God Gifts His Church

                        Spiritual Formation Enabled By Spiritual Gifts (Ephesians 4:11)

Now, at the heart of spiritual transformation into Christ-likeness is Holy Spirit guided living, described by Paul as “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13b). In no way could this “fullness” (Ephesians 4:9b) be achieved through human effort. It is God who must “fill” his church in order that they may be “full”. It is the Holy Spirit who does an “inside job” by “empowering a transformed people to live out “God honoring lives within the context of community and healthy relationships.”[1] Christ’ desire is to see his people become agents of change in the earth. In verses 11-12 Paul fleshes out the offices or functions through which Christ’s mission would be accomplished:

“He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). 

These gifts/functions/office (five main functions) were given to the entire church for the efficacy of Christ’s kingdom government. If anything is to be accomplished in Christ’s church, it will be through divine enablement. That said, Paul further explains: “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28). This was the work of God to spiritually empower men and women within and for the enabling of these gifts within his church. The first three gifts or offices that Paul numerated are sometimes called “higher offices” (apostles, prophets and evangelists). An apostle “was chosen and commissioned by Christ and were endowed through a special impartation of the Holy Spirit for the work of establishing the church.”[2] They played an authoritative role. “While they lived, they could provide teaching in person, but also committed their inspired revelation to writing, bringing into existence the New Testament.”[3]

Considerations Before Missions Engagement

Understanding Culture

It would be a difficult task to remove the cultural influence that shapes the worldview of a person. “No one can ever divorce himself from his culture.”[1] When considering strategies for fulfilling God’s call to take the Good News to the nations, it is essential to consider the cultural component. If any one person already has difficulty objectively looking into the impact culture has on his life, how much more the church as it makes in-roads into new territory and peoples. Lloyd Kwast suggests using the “man from Mars” method in seeking to understand the impact of and the values associated with cultural studies. The “man from Mars is able to visualize successive levels of understanding the real heart of a culture. His will be an objective view, looking from the outside-in.” on this alien culture.[2] One of the first observations about a people is their “behavior,” seen in their speech, language and non-verbal responses to stimuli (the message). An objective summation of behavior is that “culture functions as a patterned way of doing things.”[3] Perhaps a better way to describe it is “the super-glue which binds people together and gives them a sense of identity and continuity that is almost impenetrable.”[4] The communicator of the gospel can expect any number of setbacks from a group of people who will view his message a strange or even alien to who they are as a people. The gospel may at times be considered heresy, an attack on their cultural identity and a means of upsetting the apple cart.

Voices from Inside the Towers (9/11 Documentary)

Globalization & Missions: Getting The Message Out

Globalization in the twenty first century guarantees that neighborhoods Christians seek to communicate the gospel will be a blend of cultures. If the message of the gospel is to be effectively presented, fulfilling Christ’s mandate to go to the nations (Mat.24:14, 28:19; Lk. 24:47), then leadership must seek to have “some insight into how culture shapes the thoughts and behaviors of the people” within those communities.[1] The call to witness is not just for some far away country; globalization has brought the world next door. It will require greater effort; Livermore calls it “a disciplined effort to better understand cultural differences.”[2] What is valued in the American culture may be of a lesser value or even offensive to another culture. It would be wise to have at least a beginning understanding of the worldview of the target audience as “worldviews provide a system of beliefs reflected in values and behavior.”[3] While the Christian believes without a shadow of a doubt that there is only one God (Deut. 4:35,39; 6:4) and all else is false (and worthy of condemnation), there is a benefit to understanding the religion of those hearing the gospel. A good step in small-talk is finding common ground that leads to a more receptive audience.

It would not be uncommon for proclaimers of the gospel to have a cocooning mentality, yet this may very well be one of the core impediments of reaching outside the four walls of the church. Because the church is in the people business, “leaders must be both global and local in understanding and serving customers” (in this case, those to whom the gospel is proclaimed).[4] What works at home may not work in India or Africa. Although the gospel is a universal message, others may already have presuppositions about this gospel. For example, it may be seen as a “western religion” or “the white man’s religion.” History has shown that on numerous occasions, the western world has indeed imported its Christian worldview without consideration for indigenous peoples. That said, if the gospel is to be effectively proclaimed to the nations, the church ‘should be acutely aware that people have tastes, behaviors and assumptions that are not only different, but in conflict with one another.”[5] It is not enough to hit folks in the head with the Bible; the proclaimer of God’s word may wish to meet the listener at their point of need with an eye towards Christ’s kingdom (Mat. 6:33).

The gospel is in no way esoteric. It is universal in appeal, content and power to save. What makes the difference is the employment of fully functioning gifts of the Spirit under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Father already promised empowerment (Mat.28:18,20), but he also expects the church to be organized for effectiveness (Acts 6:2-7). There will be challenges working with individuals and teams of people, especially culturally diverse teams. Without compromising orthodoxy, Livermore suggests making an effort to (1) understanding how a family system works, (2) understanding culture, language patterns and non-verbal behaviors, (3) “slowing down long enough to observe the hearer” while drawing on cultural intelligence to resolve issues, and (4) “looking internally at biases and assumptions and then making conscious decisions to address them.”[6] This is where intercultural communication truly becomes effective. Proclaimers of the gospel who work regularly with culturally diverse ministry partners will “reap rewards from acquiring the awareness, knowledge and skills of flexible intercultural communication. This will be needed to solve problems, manage conflicts and forge new visions at home and abroad.”[7] Bottom line is that the effective spread of the unchanging gospel to the nations (“diverse contexts and cultures”) will require both a learning/developing to function across diverse cultures (CQ) and “developing a creative mindset to see things from different angles without rigid pre-judgment.” [8]

---

[1]  David Livermore, Leading With Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret To Success, (United States: AMACOM, 2015), 67.

[2]  Ibid., 67-8.

[3]  Lloyd E. Kwast, Understanding Culture, 399, accessed September 6, 2018, https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-24419510-dt-content-rid-297477156_1/courses/GLST650_B02_201840/GLST650_LUO_8WK_DEV_ImportedContent_20180129105511/GLST650_M2_Understanding_Culture_by_Lloyd_E._Kwast.pdf

[4] Livermore, Cultural Intelligence, 16.

[5] Ibid., 14.

[6]  Ibid., 29-30.

[7]  Stella Ting-Toomey and Leeva C. Chung, Understanding Intercultural Communication, (New York: Oxford Press, 2012), 6-7.

[8]  Ibid., 5.

GoogleImage.

Written by Kevin A. Hall.

The Multicultural Mission Field

It is unfortunate that the church is seen as organized religion, packaging the gospel as determined by its target groups. But then again, this is not a new phenomenon. When Jesus came on the scene he not only denounced the religious class as hypocrites (Mat.23:13), he appealed to Isaiah as an authoritative reference (Mat.15:7; Isa.29:13).  His plan to reach the nations beginning with his immediate circle would be a radical and incarnational approach that raised more than a few eyebrows. As master communicator, Jesus made adjustments to his teaching style opting to use parables to communicate truths to those who wished to listen and as a source of judgment for those who rejected his message (Mat.13:10-17). Even Jesus then, believed it was necessary to make adjustments to the method of delivery in order to be more effective and relevant. While he made adjustments, he did not compromise his message, delivering his message with noticeable authority (Mat.7:29; Mk. 1:22). In many cases, this is what is lacking in the present proclamation of the gospel; many come in his name, with many titles, but are lacking spiritual authority.