“Missions” is Dead
By Rachel
Posted in: Connect
by Stan Parks
The way we have traditionally done “missions” is going to be too little and too late for the vast majority of the lost people in the world. Despite heroic mission efforts, the percentage of Christians in the world declined from 34% in 1900 to 33% in 2000.
Today, 27% of the world’s people have no access to the gospel and an overlapping 40% belong to an ethne (people group) without an indigenous church. We cannot afford to outsource global missions to only mission agencies and missionaries. The whole church must become involved if we are to see the whole world reached.
The unreached areas of the world neither want nor allow missionaries. We must create better opportunities for marketplace professionals (health, education, business, government, etc) in sharing the gospel cross-culturally. Fortunately, there is a sense that we are returning to the days of the New Testament when the gospel spread through “ordinary” people instead of the “ordained”—and God turned the world upside down.
We need to take advantage of the following changes to share the gospel in our new era.
Globalization: We are witnessing the emergence of global economic and cultural ecospheres.. The world is increasingly shaped by the economies of London, New York and Shanghai and the cultures of Hollywood, Hong Kong and Mumbai. Political systems and national boundaries are becoming less significant as multinational entertainment and service corporations, abetted by modern technology, increasingly shape the lifestyles of all humanity. Globalization has enriched a minority of people and nations who are now more open to change than ever. However, many more are threatened with increasing marginalization and are looking for answers. These patterns of economic, cultural and physical migration give Christians more open doors for living and working among populations previously isolated from followers of Christ and the good news of Jesus Christ. We also have ever increasing opportunities to engage many of the unreached as they migrate to our homelands in ways that also impact their own peoples in the homeland.
Business as Mission: There is a growing interest and expression in business as mission. In most of these areas, our efforts have tended toward more covert missions and/or educational or humanitarian efforts, which can often lead to suspicion towards our motives. However, if we are engaged in profit-making business, the level of suspicion is greatly lowered. As a global Christian community, we need to do a much better job of developing, expanding, branching, and franchising businesses that can operate among the unreached. Unemployment among the unreached often ranges from 30-70% with many living on less than $1 per day. “If we want to preach the whole gospel in a way that is “good news” to the world, we must be seen as meeting real needs and influencing the whole of society. Therefore we will increasingly need to emphasize economic and business development intentionally with a Kingdom point of view.” (Mats Tunehag, Stockholm, Sweden, September 2001). Click here for some excellent articles on Business as Mission. You can also click here to see a good blog on Business as Mission.
Urbanization and Diversity: In the recent history of mission, efforts have often focused on rural peoples or isolated people groups. Yet today, we are witnessing the greatest population migration in human history. With only 8% of the world’s population living in cities in 1900, now more than 50% of the world’s population live in urban areas. Globalization and urbanization have forced a sharp decline in cultural homogeneity as ethnicity, values, worldviews and religions both clash and complement. Often those moving to the urban areas are seeking change and a new life and should thus be more open to the gospel. Even those in rural areas are being exposed to more diversity and thus live less insular lives. The uprooting of social order in the urban migration and the urban condition is often a negative dynamic, but in the presence of disciples, these newly open people and unstable communities can be introduced to a new way of life in Christ. (See this article on “Structure and Strategy” for an explanation of how we need to adapt our strategy to the local structures, be they urban or rural)
Crises: Wars and rumors of wars have only accelerated in the present day. Add to this natural and manmade disasters, and we begin to understand why at any one time, over 50 million people have been uprooted and fled their homelands. Many millions more live in desperate poverty and/or grave danger. As tragic as these circumstances are, crises often leads to opportunity. As people seek answers and comfort in the midst of their tragedy, the door is open through love and ministry to introduce them to their Creator who has a plan and a purpose for their lives. One exciting new initiative is the Ethne Frontier Crisis Response Network. Click here to learn about this global network committed to work together in crisis / disaster situations in areas of the world with “little or no access to The Gospel” (UPGs).
Will we do it? I am not arguing that we don’t need the current 434,000 cross-cultural missionaries. I am proclaiming that we need 5 million, 50 million, 500 million highly committed kingdom citizens that are willing to give their all to see the world reached.
Are we willing to let go of comfortable patterns and familiar structures and see God once again turn the world upside down? Or will God have to do it without us?