This brief article is the result of my morning meditation on the book of Acts, particularly on the first five chapters. So it is primarily meant for my Naga Christian friends. My intention is to simply share a brief thought that is pertinent to all of us, so we can reason together as we engage in God’s mission here, there and everywhere. Of late, I have been realizing that Naga churches have been committing a serious missiological blunder for years. This glaring howler has fragmented the congregations of many churches in their pursuit for missionary enterprises. This has, in turn, made popular the notion of Christian witness as offering convenient options for mission involvement.
Honestly, I am personally delighted that many Naga churches are actively involved in missions, sending missionaries to the unreached; that so many Naga churches are passionate about saving souls is commendable. Although there are not as many of us now, over time, Naga churches have sent hundreds of missionaries to different parts of the world. There are many generous Naga Christians who love to give or donate to Christian missions. There are still many faithful others who pray daily for Christian missions. And we must be thankful to the Lord for all these endeavors! But we must not forget that we need more laborers to work with Christ.
Keeping this in mind, at the risk of over-simplification, let me now classify Naga Christians into five main groups: (i) Christians who go (missionaries); (ii) Christians who give, especially Christian professionals; (iii) Christians who pray, particularly the so-called prayer warriors; (iv) and Christians who do all of these – go, give, and pray; (v) and finally, Christians who don’t do any one of these. The primary question here is: Can Christian witness be fragmented into various optional involvements? In other words, can we do the one thing without doing the other which is intrinsically intertwined with the one that is being done?
I am of the opinion that Christian witness is inclusive of all the missional dimensions, namely going (crossing), giving and praying. By going, I mean crossing religious boundaries (Acts 1:19) and not necessarily crossing geographical boundaries as espoused by the traditional evangelicalism (which is, of course, not to be neglected at the expense of other missional contexts). In addition, going or crossing constitutes a wholistic view of gospel presentation in all levels of human needs. By giving, I mean cheerful and sacrificial giving for missions that oftentimes hurts the giver (2Corinthians 8:1ff; 9:7). By praying, I mean prayer that is biblically driven for the glory of the triune God (Luke 6:28; 10:2; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:13, 16).
Having said this, what is this mistake that we have committed? As indicated above, we, the Christian leaders have often used an analogy of playing different roles while striving for a common goal. To be more specific, oftentimes in our sharing or preaching, we offer various options for missional involvement; we would conveniently and persuasively say, “If you can go, go; if you cannot go, then give; if you cannot give, you still have the last option, pray.” Implying that you can still be a part of Christian mission by doing one thing and not doing the other. This missional proposition is often staged as a soccer game in which not everyone plays the same position but works together as a team with the aim to win the game. Perhaps this is also a good analogy to distinguish the exercising of one spiritual gift from another. Nevertheless, this can have a serious repercussion on the understanding and practice of Christian witness. I have myself often committed this very mistake in the process of motivating and mobilizing our churches purposefully, for a deeper involvement in God’s missions.
I am not denying the fact that every individual Christian is gifted in different ways, as is clearly mentioned in the Bible (Cf. Romans 12: 3-8; I Corinthians 12: 8-10; Ephesians 4). However, I am not talking about the different gifts which are bestowed upon the believers for the edification of the body of Christ. Needless to say, not everyone is called to be a missionary or a pastor; neither is everyone called to be in business and management. The spiritual gifts mentioned by Paul are not more important than the gifts of management, serving the poor, healing the sick, and teaching English. This is perhaps where the soccer analogy would better fit in. And for that matter, encouraging each believer for Christian ministry according to one’s ability is not wrong per se. However, if this concept is taken to suggest that you can be doing one thing at the expense of not doing the other, it is equivalent to doing nothing at all in the sight of God. I must also clarify that I am not talking about different ministry methodologies or approaches in a technical sense. In fact, Christian missions must respond to the various needs of the dying world, which requires the employment of different methodologies and approaches. My argument in this article does not raise organizational issues, ministry methodologies or even the issues of different spiritual gifts. My focus is on the ways in which each individual Christian becomes a witness for Christ as endowed and empowered by God through His Holy Spirit.
