Here’s a great definition of missions from Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis.
Missions is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there. It is almost as if being a good missionary means having really good eyesight. Or maybe it means teaching people to use their eyes to see things that have always been there; they just didn’t realize it. You see God where others don’t. And then you point him out.
Perhaps we ought to replace the word missionary with tour guide, because we cannot show people something we haven’t seen.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Velvet Elvis is a terrific book. And Bell’s Nooma DVDs are a great teaching resource.
I see.
I really like where Bell is going with this thought. Lee Camp says something similar, “The challenge of evangelism may, however, be first a challenge of discipleship: will we be what we have been called to be?” So, in other words, the more disciples we have out there who have “good eyesight” and who can communicate and live out the vision of the Kingdom (seeing God where others don’t) the less we need the language of “missionary”. More disciples less missionaries? Not a bad swap. Sawadee.
This concept might remove the crusading or invading mindset that often dogs missionaries and their work. Our work in Europe showed us that the people are offended at the idea that they need a missionary. If a person presented themselves as bringing the truth from a foreign land, their work was dead in the water. If we came as friends who loved their country and culture and who wanted to share it with them and, oh, by the way, did you notice God in this or that? That way, we made real inroads. The same today in the Detroit Metro area. Before you can convert someone, you must come alongside them and share their story and “From that point he preached unto him Jesus…”
I think Fred Peatross has a handle on the nomenclature with the title of his article in New Wineskins some time back: Fellow Explorer and Sometimes Guide.
Patrick,
Interesting thoughts. I get the idea. My problem is God being reduced to “and oh, by the way”. That just doesn’t feel right. Sharing in people’s stories is essential. Embracing people in the midst of their culture and background is a must. But it almost seems we hide God for as long as possible with folks until we are ready for them to know what we have been doing all along is in the name of God. If we are to “shine like stars in the universe – holding out the word of life”, it gnaws at me that we are almost ashamed to invoke the name of Jesus too soon.
Loved the quote. It’s right dead on. It is akin to the scripture containing the Great Commission which is misunderstood, in my opinion. The Great Commission and “doing missions” is not nearly so much about going through colleges and seminaries to ‘learn how to be a missionary’ but much more it is about “as ye are going, make disciples of all men…”. So, as we are going through our days at work, school, driving, grocery shopping, etc., it is about showing others “Christ in you, the hope of glory” to the degree that you know Christ in you and are given His eyes to see Christ in His many and varied forms. Tour Guide…I love it !
Wow. This really good. It’s similar to the idea that we don’t expand the Kingdom, but rather, proclaim the availability of the Kingdom and usher people into the Kingdom. This is what disciples have been doing from the begining, it seems to me.
Wade, I was always amazed how Derek Archer was able to do this – to take any conversation and show people how God relates to it in a manner where the people didn’t feel like they were being used for some sort of religious project.