Someone I'm following on Twitter alerted me to a very interesting blog post by Greg Laden. Greg is an anthropologist working in a remote region of Congo. The post is instructive at many different levels. It's long, but I encourage you to read it for a variety of reasons. I'm going to give you two reasons to read it. The third point is why it made me mad.
(1) Greg provides a scary portrait of a particular missionary. (I am assuming that the story is true and reasonably accurate.) The man he describes should not be running around Congo. He is stealing money from his church supporters in Oklahoma. He is hurting the people he comes into contact with. He is hurting his own family and himself. I suspect he probably hurt a lot of people in his hometown. Perhaps that's why they gave him money for his "mission". It was money well spent to get him out of town.
(2) Greg also gives Christians (that's me and most of my readers) great insight into how many in his field view us. It's worth reading for that alone. Check the comments as well.
(But now for a critical point about Greg's piece and the reason I'm posting.)
(3) Greg is just as bad as the "great white missionary". Part of the trouble with the "great white missionary" is his arrogance. It's also the fatal flaw of Greg's post. Arrogance and no compassion.
Greg and his friend judged, belittled, made fun of and lied to this man and his family. And then posted it for the world to see. The "missionary" was no angel. Neither is Greg, the anthropologist.
In the end Greg judged that man "was not a typical missionary, because most of the missionaries were not rogue like he was, but rather, part of a larger and highly organized effort. But he embodied much of the hypocrisy institutionalized in the larger organizations, personified it, made it real, palpable, and more overtly despicable."
Greg - Most missionaries are NOT like this guy. I know a lot of missionaries. We all have our flaws (anthropologists do too). But most missionaries I know love the people's they live around. They spend tons of time and money, blood, sweat and tears, building hospitals and arranging medical care. Helping people get clean water and some education. Fighting alongside oppressed peoples for political, economic and spiritual freedom. Most institutional missionary agencies are probably the opposite of your characterization.
Why must we always judge harshly that which we don't understand?
There is room for criticizing Christian mission? Yes. Trust me - we Christians do it all the time. Are we helping or hurting? What is the role for evangelism? What is God already doing? How can we help?
I just wish you'd seek to understand before painting us all as idiots.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday Reflections (on Thursday) and Sermon Link
Sorry. I've been a lazy blogger. There is stuff going on. I have just been unable to write about it in any sort of creative way. I predict it will be another week or two before I'm out of the funk.
Here is a sermon link from...
June 14 (Sunday morning) and June 21 (Sunday evening)
I'm a week behind on Sunday evenings. So I'm a week behind in posting sermons here.
Sunday 21 June was enjoyable. We said "goodbye" to the Jones family and also to the Parlindungan family. We've got more goodbyes over the next few weeks. It's sad to see people go. But we also had visitors on Sunday. That has become a rare event. The economy is so bad that few multinational companies are sending foreign workers to Thailand right now. The lady that cuts my hair asked me about it on Monday. She said most of her foreign customers have been relocated home.
It's hurting our numbers a little, but it has not hit us in the bank yet. Our members are so generous!
And it hasn't hurt our fellowship. The depth of Christian commitment that I see in most of our church members is wonderful.
Here is a sermon link from...
June 14 (Sunday morning) and June 21 (Sunday evening)
I'm a week behind on Sunday evenings. So I'm a week behind in posting sermons here.
Sunday 21 June was enjoyable. We said "goodbye" to the Jones family and also to the Parlindungan family. We've got more goodbyes over the next few weeks. It's sad to see people go. But we also had visitors on Sunday. That has become a rare event. The economy is so bad that few multinational companies are sending foreign workers to Thailand right now. The lady that cuts my hair asked me about it on Monday. She said most of her foreign customers have been relocated home.
It's hurting our numbers a little, but it has not hit us in the bank yet. Our members are so generous!
And it hasn't hurt our fellowship. The depth of Christian commitment that I see in most of our church members is wonderful.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sermon Links and Sunday Reflections
It's been a while since I've posted. I hibernated (was overwhelmed) after Kelly's death. But life will start getting back to normal. Here are two sermons and a few thoughts from yesterday.
* Sermon from June 7 (i know its a week late.)
* Sermon from Kelly's Memorial (it was one of the best memorial services I've ever been a part of. Unfortunately I only have my own text. A couple of Kelly's friends and especially Kelly's sister really hit home runs with what they had to say.)
* Sorry no link yet for THIS Sunday's sermon. I'll post it next week. I'm one week behind on Sunday nights. So I can't give the link or I'd give the sermon away! :)
Sunday Morning Reflections
(1) Despite the beginning of Intl School Holidays, we had a pretty good crowd at church in the morning. And we had visitors. We haven't really had many visitors recently. I guess with the economy and political situation less foreigners are moving to BKK. Hope Sundays surge of visitors is a sign of things to come.
(2) Choir has picked a great opening song for June. They are singing Micah 6:8. Beautiful.
(3) Gill always does great children's stories. Your children are missing out if they aren't at ICB.
