“But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (Genesis 39:21).

When Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave, they had no idea that they were the first group of God’s people to intentionally send a fellow member of His family across a massive geographical boundary and into a radically cross-cultural living situation.

But viewed through a sovereignty of God’s lens and using the bigger story of the whole Bible to frame the specific events that took place in his life, it’s easy to see that his mean-spirited and poor-representatives-of-the-true-and-living-God-brothers were simply the vehicle that God used to send Joseph on a mission for His glory and the good of his own people AND the Egyptians.

JOSEPH WAS A CROSS-CULTURAL MISSIONARY

Put as simply as possible, God used these self-centered and self-serving people to send a missionary.

Although Joseph’s life can and should be viewed as a model for cross-cultural effectiveness, in this post I’d like to focus on one specific moment in the roller coaster life he lived in Egypt.

The backstory leading up to this verse is this–Joseph had been falsely accused of attempted rape by the wife of his boss and sentenced to prison.

It’s important to note that God permitted this false accusation to be made, and He also permitted Joseph to experience the consequences of that misinformation being taken seriously.

HIS PRESENCE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

But as is always the case with those who are truly His people, especially when they are enveloped by life-altering difficulties, God was with Joseph even in the midst of the prison.

We have no record of God specifically promising to be present with Joseph, but as the first part of this verse makes clear, He was present with Joseph with him during his undeserved confinement.

Clearly, Joseph knew His God and although the Bible doesn’t say so specifically, that is evidence of a very real and intimate prayer life. He was an incredible man of faith whose relationship with God was so vibrant and so obvious that unbelievers he came in contact with recognized that it was His God’s hand on his life that made him so different from everyone else.

An extraordinary prayer life is the only path to the kind and depth of relationship with God that Joseph had.

Having said all that, I don’t believe I’d be wrong to assume that when he was accused and then imprisoned, Joseph probably amped up his already healthy prayer life and pressed deeper in to His relationship with God.

Now when I think about all that had happened to Joseph previously and then try to envision those things happening to me, I guarantee you that I’d be begging God for mercy.

IF I’M WRONGLY IMPRISONED, BEING DELIVERED IS HOW I’D DEFINE MERCY

And I’d be defining and describing the mercy I’d like God to bestow on me using only seven words: “Lord, please get me out of here!”

Whether that’s what he prayed or not, this verse tells us that God did show Joseph mercy.

But God describes and defines what mercy looks like for Joseph at that time–He gave Joseph favor in the eyes of the keeper of the prison.

If I was Joseph and I had prayed for God to be merciful to me in the midst of these events that I didn’t contribute to, it would be very difficult for me to believe or understand that God’s definition of mercy was favor with the prison warden for another two years, rather than releasing me as soon as possible.

Yet that’s exactly what the Bible says.

WILL WE PERMIT GOD TO DETERMINE WHAT MERCY LOOKS LIKE?

You see, whether we like it and agree with it or not, it’s God Himself that defines and determines what mercy is, and how He will bestow it.

And as this episode and the rest of Joseph’s life makes clear, the unrecognized mercy He grants to His servants will always be what’s best for us, for others and for His glory.

The fundamental lesson, as I see it, is that there will be times when the way we want Him to answer our cry for mercy will be in conflict with the way He actually does.

When that happens, we need to ask Him to give us the lenses we need to detect His mercy in ways that are very different from what we were expecting.

When Jesus told Mary that He wasn’t inclined to intervene to rescue the honor and reputation of a family that was about to suffer the consequences of their own pride, her culturally produced response moved Him to change His mind.

The cultural dynamics that were at play in this incident were very similar to those that our new neighbors from around the world live by. When this well-known event is viewed through the proper cultural lens, it’s apparent that it wasn’t primarily water turned to wine that unveiled His glory.

In this fourth and final part of a series, I conclude by examining the final two—and most important cultural beliefs and actions that were at work, and how the entire incident was actually a summary of the Gospel for people from honor and shame cultures.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE #8

As important as an elderly person’s honor and FACE is in the eyes of those who are younger than they are, it’s even more important that every person honor and respect the FACE of their parents while they’re still living.

In fact, respecting and if necessary, saving the honor and FACE of our parents is one of the “weight-bearing pillars” of God’s creation.

Honoring our parents—which includes saving their FACE when they are in danger of losing it— is the fifth of the ten commandments, and it’s the only one that includes a promise of blessing for those who obey it.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE #9

It may be helpful to view a person’s FACE like a commodity that is in their own hands, and that they exert a high level of control over. Because this is true, under certain circumstances, a person can intentionally choose to place their FACE into the hands of someone else, trusting that the other person will act in a way that preserves or possibly even increases this valuable treasure.

Taking the step to intentionally place your FACE into the hands of someone else is the cultural equivalent of the “nuclear option.” It exerts the most pressure or leverage possible to move a person to act on your behalf.

With your FACE now in their hands, if that person doesn’t make every effort to help you and thus save your FACE, they risk losing FACE themselves!

So, Mary wasn’t just telling the servants what to do, she was actually playing her FACE card on Jesus—applying the maximum amount of Jewish, honor/shame cultural force possible.

BY SAVING MARY’S FACE, JESUS ALSO FULFILLED THE LAW

Whether she realized it or not—and I think she did—she was also bringing a force greater than a Jewish cultural norm to bear on her Son.

As powerful as the culturally acceptable placement of her FACE into His hands was, it was His responsibility to fulfil the fifth commandment that ultimately moved Jesus to do something that would honor His mother by saving her FACE.

CHANGING WATER TO WINE WASN’T WHAT REVEALED HIS GLORY

Apparently, when the master of the feast, (similar to the wedding coordinator or food and beverage manager for the reception), tasted the wine, he didn’t know that the wine had been completely depleted, and that what he was now tasting was plain, old water just a few minutes before.

He expressed surprise at the quality of wine the family was still serving at that point in the wedding feast, which would have increased that family’s honor in his eyes and others that he interacted with.

By turning the water into high quality wine, the family’s deserved shame and loss of FACE was covered, and even more importantly, He also honored His own mother by saving her FACE and fulfilling the law—which was basically honoring His own words.

John summarized all that took place by stating that this was the first sign that Jesus did and that it revealed His glory to His disciples.

Based on the cultural dimensions that I’ve tried to describe as succinctly as possible, I don’t believe it was His ability to turn water into wine that His disciples perceived as a revelation of His glory.

It was what that supernatural display of power accomplished for people that were unaware of an impending disaster that their own pride actually created.

HE COVERED THEIR DESERVED SHAME AND BESTOWED UNDESERVED HONOR

Not only was the family’s deserved shame covered, their honor in the eyes of those that mattered to them was actually increased, not just maintained by what Jesus did.

For those living in honor/shame cultures, this was the perfect sign to begin with in order to help people understand the good news that Jesus came to cover both their guilt AND shame before God and to graciously bestow God’s righteousness and honor upon them.

His disciples needed proof that He was uniquely glorious and their witnessing of this sign and what it actually accomplished must have been burned into their hearts and minds.

In summary, this is what they saw:

. A self-generated disaster that was produced by pride.

. A deserved loss of honor and the condition of shame that they would now live in, along with a potential lawsuit that could devastate them financially and increase the shameful condition they had already brought upon themselves.

. Jesus personally stepped into the environment/context/scene they created that was on the verge of going horribly wrong and diminishing or destroying them emotionally and materially.

