(864) 546-4540
Center for Global Opportunities
  • About
  • Outreach
    • CGO Screen Ads
    • Local
    • National
    • Global
    • Request Help
  • 2023 Trips
    • CGO Mission Teams
    • BJU Study Abroad & Study USA
  • Blog
    • Submissions
  • Internationals
    • International Student Organization
  • Events
    • MLK Day
    • GO Greenville
    • GO Week
    • Summer Ministry Conference
  • About
  • Outreach
    • CGO Screen Ads
    • Local
    • National
    • Global
    • Request Help
  • 2023 Trips
    • CGO Mission Teams
    • BJU Study Abroad & Study USA
  • Blog
    • Submissions
  • Internationals
    • International Student Organization
  • Events
    • MLK Day
    • GO Greenville
    • GO Week
    • Summer Ministry Conference

THE CGO BLOG

Baptistville and Missions Strategy, part 2

5/26/2017

0 Comments

 

Dr. Neal Cushman, Projects Coordinator

Picture
This week, let’s return to Mr. Smuchie heading to Baptistville and talk about the matter of call.
 
This is a touchy subject because how can I argue with someone’s call? After all, this is a matter between God and the person.
 
One response to this might be to doubt that there is such a thing as a personal call. Garry Friesen and J. Robin Maxson wrote a book in the 1980’s that basically said that there is no such thing as a personal call.  Rather, we have commandments like the Great Commission that we must fulfill in our lives. This should be the focus, and not some subjective revelation that occurs between God and a person.
 
In other words, God’s will is more like a circle of obedience which one should remain in and move around freely, but it is not a single point. There is no such thing as “the one person” that you should marry, or “the one vocation” that you should pursue. If you sense that you are good at ministry, and you are walking with the Lord, then you are fine to pursue vocational ministry if you wish. If you are good at missions, and like it, then go ahead and do it. If you meet a young lady who exhibits good Christian character, and you like her personality, and she is in agreement with your goals for life, then you are fine to marry her. But the same could be said for a thousand other young ladies who have similar qualifications.
 
One of the authors’ illustrations may lead one to believe that he has hit upon something good here. If it is God’s will for Joe to marry Sue, and Joe fails to follow the Lord in this, and marries Lori instead, then God’s will is destroyed for many others. For Lori was actually supposed to marry Jeff, and now Jeff can’t possibly complete God’s will for his life. Before long, no one can find the one true mate for his life, and God’s plan is completely overturned. Complicated, right? On this basis (and some other points), Friesen argues there is a range of permissible options when it comes to following God’s will.
 
Friesen’s theory has some merit to it. There are some who seem so tied down by concern over whether or not they have the will of God for their lives that they cannot get the nerve to do anything. Friesen would answer that we should follow what we know, and do that.
 
We are commanded to witness, so stop praying about whether or not you should do it, and get out and witness. Good point. I might further add that the first step towards knowing God’s will for your life is to obey Him, striving to please Him every day. But Friesen would not quite say that. He would argue that the first step is the only step.
 
There are a number of problems with Friesen’s thesis, and I will mention a few. First, there are a significant number of biblical texts that point to a specific call for your life. In particular, the New Testament talks about the matter of setting a person apart for ministry (See 1 Cor. 9:27; Acts 20:24; 2 Tim. 4:7; and 1 Tim. 4:14).
 
In other words, God takes certain people and selects them to be vocational ministers of the Gospel.  To say that this happens at the moment that a person surrenders to ministry is not consistent with the experiences of John the Baptist and Paul, not to mention all of the Old Testament prophets. Second, Friesen’s marriage illustration is not conclusive because it fails to grapple with the mysterious nature of God’s sovereignty.
 
God runs this universe to the smallest detail with such precision and care that He is always glorified, even though the subjects of his universe seek to dishonor Him at every turn. Yet it appears He allows this rebellion to exist. 
 
So how does He maintain His precise will with so many rebellious subjects? I don’t know. He is God, and can do things that defy my thinking. Theologians often speak of God’s permissive will compared to His true will. Perhaps this allows us a way to describe the problem, but in the end, God is sovereign, and no man is capable of overturning it.
 
Friesen’s theory also fails on a very practical level. He assumes some believers will choose to serve God in vocations like missions. Everyone has the option to choose. Some are more gifted than others, so maybe they will choose. But what if everyone says, “It is totally permissible for me to serve God in America. I will faithfully fulfill His will here.”
 
I would never disparage any vocation where a person faithfully serves God. But I think that you can see the problem here. If there is no “setting apart for ministry,” then it is left to human choice. This simply does not square with what we read in the Bible.
               
Let’s regroup – as always, I have wandered far afield of the question. We were discussing the matter of the Lord’s call, and I tried to show some of the weaknesses of Friesen’s model.
 
But I would like to balance this brief critique of Friesen with concern over the subjective nature of what I often hear regarding someone’s call. While a pastor, I listened to a young lady claim that God wanted her to move in with her boyfriend. Of course, I told her that this was not God’s will for her life.
 
Later, I heard a man say that God had called his family into missions to serve in country X. He packed his bags, moved to another state, and began to raise support to go to country X. Things did not work out, so he said God had called him to country Y. This did not work out either.
 
After a while one wonders if God is being impugned when people talk this way. Are there no checks and balances concerning what one says about his or her calling?
 
I have decided that I should not question someone’s call (but I wonder if the individual’s pastor should question it, or at least discuss whether or not it is consistent with the person’s qualifications and skills).
 
Rather, I have decided that I will determine whether or not I should cast my support behind that individual based on strategy and common sense. If the person is heading to a mission field that is saturated with missions, that has numerous national preachers, then I would probably not support him. Others may, but I probably won’t.
 
I have simply decided that I will support new missionary work where the need is greater. I do not suggest that we should bring missionaries home from the fields of lesser need; they should stay and finish the task. But I will not support any new recruits for these fields.
 
Even if my son were heading to Baptistville to start a church, I would not support him.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    *If RSS feed is not working for you, please add it to your app or software manually by adding this url:
    ​www.bjucgo.com/blog/feed

    The CGO Blog

    Written by the CGO staff, with guest posts from students and other faculty/staff at BJU to provide thought leadership for missions in a new millennium. 

    Categories

    All
    Alumni
    Ask A Missionary
    Atheism
    Bible Study
    Buddhism
    Catholicism
    Children's Ministry
    China
    Christmas
    Church Ministry
    Common Ground
    Contextualization
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cross Cultural
    Culture Blocks
    Education
    Evangelism
    Field Reports
    Gratitude
    Great Commission
    Greenville SC
    Holism And Prioritism
    Inspiration
    International Students
    Islam
    Local Church
    Medical Missions
    Millennials In Missions
    Ministry Team
    Missionaries You Don't Know
    Missionary Kid
    Missions Gamechangers In 2018
    Missions Internship
    Missions Mistakes
    Missions Strategy
    Missions Trip
    Muhammad
    Multiculturalism
    Outreach
    Pastoral Ministry
    Persecution
    Prayer
    Preparing For Ministry
    Sanctification
    Study Abroad
    Testimony
    Thanksgiving
    Ukraine
    Uncomfortable Ministry
    Urban Ministry
    War
    Woman's Ministry
    Women In Missions

    Archives

    April 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

Picture

                               © COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.​

#BJUCGO