Brian Cole, in his article Whenever You Enter a House: Reflections on Mark 6:7-13, confronts an attitude in proclaiming the gospel marked by individualism and self-sufficiency. Cole maintains that our own proclivities are often intermingled with the gospel message and offers a corrective by examining the passage in Mark in which Christ sends out a rather motley, ill-prepared crew to proclaim the good news. Despite their personal shortcomings, the missionary effort is apparently a successful endeavor. From this passage, Cole suggests that the missionary go out as the vulnerable ones on a mission thus putting them into a position to accept the hospitality of the stranger as crucial to the success of the mission. As a result, "strangers and minor characters" become critical to the spread of the gospel.
Cole's thesis here is intriguing, inviting in certain ways and, ultimately, a bit scary for one considering missions. It flies in the face of the self-sufficiency that's bred into the average American. It smacks of an uncertainty that our culture finds baffling. To depend on people you don't even know for your survival? Not a typical American attitude.
The article reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a representative of Campus Crusade. We were talking about the various opportunities the organization offers, how placement works, what sort of work is done and more. I think I talked to him for well over half an hour. During that conversation, I mentioned that one of the things that hold me back from really looking into work with a group such as Campus Crusade is the idea of raising support. I'd find it difficult to ask for money, but, putting that aside, there's a part of me that is afraid the money wouldn't come through and I would be stuck having quit one job without means of support in a new one. The representative then told me something that has stuck with me ever since. He said that God wouldn't bring you this far, make you so certain in your call, only to step back and say, "Go! You're on your own now."
That kind of stepping out in faith is ultimately what Cole is calling for here. Go without knowing exactly how things will work out. Rather than coming to a community that needs to hear the gospel with all the answers and all your needs met, come to them with needs. Show them your vulnerability. Let them help you and, in the topsy-turvy way that the kingdom of God sometimes works, a door is opened for you to share the gospel with them.
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2 comments:
Tammie, interesting article on missiology. How does risk connect with the missio Dei?
On one hand, there is risk as the world perceives it as much of the world simply doesn't understand leaving behind the American dream to go across the street much less to go across the world to be a part of what God is doing in the world. On the other hand, we aren't risking anything at all because we are serving a God who can and will provide although it may not always be in the way we expect.
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