Missions Then and Now. (Reflections on missions, part 4)

Do times change, or do we change with the times?? How many times have you heard something similar to this thought before?? Haw many times, talking with our grandparents, or someone else reminiscing about how things were in the 'good ol days', have you heard them say with a sigh, "well, times change. Things are different now." On the spiritual side of things, the church side, there is always a challenge in wether things should change or not, to be more relevant to this generation. Always the question if change is ok, and everyone has their own point of view. I don't want to focus on this point, but rather paraphrase that saying with another one, that I believe is the absolute truth.

"Times don't change the message, but it does change the need." The word of God is a constant in this ever-changing world. What God says, thats the absolute truth. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Heaven and earth may pass away, but his word will never pass away!! No matter in what time we live, what culture we live, the word of God; it's message of sin, salvation and redemption, will never change. That is the constant on which his body, the church, is established. However, with that said, the need for each culture, for each generation, can and does change.

Let me explain. And please bear with me, as we are getting into the heart of what I have been wanting to share. As I mentioned yesterday, the main focus in missions for hundreds of years, was that of going out and reaching the lost, preaching and reaching those that had never heard, before the darkness of sin could drown them in death with no eternal hope. And many, even to this day, feel that that is what missions is all about. I did, growing up, when God called me to be a missionary, and even when i first came to the mission field. However, I think that in this day and age, the need has changed.

There are very few people who are now considered unreached. Yes, there are some tribes that still have never heard; we have two here, deep in the jungle on the border of Ecuador and Peru. And there are still some others, all around the globe, that have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. But by and far, the larger part of the planet has been reached, what with missionaries going out for hundreds of years, with the modern inventions of radio, tv, and internet, the gospel has been sent over these invisible waves to listeners and viewers all over the planet!

Yet, the need seems to be as great as ever. Economical, social and moral crisis's plague the earth, and even the church of God, the body of Christ. Part of that is because we are living in the end times, when the dark power and hold of satan on this earth is at such a point, that the word says that unless the days were shortened, even the elect, the saved, would be drawn away into this bondage. Yet, Christ rose from the grave victorious, conquering death, satan, and all that would bind humankind. So why are we still faced with so many problems? Why are these problems so rampant, even among the christian church? Why, if we are sealed and indwelled by the very spirit of the Lord who raised Christ up from the dead, do we still fall in sin, especially among the christian leaders? Why do we hear so much of pastors and leaders falling into the sin of money, of pride, of false teaching, and of sexual sins??

Oh, there are plenty of places to lay blame. We could use the old affinity "the devil made me do it!!". We have three sources around us to blame; the great deceiver, the world, and our own flesh. "I'm just human." "They're pastors, they come under heavier attack than anyone."

I'm not looking to place blame on anyone. But I would like to leave a thought with you, to think on until tomorrows reflection, a bur under your saddle, if you will. Can part of the blame lie with the christian church? Could our view on missions be partial or incomplete? Could we be missing something? Is there something that we are not doing or fulfilling in our role as the christian church; being a city set on a hill, the salt of the earth, and our going into all the world to preach the gospel?? Is there another key part to missions, another field of missions that we are missing??

TO BE CONTINUED...