All will be saved, so why go?

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Tad

A bishop of Nigeria who, having heard of a tribe who wore no clothes and was not Christian, shed his closes, lived among them, and brought the Gospel to them.

The weekly series addresses nine reasons churches give for not sending workers to fields left unharvested.  One of the deterrents to sending workers there is the mistaken notion that all will be saved in the end. This posting explores the implications of that belief.

Rationale:

If God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for us, then reason, hope, and sheer compassion all lead to the same conclusion: with such a costly sacrifice of God, surely He will grant salvation to all people. All—Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, atheist, all—will be granted heaven by God in the final judgment.

After all, we are told that we are unable to gain saving grace on our own merit or effort.  God alone brings salvation. And we are to think He would keep some out? Unimaginable! Despite our respectful hesitancy, we can only think that God would be hard-hearted if that were His intention.

Pardon me, but spare me any efforts of logic or verses or arcane theology to contradict this universal hope. To do so must ignore the unyielding and inevitable affirmation of divine love.

In this light foreign missions becomes, well, irrelevant at best and insulting at worst. The message is really not a message—who needs to know? This would be like declaring, “I want you to know that you have two kidneys.” Who needs to be told?

Since God is going to save everybody, so why go?

Response

Believing that all will be saved is not foolproof nor above examination. As compelling and desirable as universal salvation is, we must not shirk at giving it a close look.

Our concern here is implications for foreign mission. I will bring up just one objection before turning to mission. Consider the God-given freedom of the will. Can God honor our freedom and also keep His promise of salvation for all?

This God-given capacity sets us apart from automatons. We have the ability to choose—whether it be the cheese we have with a glass of wine or the destiny we cling to. If I choose to freely love and worship God, that is the love God desires–His pearl of great price, we might say. It is offered as my freely given response, not extracted as a pre-ordained mindset without no possible alternative.

I can also exercise that freedom to give God a pass, to choose not to link my life to his, to commit to other gods and ultimately to refuse Jesus Christ. Many do just that: reject the cross of Jesus Christ and his forgiveness and not find in it the abundant life. They just don’t want what God offers, so they choose a life apart from him. If God overrules this person’s free rejection, does he not violate the sanction given to us all? You can’t have it both ways—our true freedom and God saving those who choose to refuse Him.

But this is not a theological refutation of universalism; this is about the choice denied those who have not even heard of Jesus Christ as God’s Son. The number is legion, over one quarter of the world’s population today. Those are the people where the workers are few and their fields barely plowed.

No, I have no inside knowledge of how God will treat those who die never having had the opportunity to choose faith in Jesus Christ. What we can affirm, however, is that all who do believe receive the assurance that, sinners though they are, they may be assured of God’s grace and God’s eternal salvation.

We return to the opening quotation and put back all the words it as spoken by Jesus. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).” In those simple words we have the requirement for receiving the salvation of Jesus Christ—believing in him. That does not lead to esoteric parsing of Greek verbs and such. It simply means what it says: believing in Jesus as God’s Son whom He gave to die on the cross for our sin. Faith in that brings eternal life.

As for those who have never heard this Good News, those in unharvested fields, we must leave the conclusions to the God who sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, only hoping for mission motivation to overtake the church.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never hearAnd how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of

those who preach the Good News.”

Romans 10:14, 15

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The Nation of the Tajakant

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Tad

The weekly series addresses nine reasons churches give for not sending workers to fields left unharvested. The first reason, which I wrote about last week, was the muddling that arises from the use of the word “Gentile” to define the mission world instead of “nation” or “ethnic people.” If we see the mission field only as Gentiles, we miss the 7,000 nations left in those fields.

One of the deterrents to sending workers there is the mistaken notion that all will be saved in the end. This posting explores the implications of that belief.

Rationale:
If God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for us, then reason, hope, and sheer compassion all lead to the same conclusion: with such a costly sacrifice of God, surely He will grant salvation to all people. All—Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, atheist, all—will be granted heaven by God in the final judgment.

After all, we are told that we are unable to gain saving grace on our own merit or effort.  God alone brings salvation. And we are to think He would keep some out? Unimaginable! Despite our respectful hesitancy, we can only think that God would be hard-hearted if that were His intention.

Pardon me, but spare me any efforts of logic or verses or arcane theology to contradict this universal hope. To do so must ignore the unyielding and inevitable affirmation of divine love.

In this light foreign missions becomes, well, irrelevant at best and insulting at worst. The message is really not a message—who needs to know? This would be like declaring, “I want you to know that you have two kidneys.” Who needs to be told?

Since God is going to save everybody, so why go?

Response
Believing that all will be saved is not foolproof nor above examination. As compelling and desirable as universal salvation is, we must not shirk at giving it a close look.

Our concern here is implications for foreign mission. I will bring up just one objection before turning to mission. Consider the God-given freedom of the will. Can God honor our freedom and also keep His promise of salvation for all?

This God-given capacity sets us apart from automatons. We have the ability to choose—whether it be the cheese we have with a glass of wine or the destiny we cling to. If I choose to freely love and worship God, that is the love God desires–His pearl of great price, we might say. It is offered as my freely given response, not extracted as a pre-ordained mindset without no possible alternative.

I can also exercise that freedom to give God a pass, to choose not to link my life to his, to commit to other gods and ultimately to refuse Jesus Christ. Many do just that: reject the cross of Jesus Christ and his forgiveness and not find in it the abundant life. They just don’t want what God offers, so they choose a life apart from him. If God overrules this person’s free rejection, does he not violate the sanction given to us all? You can’t have it both ways—our true freedom and God saving those who choose to refuse Him.

