Comments on: Evangelism and the Gift of Missionary (Part 1) http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/ for friends of University Bible Fellowship Wed, 21 Oct 2015 04:34:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.1 By: david bychkov http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-742 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:52:25 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-742 Hi everyone. I just want to mention that this is very similiar to the Nevius plan. I believe you have heard about it. And as I understood from Mother Berry’s testimony, she used it when she had go to Korea. BTW, I happened to see the article about this Nevius Plan written by one of our most senior Korean leaders.

]]> By: Joe http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-741 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:39:04 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-741 Hi Ben.
I’m not sure what you meant when you said, “When an E-3 missionary evangelizes an E-1 native…” because the E-classes are for types of evangelism, not types of people.

I believe that whenever E-3 evangelism takes place, the disciples naturally adopt some of the cultural norms of the missionaries. I don’t think that is a lesser result; it is the natural, realistic outcome. In my case, it was good for aspects of my American culture to be challenged by Korean missionaries. However, I do believe that missionaries in general need to be more careful than they have been to respect the culture of the disciples, to see the good in it, and to stop trying to make disciples who are replicas of themselves.

I think that the cultural tensions in UBF right now are healthy and normal. They are exactly what one would expect in any cross-cultural missionary movement at this stage in its development. A while back, I read The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society by Lesslie Newbigin. Newbigin lived as a missionary in India and experienced firsthand what happens when Christian missionaries bring the gospel to a society vastly different from their own. Along with the gospel, they carry a great deal of their own cultural baggage, but they are not really aware of it. This causes everyone to struggle with the fundamental question, “What is the gospel?” He observed that all cross-cultural missionary movements tend to go through four stages.
• Stage 1: Missionaries bring the gospel to a foreign land, carrying along their own cultural values and understanding.
• Stage 2: Native people are converted and discipled by the missionaries, imitating both the missionaries’ faith and elements of the missionaries’ culture.
• Stage 3: As the native disciples become more mature and independent-minded, they notice some discrepancies between (a) their own independent understanding of what the Bible says and (b) what the missionaries who discipled them are actually doing.
• Stage 4: A three-way dance ensues among the missionaries, the converts, and the Bible as everyone tries to figure out how the gospel message brought by the missionaries should be contextualized in the native people’s culture.
UBF is now engaged in that Stage-4 dance. The dance can be awkward and painful. It tests the integrity of our faith and our relationships with one another. As I recall, Newbigin came to two basic conclusions about what should happen.
• The missionaries cannot fully contextualize the gospel in the new culture. Although they will need to make concessions to the new culture, they cannot fundamentally change who they are.
• Therefore, it is the job of the converts to contextualize the gospel in their own culture, and it is the job of the missionaries to allow them to do this.

]]> By: GerardoR http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-740 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:55:15 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-740 I have wondered this also Ben. I recently read a testimony in which one missionary in Guatemala realized that many of the Guatemalen converts believed that their form of Christianity was what had been around since the time of Christ. But in reality, they were essentially practicing a form of American Christianity that had only been around for 150 years or so. And just as the Guatemalen converts adopted the worship practices of American churches, so too did they begin to create splinter churches and form their own denominations.

E3 evangelicism brings the gospel of Christ to people but it also brings the ideological baggage as well.

]]> By: Ben Toh http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-739 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:23:16 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-739 Hi Joe, I’m wondering if Wagner addressed this, or if others have experienced this: When an E3 missionary evangelizes an E1 native, the E1 native adopts the cultural Christian norms of the E3 missionary. So even though the E1 native eventually carries out E1 evangelism with his own indigenous group, isn’t this equivalent to E3 evangelism with it’s “lesser” results? Sorry for the mathematically confusing question!

]]> By: Joe http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-738 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:41:28 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-738 Having said that, I do think that multicultural ministry is a wonderful thing. But it is also exceedingly difficult. The work of the Holy Spirit makes it possible, but it is uncomfortable and there will be many difficult struggles along the way.

]]> By: Joe http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-737 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:36:23 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-737 Hi David,
I feel uncomfortable advising people on what they should specifically do. I think everyone should do what they believe God is calling them to do. Historically, many UBF members have believed that God called them to cross-cultural evangelism. If God calls us to engage in E-2 or E-3 evangelism, we ought to do it. But we have to realize that it is quite different from E-1 evangelism. For example, someone who has been trained for and successfully carried out E-1 campus ministry in Korea is not automatically qualified or gifted for campus ministry in Germany, the United States, Africa or other places. Cultures really are different, and how we contextualize the gospel really does matter.

]]> By: David L http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-736 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:11:59 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-736 Hey Joe, do you think that UBF chapters with mostly Korean members should focus on Korean/American evangelism instead of Caucasians?

]]> By: david bychkov http://www.ubfriends.org/2010/12/14/evangelism-and-the-gift-of-missionary-part-1/#comment-735 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:43:39 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=1402#comment-735 thanks, Joe. have many thoughts on this topic. Waiting for a next article, which I believe will be more applicable.

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