. He exercised His power to do for them what they couldn’t do for themselves.

. The one with all honor and power exerted His power to cover their shame and graciously bestowed a greater level of honor than they could ever achieve by their own efforts in the eyes of those that mattered to them.

Although they wouldn’t have understood it fully at that time, His turning water to wine and what it accomplished revealed crucial components of the Gospel for people from honor and shame based cultures.

Enjoy the complete series.

When there was no more wine to supply to the guests at a wedding they were attending, Mary approached Jesus and subtly told Him to do something to help a family she cared about.

The cultural operating system that was at the base of their interaction is very similar to those that our new neighbors from around the world navigate by, which is why I believe John 2:1-11 provides some amazing on-ramps for sharing the Gospel with them.

In this third part of a series, I continue with viewing this incident through nine non-Western cultural glimpses (Enjoy Part 1 & 2 of this series).

“And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’…His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you'” (John 2:4,5).

A RESPECTFUL, BUT CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD, “NO!”

Knowing that Mary was actually prodding Him with a motherly request, Jesus makes two points in His response to the meaning of the words she had just spoken to Him.

First—using a title of respect for an older woman, (think of the word “ma’am” in our language), Jesus tells Mary that the situation isn’t something that He feels compelled to be concerned with.

He wants her to know that He’s there only as an invited guest and feels no compulsion to do something to alleviate the consequences that will be produced by the family’s inability to plan correctly.

Second—Jesus tells her that He is living in accordance with a predetermined time schedule in which key aspects of His character are already planned to be unveiled, and for these reasons, He is not inclined to do what she wanted Him to do.

In other words, to put as simply as possible, He is telling Mary that He feels no compulsion to do what she wants Him to do.

MARY PLAYS HER “FACE” CARD TO HER SON

But hearing her Son’s two reasons for not feeling inclined to act, didn’t stop Mary from trying one more time to get Him to do what she desired.

When Jesus respectfully declined her request for His help in doing something she clearly couldn’t do by herself, Mary turned to the servants and instructed them to do whatever Jesus told them to do.

This is the most important moment—the pivot point—in the story.

By saying what she did to those servants, she introduced her own FACE card into the situation.

Without understanding seven more basic facts about honor/shame cultures, along with the way people in these types of culture would understand obedience to one of the 10 commandments, those from Western cultures will never fully grasp why Mary’s instructions to the servants moved Jesus to do what He just said He wouldn’t do.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 3

In honor/shame cultures, the concept of FACE is crucial. A person’s FACE is the personal dignity, respect and fundamental honor they possess in the eyes of other people, especially those that are part of the group that person’s identity is derived from and anchored in.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 4

In honor/shame cultures, dependence and interdependence are virtues, not weaknesses. Needing others and being needed by others at many levels, including the maintaining of FACE, increases the depth of relationship and cohesion between the members of the family or group.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 5

Thus, in honor/shame cultures, every person has the implicit and unspoken—but clearly understood by all—responsibility of doing whatever possible to try to save the FACE of someone else that is in danger of losing it, whether they know the person or not.

This responsibility is significantly amplified if the person who may lose FACE is part of the group their own identity is drawn from or a part of their larger, relational community.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 6

In honor/shame cultures, if you have the opportunity to save someone else’s FACE and you choose not to do so, it isn’t just that person who will lose FACE, the one who neglected to help will too!

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 7

In honor/shame cultures, the older a person is, the more FACE they have because their value to the group increases with age. Older people are viewed as full of wisdom because of their life experience and the volume of knowledge they possess in so many important areas of life.

They are highly respected and diligently sought after for counsel and advice by younger people. The older a person is, the more needed they are and the more they are viewed as the sages, statesmen and mediators whose contribution to the group is just as valuable as before, but in a different way.

The seven cultural glimpses that I’ve described thus far are essential for understanding what was actually taking place below the surface of what took place in this incident.

Mary’s command to the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do was the result of her understanding of these fundamental dynamics of her own culture, along with the final two that I will cover in my next post.

Is it possible that the first miraculous sign Jesus did, turning water into wine, might actually provide some easy access points to Gospel truths for our neighbors that come from other nations?

I believe so.

But before I lay out my reasons for why I’ve come to that conclusion, here are a few obvious and logical questions that I believe naturally spring forth from what is recorded in John 2:1-11:

. Why did Jesus use a word to address His mother that was apparently not mother-like?

. Why did He turn around and do what He just told His mother He was not inclined to do?

. And the biggest question of all: Why did He turn water into wine as His introductory miracle rather than something much more mind blowing like walking on water, healing a man born blind or raising someone from the dead?

I’m convinced that the answers to these questions and the reason why John summarized the event the way that he did, can only be fully discovered and understood by viewing what took place through nine non-Western cultural glimpses.

The following is what that looks like.

NOTE: If you’re not familiar with the broad descriptions of cultures as either Guilt/Innocence based or Honor/Shame based, watch a very informative five minute video below that will bring added clarity to what you’re about to read.

“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding” (John 2:1-2).

Based on Mary’s actions that are described in these verses, it appears that she had been invited to a wedding feast that was being put on by friends that she cared deeply about.

Jesus and His disciples were also there as invited guests.

THE CRISIS

“And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine'” (John 2:3).

If Mary was there as a close friend of the family, she was probably doing what most of us do at the wedding of a family member or very close friend—helping out in whatever way possible to ensure that the wedding is the source of joy that the family, including the bride and groom, long for it to be.

As the traditional components of the wedding unfolded, including the distribution of wine to the guests, Mary discovered that the wine supply had been completely consumed. Culturally, wine was served throughout a wedding feast.

It was one of those components of a wedding that is taken for granted and not even noticed, unless it was no longer available. Its sudden absence would draw much more attention than its presence in the eyes of all the family members and guests.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 1

Contrary to our individualistic culture’s conviction that the primary purpose of a wedding is to fulfill the lifelong dream of the bride-to-be, in a collectivistic, honor/shame-based culture, a wedding is an entire family event that is also a community event, and that provides a unique opportunity to reinforce or increase the honor and prestige of the family in the eyes of those that matter to them.

In that specific culture at that time in history, running out of wine was viewed as a catastrophic event.

Not only would it bring shame and dishonor on the family, but some scholars believe that it also opened the door for them to have a lawsuit brought against them by those they invited–that it was considered as equivalent to committing fraud.

How is that possible?

Because the family putting on the wedding was giving the appearance of having sufficient resources for the number of guests they invited, and its accompanying honor, when they clearly didn’t.

Regardless of whether legal action was taken or not, the family that was unable to keep the wine flowing at the wedding they were hosting would actually be destroying the one thing that mattered the most to them–their family honor in the eyes.

MARY’S FIRST ATTEMPT TO SOLICIT HER SON’S HELP

Knowing that the wine was gone and understanding the damage that could be done to people she cared about, Mary went to her Son—not to a member of the family that was putting on the wedding or to the master of the feast—and told Him that the wine was gone.

Clearly, she believed that Jesus had the ability to do something to avoid the impending disaster that was about to envelop a family that mattered to her.

Jesus knew immediately and exactly what His mother was asking Him to do, even though her few words just presented a fact, not a request.

CULTURAL GLIMPSE # 2

This is an example of one of those interesting dynamics of culture and language.

Words, especially spoken words, are not just conveyors of ideas or information. They are also tools that can be used to get someone to stop or start doing something, even though the words used aren’t giving a direct command to the other person.

