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May 6th 2008 Mission Shift
Topic Started: Aug 11 2009, 10:30 PM (256 Views)
lightninboy

Over the past year, I have experienced a huge paradigm shift in my thinking about life and ministry. As a result, I have watched with interest how this shift has affected my theology and my ministry practice. Below is a brief explanation of the shift that has occurred, and a few of the resultant ramifications.

The SHIFT:
I no longer view myself as pastor, or church planter, but as a missionary…and not just any missionary, but a missionary to a cross-cultural, unreached people group. In plain English, I view myself as a person who wants to introduce Jesus to a group of people who don’t know much (if anything) about Him, and as far as they are concerned, don’t really care to know Him.

The Ramifications:
There are many changes I’ve gone through, but here are four examples:

1. Use of “ministry” time. While a pastor primarily does ministry among the people of his church, a missionary focuses on the people who are not yet part of a church. He immerses himself among them and learns their culture, their language, their issues, their needs, and their concerns. He lives life with them and among them. Practically, while in the past, I have spent most of my pastoral time in the church office and with church people, in the future, I want to spend most of my time out of the church office, and with the people of the community.

2. Vocation. A pastor wants to get paid by the people of the church so he can free himself up to do “ministry.” This is not bad, but a missionary will often get a job in the community so he or she can live and work among the people, and be seen as one of them. I don’t yet know what I’m going to do, and maybe some of my income will come from the “church budget” but ideally, I want to be living and working among the community. This also has the added benefit of freeing up as much money as possible to actually serve the community. (Many churches are handcuffed by pastoral salaries and building mortgages. Imagine what the church could do in the community and around the world if it didn’t have to pay for pastors or buildings!)

3. Bible translation. (This one I can hardly believe.) As a pastor who focused primarily on preaching and teaching believers, I wanted a Bible-translation that was as close to the Greek and Hebrew as possible. Now, I want to use a Bible that is as close as possible to the language of the people I am working among. When Wycliffe goes into a community to translate the Bible, they don’t try to make a translation that is hard to read but instead, while trying to maintain accuracy, try to get a translation that is as close as possible to the vernacular. So, while I used the NASB and the NKJV, I now think I’m going to switch to the NLT.

4. Truth meets life. I used to be a professional theologian-pastor. All I did was read, write, think, talk, and teach about the Bible and theology. I now believe that while doing so is valuable and important, if it does not result in loving and serving others (especially those who are not followers of Jesus), then I don’t really know the truth I talk so much about. While some pastors can afford to live and work in an ivory tower, missionaries must get down and dirty. Theology must come to grips with life. I have discovered that as I try to live with and love other people (especially those who are not like me and don’t believe the way I do), a lot of what I thought and taught becomes much less important. Knowing the various views of the rapture are not that important when you are talking to a drug addict who is facing divorce. Truth, I believe, is both tested and forged on the anvil of relationships.

If you are undergoing similar shifts, please let me know in the comments below. Maybe I will add more as I think of them.
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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lightninboy

Comments:

1. Mike Ellis, Church For Men Florida on 07 May 2008 at 8:34 am #
Amen, Amen, Amen and of course, Amen!
You and I could talk for hours in a coffee shop or (run for your lives) a tavern.
2. brad brisco on 07 May 2008 at 8:38 am #
Very good description of the shifts necessary to live a sent/missionary life that is so crucial to connect with today’s culture not to mention one that is more consistent with the missionary nature of God. Keep up the good work!
3. Peter Kirk on 07 May 2008 at 3:02 pm #
Great! The world needs more pastors like you who realise they are missionaries. The church also needs them, because otherwise it will slowly die.
4. Jeremy Myers on 07 May 2008 at 7:21 pm #
Mike,
I’m counting on it someday. One way or another, we must meet and talk.
5. Jeremy Myers on 07 May 2008 at 7:24 pm #
Brad,
How did I not know about your blog? I clicked on your name, and after reading several posts, realized I had found a blog to add my “top 10.” I will also add you to my bloglines reader. Keep the great posts coming!
6. Jeremy Myers on 07 May 2008 at 7:27 pm #
Peter,
I really enjoyed reading your blog as well, and it is now in my bloglines reader. Thanks. Quite a series on tongues!
7. brad brisco on 07 May 2008 at 7:52 pm #
Jeremy, thanks for the kind words. I ran upon your site via google alerts a couple of days ago. Look forward to keeping up, added your feed as well.
8. TILL HE COMES Blog » The Future of the Church (Part 1 of 3) on 07 May 2008 at 8:24 pm #
[...] Living on mission, church planting on life « Mission Shift [...]
9. Eddie Arnold on 09 May 2008 at 1:41 pm #
Jeremy,
I couldnt agree more with your thoughts on ministry. The more I study the church… I mean the assembly… and the officers of that assembly… I mean the minstries of that assembly, the more convinced I am that we have really rendered ourselves highly ineffective and very inefficient in our efforts to fulfill the great commission. I pray the light continues to come on for you as it does for me.
10. Jeremy Myers on 09 May 2008 at 9:50 pm #
Eddie,
Good to hear from you!
I like your comment. I smiled as I read it becuase it reflects some of the confusion we are all facing about what to call ourselves and how to describe who we are and what we do. I struggle with this terminology all the time.
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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