Life + Faith

Category: On Mission

  • Education, Millennials and Missions

    millennials-graphic-600The post ‘Six Millennial Statistics Every Adult Should Know‘ was published a little over two weeks ago. I was sent a link for it through a colleague who also challenged a group of us to respond to one of the questions being posed and how it related to missions and missions engagement. As a side note, I reckon this article is worth consideration, as opposed to other Gen Y blog posts because it actually asks really good questions at the end of every point. In any case, I responded to the question through the group email in the following way. You’ll notice I’ve also included the paragraph and questions I was responding to.

    Well Educated

    School plays a larger role in this generation of young adults than any in American history. 23% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, making them the most educated generation ever. Obviously, some have stayed in school due to a poor economy. (It just wasn’t a good time to launch a career). Others stayed in school because mom or dad pushed them to get that college degree and a “white collar” job instead of a “blue collar” job, and parents were all too happy to have them live at home during (and after) the process. So they’re well educated but may need to take a job they are over-qualified for at first. It also may mean they take a job where they must “pay their dues” in order to make progress. This is difficult.

    Question: How can we enable young adults to capitalize on their education and leverage it to take them where they’re most gifted to serve?

    My thoughts:

    Most of my “ministry career” has been doing youth and young adult ministry in the rich part of Melbourne. The majority of my kids were going to private schools or top public schools in the state. The importance of education is taught at an early age and takes away time from church. The pressure from the school and parents was enormous, so much so that many of the year 11-12’s were having mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

    The expectation is to continue this education into their university studies and then career. Western culture teaches them to continue studying and gain better and better results in order that they can do the exact same with their kids etc.

    We all really know this don’t we…?

    But, because they’re so educated it means they won’t begin to think about missions in a serious capacity until they’re almost out of their university degree. This has implications for us as the average age of someone jumping into missions and heading off long-term will continue to be pushed out to the 30s and 40s – once their education and career has been established.

    Because they’re so educated it means they will want to use what they’ve learnt in the future. It’s not often to have someone come and say they’d like to just give up what they studied and worked toward for something else. Well, unless they’ve been in the workforce for 10 years and its time for a career change or something. This has implications for us as those who wish to do missions will want to use their skills and education as the backbone to their missionary effort. This might mean people won’t fit into our organisation but on the other hand it will mean we get well-educated professionals when they do fit.

    Because they’re so educated they will be better able to understand the concepts and ideas that missiology and theology present to them. I don’t think any teaching is too deep for any Millennial, as long as its clear and answers the question of why. The implication for us is that there needs to be in-depth and rigorous training and development given throughout their “missionary career”.

    Because they’re so educated they will have a fair bit of financial debt. While Fee-Help and HECS is brilliant and in reality may not need to be paid off because they won’t earn enough it is still a debt they will be carrying. Depending on their personality they may wish to pay it off or live with it hanging over their head – like I do. This has implications for us because they may wish to pay this off as they serve and therefore have it included in their support budget. Also, if they’re required to go to theological college then that debt will be increased at a significant rate because of the private nature of theological schools.

    I think the tough question is how do we show that they will be using their education as part of their missionary efforts on the field?

    To suggest that they won’t be using any of their studies will simply drive people away. We need to take each person as they are and show them how they can be of great help using their skills and what they’ve learnt. Telling stories of workers who’ve gone over and found that their skills and education help them build relationships and teach others is important. And, I think it’s important to show people that their education is more than just a visa platform too.

    How would you respond? 

  • Inconvenient Evangelism

    A great little post from Leon Brown over at Reformation21:

    Sharing the gospel takes time, time we often do not believe we have. Sometimes we are so concerned with ensuring our plans are completed, we do not stop to consider that the Lord may have other ways he would like to utilize us. Sure, we know in theory God “establishes [our] steps,” but when the theory becomes a reality, it rattles our me-centered paradigm. That is one reason why some of us may not share the gospel very much, if at all. It is inconvenient, rattles our self-centered approached to life, and thwarts our plans.

    Read the whole thing here.

  • Better Together For Mission

    The title of this post is the title I have for the sermon I’m preaching this coming Sunday.

    It’s causing me issues.

    I’ve spent most of this morning writing and deleting words from my screen. I haven’t been able to put into words the things I need to say and so currently have very little to say.

    Part of this post is to enable me to write something that may actually trigger what I want to say come Sunday.

    Of course, I’m hoping to say what God wants me to say. As I do every time I preach. But that’s all well and good when the words flow, the passage makes sense, and the topic is an easy one.

    So far these have alluded me.

    When thinking about ‘Better Together For Mission’ there comes to mind the group or communal aspect of mission.

    Mission is not a solitary exercise between one individual to another, although it could be. But even when it seems to be this way there is usually prayers from church members or mission supporters that are being lifted up and heard by God, therefore having an impact upon the situation.

    In a local church context there are programs run by numerous people within the church, another example of community working together for mission.

    Where programs aren’t a big emphasis then the daily mission task of the average Christian is being encouraged weekly through the Sunday gathering with a reminder of what it is to be a believer during the week.

    The point is that mission is not individualistic, it is communal. And so the partnership between individuals, the church, and God is evident in each and every mission activity we do.

    But this still doesn’t resolve my problem.

    If mission is something that is part of the whole of life as a believer then mission is life. It isn’t some part of life, it is the driving force behind a purposeful life.

    The reality is this kind of focus and priority isn’t seen as regularly within the church and the Christian life as we’d like. Unfortunately it’s more like a bit part, something that comes to our minds only when we’ve been reminded that God has a mission for us here in the world.

