Messages
from the Bible
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
In 1988 I was serving as Pastor in the Massachusetts coastal community of Gloucester when I received a call from a long time friend. M.C. Jacob had come to America to study, and I first met him in 1968 when he became a member of the church in Philadelphia where I then served as Assistant Pastor. I had been brought up by parents who were very interested in missions - they had come to the Lord through the ministry of a Pastor who later became a missionary to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh; my mother also corresponded with Missionaries in India and South Africa, and we often had missionary guests in our home. This resulted in an easy friendship developing between me and Jacob - my wife and I often attended the Indo-Pakistani Christian Fellowship meetings. When it came time for Jacob to be married, he asked me to serve as his Best Man.
Now, 20 years later, Jacob was calling to invite me to join a tour group he was putting together to visit his home country, India. The outcome was that I did go to India, but there was no tour, and there was no Jacob - I went even though he was unable to obtain a visa, and traveled the county alone for 30 days, visiting cities with names I could not pronounce, and getting acquainted with a number of Pastors and ministries.
One of the places I visited was Itarsi where Kurien Thomas had ministered faithfully for many years; he was a dear friend of Jacob's father, who was also a pioneering pastor. The two men had left South India together to do missionary work in the North, and Pastor Thomas had established a ministry which included a church, small Bible School, and oversight of nearly 300 village churches scattered throughout the region. It was there, during that conference, that I began to see how we in the US could best participate in what the Lord was doing in the great country of India. Two weeks later, after visits in Bombay, Hyderabad and New Delhi, I was flying back home when I felt the Lord's clear call to initiate this ministry now known as ICP. With the help of hundreds of friends who have provided sponsorships, I have returned to India many times to conduct Seminars for Pastors.
When the door to India suddenly closed in 2003, the Lord began to expand the vision and I moved on to Vietnam and Cambodia to fulfill this same vision - contribute to the strengthening of the Church of Jesus Christ by working to edify pastors who labor for the Gospel in the poorer areas of the world.
That brings us to now, as we make final preparations to conduct seminars for Pastors in several countries on the continent of Africa.
Technically, we can say that Christianity first came to Africa in the first century AD when, according to tradition, Mark, the writer of our second Gospel, planted the church in Alexandria around AD 65. However, almost all of the Christian activity remained in the north, in Egypt, Tunisia, and northern Algeria. It wasn't until the 16th century when some Portuguese and later Dutch missionaries evangelized parts of east and west Africa, and in the 19th century Africa became a dominant focus of Missionaries from Europe and America.
The growth of Christianity in Africa was slow until the 20th century when most missions took place through African initiative, by members of what are now called AIC - African Independent Churches, sometimes called African Instituted Churches, or African Indigenous Churches (although a significant amount of missions work was done through western denominational efforts.) Today there are well over 10,000 independent Christian denominations in Africa.
On the surface, it would appear that Christianity is quite strong in Africa. The "Encyclopædia Britannica" reports that Christians make up 46% of the total population.
On Thursday afternoon, January 20th, Peter Willcox and I will depart from Newark Airport and meet up with Jack Kinard in Amsterdam, and from there travel on to Accra, the capital of Ghana - we will arrive there late the next evening.
According to some accounts, 64% of Ghanaians call themselves Christian, but only 12% regularly attend church. In addition, it seems that African traditional worldviews and religious practices have gone hand-in-hand with the claim of being Christian, and many of the African Independent Churches offer excitement, involvement, and miracles, but not always salvation by faith.
Although Ghana is a secular state with religious freedom since 1992, there are increasing tensions between Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists.
Pastor Smart Addo Gyan (we call him Pastor Smart) will lead a seminar with about 200 pastors coming together, most of whom will come from areas outside the capital city. We are expecting Ted to join us - as you know he ministered in Ghana briefly last year.
After Sunday ministry in several churches and two full days of teaching and evening services, we will be driven through the country of Togo, stopping in Lome for a Wednesday evening service and staying in the guest facilities of the Assemblies of God Bible college where our own former Assistant Pastor George Thomassen is a missionary. The stated need in Togo is for the training of leaders in a country where now there is almost total religious freedom after several decades of opposition and control of Christian churches.
The next day we will move across the border to Cotonou, Benin, where we will conduct a small seminar for about 100 pastors under the leadership of Pastor Job Ekeoma Obike.
As in Togo, the Church in Benin lacks leadership - there is a real shortage of trained leaders to teach the Bible and demonstrate a life of holiness. Many tribes and villages are asking for pastors or missionaries to show them a biblical Christianity. On paper, it appears that 30% of the Benin population are Christian, and 47% belong to ethnic religions. In fact, due to widespread syncretism among Muslims and nominal Christians, nearly 80% are actually practicing a variety of ethnic religions.
