Missional Living

I was meant to put this up about two weeks ago, but things got a bit busy for me. So, I do apologise for the delay. This is more a Christian post - so feel free to skip or skim if this does not interest you. 

The followings are re-organised notes of what I spoke on evangelism in my life group a couple of weeks ago. Before we continue, I would like to elaborate why I put 'Missional Living' instead of 'Evangelism' in this post. Well, the reason is simple - evangelism carries the connotation that we are out there to convert people, which is not what I wish to talk about because that is not our job (and honestly, I have a rather strong passionate dislike towards the word 'convert'). On the other hand, missional living is life with the sense of mission/greater purpose. It may sound rather vague at this stage, but hopefully I could further explain what I mean through the rest of this post :-)

Let us begin with the famous Great Commission, Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The basic: doing mission is for all of us, whether we contest or not, and it has been from the very beginning. Let's go from the time of Genesis. Take the Tower of Babel for example (Gen. 11). Most of us are familiar with this story and how God gave people different languages so that people couldn't build a fortress that could reach to the heavens (if you like to know more about the story, I would suggest that you give Gen. 11 a read, and if you have questions, you could always comment below and I will get back to you). There is, however, something more to it. God has intended for people to go out and spread over the Earth, yet instead of doing that, people stayed put in the most comfortable place for them, together trying to accomplish this one goal they have. To separate them, God gave them different languages, which ultimately tear them apart as they have no means to communicate with one another. In the end, they have no choice but go their own ways, spreading out over the Earth.

Now, we have laid down the foundation that God desires for us to reach others. Then, the questions of how come. How do we talk to others about Christ if they refuse to listen? How do we get people to hear us out? The answer is quite simple really - don't speak, just show love. And that is essentially what I am talking about in regards to 'missional living'. The idea is to embody the message and carry it with you in the way you live. There's no need to purposely do something, since it is a part of you. 

However, if someone is open to discuss with us about Christianity, then I suggest that there are some things we ought to make ourselves aware of, especially when Christianity is a religion with a long (really long) history. Not only that, not everyone had a good experience with it. And as much as we don't wish it to be, some people's perception of God have been 'destroyed' by encounters with other Christians. Here are some pointers:

1. Know the history. (Yes, there is the Bible, but there is also the time between when the last chapter of Revelation is written and our present time.)

Some of you may be aware of the cringe-worthy history of Christianity. In the Western world, we have things like the Crusades, where people were slaughtered due to religious reasons, different Christian sects murdering one another for the slight difference in doctrine, KKK in the Southern states of the US, and the list goes on. 

For us, we know God is love. But for others, they cannot see it with this kind of history. 

2. Don't carry the attitude that we know 'better' - people really don't like that. We are all trying to figure this life out, and there is no harm in sharing what we have found out, as long as we also listen and try to understand what the others have found out. (Yes, our point of views may be different, but that's okay - it will get us all thinking.)

Essentially, the idea is 'why should people be interested when we have not taken the time or interest to get to know them?'

That is beyond true. Having led and ran an outreach group before, I can tell you that no matter how much you 'preach' to a group of non-believers, they are not going to miraculously believe you. It doesn't matter how articulate or eloquent or persuasive you can be, people are not going to change. That's a fact. My point is - get to know people, really get to know them. Why would you want them to know a part of you when you care nothing about them? Yes, people may question you, and sometimes these questions can really irritate or shake you. But that's okay! It's normal. We need to be challenged, that's the only way we can grow and expand our faith from a mere abstract understanding into something more tangible. So, there's no need to get offended. We've opened the floor for conversation, so let's stand on it. In addition, when we really get to know people, we get really messed up, undone. It is when we put ourselves in their shoes, we start to see why they can't see or not want to see God in their lives. We can start to empathise their pain, sufferings, past hurts. A layer of relationship and friendship is added. This is good! You want to know why? Because we'll start treating people like human beings and not projects! (And no one wants to be treated like a lifeless object! Well, at least, not I!)

To end this point, I will leave you with this verse:

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

                                                                                                    1 John 4:8 (NIV)

If you look at Jesus’ life, he only preached to his disciples and to those who came to seek his wisdom or judged his actions, but to everybody else, he simply showed his love.

3. Be careful with whom you're dealing with.

I say this in the nicest way. No race is above others. Unfortunately, when one race is preaching to another, the sense of race supremacy is definitely entangled, whether you like it or not. I have heard people that refused to know God, because it is a white people’s religion. And in places where racism runs wild, that is the most reasonable and right thing to do, so no oppression or enslavement can exist. It is true that we ought not to bow down to anyone but God, yet sadly, many times, the Bible is misused. Though we all know that the gospel is supposed to set us free, it hasn’t done such job in many places. And the histories of the world have brought evidence of such tragic product.

The Bible that was used to enslave people was the same Bible used to liberate the slaves. As much as we don’t want it to be, our understanding of God and life is skewed by our surroundings. Therefore, before we can get frustrated about how people aren't trying to know God, it is better to check ourselves first. And that brings us back: get to know people, their background, their culture. Don’t assume your culture is better, because it is not. And there is no such thing as 'God-culture' other than in heaven, we can try our best to attain it, but being in this broken world, our thoughts are only destined to be broken and incomplete.

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
                                                                                             1 Corinthians 9:20 (NIV)

4. Get to the core. 

If you are a believer, then I would assume that we agree on the idea that we all came from the same place - from God. We are all one, we are all people. When we recognise that, our perceptions can really change. 

To conclude, I will leave with this: Live with love, live to bless others around you.

There is no need to go out and 'convert' people, that is not our job. It is the job of God, of the Holy Spirit to bring a person to see His beauty. We are meant to live embodying love, incarnating what Christ is like, and bring the message through our actions, attitude to people. And when we see people as people, as friends, as one of us, our ways of approaching them change and a layer of elements is added to it. Yes, it makes things more complicated (and more difficult), but at the same time, we get to experience a snippet of what God must have experienced when He became one of us. He ate with ‘sinners’, he made himself available to those who needed him, he let a prostitute clean his feet; he was on their level. That is what it is all about; becoming undone, become no longer this ‘self’ but someone with a greater purpose in life. And you don’t have to travel to another country do it either; this can happen right out your front door.

If you have comments, please leave them below. But please be mindful of others and please do not post any hateful speech targeting at any group in particular, because I am extremely intolerant towards that sort of behaviour, whether Christian or not, (and hence your comment will be deleted). Thanks for reading!