I have been reflecting on our (short) time here in South
Africa. It has been a whirlwind. Two days after we arrived a short-term team
arrived. It was a great team and Jacinda
and I learned a lot about what goes on at Blessman Ministries.
Much of what they do is “outreach” to the communities near
Mokopane, South Africa, but also to some villages up to 100km away. The outreaches are mainly optical, shoe, and
food. I spoke a little bit about these
in my last blog post which you can read here: Iowa Rotary Team.
Recently my thoughts have mainly focused on why we as Christians partake
in service and ministries like these outreaches. Martin
Luther from his treatise “On the Freedom of a Christian” writes:
“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject
to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to
every one.”
Luther bases this proposal upon the Apostle Paul’s letters
to Corinth (1 Cor. 9:19) and Rome (8:8).
He critiques the Catholic Church’s teaching that to be made right with
God humanity must do “good works” like buying indulgences to get out of
purgatory, saying prayers, fasting, touching and kissing relics, visiting holy
sites, going to mass, receiving communion, etc.
For Luther, to say that they “earn” God’s grace is to say that we
must add something of our own effort to the work of Christ and reject Paul’s
words that:
In the gospel the righteousness of
God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it
is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17)
As Christians we do not need to earn God’s love. In fact, any time we think we must do
something in order to “please” God we are sinning, or separating ourselves from
Christ’s work on the cross because again, like the Catholic Church in Luther’s
day, we are adding something and saying the cross was not enough; we need to do more!
Christians do not need to earn God's favor, however, our neighbors need the good news of Jesus Christ
and the freedom that he offers.
The world is filled with darkness, evil, pain, suffering,
illness, and disease. Families are torn
apart. Children are abandoned. Energy is consumed and wasted. Resources are gathered up and controlled by a
few (Uh oh! Matt’s a
socialist!).
Christians have been given a promise that no matter what we
do, say or think Christ has paid the price for our evil, unjust, destructive,
unloving, and unfaithful lives. The only
thing we must do is receive that promise. If Christ is our Lord then those things will be left behind to die with our old sinful self.
So Christian missions is not about me. It is not about me doing something to feel
better about myself. It is not about me
feeling better about my relationship with God.
It is about sharing the peace, hope, joy and love that Jesus Christ
first showed us. That is the mission for
every Christian no matter where you live in the world.
We are freed to love.
This brings me to something I want to BRIEFLY comment on. Ever since his infamous sideline interview, Richard Sherman has been trying to justify himself in the eyes of the world. I even made a Facebook comment comparing him to former NFL super-narcissist, Terrell Owens. I should not have been so harsh or quick to judge. But the whole fiasco is a perfect example of our constant need to justify ourselves. Sherman has constantly pointed out all the good things he should be judged for instead of that one 30 second interview.
We desire the same in our lives. "Don't judge me for my mistakes! Look at all the good things I have done!"
Jesus Christ frees us from this constant battle. We are free from the judgment of others and... we are free from the judgment of ourselves!
So go out and love all people!
Matt, let me start by saying I love you and Jacinda as very good friends. But I don't think I can read your blog posts any more. It just does not make any sense to me and is beginning to get to me; there are so many senseless contradictions in the above text. Not least, I take offence on behalf of (truly) free unbelievers everywhere, that "our neighbors need the good news of Jesus Christ and the freedom that he offers". I shall not comment on any of the other contradictions or nonsense but I really needed to point that one out.
ReplyDeleteI do think you are doing some good work in South Africa but that it is all your own doing. You are lovely and generous people.
I think I will un-subscribe now though.
Love always x
Sorry to hear that you are unsubscribing. I understand that you have a completely different worldview. I understand that the idea that a man is God and died to free people from the evil in this world is a hard thing to understand and believe. It still challenges me on a daily basis. The (religious) people of his day could not accept that God would freely give his life to them which is why they killed Jesus. They needed to think they could have autonomy free from a relationship with God. This leads to my inability to make any sense of the humanist belief in humanity's capacity for progress. The 20th century saw some of the greatest atrocities history has ever witnessed by people of faith and humanists alike. We have obviously not progressed very far as a species with or without religion. Which gets back to my point above that true freedom from the cycle of violence, oppression, and evil in this world can only be found by returning to the source of love.
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ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to me that Martin Luther's thesis were from the 1500's - Christianity is very cyclical. Reminds me of the Apostasy of the Israelites in the OT. The reverence and tradition of Catholicism is very beautiful to me; however, I've never been able to reconcile the traditions. I did however, grow up fully "Pentecostal" which is the opposite side of the spectrum. Therefore, my belief system was built more on emotions and was less about "working out my faith" through consistent rituals. I think rituals can develop a true steadfastness that fights our innate desires to be selfish.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog, I couldn't help but think Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Thank God that it is through and by Him! I don't know about you, but I don't want any "mini-me's" running around - I want to give Christ and let them be transformed (as I HOPE I am) by Him. I want to live in freedom and share freedom.
It also reminded me of a Missionary I heard recently who is currently in Sudan. He was saying that by coming to God and asking "Lord fill me up so I can go to them" was actually a selfish and biased ask. He was saying that by saying that, we are saying to God - "they need You (God), more than I do". His heart was so humble as he said, "Lord fill me. I need you. I need your love, wholeness, Hope. I need your forgiveness and love because I am broken." And out of the abundance of God's gift to him, the (over) abundance is what he was able to give to the children he was ministering to. Not only will that prevent burn out, it placed a tremendous amount of strength in God's hands. It reminded him missions was for HIM first and second for others. It was so refreshing to hear that, in those words.
Over and over again, I hear team members say, "I went to help and to change and I myself came back changed!" - What if I go over with the attitude instead of, "Lord change me, give me eyes to see Your Love (that is already there) and magnify what You are doing already." If my heart is already in that place, relying on him first, ministering out of His abundance, it could well be tat 1/2 of the roadblocks are gone and He can be glorified even greater!
I really appreciated your blog, I've been thinking about it for 24 hours! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks McKenzie, I really like your thoughts. I have also struggled with the idea of missions being about me giving something that others need and forgetting my need as well. There are some power dynamics at issue there that people can easily use to assert their own cultural and theological biases. I think it is a delicate balance because Christ does send us out. I think of Paul as a missionary in Romans 1 and his claim that he is an "apostle" which literally means someone who is sent. Yet remembering that I myself need my savior, need repentance, need forgiveness, need faith and need sanctification daily. Again, thanks!
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