Bridge the Divide Between Do & Say

I love Relevant Magazine. I’ve been a subscriber since the first issue. And boy, do they have a great web site. If it’s not in your bookmarks, then umm… go bookmark it right now. I’ll wait… 

You’re back? Cool. Well today, I came across this article by Brett McCraken on their site, “Is Missions About Words or Deeds?” Brett’s article is a reflection on a piece he read in the Wall Street Journal about trends in Christians missions. (I know! I’m blogging about another guy’s blog about someone else’s article—such is the power of the Internets!) Brett writes,

Evangelical youth now hold the term “missionary” at arm’s length, afraid of the colonialist connotations of the word. They prefer being involved in “social justice” under the auspices of a more generalized Christian sense of charity rather than operating under anything resembling (groan) “soul winning.”

I too have noticed the pendulum swing away from evangelism. I have heard terminology like friendship evangelism, and worship evangelism and prayer evangelism. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that qualifying evangelism is just code for doing something but not saying anything. Somehow a divide has gotten into our Gospel. It’s as if some say that it should be more about doing, while others say, it should be more about saying.

Now, I’m all over doing something and saying something. We started this whole Mission Adventures thing to make it easy for whole youth groups to get involved in the Great Commission! But Mission Adventures can’t be just about doing. It has to bridge the gap and involve intentional conversations about Jesus. I love how McCracken gets across this divide. He writes,

To me, the debate is silly. Can’t we do both simultaneously? Can’t we serve others and meet their circumstantial needs while at the same time telling them about Jesus? Yes, we should be in Africa building water wells, or in Haiti building schools, but what’s the harm in mentioning along the way that we are Christians acting as the Church, loving the world because God loved it?

Brilliant. Thanks for the insight, Brett! If you haven’t already, click through and read Brett’s article for yourself. And while you’re at it, check out the piece from the The Journal too. 

Peace,

Craig McClurg

Mission Adventures Network Guy