Words are containers that carry and express both explicit and implicit meaning.

To a cultural outsider, it appears as if the main purpose of words is to provide information or declare a fact.

But to a cultural insider, those same words not only provide information or facts, they can also be a command or a request to act.

In the next post, we’ll see that Jesus understood what His mother was actually doing, what His response was and the extreme cultural leverage she used on Him to get Him to do what He said He wasn’t inclined to do.

Enjoy the first part of this series as well!

By God’s permission and design, people from around the world now live in my community and have become a part of my day to day and week to week sphere of life.

I regularly interact with a Sikh gentleman from Punjab state, India, a hard working cultural Muslim man from Iran and various culturally Muslim men from Bangladesh. My guess is that at least 60% of the people living within a mile of my house are Spanish-speaking cultural Catholics, originally from Mexico or a central American country, and who only speak English when they are at work or out and about around town.

Where you live may not be as ethnically diverse as my community, but it’s probably moving in that direction.

As a follower of Jesus who takes the Bible seriously, I’m not discouraged about the changing ethnic makeup of my community and my country–I’m actually excited about it. Why? Because I’m convinced that the God I serve, the God who has revealed Himself through His written word, is intentionally permitting these precious people from around the world to relocate in to our communities.

And He has already told us what His “end game” plan is going to be. At some point in the future, He will receive worship from at least a portion of every people, tribe, tongue and nation that He originally created to uniquely reflect His glory.

I’m overjoyed at the reality that participation in the Great Commission that Jesus gave to His followers to make disciples from among every ethnic group is no longer limited to those who leave everyone and everything behind and relocate to faraway places for the sake of the Gospel.

Oh, He still calls some of His servants to be missionaries, to leave everything behind and go to those faraway places, and He is still calling the rest of His people to send and care for those who obey and go.

But He is now giving those of us who send and care for missionaries the added opportunity and privilege to participate directly in fulfilling the Great Commission by reaching out with His love and truth to our new neighbors that He is bringing to us from around the world.

In order for us to communicate His love and truth effectively to these precious people who He also created in His image and likeness, but whose cultures are radically different than our own, I believe that God calls us to think about and study what the culture of His Kingdom is, what our own cultural values are, and what the cultural values of our new neighbors are.
When we take the time to do that, we discover that:

. Western culture in general and American culture, specifically, is fundamentally different than both the cultures of the vast majority of the rest of the people that live on this planet, and the cultures and values of the people that are recorded in the Bible.

. By understanding and viewing God’s word and truth it contains through a non-Western lens, we can increase our hunger to worship Him for His goodness and grace for all people, AND our ability to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the most life-changing way possible with those from other cultures.

In my next few posts, I will unpack the first miracle that Jesus did, turning water into wine at a wedding.

But I will do so through the non-Western cultural lens through which those who were there at the time, and the vast majority of the people on our planet today, perceive life through.

Even more importantly, my prayer is that by understanding these things, when given the opportunity, you’ll have the ability to share the Gospel with those from other cultures using an emphasis that you may not currently be familiar with.

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do [it].” Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw [some] out now, and take [it] to the master of the feast.” And they took [it]. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the [guests] have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him (John 2:1-11).

“Is there one key conviction or one fundamental ingredient that local churches who send well have in common?”

Due to the scope of the ministry the Lord has bestowed on me and the number of relationships I have with leaders of local churches and many of the missionaries from those churches, I’ve been asked that question in one form or another dozens of times over the past few years.

Yes, there is one key ingredient: conviction or mindset that I’ve observed is almost always present in every church I know that sends and actively cares for their own members that God calls to be missionaries.

Although I’ve answered the question in a variety of ways over the years, these days my default answer makes use of an illustration that I first heard many years ago from a friend whose heart beats in unison with mine for God’s glory among the nations.

AN EIGHT-SLICE PIE OF MINISTRY

Think of a local church as an uneaten pie cut into eight equal slices, sitting snugly in the pan it was baked in. The leaders of the church have determined how many slices there are and what ministries each slice represents.

In most churches, the eight-slice pie of ministries looks something like this:

Slice one: Nursery, toddler and children’s ministry through the fifth or sixth grade

Slice two: Junior and senior high school ministry

Slice three: College/young adult ministry

Slice four: Women’s and men’s ministry

Slice five: Small group ministry

Slice six: Outreach (local, domestic, international)

SUNDAY MORNING ADULT SERVICES-TWO OF THE SLICES

Slices seven and eight: Two slices are dedicated to the Sunday morning ministry to adults because the energy and resources committed to make it the best experience possible is substantial.

. From the thoroughly studied and powerfully presented message by the pastor

. To the diligently prayed through song selection and the prepared and rehearsed worship team

. To the faithful, behind the scenes efforts of the audio and visual crew

. To the greeters, ushers and parking lot attendants

The reason why this is true is easy to understand; the Sunday morning adult services receive much more attention than the other ministries because they are usually the first slice of the church’s ministry pie that most visitors will taste.

This reality, coupled with the fact that each of the single-slice ministries are promoted a few times each year from the pulpit during the Sunday morning services, provides a fairly clear declaration that Sunday morning is actually two slices of the church’s ministry pie.

WHEN GLOBAL MISSIONS IS A PART OF ONE OF THE SLICES

In a church where the leaders view the ministry pie in this way, global missions is viewed as part of the “outreach” ministry slice-not significant enough to warrant having a whole slice dedicated to it. And the frequency and number of references to global missions during the Sunday morning adult services reflects the importance the leaders have assigned to it.

Although there are always exceptions, when a local church views global missions as just one part of one of its ministry slices-or even if one whole slice is dedicated to it, the odds are that the missionaries that go to the mission field from that church will be sent, but usually not cared for in a manner worthy of God.

WHEN GLOBAL MISSIONS ISN’T A SLICE, BUT THE PAN THE PIE SITS IN

Keeping the pie illustration in mind, the key conviction or ingredient that churches that send well have in common, isn’t a larger slice or even more slices of the ministry pie dedicated to global missions.

Instead, it’s their view that global missions isn’t a slice of the ministry pie at all; it’s actually the pan the whole ministry pie sits in.

These church leaders and all the members of the church are convinced that participation in God’s global purposes is a foundational reason for their existence and should therefore permeate and give meaning to all of the slices that make up their ministry pie.

All slices of the ministry pie in this kind of church are continually reminded that the church as a whole and their specific ministry serves an important role in what God is doing around the world, and they are also kept aware of the progress God’s kingdom is making among the variety of ethnicities and languages He’s created.

Every ministry slice, including the children’s ministry, knows who the missionaries are that the church supports, especially the church’s own members that have been sent to the field; they are kept updated regularly, and they are praying for them.

When God’s heart for the nations is in the DNA of a local church and global missions isn’t a slice of the ministry pie, but the pan that holds the whole ministry pie together and that every slice rests upon, missionaries will be sent well.

Esther needed a Mordecai moment and message–and so do many local churches today.

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

In the first two posts in this series, I laid out the reasons for why I believe God has commanded every local church and every one of His followers down through history to participate at some level in making disciples from among every ethnic group that He Himself created. Yet despite that goal-embedded command, the guaranteed end game outcome He has already revealed, and the unique ability we have to know how much progress has been made in obedience to the command, only a small percentage of local churches in the United States actually participate in one of the fundamental purposes for their very existence.

To be totally honest, this reality is both confusing and frustrating to me.

