EQUIPPING FOR LONG TERM EFFECTIVENESS:
Seven Keys to Prepare for Missions and Ministry
Samuel Ling
You come home from a summer missions trip -- in an Indian reservation, in the Caribbean, in China. You share your experience with your church, how the Lord watched over you. You thank your prayer partners and supporters. You have learned so much! You watched God answer prayers! ... Soon, you settle down to your routine at school or work. Fall turns into winter. What’s next?
It’s January, the month after a mountain peak experience at a missions convention. Hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- made commitments to seek the Lord’ will in missions. In the quietness of your heart, in the middle of the crowd, you made a commitment, too. Now you’re home, working through the next steps. And reality sets in. What preparation is needed for the mission field?
Of the thousands who make commitments to missions, only a few ends up as career missionaries. And among these few precious workers -- a true treasure for the Body of Christ -- too many are dropping out of missionary service, for one reason or another. The National Association of Evangelicals completed a study of missionary attrition in 1996, and found that both western and Third World missionaries are dropping out. The same is true of Asian American pastors -- too many are dropping out. Attrition -- dropping out -- is the untold story of thousands of missionaries, and pastors today.
Beyond the excitement of a mission conference, beyond the wonderful learning experience of a short term missions trip, how can we equip ourselves for long term effectiveness? When the Lord calls us to follow Him, didn’t He mean it? Am I not called to follow ... all my life? What does it take to stick it out?
l CHARACTER
We live in a fast-paced culture today, where skills -- particularly showy skills -- are valued, and character largely ignored. Just think: What do your non-Christian colleagues value most? How does one gauge sucecss?
A short term missions trip may begin to reveal some of the character traits you need to develop. Perhaps it is in patience. Perhaps it is in endurance. Perhaps it is in accepting people with different personalities, styles, backgrounds. Perhaps it is in integrity -- being willing to admit you are wrong.
There is no better place to develop character than in the local church and fellowship. Where we live, day in and day out. Where we serve and worship, week after week.
The Lord will put ests” of integrity and character in our lives. Very often a short term missions trip includes a major event, which constitutes such a test. Will we detect these tests? Will we respond obediently, allowing the Holy Spirit to mold us, melt us down, and re-make us?
When the Spirit speaks and convicts us of sinful acts and habits, will we respond, repent, ask for cleansing? Will we tell God -- and others -- was wrong”?
There is great joy, freedom and release when we confess our sins, and start anew. The world is dying to see some free, liberated, cleansed soul burn with excitement and joy, and walk with order and discipline. There is also a deeper joy knowing that, as we positively respond to God molding in our lives, we grow -- and grow to become more effective.
l VISION
We hear about vision a lot. I mean a lot -- in church and mission circles, in secular management books, everywhere. We are told we must dream great dreams -- for God, for the unreached, for the 10/40 window, for impact.
Often, vision is confused with ambition.
Yes, we need to keep that inner fire burning, to keep alive that burden that the Spirit has given us. But Christians with a heart for ministry often set unrealistic goals. Perhaps we meet insurmountable barriers in the local fellowship as we serve. And we want things to change. But the Lord’s timing hasn’t come. So, we get frustrated. Where is our vision at that moment?
So often, the Lord’s vision for us is: touch one life. Love him/her, meet his/her needs, and develop his/her walk with God. One life. If we pray that the Lord will lead us to one life, He may just hear our prayer! Will our vision be adjusted, so that we can be servants?
You may be a brand new Christian, you may be a seasoned missionary, and you may be approaching retirement. But we all are called to touch lives -- one at a time.
Will our false visions and dreams get in the way?
l DISCERNMENT
We live in a world of media and cyberspace. In the breakneck pace of learning and living, how often do we slow down to listen, meditate, ponder, and think? Could our value systems be warped, secularized, infected by the world’s values?
Take time to discern: What is happening in my life? From time to time I would sit down, and ask: What has been happening? I would list all the events in recent weeks on a piece of paper. Then I ask: What is the Lord saying through all this? Can I detect a pattern? Is the Spirit hinting at something? Is He whispering something, to get my attention? Or could He be even shouting, through painful experiences?
As we read -- whether it is the newspaper or the Bible -- we need to read some things slowly. And think about what we read. We need to engage our minds -- and seek to honor God with pure, noble, high thoughts.
An effective missionary is wise and discerning, because people and needs of all sorts will come his/her way. Do we slow down enough to think, and meditate, so that we can feed them with spiritual food?
Slow down; hear what the Spirit is saying.
l THE WORD OF GOD
Many Christians sigh and say, but I’ve never been to seminary!” As if a two-year or a three-year degree will suddenly make us experts in the Bible.
There are many advantages of taking a full-time degree program in Bible and theology (the standard three-year program is called Master of Divinity; a standard two-year program may be called M.A.R., or Master of Christian Studies, or another name.) There are also many traps in seminary life -- we become too academic, too removed from human needs, too insensitive to what the Spirit is saying to our hearts. Just keeping up with the reading requirements may take all our energy and time!
One of the best ways to grow in our knowledge of Scripture, is to lead a small group Bible study. Dig into the Bible. Dig deep to find out what the Spirit is saying through His inspired inerrant Word. As you develop a treasure house of knowledge, you can thank God and continue to share with others.
