A lot has changed since 1956.
"On January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Flemming,
and Roger Youderian were speared to death on a sandbar called “Palm
Beach” in the Curaray River of Ecuador. They were trying to reach the
Huaorani Indians for the first time in history with the gospel of Jesus
Christ." -John Piper (www.Desiringgod.org)
Last week, the news broke that John Allen Chau was killed while following in the footsteps of a generation 62 years earlier.
"According to letters recovered from the island and supplied to Reuters,
John Allen Chau, 27, was killed while trying to bring Christianity to
North Sentinel Island. The forested isle is part of the remote
India-administered Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, and
populated by an isolated indigenous tribe." -Newsweek
62 years ago it galvanized a nation, the American church, and lit a fire in American missions. Last week? Was it even mentioned in your church service?
I have no way of knowing, but I do know that at least among my Christian Facebook friends (the few that even mentioned it) it was more often criticized that praised. It was more often condemned than honored. It was more often ridiculed than embraced.
If this is what our understanding of missions has become, no wonder the world looks at Christianity with skepticism and anger. Have we so bowed to our culture that we truly believe that the Gospel should only be preached to those who are wearing a sign saying, "Please tell me about the wonderful message of Jesus"?
Some might site the passages (see Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5) where Jesus is training his disciples and instructs them to "dust off their sandals" and move on if they or their message is not received as Biblical instruction to only witness to those who are "willing to listen." The problem with this interpretation is that it assumes that people know what they aren't wanting to listen to. If no one has told them, how can they be unwilling to listen?
It's like this.
It's Thanksgiving. Your cousin brings a girlfriend to the family dinner. As the day wears on, you begin to wonder if anyone has ever told her about Jesus before? So, what do you do? It seems our culture and now some Christians believe that you say nothing because she is by default not "willing to listen." But how do you know she is not willing to listen unless you first tell her? If, after you share the wonderful hope of Jesus with her, she rejects the truth claims of Jesus and says she doesn't want to talk about it, etc., then the Biblical instruction of Jesus kicks in and you do indeed stop. Jesus did not call us to be the stereotypical "Bible thumper." But neither did he call us to pull back in shame or fear from telling people of the only hope for eternity.
It seems many are condemning the actions of John Allen because he broke the law and risked a viral outbreak on an unexposed population. Without a doubt he did both of those things. Without a doubt, he did so because he believed he should actually practice what the Bible instructs.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matthew 10:28 (see also Luke 12:4)
18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” - Acts 4:18-20
God doesn't need us or want us to bash people over the head with the gospel message. He expects us to be so broken for the lost that our only response...our only response is Godly compassion. The kind of compassion Jesus had for you and for me as he took each and every step that led Him to the cross. The kind of compassion that says no matter the cost, even if it be my life, I will lay it all down for the sake of Christ, the cause of Christ, and that others might know of this Christ.
Today and every day I honor those like John Allen. He joined elite ranks last week. Sadly, those ranks are too often forgotten.
I say all this as an imperfect witness. I often over think and under love. I often am too busy and too bothered. I often pull back in fear rather than run towards with love. I need those like John Allen to remind me...to remind me that this life is not all that there is. There is more. Much, much more.
Thank you, John Allen, for running the race so well.