But this is not a theological refutation of universalism; this is about the choice denied those who have not even heard of Jesus Christ as God’s Son. The number is legion, over one quarter of the world’s population today. Those are the people where the workers are few and their fields barely plowed.

No, I have no inside knowledge of how God will treat those who die never having had the opportunity to choose faith in Jesus Christ. What we can affirm, however, is that all who do believe receive the assurance that, sinners though they are, they may be assured of God’s grace and God’s eternal salvation.

We return to the opening quotation and put back all the words it as spoken by Jesus. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).” In those simple words we have the requirement for receiving the salvation of Jesus Christ—believing in him. That does not lead to esoteric parsing of Greek verbs and such. It simply means what it says: believing in Jesus as God’s Son whom He gave to die on the cross for our sin. Faith in that brings eternal life.

As for those who have never heard this Good News, those in unharvested fields, we must leave the conclusions to the God who sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, only hoping for mission motivation to overtake the church.

How then will they call on him in whom
they have not believed?

          And how are they to believe in him of whom
they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of
those who preach the Good News.”
Romans 10:14, 15
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Fields, Gentiles, and Nations

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Tad
03

Dani women of western China experiencing green chewing gum

 

When I was the Director of Anglican Frontier Missions, I spent many Sundays in different churches where I presented unreached mission fields. Over time, in conversation with clergy and mission leaders, I began to see patterns of reasons not harvesting in these fields. In this series I will present these, along with the responses I developed.

Pretty cheeky of me, right? I mean, taking up negative notions about frontier missions and presuming to set them right. Cheeky and bold, but with the effort not to be offensive. (I am a mild-mannered Virginian!)  Besides, as I noted last week, this series does allow for your feedback.

Reason: This week’s reason is really an objection.  This sample church is already heavily involved in foreign fields, mission to Gentiles. There is sacrificial ministry, mutually beneficial, with tough times and hard learnings, and borne much fruit.

This engagement often results from connections with bishops of the Anglican Communion or leaders of other denominations. These relationships can open ways for interaction between them and us. Another way into foreign mission is through local ministry with international students. These people usually return to positions of leadership and influence in their homelands. The opportunity is great: there are over 300,000 Chinese students in the United States. Unfortunately, history shows that fewer than 30% will get into an American home.

To churches like this sample congregation, they do not ask, “So why go?” but declare, “We are already there.”

Response: Truly, many are involved, and with a long history, humbling times of learning, and benefits for all who have participated. But—

We must take a close look at this term, “fields,” and ask two questions. First, what does Jesus mean by this term, and second, how do we know what fields lack workers?  It should be clear that He is not referring to political countries. Boundaries change. Consider, for example, poor Poland, how the lines of that great country have been altered over the last 150 years. No, Jesus has something else in mind.

The best place to look is Matthew’s Great Commission. There the Lord tells us to make disciples of all “nations.” The Greek for “nations” is ethne, a word we have incorporated as “ethnic.” Most translations render this as Gentiles. That is lamentable. That divides the world once—Jews and others. Whatever is done across cultural boundaries qualifies as work with Gentiles. So, churches can say, “We are already there.”

Unless… unless Jesus is speaking about ethnic tribes, people groups distinct from one another by language, custom, history, religion and more. After all, we cannot paraphrase the Great Commission by saying, “Go, make disciples of all Gentiles.” In the metaphor of fields, Jesus is telling us that many ethnic groups are without mission attention.

China gives us a good example of the difference between a political country and “nations.” . We can be amazed at the number of Chinese Christians, but when we look at the people groups, another picture emerges. Most Chinese Christians are of the majority Han nation. China recognizes 55 minority nations, but actually there are many more than 55. Of these “nations” most have very few Christians and very few workers.

Secondly, how do we know which fields?  One way to that solution is to go by number of Christians. Some fields have scads of Christians—a number of believers beyond counting.  We ask, then, what makes that growth possible? Easy: teachers, Bibles, classes, training, places to worship, absence of persecution, webinars and websites, and, of course, an ample supply of DVDs and notebook courses.

Maybe you can see where this is going. If some fields have all these things and lots of Christians, then what about fields without these. Those would be the ones waiting for the harvest. Those are the ones with few workers, few Christians, and inadequate efforts to evangelize.

Now we can see how these unharvested fields can be identified—by asking about available resources:

        Bibles. In their own language? The entire Bible or portions?  The Jesus Film? Available on the Internet? And, by the way, have the people learned to read?

        Leadership training. How recently has Christianity come to this people? Are there Christian leaders? Are there opportunities for training? What level of teaching is appropriate?

        Modes of communication. Are there radio programs, TV programs? Are these accessible to the people? How about print—magazines, correspondence courses, pamphlets on discipleship topics?

        Aids to society. Are there Christian health care workers, educational personnel, advocates for justice and kindness? These address their areas of expertise, but they also model the Christian life.

        Openness in society. Is evangelism permitted? Encouraged and taught? Can worship take place in the open? Is there persecution of Christians and churches?

Those are some of the key criteria in discerning where a particular nation or ethnic group fits. Fields without scads of these resources also are without scads of Christians, and without scads of workers.

What about those churches that are in well harvested fields, like our sample church? Hold back from their work? Shift to another field? Of course not! Press on! If anything, increase the attention and support for growth. And… don’t discount the power of the Holy Spirit to nudge you towards those unharvested fields as well.
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