When we complete our Thursday to Saturday seminar and minister in the churches of Benin on Sunday, we will be driven back to Accra where we will catch an evening flight across the continent to Kenya. Due to a lengthy lay-over, we will arrive in Nairobi at 5:00 A.M., and then take the 8 o'clock flight to Kisumu in time to begin our first of two seminars on Tuesday afternoon, February 1.
In Kenya, the Protestant and indigenous churches have grown fast, largely due to the East African Revival which took place between 1948 and 1960. However, these revival fires were quenched by legalism, divisions, materialism and personality clashes. The unusual rapid growth brought a number of problems such as nominalism - Nairobi is 80% ‘Christian’, but only 12% of the population goes to church. Other problems have been brought about by tribalism and tribal customs, causing endless divisions and a multiplicity of independent churches, some theologically orthodox; others are very little removed from the old ethnic religions. The major problem, as in the countries previously mentioned, is the lack of trained leaders and for pastors to be fully and adequately supported by their congregations. In Kenya, there is full freedom of religion and much of the population professes to be Christian — including many in leadership.
The two Pastors' Seminars in Kenya will involve nearly 1,000 Pastors, and is being organized by a committee of 14 led by Pastor Peter Amunga. Let me cite a portion of a recent letter received from him:
I immediately replied,
After we complete the first Seminar on Thursday evening, Peter and I will board a bus first thing Friday morning to take a five hour trip across into Uganda to conduct a short Friday evening and all day Saturday seminar. This will involve about 100 Pastors from both Anglican (Evangelical) and Pentecostal churches, and is being viewed as a first time opportunity to develop more harmony between the two groups. I will also minister in two services at the University in Kampala. As you know, Peter Willcox is my son-in-law, and his father and mother have served in Uganda since their retirement from pastoral ministry at age 70 - 10 years ago.
As many are well aware, Uganda suffered greatly at the brutal hands of dictators during which time there was unrestrained terror, multitude, tribal warfare, corruption, and the fast spread of AIDS. Although the church in some parts is being revived and growing, again there is a great need for the training of a new generation of leaders. In Uganda, a large portion of the population claims to be Christian, but there is widespread polygamy, a culture of promiscuity and the paying of mere lip-service to God.
Meanwhile, while Peter and I minister in Uganda, back in Kenya Evangelist Jack Kinard will minister in many churches throughout the weekend. Peter and I will take the bus back to Kisumu and begin our last seminar before heading for home on Friday, February 11.
As you know, my own transportation costs of over $2,200 and all of the additional travel expenses such as car rentals, bus tickets, food and lodging costs - all of these are paid for out of my own pocket. All of the money raised for ICP is dedicated to the impoverished Pastors who are being invited to these seminars - to provide food and lodging and to help with their transportation.
Someone may well ask, why do you do it?
A number of years ago, at a men's ministry breakfast, one of the men at the table offered the observation that congregations often take on characteristics of their Pastors. He followed up with the comment, "I guess with Pastor Chadwick being here, we'll all turn into philosophers." Well, a philosopher I am not, but I do think it's important to ask the "why" questions, which I guess is a function of philosophy. In this case, we're asking the question, "Why missions?" or "What Motivates Missions?"
First, let's try to understand what are some less than noble motives for missions.
Perhaps less obvious is the reality that some may do missions out of a desire for some kind of notoriety; after all, Missionaries do glean special attention from those who may view their lives as being glamorous or exiting.
Others may involve themselves in missions to see their own organization or denomination grow. Once when I asked for the privilege of sending fund-raising letters to Pastors in a particular denomination, the answer came back in the form of a question, "How does what you're doing help our denomination?"
There also may be some who do missions because it subconsciously gives them an air of superiority - let's face it, in spite of all the criticism America gets, most people outside Europe, look up to America and by extension, Americans.
We call these motives "less than noble," but we have to be willing to admit that there is always the chance that motives are mixed. It's for that reason that we must not judge other people's motives - no one can boast of totally pure motives, and ultimately the Lord Himself will be the only, and final, judge of the heart. And this is certainly why we need to keep sensitive to the Holy Spirit in prayer, so that the true intents of the heart will come to light.
So then, what are the "noble motives" when it comes to missions? Well, if we say that we run our lives according to the guidance given in Scripture, we must look there for an answer to the question.
In the New Testament we know a lot about two major Missionaries, Jesus and Paul.
Jesus was the ultimate cross-cultural Missionary! He left heaven's holy habitation to trudge through the mud of the mundane and live in this world of woe. The dominate motive of Jesus was this: simple obedience to His Father's will, and an awareness that His sacrifice would bring salvation to all who would believe. However, we are prone to dismiss this example because Jesus was totally unique. Try as hard as we may, and pray as often as we can, we cannot hope, in this life, to measure up to His exalted example.
