When is a gift not a gift?

Providing aid at a time of crisis is a regular part of BMS work across the world as UK churches respond to the needs that hit our TV screens.  Recently we have been actively involved in responding to the aftermath of the typhoon striking the Philippines, and we continue to help with the drawn out crisis in Syria and the immediately surrounding countries. 

Having visited Lebanon most recently and come face to face with some of this response I have faced questions as to how best to respond in the face of a crisis.  A partner there posted a helpful blog (Link to IMES blog) that highlighted some of the pitfalls as well as indicating an appropriate and distinctively Christian response.  It is helpful to be reminded that a true gift comes with no strings attached, and so in the context of giving relief we should not exploit our relative power and impose a religious belief. 

Yet the act of offering a gift as a Christian is a prophetic act and as such a message needs to be articulated.  Our acts of service and kindness demonstrate the kingdom of God and it cannot be assumed that by merely observing the act people will know the King.  I suppose that how that message is communicated about the King needs to be thought through in the particular context, but even in the West we are often too reticent in speaking of Jesus.  I want people to know me more than just being a good bloke or neighbour, but rather to see beyond that to Jesus.  I need to be courageous in speaking of the King from whom the gift really originates.

Lessons from Spurgeon

In the 1800s, C. H. Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher and leader wrote to his students concerning engagement in world mission with these words, “Each student entering the college should consider this matter, and surrender himself to the work unless there are conclusive reasons for his not doing so…. Surely there is some self-sacrifice among us yet, and some among us are willing to be exiled for Jesus.  The Mission languishes for the want of men…”  Spurgeon provoked his students (all men at that time) to consider a calling to world mission, not as an afterthought, but rather as a prime calling upon their lives.  He went on to refer to the Moravians with these words, “Look at the Moravians! How every man and woman becomes a missionary, and how much they do in consequence”. 

These words ring true today in terms of the challenge to those pursuing calls into Christian ministry and leadership to be open to service overseas.  As an island people our vision for serving God can too frequently be restricted by the seas that surround us.  These seas need to be viewed more as travel ways for service rather than as barriers that confine and restrict.  This certainly seems to be how the Apostle Paul viewed the sea!

The second challenge is for all Christians to view themselves as missionaries.  The history of overseas mission is packed with people that are frequently held up as heroes.  Spurgeon himself was a friend of one such hero in Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission.  While it is good to respect people such as Hudson Taylor, there is a danger in so elevating the missionary that the role becomes unobtainable to others.  Surely we are all called to be witnesses to Jesus in our lives and words wherever he has placed us (see previous blog post)? 

Travelling in India with one of our church planting partners some time ago I visited a village where a crowd gathered to hear the gospel.  I asked my friend who was speaking to the gathered crowd, to be told that he was from the village across the river and had come to faith in the preceding year.  Right from the outset of faith he was encouraged to go and to be a missionary, sharing the Good News with others.

All called to be missionaries.  All called to go.