Send Forth Laborers

I recently read the self-written epitaph of Karen Watson. Karen was a Southern Baptist missionary in Iraq who was killed by unknown assailants on March 15, 2004. Part of her epitaph gripped my heart. She wrote:

The missionary heart:
• Cares more than some think is wise
• Risks more than some think is safe
• Dreams more than some think is practical
• Expects more than some think is possible

Oh, how my heart cries out to be like this! And how I long for the Servants Indonesia team that God is forming to have such a heart. May people call us risk-taking fools. May we dare to dream God’s dreams, and actually expect them to come true.

Karen’s words have sent me to my knees. How do I acquire such a heart? And furthermore, how can such a team of missionaries be brought together? These questions led me to the Gospels.

“When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” ~ Mt. 9:36-38

This passage implies that the lack of laborers is at least partly, if not totally, due to a lack of prayer amongst us Christians for God to be sending out laborers. Perhaps this is because we do not see a ripe harvest when we look at the world, but rather a barren field. Or maybe we notice the harvest, but we overlook that it is already “white”…almost pass the time to reap a harvest. We simply see no urgency.

Either way, Jesus saw the harvest and its urgency. We read that “Jesus saw the multitudes”, not an annoying crowd of people, nor an obstacle to maneuver around, but a multitude of weary, scattered shepherdless sheep. He was moved with compassion for them. Not simply momentary, inner pity, but rather a compassion that demanded a response.

So Jesus turned to His disciples and opened their eyes to see as He does. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” This observation should have been obvious, but Jesus knew that we seldom see situations as we ought. Then He beckons them to pray. Pray to the One who holds the harvest in His hands. Pray for Him to send out laborers. There is a shortage; and the only way to receive more laborers is to pray to the Lord of the harvest. And where are these laborers to be sent? “Into His harvest.” Into the thick of it. But God’s laborers take comfort in knowing it is “HIS harvest”.

The Lord has kindly opened my eyes to a plentiful harvest, Indonesia’s urban poor. Those laboring in this harvest are few. Servants leadership, board of elders, and I clearly hear God calling for a pioneering team of cross-loving laborers to be raised up and sent to live amongst the urban poor in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Yes, we are using various forms of communication to “publicize” the forming of this team. But ultimately, we have only one strategy for mobilizing this community of laborers. Prayer.

As I have been praying for God to send forth laborers, I have sought to listen to His heart as to the characteristics to be praying for Him to foster and uphold in us. I have been asking Him what characteristics are crucial for those of us called to be pioneer missionaries amongst the poor?

Over the last two months of listening, I have sensed God’s still small voice persistently impress the importance of three qualities: faith, hope, and love. Please allow me to expand on why these three characteristics are crucial for a pioneering team. My hope in doing this is that you will join me in praying for God to cultivate these three qualities in those of us He is calling to Jakarta.

Faith, Hope, & Love:

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” ~ 1 Cor. 13:13

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” ~ 1 Thess. 1:2-3

Faith:

As I seek God’s heart for this team, I sense Him saying, “I don’t need men and women filled with eloquent speech, intellectual greatness, nor natural charisma. What I desire is cross-loving men and women who cling to me in faith. What I desire is intimacy with Me. Men and women who are so close to Me that they hear My heart and feel the pain of My people.”

We cannot have faith in something we don’t know. If our faith in God is wavering, it is because we have lost sight of the Faithful One. If this is the case, how do we increase our dwindling faith? In the words of Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission, “Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us…the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith…but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need.” In otherwords, As we see God’s trustworthiness, our faith will grow.

And if we long to see God more clearly, we must cry out for a pure heart. For Jesus reminds us that it is only the pure in heart who will see God (Mt. 5:8). Though, we also realize that the first of these beatitudes involves acknowledging that we are spiritually bankrupt and incapable of purifying our own hearts. So, like the Psalmist, we cry out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10a).

But why is this kind of faith—-this intimate knowing of the Faithful One—so important for pioneering missionaries to have cultivated in their lives? Simply put, those of us called to be part of a pioneering team must remain deeply attentive to God’s voice. It is humbling to be part of a pioneering work, for the initial team of missionaries has a major impact on the ministry’s future direction. Any pioneering mission endeavor must move forward on its knees: listening for God’s guiding voice, praying for Him to dream His dreams in them, and asking God to open their eyes to see where He is inviting them to join Him. Jesus had no other plan than to listen and follow His Father’s will. This should also be our approach.

Hope:

This active listening to the Father and abiding in His presence will increase our trust in His promises, provision, power, and goodness. From this faith stems our hope, and this hope sustains our faith. The two become intertwined. It is hope that enables us to persevere with enduring patience and joy, especially during the pioneering phase.

