and Dyrness have published the controversial Changing the Mind of Missions: Where Have We Gone Wrong? (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2000, 192 pp.), which has elicited some strong criticism from David Hesselgrave and Ralph Winter, among others ….
Pejorative Use of the Word "Managerial"
It appears to me that the word "managerial" is being used in a pejorative way. This is most unfortunate since a whole group of Christians who try and develop their God-given managerial gifts for the advancement of God’s Kingdom find their vocation placed under such negative light. Management is one of many gifts of the Spirit. Time and again Scripture instructs the believers about the use of their managerial skills….
Reductionist Understanding of Missiology
Labeling the kind of reflection that has come out of Pasadena as "managerial missiology" is reductionist in terms of an intentionally negative categorization of missiological studies. The so-called "Pasadena group" or "Pasadena think-tank" represents a wide variety of field experiences. The theories or models that have been proposed by both Fuller Seminary’s School of World Mission and the U.S. Center have been tested by that most demanding group of Christian witnesses, namely, the multiethnic group of students and practitioners who have taken these ideas to bear upon their field contexts, and have critiqued and criticized them in papers and dissertations for more than two decades now ….
All in all, we must be grateful for the criticism leveled against "managerial missiology." We have been forced to rethink our assumptions, values, and commitments – in short, our worldviews ….
I would propose that we convene a consultation to discuss the relationship between missiology and management. It is high time we made a sober analysis of the interplay between the methodologies we have proposed in the light of the biblical principles of stewardship in church and mission. Theologians, missiologists, mission practitioners, mission agencies’ CEOs, and management experts (such as those I quote from in this paper) should be invited to participate in the debate. The ideal place to do that would be the U.S. Center, in my opinion. Since we have been particularly (often indirectly) criticized, we should be at the forefront of the debate ….
1,2 Christianity Today 43(14): 28, December 1999.
This article was excerpted from a longer
article, by the same name, that appears in issue
18:3 (fall 2001) of the International Journal of Frontier Missions (IJFM). To read the full article, or to subscribe to the IJFM, see the IJFM Web site at www.ijfm.org or the IJFM advertisement on the back cover of this issue of Mission Frontiers.

Leadership: Strategic Stumbling about in Search of Surprises

Leadership:
Strategic Stumbling about in Search of Surprises

James E. Plueddemann

Precise long range planning isn’t difficult. It’s impossible!

When you came to grad school, some of you had a long range plan. Some of you graduated to a specific ministry. Others have a general sense of direction and a few ideas about next steps. It’s exciting to receive letters from alumni telling of they you are putting their vision into practice. But alumni often comment about the many surprises in ministry. Life is filled with unexpected frustrations. We never taught you how to work with dictatorial leaders, or with “stuck-in-the-mud” organizations. Many of you are stumbling about.

I’ve talked about a gracious revolution in missions, but we are vague about specific plans and precise objectives. I’m delighted if you are excited about a vision for healthy churches and growing Christians. Our hope is that you will have a passion for people and for the church as well as convictions about how to promote healthy development.
What is the difference between a leader and a manager? Managers seek to set precise goals, design predictable programs, and try to control the process. But the process of ministry are difficult to predict, and almost impossible to control. Managers concerned with efficiency are concerned with detailed and precise long-range planning.
Leaders have a compelling vision, they have goals, but they seldom are sure of precise outcomes. They recognize success when they see it, but aren’t sure what it will look like ahead of time. Leaders and managers frustrate each other.
Many books by management experts proclaim that the first thing a person needs is a measurable goal. They say “If you don’t know where you are going, you may end up some place else.” Some management consultants teach the need for precise long-range goals, divided into short-range goals and then put on a time chart They say you can not plan unless you have precise goals. But leaders disagree. They say if you have precise, predictable goals you are aiming at something of secondary importance. Peter Drucker writes: “the non-profit organization exists to bring about a change in individuals and in society.”
1. The most important goal is to glorify God and help others come to Christ and progress in their pilgrimage toward Christlikeness. Such goals are imprecise and will not be fully accomplished this side of the Jordan River. It is impossible to predict how much progress pilgrims will make in the next few weeks or few years. But when we see growth toward maturity we will recognize it and rejoice. We cannot predict where the path will lead, but we know where it will end.
2. The means for facilitating Christlikeness are also out of our control. We are involved in a spiritual struggle with forces not made of flesh and blood. The best teacher plays only a minor role in the process of Christian maturity. Spiritual growth comes only by the grace of God, not by precise methods. We need to be committed to the methods God uses to bring us to himself.
Tom Peters, famous for the book In Search of Excellence, writes in a recent article:
Plans? Goals? Yes, I admit that I plan and set goals. After I’ve accomplished something, I declare it to have been my goal all along. One must keep up appearances: In our society “having goals” and “making plans” are two of the most important pretenses. Unfortunately, they are dangerous pretenses -- which repeatedly cause us to delay immersion in the real world of happy surprises, unhappy detours, and unexpected byways.
Meanwhile, the laurels keep going to those mildly purposeful stumblers who hang out, try stuff with reckless abandon-- and occasionally bump into something big and bountiful, often barely related to the initial pursuit.”
Carol and I challenged the dominant management model in our book Pilgrims in Progress.
Too often, business-oriented management theory dominates Christian views of leadership. According to management theory, leaders need specific, measurable goals. “If we aim at nothing specific, we’ll hit it every time.” Or, “what gets measured gets done.” But precise goals are alien for pilgrims who are facing unpredictable dangers on the road. There are too many precarious experiences along the path. Pilgrims must have a strong sense of direction and destination, but they are not specifically sure where the path will lead in the near future. Leaders who get bogged down with measurable, short-term objectives often miss unfolding opportunities that arise around them. By definition measurable and predictable goals are not eternal! We are headed to a heavenly city. We are concerned with the inner character development of pilgrims. We are fighting for the souls of people. The most important things in life and in eternity are not measurable: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17).
Yet pilgrim leaders don’t lack vision. Effective leaders must have an obsession for the glory of God and a passionate love for other people. They have a picture of how eternity can be different because of God's influence through them. They have a strategic vision for eternal goals and they know how to respond to the opportunities unfolding around them in light of that vision. Christians may achieve excellence as managers and administrators and yet damage pilgrims. Good management can be a useful tool, but management should never be confused with leadership. Pilgrim leaders are people with a passionate love for God who use their spiritual gifts for developing other pilgrims.
Pilgrim leaders are also concerned to stir up a clearer sense of vision in other pilgrims. They study God’s vision as explained in the Map of the Word. Their focus in not on short-term activity, such as “covering” a certain amount of material, but on the long-term development of people for the glory of God (pp. 71,71).
Pilgrim missionaries who are deeply committed to promoting the development of people for the glory of God are not afraid to stumble about. But the stumbling is not random or irrational -- but purposeful. We need to plan with much common sense and clearly focus on a vision. But for some reason, God intended life to be unpredictable -- at least from our perspective. We long to be in control of results. But while God gives us a significant task, he does not allow us to be in control of our own lives or want us to control the lives of other people. And yet our stumbling is not aimless or purposeless. We stumble about led by the unseen hand of a loving Father who delights in giving us joyful surprises.
“Since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted” 1 Cor 15: 58.