Not long ago, I pleaded with the Lord once again for His wisdom to understand how it’s possible for Bible-teaching churches to be apathetic about participating in global missions. And I also asked Him to show me what I can do to help local church leaders to begin taking the Great Commission as seriously as our missionary God does. As I cried out to Him, He directed me to the verse listed above. Not just the easily applicable portion of the verse that has helped many Christians view their circumstances through a sovereignty of God lens, but the whole verse.

I plunged more deeply than ever before into thinking about the situation Esther found herself in at that moment in time, and Mordecai’s bold and prophetic declaration to her. From there, I began thinking about the situation local churches find themselves in, especially in the United States, and my mental and spiritual alarm bells went off.

I saw the following similarities between many of the specifics of Esther’s situation and those of a local church in America, and they are too much alike to be coincidental.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ESTHER AND LOCAL CHURCHES

1. By God’s design and plan from eternity, Esther was the bride of a king at a specific moment in time, and every local church is the bride of the King of Kings at a specific moment in time.

2. Through God’s orchestration of events beyond their control, like Esther in her days, every local church in the United States today lives in a position of privilege with a standard of living that places them in the top one percent of the people on the planet. This includes a level of comfort and safety that few others on the earth enjoy.

3. Both have access to unrivaled resources, rights and power that few others have, and relationships with people that have some level of influence.

4. Both live in a comparatively cozy bubble, insulated from the awareness of, or exposure to the day to day rigors that are a part of the lives of the masses outside the cocoon.

5. Because of all of the above and more, both are in need of a jolt of reality from God about the responsibility that comes along with receiving the level of grace He bestows upon them.

ONE MAN, ONE MESSAGE–FOR TWO VERY DISTANT MOMENTS IN TIME

I’m now convinced that God didn’t just send Mordecai to wake up Esther with a sobering message at her moment in time; He used Mordecai and a shockingly similar message to wake up each local church at this moment in time.

Because he knew God’s already revealed end game plan for the distinct ethnic group of people that we know as the Jews, Mordecai knew that the decree to commit genocide on them would not be successful. He knew God was going to rescue those called by His name, but he didn’t know how the rescue would be accomplished.

Mordecai had already challenged Esther to go to the king and intervene on behalf of her people. He had also heard her fear-laden description of what happens to those who approach the king without previously being summoned by him.

In response to Esther’s explanation for why she was reluctant to do what he had exhorted her to do, Mordecai’s proclamation contained these five God-generated truths that are exactly the things Jesus knows each local church, especially those in America, need to hear.

FIVE TRUTHS ESTHER HEARD THAT APPLY TO EVERY LOCAL CHURCH TODAY

1. God has already revealed His future plans to rescue people from a specific ethnic group. In Esther’s case, it was the Jews, in our case–He is going to rescue the people called by His name that come from within every ethnic group that He has created (Acts 15:17).

2. God has placed your church in the privileged position you currently find yourself in, and it is for a purpose larger than your own interests.

3. God invites your church to be an active participant in bringing about the guaranteed outcome that He has already revealed in His word.

4. To accept the invitation to participate could require putting your church’s current status/way of life at risk, with no guarantee that it will continue as it is. For Esther, it was literally her life that she had to be willing to risk. For a local church today, it could be the death of doing church the way that we do.

5. Recognize that although your church can choose to ignore the opportunity to bring about God’s guaranteed outcome, not participating will bring severe consequences. For Esther, it would have been her and her family. For local churches today, it could be their very existence as His true bride in their local community.

Esther heeded Mordecai’s message, invited others to join her in prayer and fasting, accepted the risk and by faith stepped into participation in what God was already going to do.

May the leaders of every local church heed Mordecai and his message and follow Esther’s lead!

Jeff Jackson is a workshop speaker for the 2018 Missions Conference, happening this week, January 2-5. Tune in to watch live!

On more than one occasion during the time between His resurrection and His ascension, Jesus told His disciples to go to the ends of the earth, preaching the Gospel and making disciples from among all NATIONS. The most concise form of this directive is found in Matthew 28:19-20 and is commonly known as the Great Commission.

When the Great Commission is coupled with the fact that the book of Revelation describes a future point in time in which Jesus will receive worship from disciples that represent every NATION He Himself created, two important points become obvious.

THE GREAT COMMISSION IS A UNIQUE COMMAND

First, what we refer to as the Great Commission is actually one of those unique commands that includes the ultimate goal that obedience to it is designed to produce.

Second, by recording that goal-imbedded command for us, and then describing a time in the future when that goal will actually be achieved, God has made it possible for us to measure how much progress we’ve made in accomplishing the mission we’ve been given.

But in order to gauge our success in carrying out the command, it’s essential to know what the Greek word is that our English Bibles translate as NATIONS. Without knowing what the original word was, and what it meant at the time Jesus used it, we could make the mistake of thinking He is referring to countries or nation/states as we know them today, like Mexico, Vietnam, Russia, India and so forth.

WHAT DOES THE WORD “NATIONS” REFER TO?

The Greek word that is translated into English as NATIONS is ETHNOS. The core concept it communicated had to do with people viewed as members of groups that were distinct in some way from other groups. These groups were comprised of people that had a shared language, culture, religion, history or even physical features, all of which distinguished them from other groups.

ETHNICITY is the word in our language that is the closest to the core meaning of the Greek word at the time the New Testament was written. ETHNIC GROUPS is the term we use to describe people viewed as members of groups that are distinct in various ways from other groups.

Although on a few occasions, the word ETHNOS does refer to countries as we know them, whenever we see the word NATIONS in our Bibles, the simplest way to ensure we are as close as possible to the meaning Jesus; and His disciples would have assigned to the Greek word, we should think of ethnic groups, NOT countries. Thus, the command and the guaranteed outcome is for those who already know Him to participate in making disciples from among every ethnic/people group.

QUESTIONS THE COMMISSION AND THE GUARANTEED OUTCOME PROVOKE

Aided by modern technology, complex research methods and specialized terminology that enables progress to be measured, it’s now possible to categorize all the people on the planet into different groups based primarily on language, along with other key factors.

A few different ministries, some of which are listed below, compile this kind of information and thanks to their efforts, we can now answer the following Great Commission-related questions more accurately than ever before:

. How many different spoken languages exist on the earth today?
. How many ethnic/people groups are there?
. What country or countries do these groups live within?
. Has the group ever been presented with the truths of the Gospel in their heart language, the one they think in, pray in and use when speaking with their family members at home?
. Have any of the people within the group become disciples of Jesus?
. Is there a community of Jesus-disciples within the group that gathers regularly and has the vision and the resources to make disciples among their own people without outside help?

KEY WORDS AND DEFINITIONS

The ministries that do People Group research and provide the statistics don’t all use the exact same definitions or categorize using the same criteria. With that in mind, here’s a bit of a composite of the three most relevant terms and what each term refers to:

ETHNIC/PEOPLE GROUP (PG): The largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance.

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP (UPG): When the percentage of evangelical Christians within the people group is less than two percent.