First of all, hope sustains us. It enables us to persevere. Paul is the great pioneer missionary of the New Testament. His God-revealed mission was to preach the Gospel where it had not yet been named (Rm. 15:20). He almost never joined an established ministry, with structures in place and movement towards an already recognized vision. Rather, he would have to patiently begin sowing the first seeds. This led Paul to offer this advice: “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal. 6:9).

To be part of a pioneering team often means sowing lots of seeds with little fruit at first. It seems all one does is sow seeds, yet there is nothing to reap from it. But hope reminds us to persevere. And the faith which undergirds such hope reminds us that we are not called to success but to obedience.

The slums God calls us to can often seem like strongholds of impenetrable sin and oppression. But John’s Revelation reminds us that in the end, it is the tender Lamb who sits upon the throne. All the beasts of sin and injustice cannot overpower the meek Lamb. True, our slum communities may be strongholds of the Devil. But, Christ is stronger. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils” (Lk. 11:21-22).

Nothing can frustrate the bursting forth of God’s kingdom. His kingdom is not spread through violence and domination. Rather, God chooses to use the humble and meek to advance His kingdom. Sometimes our armor of love and meekness can seem no match to the violence and oppression our communities face. Perhaps that is why Jesus reassures us that it is the meek who will inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). And this is what we place our hope in.

There is another reason why hope is crucial for pioneer missionaries. Hope sustains us in seasons of waiting, trials, and suffering. Hope enables us to not be discouraged by delayed answers to prayer, nor by trials, suffering, and interruptions. For these are all platforms for God to manifest His grace, love, and power.

Steve Saint, whose missionary father was martyrd, came to realize, “God has rarely used a person whom He has not first sorely tried.” Those who place their hope in the One they have found to be faithful, actually become more Christ-like through their sufferings.

Paul writes that through Christ we are “more than conquerors.” What a peculiar phrase, especially when we take note of the context he wrote it in!:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm. 8:35-39).

How can we be conquerors, let alone more than conquerors, when faced with such a list of suffering? Certainly Paul is not giving us a list (tribulation, distress, persecution, etc.), and then saying we won’t be separated from Christ’s love by these things because they will never happen to us. In fact, Paul explicitly says “in all these things” we are more than conquerors. Furthermore, he quotes Psalm 44:22 which says “we are killed all day long.” So then, how are we more than conquerors?

I suppose to be a conqueror would mean that when the Devil comes against me to behead my faith, I use my spiritual armor to defeat him. How can I do “more” than this? What I believe Paul is seeking to teach us is this: For Christians, when the Devil comes at us (with trials, persecution, etc.) to behead our faith, God not only saves our faith, but he also directs the devil’s sword to chop off a little bit more of our worldliness. In otherwords, through trials and suffering, our faith is strengthened and we become more Christlike. We are “more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.”

A Christian who faced many trials once commented, “If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.” What a beautiful testimony of how intimacy with God leads to faith in Him which overflows into sustaining hope! And this kind of hope is filled with joy.

I recently received some wise advice: the Servants Cambodia team leader told me that one of his chief aims is to uphold joy within the team…not allowing pessimism to take root.

Why is joy so important in a missionary team? Isn’t it enough to simply endure through the trials and sacrifices?

Joy is an extension of hope. You cannot have lasting joy without hope. Joy overflows in passion, and according to Paul, this zeal stirs up passion in others” (2 Cor. 9:2). In otherwords, joy is contagious.

Many of us grew up in church singing: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know that we are Christians by our love.” Jesus promises us this truth in John 13:34-35. People will know that we are followers of Jesus by our Christlike love for one another. Psalm 51 takes this a step further:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.”~ Psalm 51:10-13

In otherwords, they’ll know we are Christians by our love. AND the love people see in us Christ-followers will become irresistably contagious when it overflows in joy. The second chorus could read, “And they will become Christians by our joy, by our joy, yes they will become Christians by our joy.” And as the Psalmist writes, this joy-filled hope (vs. 12) stems from faith which is nourished through an intimate abiding with God (vs. 11) which can only occur when God purifies our hearts (vs. 10).

Why is joy so contagious? John Piper once commented, “The extent of our sacrifice coupled with the depth of our joy displays the worth we put on the reward of God.” Later he expands on this concept: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. And the supremacy of that glory shines most brightly when the satisfaction that we have in Him endures in spite of suffering and pain in the mission of love!” The apostle Peter wrote that “to those who believe Jesus is precious” (1 Pt. 2:7a). And people will most clearly see through us just how precious Christ is when we joyfully sacrifice anything that gets in the way of loving those He has called us to, and when we joyfully accept any suffering and trials that come, for His name’s sake.

Love:

This combination of intimate faith and joy-filled hope frees us to love like Christ. For, to love like Christ is not safe. It is risky. Costly. (Though in another sense there is nothing more risk-free and rewarding.)
A simple overview of Jesus’ beatitudes will reveal the costliness of such love:

“Recall the structure of the beatitudes. There are two groups of four, and each group ends with a reference to righteousness. The first group ends with verse 6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." And the second group ends with verse 10: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."

