Teacher Note: Remind the students to continue working on their project. Do you have a sense that the church, on whole, is growing or diminishing in size? Why? Christians as a percentage of world population: Ralph D. Winter, Bruce A Koch, Finishing the Task: The Unreached Peoples Challenge Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 0-1900 AD: Number of Christians grew from 0-2.5% 1900-1970: Grew to 5% 1970-2000: Grew to 11.2% The church is growing at an unprecedented rate. In China, the number of believers grew from one million to over 80 million in less than fifty years. Do these numbers excite you in any way? How? Present world scenario: 1/3 world: Identify as Christian 1/3 world: Non-Christian with access to the gospel 1/3 world: Non-Christian with no access to the gospel Though numbers of global growth are exciting, they also indicate there are over two billion people who have no one to share with them the hope of the gospel. Why is this unacceptable? The problem: When you throw a rock into a pond it creates ripples that spread throughout the entire pond. This is illustrative of the role of evangelism within a culture. Christ followers have influence and, as a result, others are impacted for Jesus Christ. www.yourchurchcanchangetheworld.org, p.33 Why does this analogy not work for global missions? The ripple effect does not work for global missions because we are not all part of one big pond. We are a series of mini-ponds, or isolated lakes, separated by a cultural divide. What happens within one people group will not necessarily flow over into the next people group. 4:1 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved
Romans 10:14-15 (NIV) 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" What is the only solution for global outreach to become a reality? Someone has to go and tell those in spiritually and culturally isolated people groups about Jesus Christ. Someone has to stop assuming others will take care of the problem. Someone has to be willing to step out of their comfortable culture and embrace another culture for the love of the people. Someone needs to act and not just keep thinking about the problem. Someone has to be willing to help finance the mission. Someone needs to take a step of faith and trust God. CROSSING CULTURES Consider each circle below as a separate culture. People A have their own distinct culture, but because of their geographic proximity to People B, they may have some limited commonality or cultural overlap. They may be of the same race, possibly the same language, possibly some similar traditions, similar foods etc. There is still a cultural divide between them, but not as wide a divide as between People A and C, or A and D. A B C D What are some examples of people groups that might represent the relationship between: Peoples A & B: Peoples A & C: Peoples A & D: Jerusalem - Samaria Jerusalem Asia Jerusalem Europe Mexico Guatemala Mexico Canada America Syria China - Nepal China India China - Congo 4:2 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved
There are pros and cons of trying to reach people who are close and far from your cultural experience. What are some of the pros and cons of having cultural proximity to the ones you are trying to reach? Possible Pros: Less cultural barriers to overcome Less adjustment required Better awareness of the mindset and values of the people Less expense in reaching the location Possible Cons: Possible political/relationship tensions: North Korea vs. South Korea Possible preconceived biases/racism/rivalry toward the neighbour What are the pros and cons of being from a very different cultural background? Possible Pros: Peoples willingness to listen to something new People attracted by your culture The draw of missionaries who love to embrace new cultures Possible Cons: Great cultural barriers to overcome Much adjustment required Isolation from family and friends and people you can relate to Greater expense in reaching the location and home trips Learning a new language Mark 6:7 (NIV) Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two... Luke 10:1 (NIV) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Why do you think Jesus sent out his missionaries in teams of two? 4:3 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved
Why do you think the Apostle Paul always traveled with partners when he went on his missionary journeys? Acts 18:1-4 (NIV) 1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 1 Corinthians 9:15-18 (NIV) 15 But I have not used any of these rights [financial reimbursement for ministry]. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it. Why did Paul spend some of his valuable missionary time making tents? Making tents was what Paul was trained to do for a career. It was his way of providing for his financial needs while he did his ministry. It only made sense that if he was living with Aquila and Priscilla while they made tents for a living, that he would help them in the process. Paul did not want people to think that he was preaching only to make money from the people. He knew that with money often come strings attached. He was able to boast to the Corinthians that he had not taken advantage of them in any way but had preached the gospel purely out of a love for them. Paul did at times receive support from other believers, but not usually from the people he was ministering to until a formal church community had been established. What do we mean today by the term tentmaker missionary? A tentmaker missionary is one who works to support himself while on the mission field. What are some advantages today of being a tentmaker missionary? It allows access to countries that restrict entrance of missionaries. It creates a sense of legitimacy for you being there both before the government and the people It finances the missionary s expenses It conserves limited missions funds to be used elsewhere It provides a natural connect to the indigenous people It tends to instil greater longevity in the mission field 4:4 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved
What should be the ultimate goal of a mission team as they work among an unreached people group and why? The ultimate goal of a mission team is to establish an indigenous church that has spiritual influence in the community in which it resides and has a passion for others coming to faith in Jesus Christ. If the ministry work does not become indigenous, it will never expand beyond the scope of the missionaries involvement. The people will never grow to assume responsibility for their own spiritual growth or to reach out to other communities. How would you approach structuring the indigenous church in the following areas: Leadership: Who should lead the church, the missionaries or new converts? Missionaries need to quickly hand over responsibility of the church to indigenous people if it is to become their church. As Paul traveled and started churches, one of his primary goals was to establish church leaders (elders) in every congregation who would lead the church. What should be the role of the missionary? The missionary is to teach and train the new believers so that they can eventually run the church on their own. How long should the missionaries stay? The duration of a missionary will obviously be different in every circumstance, but the goal would be to work themselves out of a job. Often missionaries take a leadership role and stay in it indefinitely, but this will defeat their overall objective of an indigenous, self propagating church. If a missionary remains on site, he/she will want to keep moving into a less visible position of leadership and take up more of a servant or support role. Church Structure: Should the church meet as a large gathering or house groups? The style of a local gathering should reflect the culture of the people and how they approach public gatherings of this nature. It is easy for missionaries to project their experience onto the mission field, but this hinders the work from truly being embraced and keeps it as a foreign entity in the people s minds. Music: Would you use contemporary Christian music with modern bands? It is amazing how diverse cultures around the world have all adopted the same musical style and songs for worship. A strength of the church is its cultural diversity. Christianity should take root in each culture, making use of their musical style, art forms and story telling. It is unfortunate when one culture chooses to mimic another culture in the establishment of their church and thus limit the creativity of that culture. 4:5 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved
Technology: Should the missionary make use of current technology? There is no right or wrong answer to this question. However, it may not be advantageous to create a church model that uses technology that would not be available to churches expanding in that culture. If you want a church to expand through a culture it needs to be free from influences that cannot be repeated without outside financing and support. Would you raise funds from other countries to support the local indigenous churches? If you want the indigenous church to expand naturally, it needs to happen without being dependent on foreign finances and support. The gospel must spread and churches be formed naturally within a culture with the resources available to that culture. It may be beneficial to provide support training and equipping of leaders, but we must be careful not to create financial dependency in order for the gospel to spread through communities. Acts 14:21-23 (NIV) 21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. As you consider the life and ministry of Paul, what are some insights and principles we could adopt as we strategize reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ? 4:6 Copyright 2013, Rob Laidlaw, All Rights Reserved