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To the Ends of the Earth We Will
Go
by
Jason Pope
Jason
Pope, YPSM at The South Atlanta Ray and Joan Kroc Corps
Community Center is known for his passion for mission and
seeing the world won to the Lord. Here he discusses the
importance of missions both overseas and at home.
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About a month ago I excitedly opened an email with a subject
line that read: “USA South edition of "Journal of Aggressive
Christianity" on armybarmy.com.”
The email presented the idea for this current JAC edition and
listed a number of possible subjects for writers to choose
from. There were many provocative titles but none grabbed my
attention like:
What's "over there" that you can't find here? (mission-centric
work and needy souls are not just overseas)
Now I am confident of my calling. I am called to be a
missionary. It is a lifelong calling. As a result of my
calling, I have been on more short term mission trips to other
parts of the world than most. Someday my wife and I would like
to live and serve in a developing country.
On the other hand right now my wife and I serve in the inner
city of Atlanta. We are the co YPSMs at our corps. We are
living out our calling right where we are currently. I say all
this to say when my eyes came across this question, and I
began to analyze its premises, I was disturbed.
I was disturbed because the comparison between what we find
overseas and what we find here is not helpful in the process
of becoming mission centered. And, quite honestly, there are
‘things” overseas that can’t be found in America. And there
are many things in America that can’t be found overseas. The
uniqueness of every person’s life is bound in a package of
unpredictable encounters with unique individuals, places and
circumstances. It is the random chance of specific encounters
and the fact that God orders our steps which creates that
thing which we refer to as God’s will for our lives.
The truth is we shouldn’t be going anywhere on the basis of
what we might find there but rather on the basis of God’s
calling and timing. This can only be determined through prayer
and accountability.
One of the most beautiful sights my eyes have ever beheld was
the large, burnt orange sun fading into the horizon over the
black sea. Two of my favorite people in the world Gia and Eka,
I met in the Republic of Georgia. When I was in hills of South
China I saw emptiness in the eyes of men who realized the hope
of a future generation of villagers in their community had
been raped by the systematic abduction of every woman in the
village for trafficking purposes. Standing on the demarcation
line between North Korea and South Korea, peering through
binoculars at no man’s land, I sensed the desolation of
competing political philosophies. In Tororo, Uganda, an AIDS
infected infant is abandoned at the gates of the Salvation
Army Chilren’s Home by an AIDS infected and dying mother. The
child is adopted into the children’s home family immediately
and given the name Gift. In Mexico, Captain Victoria Oliva, a
widowed corps officer in Monclova, Mexico continued to serve
her post in the worst slums of the city with a passion that
could only have her husband smiling in heaven.
These are all experiences I have had “over there” that I will
never have here. It is impossible to have them here because
they were all unique experiences to that region, circumstance
or individual. But there are unforgettable memories from the
states as well.
I’ve seen the Salvation Army begin a work from scratch in
Jonesboro Trailer Park, one of the poorest neighborhoods in
one of the poorest sections of Atlanta. I have seen two twin
teenage girls go from not being a part of The Salvation Army
to not being able to be separated from it. I have seen
hundreds of college student volunteers immerse themselves in
the mission of The Salvation Army in South Atlanta. I have
seen a homeless person choose the path of discipleship and
turn his life 180 degrees. I’ve laughed with my friends while
swimming in the pool at camp. I stood on a stage, under large
oak trees, beside a flowing stream, with a wall of flowers as
a backdrop to the vows I made to my wife in earshot of my
closest friends and relatives. These and much, much more are
experiences I never would have overseas. Because they deal
with unique individuals, places and circumstances.
Mission is not based on personal experiences.
Basing our motivations for doing ministry on neediness makes
us vulnerable to codependent relationships. I once had a
friend ask me to verbalize my theology of mission? He said
that if I didn’t know my theology of mission then I would burn
out. Over time I came up with the following statements. Man is
in constant need. God is in constant fullness. Life has
meaning because God has purposes for it. Man’s need is urgent.
God’s glory is eternal. Man’s ultimate purpose is to worship
God. Meaningfulness is found in worshipping God with our
lives. People here at home and across the world cannot worship
what they don’t know. They can not know what they are not
told. We can’t tell them if we aren’t there with them. John
Piper states, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” We do
missions so that people may be redeemed because this brings
glory to God. Do you know what your theology of mission is?
Consider the following possible events:
• You have been ministering to a teen girl in your youth group
for a couple of years. For the past two weeks she seemed to
really be paying attention and soaking in everything. You are
excited about her change until she announces she’s pregnant.
• You go to seminars and hear speakers talking about new
paradigms of ministry. You come home and begin to work on
them. Those around you pay lip service to the philosophy but
in private conversations question the practice and undercut
your leadership.