The three beatitudes that lead to hunger for righteousness are descriptions of a kind of holy emptiness. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn over their needy condition and the meek who hand their cause over to God. It's natural that these three descriptions of emptiness and need should be followed by a description of hunger. If you don't have something you hunger for it.

Then the next three beatitudes are descriptions not of emptiness but of fullness. The hunger is beginning to be satisfied by an overflowing mercy, a pure heart and a power to make peace. So the righteousness longed for in verse 6 is given in the form of mercy, purity, and peacemaking. The result is persecution for this very righteousness.” (John Piper)

As we are filled with God’s righteousness, it overflows in active mercy, purity, and peacemaking. Such righteous love will inevitably lead to persecution.

It is helpful in understanding the beatitudes to view their opposites. I use to think that the opposite of those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake was those who do the persecuting. Now I’m realizing that this beatitude’s opposite is actually those who always play it safe and compromise. To love like Christ is too risky and costly for them.

Such faith-grounded, hope-motivated love led Esther to risk her life by disobeying the law. Her people were about to be massacred in a genocide. She knew that to go before the king without being summoned was punished with immediate death. But she also realized that if she did not risk her life for the cause of righteous love, that all her people would be murdered. She chose to risk going before the king. In her own words, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). Esther is just one example of God’s followers laboring in risky love. Lots could be said about David, Daniel and his three friends, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles.

Why do we need faith and hope in order to be free to labor in Christ-like love? Because it is our hope that Christ saved us from all eternal risk, that frees us to take a thousand temporal risks of love. For followers of Christ, all eternal risk is gone. Faith in this truth gives us the hope to joyfully labor in risk-taking love for the cause of Christ here on earth.

The book of Hebrews gives a wonderful example of how faith, hope, and love work together. While the author of Hebrews was imprisoned, some new Christians risked visiting him. They knew the possible ramifications of visiting an imprisoned Christian. Hebrews records the outcome: “For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven” (Heb. 10:34).

What a beautiful account of the early church! These young Christians placed their faith in God, and trusted His promises to provide “a better and an enduring possession for [them] in heaven.” This faith in God’s Word gave them the hope needed to venture out in risky love. They knew there was a good possibility that visiting their friend in jail would bring about persecution. In faith-grounded, hope-motivated love, they chose to risk their safety. In the end, their goods were plundered. Perhaps their houses were ransacked. Or maybe a mob broke in and wrote threats on their walls. Either way, the response of these Christians is extraordinary. They rejoiced! God’s worth shone brightly that day. The only thing that could cause these Christians to rejoice was if they treasured something (or someone) else more than money, possessions, popularity, and safety.

But the greatest of these is love:
Why is love the greatest? Partly because faith and hope are only temporary. When we see God face to face, there will be no more need for faith. And on that day all of our hopes will be fulfilled. But love is eternal.

I believe there is another reason. Love is greatest because we are a community of redeemed sinners. We are not perfect and thus need to exercise loving mercy and forgiveness towards each other.

Faith, hope, and love are the three qualities I sense God saying will be crucial for those of us called to be part of the pioneering Servants Jakarta team. In humility, we must fully lean on the Spirit to cultivate and uphold these qualities in us. And as a community, we must strive together towards greater faith, hope, and love. This will certainly involve lots of forgiveness and grace towards each other.

Lord, I pray that those of us You bring together for the Servants Jakarta team will be filled with faith, hope, and love. May an intimate listening to Your heart and Word be the foundation of our faith. May our trust in You, the Faithful One, fill us with joy-filled, persevering hope. And may the combination of this faith and hope free us to joyfully risk all in labors of Christlike love.

Jesus' First Time Visitor Retention Rate

This was no ordinary day. This day marked the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And what better way to start off, than by preaching to His hometown, Bible-believing fellowship. The air was filled with anticipation. The little Nazarene synagogue was crowded with locals anxious to hear what Joseph’s Son would teach. At this rate, Jesus would be pastoring a mega-“church” in no time!

Jesus stood before the congregation, opened the scroll of Isaiah, and read the messianic text: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Is. 61:1-2a). All eyes were on Him. This is every pastor’s dream. So far no one had fallen asleep; they were all eagerly attentive!

Then Jesus made a risky, bold claim: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:21).

Oh no! Why did He have to say that? He could offend people. After all, claiming to be the promised Messiah, would be viewed as arrogance. This was no way to keep visitors coming back!

Perhaps, it was not too late. If Jesus chose His next words wisely, He could extinguish the sparks of tension. Preach an encouraging message! Positive, self-help sermons always make people feel good about themselves.