UNENGAGED UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP (UUPG): A people group that has no intentional disciple making and church planting strategy taking place to reach them. Without these things, they are still considered UUPG’s, even if the group has been adopted and is receiving focused prayer. (All UUPG’s are by definition, UPG’s, yet all UPG’s are not necessarily UUPG’s)

When the actual statistics produced by the different ministries are compared with one another, the bottom line looks something like this:

. There are 16,839 distinct people groups in the world
. Of that total, 6,997 are categorized as Unreached (UPG’S)
. At least 1,347 of them are considered Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPG’s)

Based on some of God’s people taking the command and it’s guaranteed completion seriously, and due to the radical leap forward in a variety of technologies that has taken place in the last 40 years, we are the first generation of Christians in history that can accurately measure the impact of our obedience.

Yet as in so many other instances with the realm of how God works, the privilege of knowing how much of the task has been accomplished and how much more remains, brings with it the responsibility for every Christian and every local church to actively engage in helping to make disciples from among those people groups that are still UUPG’s.

Knowing all of this, it should be inconceivable that any followers of Jesus or local churches could be apathetic, and yet they are. Which is why I’m convinced they are in need of a Mordecai message and moment.

To begin participating in helping that guaranteed outcome to be a reality, here are some great resources:

. Operation World
. The Joshua Project
. People Groups Info
. Finishing the Task

Finally, here’s a short video that summarizes the statistics.

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:1-3).

There are four facts recorded in this Christmas-connected incident that reveal a few profound similarities between the wise men from the East and those who are serving as missionaries in other countries.

JERUSALEM’S INHABITANTS WERE UNAWARE OF GOD’S ACTIVITY

Jerusalem contained the largest population of Jews in the world at that time in human history. They were an ethnically and culturally distinct group of people that God revealed Himself to and interacted with in an unique way for more than 2,000 years. He bestowed on them a special position and purpose in His plans to graciously express His love for all of humanity.

But the religious leaders and the vast majority of the people themselves were not interacting with their amazing God in the way that He clearly prescribed that they should. And because of that, they were unaware that their God had just begun acting on their behalf by sending into their chaotic world the One that He had promised so long ago.

SIMILARITY

The vast majority of the people that missionaries now live among are not interacting with God in the way that He requires. And they too are unaware that He has already acted on their behalf. They have very little or no knowledge at all about the expression of their Creator’s love and grace that has already taken place, and the relationship they can have with Him through the One that He has already sent.

FOREIGNERS RECOGNIZED GOD WAS AT WORK

But God did reveal what He had done to a small group of people from a different country, culture and religion. At the same time that His Son transitioned into our broken and dark world from the cozy womb of His humble, earthly mother, He also placed an out of the ordinary star in the sky.

He knew that a few wise stargazers/astronomers from the East would recognize that this uncommon star was actually like an ornament that belonged to and drew attention to the King of the Jews that had just been born. And even more importantly, He knew these Gentiles would understand that this newborn King was a gift to all people, worthy of worship from a larger group of people than just the Jews.

SIMILARITY

Every missionary understands that although Jesus is the King of the Jews, He is also the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the WORLD, and that He is worthy to receive worship from individuals within every tribe, people, nation and tongue that He Himself created.

TRAVEL AND DECLARATION REVEAL HIS WORTHINESS TO BE WORSHIPED

Recognizing the majesty of this special child whose birth was announced like no other person’s in history, an intense passion to worship Him provoked them to depart from their own country, leaving behind their family and friends.

That passion also moved them to expend their own resources to purchase and then offer financially costly expressions of their regard for Him. And their zeal to worship Him also emboldened them to declare their desire to worship Him to people who were ethnically, culturally and religiously very different from them.

SIMILARITY

It was the wise men’s passion to begin worshiping Him face to face that produced their willingness to do the things I mentioned above. It’s the missionary’s existing personal and intimate worship of Him and their passion to share that experience with people in other countries that led them to take the following steps that resemble what the Magi did:

. It led them to travel a great distance, leaving behind everyone and everything that is familiar and comfortable.

. They’ve paid a significant cost financially to boldly proclaim Him in the hope of increasing the number of people who are giving Him the worship He deserves.

. They’ve also proven they’re willing to offer Him something that is more valuable than anything money can buy–their own lives and those of their wives and children, if necessary.

HIS ENTRY INTO OUR WORLD WASN’T RECEIVED AS GOOD NEWS BY MOST PEOPLE

The declaration of the birth of the King of the Jews was troubling to the civil leader, (Herod), the religious leaders and all of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem. Although it was troubling to them for different reasons, the reality is that the news of what God had already begun to do on behalf of all of them didn’t produce the joy that it should have. It wasn’t received as good news by the majority; it was actually troubling news to them!

SIMILARITY

The missionary’s presence and passion to worship the King of the Jews, who is also the Savior of all mankind, and their proclamation that God has already acted for the good of those they speak to, will also be troubling news to the majority of the people they share it with. But they share it anyway in the hope that some of the hearers will comprehend the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus for what it really is–the most amazing expression of love, mercy and grace ever seen on this planet.

HELP THEM SEE THESE SIMILARITIES

This Christmas season, why not encourage the missionaries you know and love by helping them to see the similarities between what they’ve done and what was recorded about these men from the East?

Let them know that as this text describes, God calls people from other countries and cultures to bring the message of His entry into our world. And that their obedience to this special calling provokes you to rejoice, especially at this time of year.

According to Acts 1:3, from resurrection Sunday until He ascended to heaven, Jesus spent a total of 40 days with the apostles and disciples. Although He probably discussed a myriad of subjects with them during that time, the written record of His post-resurrection conversations in the Gospels and the first few verses of the book of Acts are minimal yet powerfully focused.

That focus was God’s love for all people and the role His followers were to have in expressing it.

As Luke 24:44-49 reveals, Jesus knew that for His disciples to receive, comprehend and obey the command He was about to give them, they needed to view and understand God’s written word in a way they never had before. That even though they had been born and raised under the influence of His written word and had just spent three years interacting with Jesus, their minds needed to be opened so they could truly comprehend the Scriptures.

After giving them this fresh perspective on God’s word, Jesus showed them that because His recent suffering, death and resurrection had already been written about, those events had to be fulfilled—which is what they had just witnessed themselves.

But He didn’t stop there.

He went on to say that in the same way the things written about Him MUST take place, so also, the need for repentance and forgiveness of sins MUST be proclaimed to all of the ethnic groups that God Himself created, starting with their fellow Jews there in Jerusalem.

Although Luke didn’t record the Old Testament scriptures Jesus used, (the New Testament hadn’t yet been written), or how they were the basis of the command He gave to His followers to go and preach the Gospel and make disciples among every ethnic group, I believe these are a few of the things He may have pointed out to them:

1. Their God is the creator of all languages and ethnic diversity and will receive worship from people within each of those distinct groups (Psalm 86:9).

2. Thus He is also the creator of their specific ethnic group, and He had made clear to the three main patriarchs that the unique relationship they had with Him was not just for their own good, but for the ultimate good of all ethnic groups (Genesis 12:1-3; 26:4; 28:14).

3. That His glory must be declared to all ethnic groups, so that His name and fame will be spread to all people regardless of where they live on the planet (Psalm 96:3; 1 Kings 8:41-43).

4. That He is the suffering servant referred to in Isaiah, and that the sacrifice He made wasn’t just to provide light for Israel alone but for all ethnic groups throughout the whole earth (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).

Whether He used those Scriptures or others, what’s clear is that He showed them God’s love for all people using only the Old Testament, and then commanded them to take the message of that Good News to every ethnic group regardless of where they live and to make disciples from among them.

