Sills M. David - Changing World, Unchanging Mission

To Emma and Mary Elle,
the newest members of my precious family.

You are both a fresh and constant reminder of the future,
and even though the world is constantly changing,
the Lord helps us meet its challenges by
sending fresh blessings to meet it.

I arrived on the mission field three months after I graduated from seminary. The Lord had saved me in my mid-twenties and called me to missions shortly afterward. My wife and I embraced that call and went to seminary to prepare for the field. We were appointed as missionaries as soon as I graduated, and when we moved to the field we went with two small children and eager hearts, but very little else. We had virtually no awareness of what a missionary actually does in everyday work. Seminary had given me a general overview of the history and theology of missions, along with some basic knowledge of strategies and methodologies, but on arrival in our country of service the advice of older missionaries sometimes drastically conflicted with what I had learned.

What was even more concerning was that developing world events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the proliferation of the Internet and a burgeoning Latin American liberation theology were changing the rules of the game, if not the entire playing field. I realized early on the importance for missionaries to maintain awareness of world developments. I also realized that sweeping world changes could easily carry away those who are enamored with them unless they stay anchored to the Word of God. How could I possibly know how to sort out wise guidance from my missions education, counsel from godly missionaries who had served faithfully in my new country, and still factor in all the changes around me along with those just about to happen? How can you?

While the world changes daily and many global developments are influencing the way the world acts, interacts and reacts, the gospel is the truth once-for-all delivered to the saints. The question at hand is how missionaries can move with the times and embrace the modern realities and innovations while remaining faithful to Gods Word.

This book is not another textbook or exhaustive treatment of the history, theology, philosophies, biblical exegesis or strategies of missions. Many basic evangelical positions and missiological assumptions guide my thinking, and I will point out some of them along the way, but I will refrain from indulging in biblical exegesis, rehearsing historical missiology or engaging in theological debate. I simply want to help missions students, new missionaries, career field missionaries and their mission agencies ask and answer these questions: What can we learn from the ways past changes affected missions? What place should the future have in informing the ways we currently do missions?

Multinational corporations highly value the information yielded from well-researched trends and use it to be proactive in product development, marketing and investment strategies. Missionaries and missions agencies must anticipate and prepare for world change just as diligently. Unfortunately, far too often the missions enterprise is more reactive than proactive.

What place does the future have in informing the ways we do missions? Many cultures around the world are crisis oriented while others are not. Those of a crisis orientation tend to look forward and anticipate the future in front of them. Other cultures consider what is in their past to be in front of them. After all, they would say, the only times of your life you can see are those that are past; the future is unknown and therefore behind you. Noncrisis cultures tend not to plan for future possibilities, such as purchasing life or health insurance policies, taking out warranties on automobiles, contributing to retirement plans, or saving for a rainy day. They do not consider such potential problems and so do not plan for them.

What does this have to do with understanding the challenges and concerns of missions today? Do you consider the weather forecast when making plans for a fishing trip or a picnic, or would you check forecasts of job markets for employment possibilities when choosing a college major? Many people anticipate and begin planning for their childrens college education even when they are still young. Those of us seeking to impact nations for Christ should consider the trends that lead multinational corporations and the worlds governments to adjust, redirect and refocus their efforts to influence nations for the coming decades. Often, hardworking and faithful missionaries are so engaged in their work that they fail to see what is going on in the world or what is coming down the road. It has often been said that the faithful pastor should conduct his ministry with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Imagine the pastors who continue to minister and preach as they did thirty years ago, with no change in the music or leadership of their churches, or any awareness of either world events or local changes. While Gods Word never changes, the world ever changes. To minister effectively, missionaries must engage the world that is, not the world that was. To know how missionaries should adjust for future trends and changes, we must first consider what our unchanging mission is.

The world is shrinking. We come into daily contact with more and more diverse people, and this brings an increasing awareness of the needs of the worldgospel needs as well as social, educational, physical and financial needs. In a world as advanced as ours, the reality is that over twenty thousand children die of starvation and hunger-related diseases every day. The trends are not changing for the better, and thus do not indicate hope for the future. While there are many positive developments in the world today, indications are that the next twenty to fifty years will continue with many of these numbers moving in the wrong direction. These trends have profound missiological implications. How should missionaries respond in light of these realities?

When looking to the future and considering the role of missions, it is helpful to pause and ask what churches, mission agencies and missionaries should be doing everywhere all the time. The answer we get depends on who we ask. For some, the work of proclamation and sharing the gospel is the only legitimate role for missions. Others believe that the priority of proclamation should be coupled with mercy ministries to meet human needs, such as drilling water wells, water purification, feeding the hungry, improving agricultural techniques, rescuing those trapped in flesh trafficking or providing health care. Still others would say that all of these ministries are legitimate Christian mission effortswhether coupled with gospel proclamation or not.

When considering the mission of the church, some are confused by the difference between mission and missions. These words are sometimes used synonymously and there is little uniformity in missions literature, though technically the distinction between them is that mission (singular) refers to all the church is to do in the world, and missions (plural) refers to the diverse methods of churches and missionaries to carry that outevangelism, discipleship and church planting to extend the kingdom. The general mission of the church is to worship God, glorify Christ, make disciples of all nations, baptize believers and teach them to obey all that Christ has commanded. The many different ways that churches engage the world for this ministry and purpose are too numerous to mention, let alone describe in detail, but together they comprise missions. Do not get bogged down in the difference between terms like