As a result of the popular missional proposition, many Christian professionals – I am not very comfortable with the term “lay people” or “laymen” because it gives us the wrong idea of Christian ministry which has done a great damage to the Church all over Christendom – have become disinterested and inactive in Christian witness. Many Christian professionals seem to have the notion that they are actively involved in Christian witness by way of giving their money for missions or by becoming prayer warriors, who think that sharing Christ and giving is not their responsibility. Unfortunately, most churches are satisfied by this understanding of Christian witness as long as they continue to receive money and have people who pray for the church on a regular basis. In fact, these are spiritual activities or gifts which are commendable and praiseworthy. However, as far as Christian witness is concerned, we cannot fragment our identity in Christ into various optional domains as we seek to love and serve the one and only true living God. We need to recognize that theology, in a strict sense, is an endeavor on the part of Christians to think through and set in order their beliefs, with the intention of drawing closer to God and reflecting more of his character in their lives. This is to say that theology is not a way of thinking but a way of living. In a nutshell, theology that is truly biblical is one that is applied to fulfill the salvific plan of God in the world. It is a single action of a person comprised of hearing, believing and obeying, and by extension, of going, giving and praying.
The purpose of this article is not to evaluate Naga indigenous missions. I recognize that there are many issues facing the Naga church and society today. Nonetheless, I believe some of the seemingly “small” issues become too deep to uproot and do great damage if they are left un-checked. In proposing what I believe to be a missiological blunder, namely the fragmentation of Christian witness, this article can only identify the problem, and does not explore the intricacies within it. A further exploration of this problem is a task set ahead for all Christian leaders, mission leaders in particular. In addition, I am fully aware that not everyone will agree with me. That’s ok; we are here to think and reason together instead of judging or criticizing each other.
Christians are people who bear “their testimony to Jesus” (Acts 1:8; Rev. 17:6); they are to proclaim “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:2). In all of this, a witness is either e ssentially Christian or it is not Christian at all. A Christian first of all bears a confessional testimony of faith in Jesus and this new found identity in Christ forms and shapes his or her activities at home, workplace or elsewhere. In other words, his or her being in Christ (the question of who and whose am I?) forms and shapes what he or she does (the question of what I do?). And what he or she does validates who he or she is. The assumption is that a Christian’s life in Christ is more important than what he or she does for the people or for God. And it is this very lifestyle, that of being the messenger, that provides the most effective means to verbally share the gospel with those who must know Christ. In this case, words and actions proceed from life. So witness is a combination of who the Christian really is in Christ and what he says and does as a result of that life in Christ. Churches really don’t need people who give but don’t share the gospel (both verbally and visually); people who share Christ but don’t give and pray; people who pray but don’t share and give. We need Christians who fully live out their lives as true witnesses for Christ by sharing (going/crossing), giving and praying.
Honestly, I am personally delighted that many Naga churches are actively involved in missions, sending missionaries to the unreached; that so many Naga churches are passionate about saving souls is commendable. Although there are not as many of us now, over time, Naga churches have sent hundreds of missionaries to different parts of the world. There are many generous Naga Christians who love to give or donate to Christian missions. There are still many faithful others who pray daily for Christian missions. And we must be thankful to the Lord for all these endeavors! But we must not forget that we need more laborers to work with Christ.
Keeping this in mind, at the risk of over-simplification, let me now classify Naga Christians into five main groups: (i) Christians who go (missionaries); (ii) Christians who give, especially Christian professionals; (iii) Christians who pray, particularly the so-called prayer warriors; (iv) and Christians who do all of these – go, give, and pray; (v) and finally, Christians who don’t do any one of these. The primary question here is: Can Christian witness be fragmented into various optional involvements? In other words, can we do the one thing without doing the other which is intrinsically intertwined with the one that is being done?
I am of the opinion that Christian witness is inclusive of all the missional dimensions, namely going (crossing), giving and praying. By going, I mean crossing religious boundaries (Acts 1:19) and not necessarily crossing geographical boundaries as espoused by the traditional evangelicalism (which is, of course, not to be neglected at the expense of other missional contexts). In addition, going or crossing constitutes a wholistic view of gospel presentation in all levels of human needs. By giving, I mean cheerful and sacrificial giving for missions that oftentimes hurts the giver (2Corinthians 8:1ff; 9:7). By praying, I mean prayer that is biblically driven for the glory of the triune God (Luke 6:28; 10:2; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:13, 16).
