What is mission? The Modern Chinese Dictionary shows that mission is about Proclamation and Teaching. At the end of the Book of Mark, Jesus introduces that any action revolving around the " Great Commission" is mission. Some say that mission is a lifestyle that expects acculturalization. Though mission is a lifestyle, living is never equivalent to doing mission. We need to drill deeper to explore our goal and legacy left before we go to heaven.
1. Is Mission a Lifestyle?
William Borden was inspired by the well-known preacher Moody to start his journey of Christian faith. William felt the strong burden for the lost souls before devoting his life to become a missionary. He wrote "No Reserve" to the bible given by his father. Upon his graduation from Yale, he decided to study theology in a bible school. At that time, his father was so against him that he was threatened either to work for Boton or have his basic allowance cut away from the family. Yet, he still wrote "No Retreat" in his bible. The Holy Spirit then touched his heart to venture to the land of China for mission. During his mission in China, the words "No Regret" were written by him in the bible.
Though William has not brought anyone to Christ due to his sudden disease causing his death at a young age, he does lives out a God-centred lifestyle, which becomes the seed of the gospel. Indeed, upon young people's understanding of Williams stories, many of them start to give all their hearts to the Lord for his mission.
Nowadays, many Christians claim to lay their life for God's mission but end up missing out their calling during the course of their busy life. On the other hand, some believers boldly venture into the unreached land for the purpose of the gospel despite all the hardship and poverty. Moreover, a few others seem to be fruitful in their mission but indeed are hiding away their messy spiritual life as they have been short-changed by the world.
2. Can dream be the reality?
The gap between dream and reality can sometimes be very wide. "When I was young, I yearn to change the world. However, I realize that I cannot change the world after I grow up," as inscribed on the monument before the Westminister Cathedral. It inspires us to realize that we cannot be overly idealistic in our planning. Besides, there is no one-side-fit-all solution to any complicated problem. We should always be practical and realistic in planning for our mission.
3. Is experience justified by the duration of service?
Surely, a long duration of mission experience can make one an expert in the mission field. However, the duration alone doesn't justify one's effective experience in mission. For instance, superficial touch of many non-essential mission areas will not make one a mission expert. The depth of knowledge and understanding makes all the difference. Therefore, accumulating mission expertise requires continuous learning and improvement in one's service.
Besides some missionaries refuse to adapt to changes e.g. technological and social changes in their mission strategies. As such, the effectiveness of their mission will be unavoidably compromised.
4. Is the frontline also the backline？
The supportive function at the back is crucial in guiding the frontline fighters in their strategies and moves. Without proper guidance, the frontline will easily suffer. Similar to the mission field, some agencies have not been supporting their missionaries with proper care and guidance, thus leading to disastrous and unpleasant circumstances as missionaries stumble.
5. Is the safe and conventional way the most humane way in management?
Many churches have been stuck in the same old way of church management. As such, some newly joint pastors decide to resign due to the lack of flexibility in the church structure. Hence, church should soon divert their care and attention to those missionaries whom they send out. Guidance by heart is necessary in tapping on the church leaders' potentials.
6. What is contextualization?
Churches in China should strive to contextualize faith for the benefits of Chinese believers. However, we should be careful in this contextualization especially in terms of avoiding favourism in the way we perceive western churches. Moreover, certain effective mission strategies in the west may not be relevant to the Chinese context.
In conclusion, the path of Chinese church's growth is and will be extremely arduous. We need to lay down our pride and humbly learn new knowledge. We cannot afford to do God's work using our own strength. I sincerely look forward to more believers' endowment of wider perspectives and brand new vision to do God's work before He's back.
(This article is written by a preacher in Hetian, Xinjiang Province.)
