Viewing entries tagged
missional
The church building can be a safety blanket for Christians. It’s our home turf, but it can be an obstacle to many. Taking part in a community event helped us get to know organizers and others who care about our city. We didn’t change the world, but we showed up and were able to bless our city and be blessed by the people we met and the discussions God opened up.
People like William Carey and Hudson Taylor get mentioned so often in conversations about missions that you could get the impression that the spread of Christianity is just the story of European evangelistic exploits. That certainly isn’t the case. Today, Christianity is thriving in Africa while it is struggling to survive in many parts of Europe. And now there are more missionaries being sent out from South Korea, Brazil, and Nigeria than any country in Europe. I’ve been reading a book called Clouds of Witnesses that chronicles the contributions of African and Asian Christians to the church. Because Grace Baptist has been so blessed by the testimony and ministry of Zimbabweans over the years, I was intrigued to learn about Bernard Mizeki, one of the first missionaries to bring the Gospel to that nation.
We need to learn from Hudson Taylor’s example in separating culture from Christianity in sharing Jesus’ message of hope.
