“I’m a missionary,” said the
pastor I’d just met.
“Which country?” I asked
“Russia!”
“How long have you been a
missionary to Russia?”
“About seven years.”
“Where do you live in
Russia?”
“I don’t live in Russia! I
live in Colorado,” said the man impatiently as if I was supposed to know better
than to ask such a stupid question, and then continued,
“Twice a year I travel to
Russia and teach for a week.”
“Do you speak any Russians?”
Another stupid question.
“Not really! I know a few
basic words, but when it comes to teaching, I don’t need to know Russian. I
have a good translator.”
This was not my first
encounter with people like the above pastor. A few years ago, when I was the
Middle East regional coordinator for a missions organization, I’d met several
of those missionary-wannabes.
Invariably, some of these
guys had ended up on a teaching trip to a third world country (I know the PC
term is: “two third world country”!) and were blown away by how well his/her
teaching was received; hundreds had come to hear the message and as a result
many were saved, scores of people were healed and delivered.
The difference between the
way these natives had reacted to the pastor’s message and his/her church’s
reaction was like the difference between the Sun and the Moon—one seemingly
responsive and burning with fire and the other unresponsive and cold. As the
result, the pastor was convinced that God had called him/her to the mission
field.
A majority of us, Iranians,
admire Americans for their gullibility. No! Not in an offensive way, but rather
marvel at how trusting they are, which often leads them to accept things at face
value. In third world nations, churches are always packed when a Westerner shows
up to teach. Often, through misunderstanding, or not wanting to disrespect the
guest teacher, many people raise their hands or come forward (for the hundredth
time) to receive Christ or declare their healings due to the Westerner’s teaching
or prayer.
And, to be even more
cynical, so often, the above Westerner, justifiably so, is perceived as a cash
cow. The local pastor makes sure his church is packed to please the Western pastor
in the hope of receiving a well-needed financial support from his/her church.
Shoot, I knew one third world pastor who had revolving church signs. Depending
on what denomination was visiting his church, the appropriate sign was put up
to please the guest speaker.
After having such a great
experience, taking everything at face value, the above American pastor who
hasn’t spent any length of time in the mission field, or studying missions, is
now convinced that God’s called him to be a missionary, which in itself could
be a tremendous calling if it was properly acted upon.
A true mission work is
incarnational. A genuine missionary is one, who like Jesus, “dwells among” the
people he/she desires to reach for the Kingdom. By immersing one’s self in the
culture and the language of the respective people, the missionary must learn
how to convey the Gospel in a contextual way that his/her audience can
understand.
How greatly arrogant for the
above pastor and pastors like him to call themselves missionaries! How utterly
insulting to the great men and women of God such as William Carey, who lost
both his wives in India; Samuel Zwemer who watched his two daughters succumb to
death in Bahrain; or CT Stud who lost two of his children in China. These brave
missionaries often carried their own coffins to the foreign lands they were called
to knowing well that they would die there. For months, they traveled thousands
of miles by ship, trains, carriages, camels and foot to reach their
destinations and fulfill the Great Commission. They literally tented among the
people the Father had called them to, so by becoming like them, they could
reach them.
Please don’t misunderstand
me. I have many friends who travel to foreign lands to bless the believers.
Whether it is Nate with his outstanding gifts of encouragement and teaching or
Pastor Chris, a great entrepreneur and a businessman, they all travel around
the world to bless the church with the gifts God has bestowed upon them; however,
these friends don’t call themselves missionaries because they know that it takes
more than a two week overseas trip to become a missionary.
After listening to the above
wannabe missionary, I told him,
“So, let me understand this.
You don’t live in Russia and don’t speak any Russian. You don’t even have the
most basic understanding of intercultural ministry--that language is culture
and culture is language. But, you’re a missionary to Russia because, thanks to
today’s technology, twice a year, you can fly there in 12 hours to teach for a
week. Bro, by that definition, I’m a French chef because twice a year, on the
Fourth of July and Labor Day, I throw a couple of hotdogs on the barbeque and
use Dijon mustard on my buns.”