May I share with you my Bible study method? I call it the fish bone” method. I have a habit of copying the Bible passage I am going to preach from; underline key words, using circles and lines to connect key verbs (and sometimes nouns, too). If I have time, I’ll do it again, using a fresh sheet of paper. It’s like taking out the bone of the fish -- the framework, the skeleton of the passage all of a sudden comes alive! I then go on to find the applications -- the lessons -- based on these main points on the skeleton,” the fish bone.”
I find that some tools are particularly helpful: study Bibles (such as the New Geneva Study Bible, Life Application Bible, Quest Bible, English or Chinese NIV Study Bible), Bible dictionaries (New Bible Dictionary, now also in Chinese), and commentaries written by seasoned preachers (whom we can often hear on Christian radio).
A very effective way to grow in Scripture, in this day and age where seminaries don’t always build biblical convictions, is to follow a competent, systematic Bible preacher on the radio, or purchase his tapes. Search for systematic teaching until you find it.
What about evening classes or summers school in a seminary? Take a course in a book of the Bible, or how to study the Bible. Seminaries are well aware of the adult in the working world, who cannot afford to take two to three years out to study. They are offering extension courses (through correspondence) and opening up branch campuses closer to you. Some degrees can be completed by using vacation time, e.g. several summers.
What do you believe, as an evangelical Christian? Can you identify those doctrines in God’s Word, which you will live and die for? Can you write it down, can you share these with someone in five minutes? A missionary is ineffective unless he/she has something to preach, something to say, something from God Word which is so internalized, loved and treasured, that it is like fire in our bones (Jeremiah 20:9). We cannot help but preach the gospel! The ministry -- as pastor, as missionary -- is the ministry of God Word.
Never stop growing in wisdom gleaned from Scripture. Never.
l RELATIONSHIPS
Many missionaries do not last for the long haul, because relationships turn sour on the field. It can be a marriage, or relationships with coworkers. Pastors and church leaders face the same challenge.
A prayer partner helps to keep us honest in our relationships. Ask God for one! And be honest with your partner as you ask the Spirit to mold you in your relationships. As we grow, God will give us a larger sphere of influence, a greater role in leadership. With leadership roles come power. Power can corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Ask God to keep you pure and simple.
Blessed are the pure in heart. They will last -- and last long enough to see God.
Another helpful way to develop cross-cultural relationships, is to seek out someone who is from a different cultural background. And begin to meet his/her needs.
My experience with ministry among mainland Chinese intellectuals in the past eight years has been a great learning experience. Also, our church planting years in New York gave my family many opportunities to know and love non-Chinese people. These opened my eyes to people who are very, very different from me. So many people are hurting and searching for God. And God calls me to love them.
Too many Christians carry the burden of un-resolved relationships from their past. As a result, we cannot minister to people around us -- including people who are culturally different from us.
We need to be liberated in our hearts, be reconciled with others, so we can serve God with freedom and joy. And the world is dying and waiting to meet some free and joyful hearts.
l SUFFERING
More often than not, Christians I meet are in the middle of a very difficult period in their lives. We ask, why, Lord?”
The Lord may have put that experience in our lives, to strengthen us for future ministry. He often does. All of us learn lessons from the church in China.
We live in a relatively comfortable society, where we are not called upon to physically suffer for the Lord. (Persecution and harassment of Christians, however, are increasing in the United States.) Short term mission trips sometimes include inconveniences and annoying experiences, which give us some hints at what suffering is.
The Bible tells us that suffering builds endurance. And endurance is something sorely lacking in our present generation, as the 21st century dawns. If God gives us painful experiences, let us accept them and ask: What is God saying?
God whispers in our ears, ordinarily; suffering is God’s shout in our lives. Dare we ignore Him?
l THE LOCAL CHURCH
The Spirit seldom calls people to be fire fighters,”putting out emergency brush fires here and there. He does do that sometimes, but that is not the norm. More often than not, the Spirit calls God’s children to faithful, obedient, disciplined service, in the local fellowship or congregation. That is where we test our gifts.
Christians often miss this opportunity to rub shoulders and to seek feedback. We get discouraged, and dream of greener spiritual pastures.
Maybe the Lord has placed someone for you to reach, touch, serve, love, right in your own church. Maybe that ministry opportunity will lead to another, and another, and another ... until you find the Lord arcing,” constraining you to the next step of ministry.
The church is facing tremendous pressure and challenge from our world today. The church needs to feed people with God’s Word, heal hearts with God’s love, and strengthen lives with courage and discipline. Will you be part of the training team”?
l A FINAL WORD
Are you tired? Are you excited? Are you putting out fires? Are you aiming for long term effectiveness?
We have one life to live. And the Lord wants to equip us -- and use us at the same time -- for long term effectiveness.
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
C. John Miller. Repentance and Twentieth Century Man. Christian Literature Crusade.
Robert J. Clinton. The Making of a Leader. Navpress.
Gordon MacDonald. Ordering Your Private World. Nelson.
J. Nyquist. Leading Bible Discussions. Inter Varsity.
Edmund P. Clowney. The Church. Inter Varsity.
Naperville, Illinois
December 15, 1996