Gospel Prism

How could Paul have gone to Jerusalem, even after he was warned he was to be bound and imprisoned by Agabus (Acts 21:10-11)? It was Paul’s fault that he was to be tried by Felix, then Festus. Talk about Christian irresponsibility, Paul deserved whatever punishment he received. And to think, Paul wasn’t even invited by the Jews of Jerusalem to go and worship at the Temple.

There are very few today in Christianity who think Paul acted irresponsibly. And yet, somehow, the Korean missionaries captured by the Taliban have been critiqued in this way. Now I can understand non-Christians thinking along such lines. But when I hear Christians repeating the onslaught against the “missionaries’ strategy,” I have to wonder if they are reading the same Bible that I read. Christianity Today reported:

Christians who aren’t angry are concerned. “At this point, we should reflect on where we are and reconsider where we are heading to in our missionary work,” Park Jong-soon, head pastor of Choongshin Church in Seoul and former president of the Christian Council of Korea, told Yonhap News Service. “Korean missionaries have strong emotional fervor but they are weak in strategy. Missionary work is about humbling ourselves, listening to what locals say, what other missionaries there say. … We cannot be combative delivering God’s words.”

From every account I have read, these missionaries never even spoke a word to the locals. They were a medical team intending to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. I don’t think one combative word was used.

In today’s climate, we are more concerned about safety, tolerance, and being non-combative, then we are about proclaiming the Gospel. Sometimes proclaiming the Gospel, even graciously, can lead to persecution. I believe Jesus was the one who reminds us of this fact:

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt 5:11-12)

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Let’s not confuse ‘lack of strategy’ with persecution. From all accounts, they trained and prepared. Could more have been done to prevent this from happening? Yes, I am sure more could have been done. But tragedy could happen to anyone going overseas to serve the Lord. We brought a family with us to South Africa to work with AIDS orphans and kids who have TB. The kids we brought could have contracted TB. If something terrible did happen to one of the kids, the parents, the church, could have faced vitriol from the whole world for “irresponsibility.” But where in the Bible does it ever say that Christians should practice safety before discipleship? Sometimes, the forgoing of safety can lead to a greater work of the Spirit. I am not saying that there should be a recklessness on the part of missionaries, to go into harm’s way for the sake of martyrdom. To do so would make the Gospel no more powerful than the Muslim fundamentalists’ views on martyrdom. But may we never sterilize the Gospel to the point where safety is more important than the glory of Christ Himself. After all, we must always remember that the God we worship suffered and died on a cross. Jesus became ‘irresponsible’ for our irresponsibility.