As I have thought about various strategies for kingdom-planting in an overseas context, I have asked various leading Christian thinkers about how to incorporate justice and evangelism into an effective kingdom ministry. I have gotten two very different answers. I remember eating lunch with Doug McConnell, Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller, during my last quarter at Fuller, and he told me that when I was doing justice ministry, I would be immersed in the community. These relationships that I would build would be a perfect place to begin planting a church, and it would almost happen naturally. I have asked others, though, who have more of a church-planting focus, and they have told me that when you are overseas sharing Christ with people, you can't help but see the needs of the people and want to meet them. So the question still remains, "What is your focus?" Do you focus on justice and let evangelism happen simply because you have built relationships with people in the community? Or do you pursue evangelism and assume that your heart will be moved to bring justice to the people? I haven't really decided yet what I'm going to do. All I know is that from my experience, it is challenging to maintain a balanced focus on both of these important areas of ministry. And from the answers I've gotten from missionaries and Christian thinkers, it seems that most of them have a hard time balancing these two issues as well.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
What's your focus?
As I have thought about various strategies for kingdom-planting in an overseas context, I have asked various leading Christian thinkers about how to incorporate justice and evangelism into an effective kingdom ministry. I have gotten two very different answers. I remember eating lunch with Doug McConnell, Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller, during my last quarter at Fuller, and he told me that when I was doing justice ministry, I would be immersed in the community. These relationships that I would build would be a perfect place to begin planting a church, and it would almost happen naturally. I have asked others, though, who have more of a church-planting focus, and they have told me that when you are overseas sharing Christ with people, you can't help but see the needs of the people and want to meet them. So the question still remains, "What is your focus?" Do you focus on justice and let evangelism happen simply because you have built relationships with people in the community? Or do you pursue evangelism and assume that your heart will be moved to bring justice to the people? I haven't really decided yet what I'm going to do. All I know is that from my experience, it is challenging to maintain a balanced focus on both of these important areas of ministry. And from the answers I've gotten from missionaries and Christian thinkers, it seems that most of them have a hard time balancing these two issues as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Jonny Bennett!
Hey bro. I've enjoyed reading your posts, and I think this is the first comment I've left after being a lurker for a few weeks. So, hello, and thanks for sharing your heart.
I'm living in Santiago, Chile, now, and I think one thing that God has laid on my heart regarding ministry here is to empower local believers as agents of change. I can't really imagine doing much myself, because as a gringo/extrajero/foreigner, I would constantly have to fight the stereotype that I am somehow making a "project" out of people. This battle is not local to foreigners; the same is to be said for ministry in the USA (but is amplified in Latin America by the culture). Thus, I am using my platform here in the country (as a scientist in the Univ of Chile) to love people, build relationships, and ask thoughtful questions of my students and colleagues. Furthermore, I'm living simply and in the community of my brothers, learning their language & attending their churches and bible studies.
Thanks again for the blog, & feel free to comment back on mine (http://bradbarrett.blogspot.com). Merry Christmas!!
Post a Comment