Never retreat. Never surrender.
And never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.
by Justin D. Long
Many of you have seen my signature on an e-mail message, with the above to one side. One even wrote to say that you might have thought of some of these things if you had a great motto like this one. I can't claim complete originality for it: this is a case of something bad (a quote from a game that I saw in a store) turned to something good (a motto for a life of missionary commitment). In this article, I'm using it as a basis for outlining three temptations we each face.
Temptation No. 1: Retreat from the frontier.
One of the greatest missed opportunities in the world's history was in 1266, when the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan requested of the Roman pope: "Send me 100 men skilled in your religion ... and so I shall be baptized, and then all my barons and great men, and then their subjects. And so there will be more Christians here then there are in your parts." The Pope sent just 2 Dominicans-and they turned back because of snow.
Missionaries are often tempted to retreat. Buffeted by a strange culture, lost in the midst of a new language, harangued by a hostile government, persecuted by radical elements in the cultural religion, without our material comforts, beset with a huge task, having little help and support from home: the missionary must overcome these obstacles on a daily basis, and it's is not an easy task. Many burn out and return home. There is no shame in going on "retreat" for a while (as Jesus did: spending time alone with God seeking renewal); but to retreat from our commission into what many people call a "normal" life is wrong, yet so easily done.
Worse, there are circumstances which occasionally force us to retreat. It is an unfortunate fact missionaries are many times required to return to home base due to a lack of resources. I cannot fault a missionary for this, but I do fault the church. How sad it is when our army must return from a battle, without having really fought the good fight, without seeing souls saved-all because Christians were selfish with their money, desiring to spend it on games and coffee instead of investing it in people! Like those who give offense to little children, I think a millstone should be hung around their neck and they should be cast into the sea. Harsh, perhaps-but then not so harsh when you consider a world where 2 billion people easily have the means to make sure the 1 billion who have never heard, do hear.
Temptation No. 2: Surrender the frontier.
To follow our story, in 1278, the Pope sent 5 Franciscans, and by 1300 they were at work in 17 stations throughout the empire, with a monastery at Cambaluc.
Most missionaries resist the urge to retreat. They are met with a second temptation, a much more insidious one: to surrender the challenge of work among frontier peoples, and serve instead the backslidden, downtrodde, persecuted Christians in the nation. After all, what could a handful of Franciscans do among millions of Mongols? What can 8,000 missionaries today do for 1 billion unevangelized people? Or, to put it more specifically, what can a handful of modern non-residential missionaries and advocates do for the 1 million Qashqa'i of Iran?
This is not to say that ministry among the Christians of World A countries isn't needed. However, a frontier-focused missionary working in a frontier country shouldn't be working exclusively among Christians! We might be working with them in order to mobilize them to reach the unevangelized; but whatever we do must be a means for the end of preaching the Gospel to those who have never heard it. Frontier missionaries cannot surrender that calling. We must constantly seek for new ways, options, possibilities, opportunities for creatively evangelizing the World A peoples of our planet.
Fortunately, the Franciscans didn't make this mistake, and now we turn to the results of their labor.
Temptation No. 3: Cutting deals on the frontier.
By 1349, there were 30,000 Christians in the Mongol empire in China, most of them Mongols. Although this is hardly the whole of the Mongol empire, it nonetheless demonstrates the staying power and incredible impact of the commitment the Franciscans had. In 1358, the inevitable, harsh response of our spiritual enemy began. Mongol hordes under Tamerlane began to destroy the Christian civilization in China and northern India. Within a decade, Christianity had all but disappeared from the country of China, and by 1380--4 years before John Wycliffe produced the first English Bible--the Mongols had completely destroyed the Nestorian church throughout Asia. 70,000 heads were piled on the ruins of Isfahan and 90,000 in Baghdad.
I doubt many missionaries were going to China just then. In fact, at that time, the big revival was Russia, where Orthodoxy was being spread far and wide by monks. Isn't it interesting to note, though, that throughout history most Christians have been drawn to where the flame is reaching bonfire levels, rather than to where it needs to be started? I call this the "third temptation": the temptation to cut a deal with the dragon.
The temptation goes like this: we tell the devil, "I'll stay out of your yard if you stay out of mine." The "yard" is defined by the Holy Spirit--our "big brother" who'll beat the devil up if he gets out of line. If God starts moving supernaturally in some area of the world, we know we can thumb our nose at the enemy, leap in, and be part of the divine revival. Until God moves, however, we aren't ready to get involved.