Today, we have the privilege of coupling the biblical basis He gave them from the Old Testament with truths like these from the New Testament:

1. The global scope of His purpose for coming (Luke 2:10,14; John 1:29).

2. His declaration of God’s love for Gentiles during Old Testament times—and the response of His own people to Him pointing this out (Luke 4:23-30).

3. His commendation of the faith of Gentiles (Matthew 15:22-28), and that some of them will dine at His table too; (Matthew 7:10-13) and that He doesn’t just have sheep from the fold of Israel but from other folds (ethnic groups) too (John 10:14-16).

4. A written record in the book of Acts of His people’s obedience to the command from the day He ascended till approximately 40 years later.

5. A reinforcement of the truth that He created all ethnic groups from one original couple, along with the fact that He predetermines when those groups would come in to existence and where they will call home (Acts 17:26).

6. Details about the future that includes a description of Him receiving worship from people representing every people, tribe, tongue and nation (Revelation 5:9; 7:9), and that the unique glory and honor He has bestowed upon each ethnic group will be offered to Him as worship in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24-26).

Clearly, Jesus has given us a command to participate in bringing about an outcome that is guaranteed to take place. This means that it’s possible to create metrics that can help us measure the level of our obedience to the command up to this moment in time.

In my next two posts, I’ll explore some of those metrics, paint as clear a picture as possible of how far our level of obedience has moved things toward that guaranteed outcome and then try to nudge all of us to fresh obedience through a Mordecai moment and message.

When an individual Christian or the key leaders and members of a local church come to understand the bigger picture of God’s plan for humanity that He has recorded in His written Word, His Spirit will move them to engage at whatever level possible in helping to bring about His endgame of receiving worship from representatives of every people, tribe, tongue and nation that He Himself created.

One simple way to discover the bigger picture, which includes His endgame for humanity, is to freshly examine in chronological order, the central truths communicated at seven key moments from within the real life history He has given us of His interaction with certain individuals and specific groupings of people.

1. Abraham’s Descendants Are Blessed…to Be a Blessing to All People

He told Abraham that He would bless him and his descendants and that they would be the group of people that He chose to be the channel or vehicle of His love and desire to bless people from within all of the ethnic groups that He created (Genesis 12:1-3).

He then repeated His plan to bless Israel and to bless the ethnic groups through them, to Abraham’s son Isaac, and to his grandson, Jacob (Genesis 26:4; 28:14).

2. Israel’s Priestly Role for All Humanity

He told Moses to remind Israel that He had delivered them from bondage in Egypt and that they were a special group of people, a “kingdom of priests” who were in a unique relationship with Him, called to represent Him to all people and groups who were not in the same relationship that they were in and interceded on their behalf to Him (Exodus 19:3-6).

3. A Temple Where More Than Just Israel Worshiped and Prayed

King Solomon, obviously influenced by his father, King David, included a court for the Gentiles as part of the grounds of the first temple constructed in Jerusalem.

With thousands of Jews gathered at the dedication of the temple, Solomon stood on a platform and prayed for God to bless the temple and His people, Israel.

Guided by God’s Spirit, Solomon also declared that non-Jewish people from different countries would hear of God’s greatness and come to the temple to worship and pray to the God of Israel.

What Solomon said next was another window into God’s bigger picture for humanity.

He pleaded with God to not only hear the prayers of these non-Jewish worshipers, but to also answer their prayers so that as they returned home, all of the people of the earth would know Him and fear Him, following Israel’s example (2 Chronicles 6:32,33).

4. A Jewish Baby’s Birth is for the Good of All People

When God sent an angel to announce the birth of Jesus to Jewish shepherds, the angel told them what took place that night was good news that would produce great joy for ALL people, not just Israel (Luke 2:10).

When that angel was joined by a multitude of others, and they all praised God together, they declared that God was glorious and that peace was now embodied on earth as a demonstration of God’s goodwill toward all humanity, not just Israel (Luke 2:14).

5. A Lamb That Takes Away the Sin of Any Member of Humanity

At some point during the height of his ministry, John the Baptist saw and recognized that Jesus was walking toward him.

He immediately invited everyone listening to behold Jesus and declared that Jesus is the Lamb of God that came to take away the sin of the world, not just Israel’s sin (John 1:29).

6. Outward Focus from the Initial Invitation to Follow

In the very sentence in which Jesus called His first disciples to follow Him, He made clear that their relationship with Him was for a purpose larger than their own interests.

Although He was clearly inviting them into a personal, intimate and interactive relationship with Him that would benefit them in ways they never dreamed of, He wanted them to know from the very beginning that the blessing of being in relationship with Him also brings the responsibility and privilege of helping others to enter into the same blessed union with Him that they themselves enjoyed (Matthew 4:19).

7. The Message of His Death and Resurrection Must Go Global

After miraculously appearing to His gathered disciples and eating a few bites of food, Jesus told them the whole Old Testament pointed to Him and then helped them to see and understand the scriptures in a way they never had before.

He then told them that because everything in the Old Testament had to be fulfilled, two key things needed to take place.

First, that He had to suffer and then rise from the dead, which is what they had all just witnessed.

Second, that the message of repentance and remission of sins that are only found in His name must be preached to all ethnic groups wherever they live, even as that message is preached to the people living in their own villages, towns, cities and country.

If They Needed a Fresh Review, What About Us?

Even after almost three years of being with Him on a day to day basis, Jesus had to do a fresh review of God’s Word in order to get them to see the bigger picture of what God was really doing (Luke 24:42-47).

If they needed that kind of review to understand how much global missions matter to God and should matter to His people, a fresh review for believers and local churches in our day is necessary too.

A number of years ago, an anthropologist from Poland, Alicja Iwanska, conducted a study among farmers in the Northwest section of the United States. One of the conclusions of the study found that within the realm of interaction with other people, these “average” Americans basically placed people into one of the following three categories: people, machinery or scenery.

A TRI-FOLD DESIGNATION OF OTHER PEOPLE

PEOPLE: were those that the study participants had “real” relationships with. This included immediate family members, close friends and a few others. They knew the “stories” of those they considered PEOPLE, shared their own story with them, and were genuinely concerned about what was going on in their lives.

MACHINERY: were those that they had the need to interact with as part of just living day-to-day life, and who usually were fulfilling some kind of function that the study participant needed in order to live life–like the teller at the bank, the gas station attendant, the waitress, the lady behind the counter at the DMV and so forth.

The service these people provided and that was needed by the study participant was all that mattered. There was no interest in showing any care for them, getting to know them at any level or revealing anything about themselves.

What mattered was whether this person accomplished the task that the study participant was deriving a benefit from. And if that task wasn’t accomplished to their satisfaction, then even less thought was given to that person, as a person, and a mental note was made to discover someone else who was more competent at completing the function.

SCENERY: were those who sporadically came within their field of vision at a distance, were from different cultures and/or from a lower socio-economic status.
The study participants knew they were out there and that they occupied space in the same little part of the world that they lived life in, but they didn’t have reason to interact with or engage them.

In many cases, they said that the distinction between these people and the actual scenery that surrounds day-to-day life such as trees, stoplights, billboards, fences, etc., had been blurred to them. Every now and then something would trigger a thought in them that forced them to recognize that these people really were people and not scenery, but that didn’t happen that often.

CATEGORIZATION IS COMMON TO ALL PEOPLE

In my own travels and ministry to Americans and those of other cultures, both here in America and in other countries, I’ve come to the conclusion that categorizing people like this is common among all people. In fact, I’m convinced that placing other people into one of these categories springs forth from two realities that are interwoven together.