Having said this, what is this mistake that we have committed? As indicated above, we, the Christian leaders have often used an analogy of playing different roles while striving for a common goal. To be more specific, oftentimes in our sharing or preaching, we offer various options for missional involvement; we would conveniently and persuasively say, “If you can go, go; if you cannot go, then give; if you cannot give, you still have the last option, pray.” Implying that you can still be a part of Christian mission by doing one thing and not doing the other. This missional proposition is often staged as a soccer game in which not everyone plays the same position but works together as a team with the aim to win the game. Perhaps this is also a good analogy to distinguish the exercising of one spiritual gift from another. Nevertheless, this can have a serious repercussion on the understanding and practice of Christian witness. I have myself often committed this very mistake in the process of motivating and mobilizing our churches purposefully, for a deeper involvement in God’s missions.
I am not denying the fact that every individual Christian is gifted in different ways, as is clearly mentioned in the Bible (Cf. Romans 12: 3-8; I Corinthians 12: 8-10; Ephesians 4). However, I am not talking about the different gifts which are bestowed upon the believers for the edification of the body of Christ. Needless to say, not everyone is called to be a missionary or a pastor; neither is everyone called to be in business and management. The spiritual gifts mentioned by Paul are not more important than the gifts of management, serving the poor, healing the sick, and teaching English. This is perhaps where the soccer analogy would better fit in. And for that matter, encouraging each believer for Christian ministry according to one’s ability is not wrong per se. However, if this concept is taken to suggest that you can be doing one thing at the expense of not doing the other, it is equivalent to doing nothing at all in the sight of God. I must also clarify that I am not talking about different ministry methodologies or approaches in a technical sense. In fact, Christian missions must respond to the various needs of the dying world, which requires the employment of different methodologies and approaches. My argument in this article does not raise organizational issues, ministry methodologies or even the issues of different spiritual gifts. My focus is on the ways in which each individual Christian becomes a witness for Christ as endowed and empowered by God through His Holy Spirit.
As a result of the popular missional proposition, many Christian professionals – I am not very comfortable with the term “lay people” or “laymen” because it gives us the wrong idea of Christian ministry which has done a great damage to the Church all over Christendom – have become disinterested and inactive in Christian witness. Many Christian professionals seem to have the notion that they are actively involved in Christian witness by way of giving their money for missions or by becoming prayer warriors, who think that sharing Christ and giving is not their responsibility. Unfortunately, most churches are satisfied by this understanding of Christian witness as long as they continue to receive money and have people who pray for the church on a regular basis. In fact, these are spiritual activities or gifts which are commendable and praiseworthy. However, as far as Christian witness is concerned, we cannot fragment our identity in Christ into various optional domains as we seek to love and serve the one and only true living God. We need to recognize that theology, in a strict sense, is an endeavor on the part of Christians to think through and set in order their beliefs, with the intention of drawing closer to God and reflecting more of his character in their lives. This is to say that theology is not a way of thinking but a way of living. In a nutshell, theology that is truly biblical is one that is applied to fulfill the salvific plan of God in the world. It is a single action of a person comprised of hearing, believing and obeying, and by extension, of going, giving and praying.
The purpose of this article is not to evaluate Naga indigenous missions. I recognize that there are many issues facing the Naga church and society today. Nonetheless, I believe some of the seemingly “small” issues become too deep to uproot and do great damage if they are left un-checked. In proposing what I believe to be a missiological blunder, namely the fragmentation of Christian witness, this article can only identify the problem, and does not explore the intricacies within it. A further exploration of this problem is a task set ahead for all Christian leaders, mission leaders in particular. In addition, I am fully aware that not everyone will agree with me. That’s ok; we are here to think and reason together instead of judging or criticizing each other.
Christians are people who bear “their testimony to Jesus” (Acts 1:8; Rev. 17:6); they are to proclaim “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:2). In all of this, a witness is either e ssentially Christian or it is not Christian at all. A Christian first of all bears a confessional testimony of faith in Jesus and this new found identity in Christ forms and shapes his or her activities at home, workplace or elsewhere. In other words, his or her being in Christ (the question of who and whose am I?) forms and shapes what he or she does (the question of what I do?). And what he or she does validates who he or she is. The assumption is that a Christian’s life in Christ is more important than what he or she does for the people or for God. And it is this very lifestyle, that of being the messenger, that provides the most effective means to verbally share the gospel with those who must know Christ. In this case, words and actions proceed from life. So witness is a combination of who the Christian really is in Christ and what he says and does as a result of that life in Christ. Churches really don’t need people who give but don’t share the gospel (both verbally and visually); people who share Christ but don’t give and pray; people who pray but don’t share and give. We need Christians who fully live out their lives as true witnesses for Christ by sharing (going/crossing), giving and praying.