This is expressed by a missionary policy that says, "We go where the Spirit is presently moving." The corollary to this is that, if there aren't huge numbers of conversions, then the agency won't go there. But how will the lost be saved, unless they hear? And how will they hear, unless someone preaches? And how will workers preach, unless someone sends? The answer: we wait for the Spirit to begin divinely moving among the lost with dreams, and visions, and miracles.
Some people say we do this because God should lead any work. I think, however, the true root cause of this is fear.
We are frightened of the enemy: who wants to go where they're killing Christians? You have to be certain--dead certain--of your authority as a child of God before doing that! We are frightened of looking like fools. What if we go and get arrested? Would God have protected us if we were really called? Does that mean we weren't called? Does it mean we shouldn't have gone? We are frightened of being failures. What if we go, invest our lives, and nothing happens? What if, according to our measurements of success, nothing happened? Have we wasted donor money? Have we planned poorly?
To put it in another light, what about the ministry of the Franciscans among the Mongols? All of that was destroyed in the space of 25 years. Would it have happened if they had "waited on God"? Should they have gone in the first place? These are the questions I'm sure some people today would be asking. If God is already moving--well, then, that's another matter. We can see people are already being drawn to God. His anointing is obviously on the movement. We can't fail. The harvest is ripe: all we have to do is step in and pick up the sheaves of grain.
Here's the secret I think the Franciscans knew: God did not tell us to wait for Him to move among the unevangelized. He told us to wait for Him to move among us.
In the Great Commission account, Jesus says, "Wait until you are clothed with power from on high." THEN the disciples were to be His witnesses. So they gathered together in the room, they prayed, they fasted, they earnestly sought this "anointing." They didn't know what it would like, what it would be like, what it would do-they only knew they wanted it. We should, too. Once they had it, they went.
Moses was a case study in fearful excuses. How many times have we said, "Oh, if only I had a visitation from a burning bush! Then I'd have a clear calling. Then I'd be certain I was doing the right thing!" Moses saw a burning-bush, and still had dozens of reasons not to go. What if he failed? What if Pharaoh didn't listen? What if the Israelites despised him? God gave signs to Moses. Then, he gave signs to the Israelites and the Egyptians. Finally, God told them all to shut up and get moving. Moses stood on the bank of the Red Sea: Israelites complaining, Egyptians racing toward them, the impassable waters in front of him. "Be still," he told the Israelites, "and the Lord will fight for you." But fighting was not what God had in mind. He told Moses, "Why are you crying unto me? Tell the Israelites to move on." (Exodus 14:15) So Moses, for lack of anything better to do, stretched out his staff over the sea... and the sea opened up. Nothing stands in the way of God's plan... except us.
It is not right to "stay in our place" and wait for God to move into the enemy camp. We are an army, armed, prepared, and given marching orders. It is time to start seeking out opportunities to wrestle with the enemy. Scripture tells us "The Kingdom of God advances violently, and violent men lay hold of it." (And forceful women, too!) We are here to do violence to the enemy's spiritual realm of bondage: to wrestle with the forces of darkness. Our primary mode of battle is the evangelization and conversion of the lost. It is time we got about our business.
Reality check
The lesson: when God has said GO, it is wrong to stop and consider or pray about whether we should go or not. We have a clear commission to the world, and it is wrong not to take the Gospel everywhere, including straight into the enemy's holdings. No one is going, so you must. You do not have to be qualified now; you will be trained. You do not have to be able, only willing. Everything you need to see the lost evangelized will be provided by a God who knows where you will fit in the great movement of world evangelization.
Suggestions
- Initiate a prayer room, group, chain, circle, or some other movement in the church that will constantly and consistently pray for God to motivate and mobilize the church to take part in frontier missions work.
-
Get involved in some way right now. There are several opportunities for
this. Bible distribution in Asia, for example, is not keeping up with
church growth there. Most Bibles are given away to "seekers" interested in
the Gospel. For our press release on this, hit
and put "Press Release China" in the body of the message. - Take a prayerwalk journey to a World A country. You can find a list of the World A countries on our web site (http://www.gem-werc.org), or in the prayer guide "Operation World." Expose yourself to a different culture.
- Correspond with mission agencies and ask what opportunities exist in World A and the 10/40 Window. Remember: keep your focus on the frontiers of mission. Other countries have plenty of Christians and plenty of missionaries: we need more workers on the frontier.
