Peoples on the Move. Anthony F. Casey

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СКАЧАТЬ something of the people. Just as the spies in Numbers discovered, so too can we identify bridges to aid our ministry and barriers which must be addressed for the gospel to go forward. Many mission and ministry teams undertake some kind of prayer walking or exploratory trip prior to full engagement of a new community. Such trips help the missionaries learn the best place to live and conduct ministry. Before moving to Kuala Lumpur, I spent time on Google Maps understanding the city layout, train network, and other infrastructure. I consulted with local people on the ground. I ended up deciding to live on a train line that connected both the seminary at which I taught part-time and the university at which I taught full-time. I triangulated housing through an online apartment finder with neighborhoods within walking distance of the train line, moving away from the city center until I found an area that suited my needs and in which I could afford to live.

      The Life of Daniel

      Daniel was captured by the enemy and raised in Babylon. Yet, as with those before him, he saw his lot in life as an opportunity to serve God. He worked hard and became skilled in learning, literature, and the local wisdom (Dan 1:17). He excelled in culture learning to the point that his abilities were recognized and he was asked to teach Chaldean literature and language in the king’s palace. He did so well that he was promoted to a place of influence and authority. In many respects, Daniel lived as a Babylonian, speaking their language and working in their governmental system. Daniel lived incarnationally, except when it required him to transgress the law of God. Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s food, yet in an extraordinary act of compassion for the local servants in order to keep them out of trouble, made sure he would not lose too much weight or change in appearance as to draw the king’s notice (Dan 1:6–16).

      Daniel worked in a pagan king’s palace, but lived openly acknowledging his God. He did not try to hide his faith, but did his job well and sought to bless those around him. The king took notice of Daniel’s faith and his God and exclaimed, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries” (Dan 2:47). Daniel’s faith was tested, none more so than in the lion’s den, but God was faithful and Daniel became a great witness among the people.

      Daniel models one who learned the local language and customs well, used his gifts to serve the people, and lived openly, acknowledging his God. One of my roommates from college moved to China a few years ago for ministry. He worked hard at the local language, as he was on a student visa for language school. While in China, he did the two things he was good at—working with wood and running. In an amazing act of providence, God used these very two gifts to enable my friend to get a long-term visa and start a strong ministry. He began entering mountain running events and won. Before long, he was a bit of a local celebrity. Here was a white foreigner who could speak the local language and run fast. He was on magazine covers, had news interviews, and became a sponsored athlete from Solomon sports. He used his fame and skills to start a local running club and now has a wonderful platform from which to minister.

      One day, he walked in a local wood shop and asked if he could use the equipment. Not knowing what to say to this brash foreigner, the guys said yes. My friend began making high quality furniture and even teaching the locals. Before long, a local university heard of this foreigner who could speak the language and make great woodwork. Long story short, they hired him to teach woodworking at the university, bought him more than $100,000 in equipment, and gave a long-term visa. Both my friend and Daniel are the fruit of those who work hard at excelling in a craft in order to become fully immersed in the culture and using their place of influence for the kingdom.

      The Message of Jeremiah

      In the midst of the book of Jeremiah is a letter to the Israelite exiles in Babylon. God’s people had failed to honor God with their lives and as a result of continually turning their backs on God they were exiled. In a sense, the exile was meant to be a punishment for their sin. God had handed them over to their enemies. Yet, as if a paradox, God asks his people to live in Babylon as if it was their home. He tells them to build houses and plant gardens. To marry and multiply. And amazingly, to seek the welfare of and pray for the city where he had sent them into exile, for in its welfare they would find their welfare (Jer 29:1–9).

      God wanted his people to have an anti-isolationist mentality. It would be easy to see the exile as a period of God’s abandonment, like a stint in prison that must be endured. Yet, God sees so much more. He wants his people to strive to be a blessing to their captives, even though they are enemies of God. No matter the length of the exile, God wants his people to take a long-term perspective and live fully in the culture. The letter demonstrates what true incarnational living can look like.

      One of my friends models this engagement. He had worked with Nepali refugees for years and eventually decided to move into a neighborhood where many Nepali families had bought houses. Now, rather than having to drive for thirty minutes to do ministry, he simply has to open his front door and look across the street. Others in a similar situation have fully engaged their neighborhood. They seek its welfare by mowing lawns, painting fences, and fixing porches. They go to community meetings and speak up about injustices. They volunteer and tutor in local schools. They start and equip others to start local businesses to keep money in the neighborhood. And they share the hope of the gospel in a hurting community. Two of them were robbed while painting a mural on the side of an abandoned building. The incident resulted in them being interviewed on the local news. Why would these people endure such hardships? They were able to answer in front of thousands of viewers, “Because we love God and we love our neighbor. We are committed to this neighborhood because it’s our neighborhood. We believe the gospel renews all things and we want to see people follow Jesus and engage their community.” Jeremiah and these Christians seek to live incarnationally for the sake of the kingdom.

      The Life of the Apostle Paul

      Paul is perhaps the classic biblical example of one who engaged in cultural research for more effective ministry. However, Paul’s approach went far beyond simply walking around Athens until he found the statue of the unknown god. Paul knew the importance of understanding his target people’s worldview—the lens through which they understood reality and answered the biggest questions of life such as who is God, where did humanity come from, what is wrong with the world, how is it fixed, what is the afterlife, etc. In Acts 13 we see that Paul understood the Jewish worldview and he used a specific strategy to evangelize them by making his case from Old Testament history. He knew the Jewish people had a basic biblical understanding of God, humanity, and the OT sacrificial system so he built on what they already knew and bridged to Jesus. Just a chapter later, we find Paul in a different context, that of a thoroughly pagan worldview. Here, people confused Paul with Hermes and attempted to worship him as a god! Paul appealed not to Old Testament Jewish history, but to God as creator in order to present the gospel in an understandable way to this pagan audience. He pointed out that people needed to turn from their vain worship of idols to the living God, who made them (Acts 14:14–15). In both instances, Paul understood the cultural context in which he was working and used an appropriate evangelistic strategy.

      Later, Paul spent time walking around the city of Athens in order to better understand what people believed and how they lived. It did not take long for him to realize that the city was full of idols to every sort of god, even to unnamed and unknown gods (Acts 17:16, 23). He then bridges off his observations to tailor his evangelistic appeal to the specific context in which the people lived. Paul contextualizes the gospel but does not change the substance of his message—repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. Biblical contextualization is simply communicating the gospel in a way that is biblically faithful yet culturally understandable. In order to be culturally understandable, one must know something of what the culture believes.

      Paul took incarnational ministry very seriously. He sought to live like those to whom he ministered so as to not present any unnecessary barrier to their hearing of the gospel message. Paul gave up his rights to live more naturally among the people (1 Cor 9:19–23). Furthermore, Paul sometimes worked a regular job alongside those he СКАЧАТЬ