• You are promised new resources for your ministry. You make
plans and commitments to people and community members. The
bottom falls out of the economy and the new resources never
arrive.
• You are working in a developing country. Over the past
several years the country has made major strides in
development. A neighboring country attacks the country. You
are forced to return home. The country moves back five years
in their development.
If you based your motivations on meeting people's needs and
you get your esteem from doing so these situations and many
others like them will destroy you over time. But if you find
your identity in Christ and your place in the world next to
the sinner you will run the race with perseverance.
Now here is a riddle: Biblically speaking “here” is really
“over there.” In Acts 1:8 the Bible says you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the
earth. When we talk about missions in the states we talk about
going to other countries. Many churches use this verse to help
motivate them to be involved in missions. They ask what their
Jerusalem might be. They ask what their Samaria might be. And
they end up thinking of the country farthest away from their
current geographic position as their “ends of the earth.” So
for those of us in the Southern Territory this could be China.
But this verse has a literal meaning. It was spoken while in
Jerusalem. At the time the Americas hadn’t been discovered.
Doesn’t it make sense that perhaps America is the ends of the
earth as literally spoken of in Acts? We need to be involved
in mission in America not primarily because of need but rather
because it is part of God’s will and plan.
Biblically speaking, missions is about reaching new people
groups. This is defined in terms of language, culture and
race. At the tower of Babel humans chose to disobey God. In
Genesis 11:6, God discouraged, laments “If as one people
speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then
nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” He
changed their language because they relied on each other
instead of on God. He didn’t want people to be separated from
each other but he would rather them be separated from each
other than Him. But in the very next chapter, Genesis chapter
12 God calls Abraham to become the first missionary. He was
asked to leave his people and go to a land God would show him.
He was told that all the nations, tribes and families would be
blessed through him.
The rest of the Bible is the story of God returning the whole
world to Himself through His people. In Revelation we find all
nations worshipping together in heaven. Missions is the
process by which God restores relationship to Himself first
and between the races secondly. This paradigm fits perfectly
with the two great commandments. They are love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul and mind. Secondly, love your
neighbor as yourself. And when asked who someone’s neighbor is
Jesus responded by telling the story of a person who chose to
love and take care of someone belonging to a different race,
the Good Samaritan.
Is it irony or fate that all of the cultures of the world have
immigrated to the “ends of the earth,” America. We as a
southern territory must learn to embrace all peoples. Our
corps must take a proactive approach to reaching new people
groups. The change in the intercultural methods and values at
THQ needs to impact the traditional Caucasian corps with
immigrants in their communities that they are not reaching out
to as much as those corps that have traditionally been made up
of ethnic minorities. These new values should be embraced by
all corps.
Let’s turn the question upside down. Instead of asking what’s
over there that’s not here we might ask what is here that is
not overseas. In America there is a church on almost every
street corner. Sunday morning television is filled with live
broadcasts from local churches. The Wonderful Words of Life
radio ministry has brilliant messages to the general public.
There are billboards telling about God’s love. In many places
overseas this permeation of the gospel message is not
possible. There is not a large enough percentage of Christians
in the country to get the message to every person. It is our
missionary task to take the gospel to all nations. This is a
reason for people to go.
On a recent trip to Kampala, Uganda I was reminded of
something else we have here that they don’t have there. Even
in the economic crisis that faces us we have an enormous
amount of resources. Some of the corps I saw in Uganda were
made out of mud and had holes in their roofs. I think American
Christians should take a close look at the relationship
between God and Israel in the Old Testament. God wanted to
bless them economically. And God did bless them economically.
But God expected them to bless all the nations of the earth
with the blessings He gave them. We should not dismiss this
principle as something unique to God’s relationship with
Israel. We should seek to understand God’s heart for the whole
world. If he expected Israel to bless others with their
prosperity then He expects America to do the same.
In the end the comparison between what’s over there and what
is here is just a bad way to discover God’s will. He wants all
people to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He needs
Christians to be willing to travel or stay for Him. When we
ask questions like the one presented in this topic we spend
our energies accusing other Christians rather than glorifying
God. Picture a soldier giving the Salvation Army salute. He
stands with one finger pointed towards heaven to represent
that there is only one way to heaven. Now imagine the soldier
standing there for one hundred and forty four years. Over time
his arm gets tired and it moves from being vertical to being
horizontal. It becomes parallel with the ground. Now instead
of pointing to heaven it is pointing at other soldiers. It is
saying you are doing it all wrong. It is time for us to stop
finger pointing. It is time to bring glory back to God and
reengage in a world wide salvation effort. And yes, “to the
ends of the earth we will go.”
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