“You arrogant fools! You claim to be God’s chosen people, yet you always reject His prophets. There are even Gentiles who listen to God’s messengers” (personal summary of Lk. 4:23-27). Not the way to start a ministry! One minute and nine seconds into Jesus’ first sermon and the congregation tried to kill Him. That must be a world record!

The above account may be written with some humor, but the issue it hints at is very serious. Let me be blunt. In our efforts to be seeker-sensitive and boost first-time visitor retention rates, there is a great temptation to cheapen the cost of discipleship through preaching entertaining, inoffensive sermons. We become lured by this temptation when our focus and desire shifts from faithfulness in ministry to fruitfulness in ministry.

The number of followers Jesus had throughout His earthly ministry fluctuated greatly. At times, crowds flocked to Him. However, John’s gospel records that in response to Jesus’ teachings, “many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). By the end of His ministry, only a remnant of 120 remained.

Frankly, Jesus had the worst retention rate for first time visitors of anyone I know! This was not due to a lack of hospitality and compassion, but rather because Jesus would not compromise or waver from proclaiming all that His Father instructed Him to herald. He boldly cried out against all that was contrary to His Kingdom ethics…including injustice, arrogance, violence, and greed.

Martin Luther King Jr. drove right to the heart of the matter when he exclaimed:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

To model and speak prophetically God’s truths and character into our world will inevitably invoke ridicule and even persecution. Jesus forewarns us of this. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Lk. 6:26). Reflecting on this verse, John Stott writes, “Universal popularity was as much the lot of the false prophets as persecution was of the true.”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” The opposite of those blessed in this beatitude is not those who persecute but rather those who always play it safe and compromise. They are peace-fakers, or possibly even peacekeepers, who compromise righteousness in order to make or keep peace. Certainly, as Christians, we are called to be peacemakers who strive in love to overcome the enmity between us and other people. But “the goal of peace is subordinate to the goal of righteousness” (John Piper).

Let me close with a small, yet personal, example of how standing up for righteousness and justice will inevitably offend people. The following is a letter to the editor of British Columbia's Christian newspaper. The writer mocks the hospitality of the local church I attend in Vancouver. A response from the senior pastor was added to the publication:

Letter Entitled: Not Welcome In My Spare Room
So pastor Tim Dickau wants us to hand over our spare bedrooms, the way Chrysostom did - to strangers.

Sure, I'd love to have some crystal meth-crazed, unwashed, stinking guy in my home, complete with the tire iron he uses to smash car windows to get money for crack cocaine.

Obviously, I should come to Dickau's Grandview Calvary Baptist Church to learn how to be a 'real' Christian.

Vancouver's problem is not the homelessness. It's people who say things like: "Loving neighbors is basic to the call of Jesus."

Dickau would think I'm ignoring 'the call of Jesus' if I demand we round up the drug-crazed, mentally deranged homeless and lock them up where they can never get out again.

[Published email was signed]

Pastor Tim Dickau responds:
Most of the people we are inviting into our homes are strangers who have become friends over many years, people with whom we have prepared community meals, eaten together, shared stories and laughed with already in our church hall.

Most are trying to get away from drugs, and find that supportive community and housing gives them the stability to do just that.

You are welcome to come on a Thursday night to get to know some of these folks. You might be surprised.


So much for visitor retention rates! As we strive for faithfulness in ministry (leaving the fruitfulness of our ministries in God’s cultivating hands), may people never walk out of our churches because they did not experience any love. Rather, if they leave, may it be because they were offended by the ludicrous, radical, excessive love shown most clearly on the cross.

The Local Church I Attend In Vancouver

The following is an interesting letter to the editor of British Columbia's Christian newspaper which mocks the hospitality the local church I attend in Vancouver is trying to show to our homeless neighbors. A response from the senior pastor was added to the publication:

Letter Entitled: Not Welcome In My Spare Room
So pastor Tim Dickau wants us to hand over our spare bedrooms, the way Chrysostom did - to strangers.

Sure, I'd love to have some crystal meth-crazed, unwashed, stinking guy in my home, complete with the tire iron he uses to smash car windows to get money for crack cocaine.

Obviously, I should come to Dickau's Grandview Calvary Baptist Church to learn how to be a 'real' Christian.

Vancouver's problem is not the homelessness. It's people who say things like: "Loving neighbours is basic to the call of Jesus."

Dickau would think I'm ignoring 'the call of Jesus' if I demand we round up the drug-crazed, mentally deranged homeless and lock them up where they can never get out again. [Published email was signed]

Pastor Tim Dickau responds:
Most of the people we are inviting into our homes are strangers who have become friends over many years, people with whom we have prepared community meals, eaten together, shared stories and laughed with already in our church hall.

Most are trying to get away from drugs, and find that supportive community and housing gives them the stability to do just that.

You are welcome to come on a Thursday night to get to know some of these folks. You might be surprised.


What are your thoughts?