Mission advice

by Elsie Koutia

Students in my current religion class were asked to write on the following theme, after our study of the Acts of the Apostles:  "Imagine the apostle Paul were to address our churches today.  What advice might Paul offer about our efforts at mission work in the 21st century?"    Elsie offered the following observations, which I thought worth sharing here on The Electric Gospel blog.

              Paul’s missionary journeys were filled with joys, dangers, failures, and triumphs. His unprecedented career has become a model for spreading the word of God for people throughout the ages. If Paul were to come and speak to us today, about how we could improve our missionary efforts, he might touch on the following aspects of outreach:

              Paul would encourage our outlook to be simpler. Sometimes we may be caught up in the act of witnessing and the logistics that go with expanding the mission field and lose focus on the true reason for all our efforts.  We preach Christ crucified for the salvation of souls.  This simple mission statement will keep us focused on the true reason of outreach.

              Paul also would urge us not to alienate our audience by conveying the message in ways that are not understandable or relatable to those to whom we witness. It is so easy to just “spew” what we have learned in an attempt to witness. However, we do well to keep in mind the people we are speaking to—their backgrounds, their language, their experiences. Sometimes going at witnessing in an unconventional way will help get our point more clearly across.

              Paul might also speak about making a persuasive argument with our words, but also not trusting in human logic. It might be easy to feel pressure as a missionary to try to persuade and convince everyone you why they should believe in what God has put in his Word. However, we must remember who truly plants the seed of faith and helps it grow: The Holy Spirit.  We can help spread the Word of God and witness to others, but in the end, the Holy Spirit is the one creating faith. There is not enough human knowledge that we can give to convince someone to believe in Jesus. Human reason can do nothing compared to the power of the Holy Spirit.

              Missions are maintained when strong leaders oversee their growth and nurture the souls of the congregation.  It can be tough for congregations to stay focused without strong leaders guiding them in the Word.  Paul provided a great example of mission leadership, even continuing to nurture the missions from afar. He also encouraged mission leaders to train others to become future leaders of the church, continuing to build on the strong foundation in Christ.

              Finally, Paul would explain how being flexible in the itinerary of a mission project is essential. Sometimes we might have our sights set on certain region or a project that seems best to us. However, God knows best and if another opportunity is put in our way to spread the Word, we will want to jump at the chance. After all, God’s Word is needed EVERYWHERE!