Useless American Missionaries

On the coast of West Africa, in the country of Guinea, Tom and Sherry Moore work to reduce poverty, sickness, and injustice. They are Christian American missionaries, and it is one of their highest goals to be relevant to the culture they have entered. They must speak the language, observe the styles, eat the food, and provide for the needs of the community.

I do not wish to discuss here whether or not Christian missionaries are good or right, but only to observe the method: missionaries work to fit in. They base the church service time and length on what fits the culture. They sing songs in the style of the culture. They find the needs of the community and request American support to meet those needs. They phrase their message in the context of the culture and create relevant analogies from the culture. They participate in secular events that cause them to look, sound, smell, and feel like members of the community. They do everything they can to abolish the “us-and-them” distinctions.

Nearly 7,000 miles away in Sacramento, California, our churches tire of the American culture that is so entitlement driven! Everyone in America wants it quick and free! They’re not willing to work for anything. They don’t show up to church regularly; they don’t tithe; they don’t sign up to work in the nursery; they don’t take it seriously. And they want to sing rock songs and be entertained in church. They won’t sit through an hour-long sermon and they won’t show up for Wednesday night prayer meeting. For all these reasons and so many more, most American Christians are fine with being a sub-culture. In fact, we’re proud of it! We have even made up a phrase that nearly every Christian falsely believes is scriptural: “We are to be IN the world, but not OF the world.” It is supposed to mean that we are willing to associate with the culture to some extent, but we’re not LIKE them. We’re Christians. We know it because we like hymns, long sermons, and several meetings per week. We’re hardcore, dedicated followers. We meet the right number of times for the right length.

Perception problem #1: The right way. I have a friend who moved to Sacramento from Russia just a few years ago. He recalls the nightly church services he attended while in Russia. They were each several hours long: show up after work, and go home whenever people stop preaching. He also recalls the massive, psychological change his family went through when they moved to the States. How could they be considered dedicated Christians if they only went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, and how could they get anything out of church if it only lasted two hours?!?! After all, in Russia, they met the right number of times for the right length, right? How can American Christians look in disgust at people who attend church 2 times instead of 4 times in a month when the American Christians attend church only a fraction of the Russian Christian times? After all, the Bible doesn’t specify any of the afore mentioned church preferences. Maybe our way is just our way, and not the right way to be Christian.

Perception problem #2: Class distinction. In the description of the American Christian attitude above, “they” shows up six times. We make that distinction consciously and subconsciously. The American ‘christian’ is uncomfortable calling himself “one of them.” We spend so much time putting down the culture that when we’re done, we can’t with a right conscience associate ourselves with them. This happens less when each person looks to correct the defects in himself rather than list the defects in his community.

But perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the “they” we are referring to above are the people who have actually come to church. “They” won’t sit through sermons, or “they” expect to be entertained. Well, at least “they” showed up! How much more is there an “us-and-them” mentality for those who have never been to church!

Perception problem #3: Class ranking. We define ourselves as normal and ‘them’ as the outsiders. Additionally, they are usually defined by what they are not: UN-believers, NON-christians, UN-spiritual… Why aren’t we the UN-atheists or the NON-naturalists? Perhaps for some, this is simply semantics, but there is a definite feeling that ‘we’ don’t have anything in common with ‘them’ because they don’t…[insert religious action here].

Ironically, the common Christian theology says that everyone is born UN-believers, NON-christians, and UN-spiritual. This means that ‘they’ are the normal ones. We are the ones who have made a drastic alteration to our human condition. If this theology is correct, we have been one of them; they have never been one of us. If anyone is going to be able to find a common ground, it is going to be us. We can relate to them; they can’t relate to us. We can reach out; they can’t.

Analysis: Pot and Kettle. I think the reason ‘christians’ are so frustrated by the entitlement mentality of “the world” is that we feel so entitled. After all, it’s a Christian nation, right? Those people who don’t do church right are messing up “our” country. We have no need to bring the country to Christ, they need to return to Christ. It’s their fault they’re not Christians: they have walked away from what we once were. And here’s the entitlement: we believe we have the right to enjoy our Christian nation without ‘them’ messing it up.

However, when it comes to the Christian responsibility, it is irrelevant whether or not America was founded as a Christian nation since the founders are long gone. We want the nation to be founded as a Christian nation because that allows us to be lazy, but this generation has not rebelled against a God they once knew. The modern American has never been Christian and is understandably irritated by a church that demands he return to a place he never was.

In fact, if an American 'christian' is going to be irritated with someone in the nation for rebelling against God, it could only be an irritation with the very American heroes they revere, who apparently did a less than satisfactory job of passing down their incredible Christian heritage or insuring it would endure. And thank God they didn’t, because wherever Christianity is institutionalized, it is perverted. No one is entitled to a really Christian nation. No one ever could be. It will always take work.

The American Missionary: Imagine the Moores coming back from Africa with the proud report:

"We're IN the culture, but thank God, we're not LIKE those people! THEY are really lost. We meet at times they can’t attend and for longer than they are willing to stay. We sing songs they hate and hardly anyone shows up. But they know we’re there. As soon as they are desperate enough for Christ, they know where to find us. After all, some of their ancestors two hundred years ago believed in Christ, so they definitely know that how they’re living is wrong. Please support us financially as we continue to do God’s work in Guinea." 

I don’t think they would have much support. When we treat America like a nation that needs the gospel instead of a disobedient child who MUST do things our way, our church will mirror our culture and will be more relevant. We will see pagans turned to Christians and ‘christians’ shown to be law-abiding pagans.