I've been reading a lot of Paul lately. Have you heard of him? Authored half of the New Testament, missionary to many, and even served time for it. Ah yes, Paul.
Sometimes I forget he was a real person, and sometimes I catch myself adding my own little details to his life story. I picture him thoughtfully staring off into the distance, his head inquisitively turned slightly to the right, as he sails onward towards his next missionary destination. He smiles to himself as he remembers his friends throughout the empire that are thriving in new, flourishing home churches with too many members to count. He envisions the multitudes that have fallen on their faces before the Lord as a result of his ministry and confidently asks God for more, because naturally, he never ceases to pray.
For a few months now, I've been the missionary, and it's caused me to take some second looks at Paul. Who could better supply some helpful hints about this kind of life that I'm desperately trying to figure out?
Helpful Hint #1: Acknowledge the real deal. The valiant, calm pastor image I created in my head is probably not the reality of Paul's persona. Just because today we are privy to knowing the fruit of his ministry doesn't mean he could necessarily see it then, nor was he immune to disappointment along the way. Surely he felt despair when people and communities just didn't get it. With a fiery and fierce demeanor, he likely boiled with anger as he watched sin injure people and dishonor the name of God. For every individual who repented in order to follow The Way, there was likely another who rejected Paul's teaching as foolishness. He suffered disappointments in his ministry. And yet, God produced a growing first century church using Paul's efforts.
The more I experience church and ministry here, the more sentiments I think I share with Paul. I want to give the benefit of the doubt, but I also want to discover the truthful realities in people's lives here. Seeing brokenness is difficult, especially understanding the effects it wreaks on lives and successive generations. However, in order to tend to the brokenness, I've learned that we must first acknowledge the real deal of the situation. Often, the real deal is messy, ugly, and bleak. And we must question. What keeps individuals in the church from seeking growth? How can they complacently accept the emptiness of their current life? What kind of faith are men practicing if their wives can't tell the difference between their husbands as Muslims and now as Christians? How can women think faith is for men alone? Why bother with church and faith if it doesn't change your life? But we can't stop with questions and we can't accept the bleakness as the final word. We seek understanding only in order to herald the healing that comes through prayer, teaching, and the ministry of presence.
Helpful Hint #2: Build bridges. On a trip to Athens recorded in Acts 17, Paul exemplifies a concept Janee taught me my first week here as essential to Muslim ministry, and I think ministry in general. Although he was "greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols," Paul finds common ground with these polytheists in order to then share the love of Christ with them. In fact, he openly spoke the truth in the synagogue and the marketplace, discussing and reasoning with whoever happened to be listening. He spoke the truth boldly enough to cause people to curiously ask for more. "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange new ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." Paul stands up before a meeting of thinkers, and begins hammering nails into a bridge of common understanding between their worldviews. "I see that in every way you are very religious," he says. "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." Paul continues to build a case for the one true God, but using their terminology. He emphasizes what they agree on and then moves onto the person of Christ and His resurrection. (Check out the end of the story in Acts 17:24-34).
Likewise, I'm learning and implementing this proclamation model for sharing the Gospel. Whether with my Muslim friend or with a youth at church, painstakingly constructing a bridge of shared belief is powerful. It builds a foundation of trust and respect, and creates a context into which the story of Jesus can most clearly enter.
And even then, Paul likely suffered some disappointment in the midst of what we would deem a ministry success. The result of his brilliant and relevant presentation was that "some of them sneered, but others said, 'We want to hear you again on this subject'... A few men became followers of Paul and believed." That's the real deal.
Helpful Hint #3: Adapt. As the beloved mentor of so many diverse congregations and as a dearly loved discipler and friend of many, it seems like Paul mastered this concept. "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the gospel." Whether it was becoming like Jews, Gentiles, or simply the weak, Paul understood the benefit of adapting the adaptable parts of his identity. Certainly there are fundamental features of our faith and uniqueness as our Father's children that we will refuse to touch, and rightly so, but for the rest, we must grip loosely.
I have and will continue to try adapt to the people and the world around me, if it means that somehow Christ looks better. I'm not a fan of organized group games. But, if it could lead to a richer community in our youth group that fosters honest discussion, I can enjoy a thumb war tournament or some fishbowl charades. Shopping wears me out and usually bores me to tears, but if that's my Muslim friend's suggestion for hanging out, shopping on Friday it is. I find dates and figs revolting, but if passing the bowl could impair a friendship or incur judgment that blocks one's sensitivity to God, then one or two never hurt anybody. In the end, becoming all things to all people becomes a lesson in freedom. Freedom can be found in such a self-emptying ideology. Jesus said so.
Thank you for this :)
ReplyDelete