The Danger in Blindly Replicating
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 16, 2009I’ve seen it before. Enter the new missionary to the field. As you get to know him or her, the conversation inevitably drifts to what they exactly intend to do here. “Just what I did back in the States,” he’ll say. “You know, I successfully planted X churches, several in some tough spiritual areas. I’ll just hire a Christian worship leader, run some ads in the paper and on TV, get some lights, run a few videos, and we’ll have hundreds the first week.” And they’ll have hardly anyone show, because this culture doesn’t respond to attractional events. With no other ideas than their usual formula, the shoulders shrug and they’re gone on the next plane.
Now, some haven’t had quite the swagger I described above (a few did, though), each one has had the same confused look at the end of their attempt. How could this not work, it says. It worked in so many other places. Why didn’t the people respond?
While I think we all wish for the “silver bullet” of how to win souls, I really don’t think it exists. Every situation is different, every group needs the Gospel in a way that they will understand. And if you’re not in tune with the needs of your particular area, an attempt by blind replication will fall incredibly flat. Read this review of “Sunday School Musical” from the blog Christ and Pop Culture to see an example of a non-Christian company trying to cash in on the Christian market by copying the wildly popular “High School Musical”.
So what’s a missionary to do in another culture when all you’ve known is how to do ministry in your homeland? Some thoughts:
Talk with other missionaries, not only about what works but about what hasn’t worked. You can save yourself a lot of heartache by learning from the (no doubt well-intentioned) errors of others in your field.
Observe your mission culture. This will take a considerable amount of time, but watching what the culture deems important or interesting may give you some insights as to how to approach the Gospel message before you jump in.
Let go of your plans and pray for God’s plans. I know it sounds incredibly obvious, but I think it’s too easy to get the mission call from God, then barrel in with your previous “bag of tricks” to get the job done. I believe that God often times wants us to take a different direction when ministering to a new group of people, and we have to exercise our faith, trusting in His plans.
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