First, it’s the result of our knowledge of our own limitations. We think we know our capacity for meaningful relationships, and once we have reached that number, we become comfortable with the idea of viewing those outside of that number as either machinery or scenery.

Second, that perceived limitation, under the control of the sinful, selfish nature that is our natural state, amplifies that perception of others. It provides a plausible explanation for our unwillingness to desire or to exert any effort to stop categorizing people and to start viewing others as we ourselves would like to be viewed by everyone else–as fellow human beings.

When these two realities are coupled together, it isn’t surprising to me that categorizing people in this way is the result.

IT’S NOT THE SYSTEM JESUS OR HIS KINGDOM USES

What is surprising to me is that this universal, sin-influenced way of viewing others continues to be the norm among those that are new creations in Christ–including those in local church leadership positions.

Jesus didn’t navigate life using the same categorization system of the people of His day, especially the one the religious leaders used. His interaction with everyone He came in contact with, and the truths He taught His followers about God’s love for all people, produced conflict with the religious leaders. And as the book of Acts and the epistles make clear, the world’s categorization system has no place in His Kingdom.

WHAT THE SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE IN A LOCAL CHURCH

And yet, whether they’re aware of it or not, many pastors and leaders of local churches view and interact with their attendees/members using the same categorization lenses as the study participants.

Which means:

1. They view the majority of the people sitting in the sanctuary at each service as nothing more than beautiful SCENERY that is to be enjoyed with their eyes alone. The gathered congregation is viewed in the same way a beautiful, hopefully ever expanding forest is–as something awesome to behold as a whole, with little regard for the health of the individual trees that actually produce the forest.

2. They view those that make the service run, (ushers, the audio & visual guys, parking lot attendants, even children’s ministry servants and so forth), as MACHINERY that is essential for the functioning of the various ministries of the church. They recognize that these servants do need attention on occasion, but the motivation for providing it is not from a genuine interest in them as people, but because they are crucial for the ongoing operation of the machine.

3. They only view their own families and fellow paid staff members as PEOPLE, and they are satisfied relating to the other members of the church as MACHINERY or SCENERY.

IS YOUR CHURCH USING IT?

If you’re a pastor or a church leader and you’ve just read the above and concluded that doesn’t describe your church, I’d like to challenge you to do something radical.

Why not ask four or five of those you interact with as PEOPLE, (not just paid staff, but others who serve in some capacity in the church on a regular basis) whether they feel like they’re treated as people, machinery or scenery by the pastor and leaders of the church?

And then humbly accept their perspective as valid–even if it is different from your own perspective–and then respond accordingly.

An open letter to Senior Pastors and church leaders about missionaries:

“Brethren,

As a former missionary, church planter and pastor, I’d like to provoke you to think a little deeper about the members of your church that you have sent out as missionaries and/or the missionaries that your church loves and supports financially.

A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT PASTORING

Why do local pastor-specific gatherings take place on a regular basis in almost every town and city around the world? Why do senior pastors’ conferences exist? Why are there online-limited-access groups, chat rooms or bulletin boards for pastors? Why do a number of local churches have board members that are pastors from other churches in other cities or even other states?

Why does a pastor, who needs wisdom and seeks out counsel regarding an aspect of leadership or a major challenge within their church, usually makes a call to someone else who is or has been a pastor at some time in the past? Why do many senior pastors usually let loose with a little chuckle and a grin when one of their assistant pastors has filled in for him while he was on vacation, and then says that he now knows what it’s like to be a senior pastor?

A UNIQUE CALLING WITH UNIQUE CHALLENGES AND STRESSES

Obviously, the underlying answer to all of the above questions is that being a pastor, especially a senior pastor, is a unique calling that brings with it unique challenges and stresses. It is hard for someone who hasn’t been a pastor to understand or relate to.

Even though most pastors have the leaders and certain members of their churches speaking in to their lives in many areas, when it comes to ministry issues or family issues that are tightly connected to ministry, they know that someone else who is or has been a pastor is more likely to be able to relate to them and to provide ministry-specific counsel.

A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT BEING A MISSIONARY

If the questions and observations that I’ve written above have any credence, then I believe pastors and leaders of local churches, especially those from local churches who have sent some of their own members to the mission field, should also consider these questions:

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about a person receiving and sharing the vision God has given them to become a missionary?

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about having to trust that God will provide the money to fulfill the vision to be a missionary through churches or brothers and sisters in Jesus that they may or may not have relationship with?

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about liquidating pretty much every one of their belongings in order to fulfill the vision that God gave them?

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about disconnecting themselves, their wives and their children from anything or anyone that is familiar and resettling them in a foreign country?

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about the reality that once they begin living in this other country that if they or their family members need things like medical care or dental care, it is difficult to obtain and is probably of a different quality than what they’ve had access to in the U.S.?

And finally….

• Is there anything uniquely challenging or stressful about learning to live in a completely new culture/environment and a new language at the same time, while they’re trying to help their family adjust, AND engaging in the “ministry” that they’re convinced God called them to?

PASTORING CONTRASTED WITH BEING A MISSIONARY

Here’s where I’m going with this: If we understand our need for pastor-specific ministry and resources because of the unique challenges and stresses we experience, and we justifiably spend time and finances to obtain or receive them, it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to understand the need for missionary-specific ministry and resources, and then to encourage and assist missionaries to receive them.

Having been both a missionary AND a senior pastor at the same time overseas, and a senior pastor of two different churches in the United States, I can tell you by experience that the unique challenges and stresses of being a senior pastor in America, as real as they are, do not compare with the multitude of unique challenges and stresses of living and ministering in a cross-cultural environment outside of this country!

If you’re tracking with what I’m saying–and even if you’re not–-I challenge you to consider doing these things:

1. Begin viewing the missionaries you know with the same level of regard for their unique challenges and stresses as you do your own unique challenges and stresses as a pastor.

2. Increase your personal inventory of understanding of what missionaries experience by doing some specific reading about the subject and pray about having your church leadership do the same.

3. Whenever possible, set up a meeting with someone who is living or has lived on the foreign mission field and ask them to share with you the unique challenges and stresses they faced or are facing.

4. Encourage, and possibly even pay for your missionaries or other missionaries you know to attend missions conferences.

5. Even more importantly, encourage or pay for a missionary to receive the gift of debriefing and to attend one of the many specialized missionary retreats that take place in various parts of our country and around the world.

I could go on and on with things to consider, but I’ll leave it alone for now.

The bottom line is that if we unashamedly recognize the unique challenges and stresses involved with being a pastor, and we seize what’s available to assist and encourage ourselves, shouldn’t we seriously consider encouraging and empowering missionaries to do the same?”

When I pastored in Phoenix a few years ago, my assistant pastor was from a Middle Eastern country and a number of our church members were refugees from Burma/Myanmar. For all of them and almost every other refugee that our church served, their life experience prior to being resettled in America was oppression generated by the government, those from other religions, those from other ethnicities or those from other political convictions.

Oppression: personal and family suffering as the result of the decisions others make was the norm in their lives, not the exception. It wasn’t that difficult to use the truths of God’s word to bring comfort and encouragement to those that come from that kind of background.

The Bible has much to say about the subject of suffering, especially suffering that is the result of persecution rather than disease or sickness.