    On one hand we could say that mission is a communal exercise, even if we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, with a language we hardly understand, and a culture we find confusing. But it must be ingrained in us to think that mission is a natural part of living. A life focused on another mission – to earn heaps of money, to climb the corporate ladder, to write a Pulitzer prize – is one that doesn’t give God the priority. These things may come our way but they aren’t the driving force in life, they are second to the mission of follow Jesus. be more like him, and see others come to know him too.

    As I write these words my mind is cynical about what I’m writing. Is this the reality of the Bible? Is it simply simplistic to write this and how does this play out in life?

    I’m not sure right now and I’m not sure when I’ll be sure. Perhaps this speaks more of me than of what God’s mission is for the world.

    But if there is a focus on anything but Jesus then something is wrong. That I know for sure.

    Perhaps that’s the answer right there.

    We won’t be involved in what God is doing around the world, whether right next door to where we live or 4000km away, unless we have Jesus as the focus, priority, and central aspect to our whole life.

    If Jesus isn’t the centre of our life then his mission for us won’t be the centre of our thought.

    If Jesus isn’t the centre of our church then his mission won’t be the centre of our local ministry,

    If Jesus isn’t the centre then something else will be and we will lose out on being part of God’s mission.

  • Why Joining A Short-Term Mission Team Is For You

    I’m a believer in short-term mission teams and whether you’re 18 or 68 I reckon you should go on one.

    Here are three reasons why:

    why-joining-a-mission-team-is-for-you

    1. Grow As A Disciple

    A short-term team of 6-10 participants living in close proximity to one another for two weeks will do wonders for your growth as a disciple. Many of the fruits of the Spirit will be evident, many rotten fruits of the Spirit will become evident too!

    But seriously, being a team member of an encounter trip will give you inspiration in your own faith as you meet new people, get involved in activities that stretch you, and see God’s creative design. Using your gifts, skills, and abilities in a place, and with people, you wouldn’t normally be in means a short-term team will stretch your capacity as a person and disciple.

    In this environment there is a higher reliance on prayer and a deeper trust in God needed. And once your’ve returned you’ll realise who thankful you are for what you have.

    2. Find Out What’s Involved

    For all the supporter newsletters you read there isn’t anything like seeing what cross-cultural missions is really like. When you visit missionaries in their context you’ll have a more realistic look at the people and work that happens week-to-week. The interest you show will encourage workers in what they’re doing. You’ll have stories to share when you arrive home, and through them encourage the wider church in it’s mission. And you might also find you have new friends from other parts of the world. What an opportunity!

    3. See What God Is Doing In The World

    Seeing God at work in another place, particularly in another culture, puts into perspective our own situations. It places God at the centre, who continues to call a people to Himself in different places and in different ways, with the use of different people. This continuing work of God, as you talk with new believers, hear the stories of workers connecting with local people, and finding opportunities to talk about Jesus yourself, will simply be God-inspiring.

    Visiting another culture will open your eyes to what God is doing in this world. He still works through His Spirit, bringing people to understand the Gospel through people like you. Knowing what He is doing in the world today allows you to look to the future with hope, and raises the question of how you can be involved yourself.

    Like, Comment, and Share all you want. There is nothing like experiencing it for yourself.

  • A Miley Cyrus Missionary

    Miley Cyrus can help us think through what it means to be “on mission”.

    Last year was Miley’s year. She captured the world by storm with her performance with Robin Thicke at the MTV VMAs. FM radio, the Twitterverse, and every news website had something to say about her and her performance.

    A couple of weeks later she released her single, Wrecking Ball, which finds her swinging naked on top of a wrecking ball (as you do). The YouTube video broke all sorts of records and again caused another celebrity stir amongst those who care for such things.

    But believe it or not the performance and single had me thinking about mission and the church.

    patrick-schopflin-38734

    Miley Cyrus is the latest in a long line of so called celebrities who’ve moved from teenage prettiness to young adult ugliness. Miley, of course, was the lovely, sweet, little girl who played Hannah Montana a number of years ago. This earned her celebrity status among the world’s teenage girls, which has now progressed into superstardom, making herself famous for twerking, nakedness, and shock.

    The image of Miley Cyrus has changed dramatically.

    So, how is this related to mission and the church?

    The thinking and actions Miley has taken in the last 12-18 months can be the same thinking that seeps into the church and its missions endeavours.

    For some reason we fall into the celebrity trap where we believe that to stay relevant, to be on the cutting edge, to be noticed, and to have influence over others means our methods of mission need to become outrageous, attention grabbing, and over the top.

    In my experience, and in my conversations with those involved in missions in any form – local and global, as well as reflecting on Scripture, I’ve come out a firm believer in simple relationship building as being the means to making disciples.

    This type of mission is invested in the long-term where relationships can take years to build and disciples of Jesus are a brick by brick labour.

    I’m not for one moment saying that we shouldn’t have cutting edge and relevant methods but I’m wanting to suggest it requires more time, energy, and intentionality than just putting on a show.

    There are plenty of ways this can be done, plenty of methods I suppose, but the impression I have when reading about Jesus and his ministry is that it’s pretty simple. Make disciples by modelling our lives on Jesus and speaking about him to the people we come across.

    One could argue that Jesus used all sorts of outrageous ways to have people follow him, such as healings and miracles, but I think that would be a mis-reading of scripture. Jesus’ disciples were with him for three years, each day they saw how he operated and soaked in what he taught. What I see when I see Jesus is simplicity. Simply building into the disciples and teaching them everything he needed to.

    Jesus was both relevant and counter-cultural. He showed us how to be a disciple without giving into culture too much nor losing that relevant edge.