In addition, a notable teaching of Jesus is what we call "The Golden Rule" - "Do to others as you would have them do to you." This principle needs to be applied to missions, that is, we are motivated to take the Gospel to others because, if we were in their shoes, we would be grateful if someone would bring the Gospel to us.
The other outstanding example of a Missionary is that of the Apostle Paul. While he was not one of the original "12", he took seriously the commission passed on to him, and became Christianity's first missionary to take the Gospel to those who had not previously heard of Jesus, the Messiah and Savior.
What was Paul's motive? Again, simple obedience. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel," and Paul did it. We understand that there is a general command and a specific command.
A second motivation for the Apostle is verbalized in II Corinthians 5:11-14
Evidently there were critics of Paul who saw his zeal for the Gospel as being a sign of insanity - the word used literally means "outside himself." A similar charge was leveled against Jesus by His friends (Mark 3:21), and was also used to describe the people who witnessed the raising of Jairus daughter. (Mark 5:42)
Paul's reply was that if he was overzealous, it was for God, and on the other hand, if he was sober minded, it was for the benefit of the church.
Then he identifies the bottom line motivation for trying "to persuade men," and the one which speaks to us today - "the love of Christ" (KJV).
When we think about it, there appear to be three possibilities as to what was meant by this. What motivated Paul's mission was either:
Paul's own love for Christ in response to that wonderful gift of salvation, or
the love of Christ in him expressed to those who are dying in their sins.
We can't help notice that the expression Paul uses to identify this as his motive is a strong word - he says the love of Christ "compels." The word ("sunecho") sometimes means "to arrest," or "to constrain." Clearly there's an inner drive - today Paul might be diagnosed with OCD "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." But if his was a disorder, it was of the same kind as what causes a mother to spend sleepless nights at the bedside of an ill child, or that of a sibling who willingly gives up a kidney so that a brother or sister may have a chance to recover from a life-threatening illness. It's a disorder like that of a father who works from early morning until late in the night in order to provide the basic necessities for his family.
And it's the disorder that has caused thousands of men and women to leave the relative comfort of home and friends to go for short or long periods of time to unfamiliar places in order to share the good news of God's love.
That's what motivates missions - the love of Christ.
But there's one more word. Note how Paul finishes the sentence in the plural - "Christ's love compels us." At this point the application extends beyond Paul and encompasses all who go by the name Christian - Paul's "us" must mean "us"! With both our fulfillment of the general command, or specific commands given by Christ, love is the motive, love is "why" we do it.
On the other hand, we must be willing to admit that if there is any waning of desire to further the Gospel, it can simply be explained by a diminishing of love for Christ. Today, may that love be rekindled.
1. Many people in Africa today have become Christians, not due to outside denominational missions work, but as the result of "AIC." What do these letters stand for?
2. Why should we be concerned about Africa if it's true that Christians make up 46% of the total population?
3. In the brief survey of Christianity in Africa, what factors stand out concerning the pressing need in the church today?
4. Why is it good, or not good, to ask the "why" questions?
5. What are some less than noble motives for missions?
6. What is the problem with judging other people's motives?
7. What do you think motivated Jesus to leave heaven to come to earth?
8. How can the Golden Rule be applied as a motive for missions?
9. What is the general command concerning missions, and what are some specific commands concerning missions, both as they apply to Paul and to us?
10. Why did some people in Corinth spread the word that Paul was a bit crazy, and who before him was similarly criticized?
11. What are the three possibilities as to what was meant by the phrase, "the love of Christ"?
12. What four letter word represents the "OCD" of missions?
What Motivates Missions?
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"We have avoided the big cities for the seminars. We feel the big cities have facilities and ways of getting much of the teachings. But the rural pastors are in darkness. Many are ignorant. many have no tools by which to pastor and minister. Enlightened pastors run to the bigger towns where they also can get a better offering. Do you think we are in the right direction by preferring to reach out to the rural Pastor in Kenya?"
"This plan is very consistent with the vision of ICP and one reason we accepted your kind invitation. We want to let our brethren in the more rural and poorer parts know they are not forgotten, and we care about their spiritual and vocational well-being."
The first is obvious, we don't do missions for selfish gain - if someone wants to get rich, this isn't the way to do it!
On the other hand, Jesus did say, "take up your cross and follow me," suggesting that this ought always to be the ideal towards which we aim, to be like our Master in giving ourselves totally so that unreached people may hear the Gospel.
All disciples of Jesus must participate in this "Great Commission," but how this is carried out for each individual depends upon the specific command given them by Christ. However, these two commands are intertwined; we cannot claim to be fulfilling the general command unless we are discovering and carrying out the specific command.
"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."
the love shown by Christ in dying on the cross,
What Motivates Missions?
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