While I was in the midst of loving and serving those precious people, and as a result of what I see taking place in our country, it has become painfully obvious to me that American Christians need to develop a “theology of suffering” that now includes persecution as a result of their identification with Jesus. As I survey the history of the church in the United States, including today and outside of a few strands within the African American church, a “theology of suffering” has never really been developed and passed on to American Christians as part of that which will help them mature in Christ and represent Him properly, regardless of what happens to them. Here’s my take on why this is and what I believe every follower of Jesus needs to consider:

First, in my opinion, America is not now and has never been a valid political and governmental expression of the kingdom of God. No earthly government or political system can be an expression of the kingdom of God. If the United States or any other country actually was, then Jesus was mistaken when He clarified to the Pharisees what the kingdom of God actually is (Luke 17:20,21).

Second, during the entire history of the Christian church, there have only been a few countries where being a follower of Jesus actually “pays” rather than “costs” in any substantive way. The United States has been the greatest example of this.

Third, if we’re being honest, the sheer fact that pastors need to define New Testament words and terms for their church members like: “persecution,” being “reviled,” being “hated,” being “defamed,” being spoken against as “evildoers,” or “suffering for righteousness sake” should tell us something about the historically odd environment that we have lived in.

Fourth, if that isn’t clear enough, then the fact that Americans need to find examples of what this type of treatment looks like from church history or from what is currently taking place in many countries around the world, should set off our alarm bells!

Let’s face it, life for the follower of Jesus in America just isn’t that similar to what is described as the norm in the New Testament, or what others in church history or in other countries today experience.

But, if we’re paying attention at all to what is happening in this country, then we know that radical changes have begun and will more than likely continue–-even if the current party in power suffers a defeat in the next election.

What kind of changes? Changes that I believe will make it possible for us to give examples of the things above, (included in my third point), FROM WITHIN our own country and perhaps even our own personal experiences. Things that God is permitting to unfold.

In many ways, the context that we are now finding ourselves in will be an opportunity for us to be fully biblical in a way that we always thought we were, but maybe actually weren’t.

I’m convinced that God is steering the foolish decisions of many powerful and influential leaders in our country so that not only will it be clear to everyone that the kingdom of God and the United States of America are not one and the same, (which many Christians don’t understand right now), but also so that those who truly are citizens of His kingdom will know by experience themselves a greater number of the truths of His word.

In other words, I don’t believe it will be long until the truth of this verse, (and many others that for all intents and purposes, have been irrelevant), becomes a description of our own experiences, not just those from history or from other countries: “Yes, and all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution…”(2 Timothy 3:12).

Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m NOT praying that God destroys the country I’ve been blessed to be raised in and have served as part of the military.

This country, in many cases, has interacted with many other countries in accordance with certain kingdom principles.

The country that has provided resources for me and thousands of others to go and live in other countries to spread the good news and help with expanding His kingdom around the world. I’m NOT eager to suffer persecution or any of the other things that the Bible seems to indicate could be the norm for someone who follows Jesus. And, I’m NOT saying that we should abandon the freedoms we have in this country to have a meaningful influence on the political system or government we live under.

But, the reality I believe each and every follower of Jesus would do well to develop is a “theology of suffering” as soon as possible. And then I would encourage them to begin navigating life through what they’ve come to believe about God’s purposes in permitting His people to suffer. Is it possible that God has brought refugees into our midst, especially Christian refugees, for more than just an opportunity for a new life? Maybe He brought them here for us to learn from and to guide us as we now are in need of developing our own “theology of suffering!”

Jeff Jackson will be a workshop speaker at the 2017 Pastors & Leaders Conference, happening in 7 DAYS! Visit pastorsconference.calvarychapel.flywheelsites.com for more information or to register!

As a follower of Jesus, the greatest leader that has ever walked this earth, it’s impossible for me to not be interested in the subject of leadership. In my pursuit of understanding both the concepts and the reality produced by its being put into practice, I’ve talked to a number of leaders and read more than a dozen different books about it.

Based on what I’ve learned, I’m of the strong conviction that the Bible is the best book ever written on this important topic.

And similar to many other topics that the Bible speaks about, the lessons on leadership contained within its pages must be gleaned from the STORIES of good leaders, bad leaders, reluctant and even want-to-be leaders, that God has chosen to record. Although there are certain phrases or statements that are clearly great principles of what true leadership really is, (like serving, rather than being served), the Bible really doesn’t provide a succinct definition of what leadership is or a list of the key aspects of leadership arranged in a systematized and concise format.

Over the past few months, I’ve met with quite a few pastors and attended a handful of different churches and conferences. Doing so has prompted me to re-examine an important leadership lesson from the life of Gideon. God had imprinted it on my heart and mind not long after I discovered through other people’s input that He had entrusted me with the sobering gift of leadership–the ability to exert influence over individuals or groups of people. Please know that I apply this caution to myself first and foremost, but I believe and pray that it is of value to anyone who has been blessed with the stewardship of leading others.

I will skip over quite a bit of Gideon’s story and zero in on what I believe are a few crucial warnings that can be learned from his life and leadership.

Gideon is a member of the small clan called the Abiezrites, who are a part of the small and less than influential tribe of Manasseh (Judges 6:11,15). In response to the gathering of the armies of the Midianites and Amalekites nearby, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon,” and he blew the trumpet and the Abiezrites gathered to him. (At this point, begin thinking about how many Abiezrites may have gathered in response to his Spirit-led trumpet blast, Judges 6:34). Gideon then sent messengers to his whole tribe and three other tribes (Judges 6:35).

God told him there are too many people gathered under Gideon’s leadership, and therefore, there was a danger of them thinking that if they win the battle, it was because of their numbers and their abilities. He then goes through a process of pairing them down from 32,000 to 10,000 and then finally to just 300. They had a great victory with an army of 300 that had God’s power and creativity with them (Judges 7:2-7).

I had a few questions about this whole episode for a long time. My questions were these:

Did God know before they gathered that an army of 32,000 would be prone to take the glory for the victory? Of course. If He knew that and HE was the one who gathered them, would He make such an apparent mistake and then have to undo His mistake? Not likely. Or, is it possible that it wasn’t God’s power or Spirit that gathered them but Gideon’s personal leadership and influence that gathered them? Possible.

When the Spirit led Gideon to blow the trumpet, how many Abiezrites probably gathered to him? My guess: 300. Did the Spirit lead Gideon to send messengers to the rest of his tribe and the three others? It doesn’t say that.

Finally, here are a couple of lessons that I believe God wanted to teach Gideon, His people, and all those to whom He has entrusted the sobering gift of leadership:

1. If you have the gift, be careful to ensure that God’s Spirit is leading you to use it.

2. To determine whether it is His Spirit leading you to use your influence with people, ask yourself whether success will bring glory to Him alone, or whether it will increase your glory and status in the eyes of others and potentially even increase the pride in themselves of those you lead.

3. If you do exert your influence and it hasn’t been Spirit-led, know that He will expose your flesh-based efforts at some point and that you’ll see for yourself the disruption of other people’s lives that you have caused.

4. Know that when He is truly leading you, the number of those you lead at any moment in time is exactly the amount of resources necessary to do what He has called you to do, (similar to the five loaves and two fish).

5. Impact for His kingdom is usually inversely proportionally to size. Thinking that a large task requires a large group of people is faulty thinking. Jesus’ example of investing in a few that would eventually impact the whole world, and the history of the church itself clearly demonstrates that smaller groups of people generally have as much or even more impact as larger groups.