(4) I preached a little longer than normal and made a spelling error in my powerpoint. As far as I know - only one person caught it. Probably others were just being polite. I don't mind being told.
(5) Enjoyed lunch with Joel, Malcolm, Betsy, Jennifer, Laura, Jake and Anna.
Sunday Night Reflection
(1) Where was everyone? Was it Intl School Holiday? (I don't think so.) Was it the rain? Maybe. Marion says when it rains in Kenya, no one comes. I'd say in the US we'd see 20% decline in attendance. I think BKK is about 30% decline, particularly at night.
(2) Always good singing when Den is around. And Marion and Aiko brought it too.
(3) Rob Bell's "Dust" is one of my favorites. Spurred great discussion.
(4) Looking forward to having Bernice as the worship welcomer/leader. I love it when people volunteer.
(5) It was good getting to chat with Nicole and Grahame a bit. I feel like I need a better follow up system in the evenings.
* Sermon from June 7 (i know its a week late.)
* Sermon from Kelly's Memorial (it was one of the best memorial services I've ever been a part of. Unfortunately I only have my own text. A couple of Kelly's friends and especially Kelly's sister really hit home runs with what they had to say.)
* Sorry no link yet for THIS Sunday's sermon. I'll post it next week. I'm one week behind on Sunday nights. So I can't give the link or I'd give the sermon away! :)
Sunday Morning Reflections
(1) Despite the beginning of Intl School Holidays, we had a pretty good crowd at church in the morning. And we had visitors. We haven't really had many visitors recently. I guess with the economy and political situation less foreigners are moving to BKK. Hope Sundays surge of visitors is a sign of things to come.
(2) Choir has picked a great opening song for June. They are singing Micah 6:8. Beautiful.
(3) Gill always does great children's stories. Your children are missing out if they aren't at ICB.
(4) I preached a little longer than normal and made a spelling error in my powerpoint. As far as I know - only one person caught it. Probably others were just being polite. I don't mind being told.
(5) Enjoyed lunch with Joel, Malcolm, Betsy, Jennifer, Laura, Jake and Anna.
Sunday Night Reflection
(1) Where was everyone? Was it Intl School Holiday? (I don't think so.) Was it the rain? Maybe. Marion says when it rains in Kenya, no one comes. I'd say in the US we'd see 20% decline in attendance. I think BKK is about 30% decline, particularly at night.
(2) Always good singing when Den is around. And Marion and Aiko brought it too.
(3) Rob Bell's "Dust" is one of my favorites. Spurred great discussion.
(4) Looking forward to having Bernice as the worship welcomer/leader. I love it when people volunteer.
(5) It was good getting to chat with Nicole and Grahame a bit. I feel like I need a better follow up system in the evenings.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sunday Reflections (on Monday) and Sermon Link
Sermon link from yesterday.
(1) Yesterday was the hardest worship service I've ever had to lead.
(2) I think announcing Kelly's death was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
(3) I haven't cried in church since I announced I was leaving Baptist Temple over 5 years ago. And that was a totally different situation.
(4) Appreciated the strong support from the church. It was a hard sermon to preach. It was probably hard to hear as well.
SUBJECT CHANGE
(5) The kids were awfully cute in their Pentecost tongues of fire hats (Acts 2). Couldn't have done it without our new "pastoral associate". Pastor Emerlinda did a great job.
(6) It was good to say "thank you" to the people who've taught Sunday school in the past year. The "thank you" was from the church, but also from me personally (I have two kids you know).
(7) The 252Basics promo video was great to tying a number of themes together yesterday.
(8) "Parents who allow their children’s sports schedules to govern their times of worship are INSANE!!! One day your child will stand before Jesus…and He will not be obsessed with how well he or she can kick a soccer ball!" This quote from Perry Noble struck me today. It sums up our theme from Sunday too. Not just for our kids but for all our relationships.
(9) Maria and Esra rocked on Sunday night. :-) Their guitars complemented each other wonderfully.
(1) Yesterday was the hardest worship service I've ever had to lead.
(2) I think announcing Kelly's death was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
(3) I haven't cried in church since I announced I was leaving Baptist Temple over 5 years ago. And that was a totally different situation.
(4) Appreciated the strong support from the church. It was a hard sermon to preach. It was probably hard to hear as well.
SUBJECT CHANGE
(5) The kids were awfully cute in their Pentecost tongues of fire hats (Acts 2). Couldn't have done it without our new "pastoral associate". Pastor Emerlinda did a great job.
(6) It was good to say "thank you" to the people who've taught Sunday school in the past year. The "thank you" was from the church, but also from me personally (I have two kids you know).
(7) The 252Basics promo video was great to tying a number of themes together yesterday.
(8) "Parents who allow their children’s sports schedules to govern their times of worship are INSANE!!! One day your child will stand before Jesus…and He will not be obsessed with how well he or she can kick a soccer ball!" This quote from Perry Noble struck me today. It sums up our theme from Sunday too. Not just for our kids but for all our relationships.
(9) Maria and Esra rocked on Sunday night. :-) Their guitars complemented each other wonderfully.
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