This article began as a letter Greg Livingstone sent to some of his friends, including me. I loved what I read, not because it was easy, but because it was radically important to fulfill Christ’s mission in the most difficult places in the world. So I asked Greg if I could add my voice and some extra thoughts and post them together. John Piper.
Is this the moment of missionary civil disobedience? We are talking about these situations among the uncollected peoples, where the authorities order the missionaries to stop working and leave.
- It is no secret that many obedient and faithful missionaries experience the expulsion of the peoples to which they have been called.
- Sometimes by force.
- Generally.
- The adopted government simply refuses to grant or renew its visas.
Therefore, it is common to assume that it must be God’s will for missionaries to leave to those who told the church that God had called them, after all, do they not teach us the scriptures to obey the civil authorities?(Romans 13:1-7). What about dangers, especially for our family, if we stay?
But wait, is it really so obvious that we have to abandon the people we’ve been sent to?Do human laws really nullifies God’s call?
In the New Testament, people were arrested instead of obeying local authorities who told them to shut up, but were involved in civil disobedience.
“Call them, ” did you order them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus?But Peter and John replied, “Judge whether it is right before God to hear of you instead of listening to God; about the things we’ve seen and heard?(Acts 4. 18 – 20).
“We expressly order you not to teach in this name; However, have you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine;?Then Peter and the other Apostles said, “Is it better to obey God than to men?”(Acts 5. 28-29)
During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, people were arrested instead of obeying segregation and court order laws for not walking. Gandhi opposed the injustices of colonial rule in India with nonviolent civil disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were willing to die for their rights. Causes.
Do we admire your courage to put justice before security in the act of civil disobedience?Don’t the eternal life of the shameless and the imperial authority of King Jesus deserve such great courage?
I (Greg) are intrigued by a couple I have known since the 1960s, who spent decades in Turkey and were deported at least six times. However, they believed that the Lord of the Harvest wanted them there, so they got new passports and returned again and again.
The husband even spent time in prison before being escorted out of the country. When the police rebuked them, “Didn’t we tell them to stay outside?”His answer was: “Yes, but God told us to go home. Do you not agree, sir, that we must all obey God more than men?”
Apparently, the police surrendered; this couple is still in Turkey boldly declaring the message that everyone must hear to be saved (Romans 10. 14-17; Acts 4. 12).
The first objection to refusing to leave the ministry in a country is often that it will jeopardize the safety of the family. Staying in a country without government permission will be dangerous, it’s true. But when should we pay attention to our Lord’s words?
Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; And whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it? (Mark 8:35).
He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; He who loves his son or daughter more than me, is he not worthy of me?; (Matthew 10. 37)
Should we ignore these warnings from the Creator of the universe?
Some may say that we must obey the authorities, no matter what, but no one really believes him. If they told you to take your mother’s medication and let her die as a burden to the government, would you?What if you have a Bible illegally?
Have you ever wondered about the wives and children of Luke, Silas, Epaphrodite, Peter, Barnabas and so many others who have faced danger on various occasions? They may have left their widowed children and wives without a father! What was probably a far more dire prospect day than today.
But can we say that in the first century, extended families provided a better safety net for widows and orphans, as is often the case today in the Middle East, Asia and much of Africa. risks of first century missionaries. Were there great pains at stake?as they always have been. They always will be.
Rather than justifying our safer choices, could the Great Commission not be a radical call to restructure our churches and families, so that we can provide members of the martyrs’ family?We must put an end to this mentality that martyrdom must be avoided at all. Surprisingly, Jesus promised that his mission would not be fulfilled without the designated number of martyrs for God:
Then each of them [who had been killed because of the word of God] received a white garment, and they were told to rest a little, until the number of their service companions and brethren were killed as well as they were (Revelation 6. 11). ).
If a husband and wife are so educated and endowed by the Holy Ghost to walk together in dangerous places, wouldn’t the Lord want us to support those who choose to risk their children for the kingdom?Remember that for most of the mission history, missionaries did not even have the opportunity to know in advance what the dangers would be and had no way to escape quickly.
And also remember the possibility of continuing, even if the husband (or wife) is in prison. While Adoniram Judson was a prisoner in Burma, his wife stayed close by and even took care of his needs when allowed.
Here is a possible example: you can go to the Pashtun people’s house in Karachi (Afghanistan or Pakistan) on a tourist visa (or cross the border) and simply stay if the government refuses to grant you a residence visa. Are you still here?” we say, “Because God sent me and I must obey God. “What could the will to be imprisoned do to encourage new local believers to follow this example?
How should we respond to these words of the Savior?
Go! Behold, shall I send you as lambs among wolves?(Luke 10:3).
And beware of men; For me they will take you before the governors and kings, to bear witness to them and the heathen, and when you give yourself do not worry about how or what you will talk about, because at that moment, what you say will be granted to you, for it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father is the one who speaks in you (Matthew 10 : 17-20).
Think of the implications! Not that they can take you to the governors, but that you will be. It’s not a question of “if you’re delivered” but “when you’re delivered. “But you won’t be abandoned, is the Holy Ghost still with you?The Spirit of Jesus: “And behold, I am with thee every day until the end of the century” (Matthew 28:20).
Do not think that we simplify to the extreme, as if there are countless factors that shape our decisions about when to escape danger and stay; both have biblical precedents. John Bunyan wrote about this tension and showed that in the Bible, people sometimes avoid danger and sometimes face it. He himself had four children, one of whom was blind, but decided to remain in prison for twelve years rather than promise not to preach. the gospel.
Our argument is not that everyone should make the same decision, our argument is that the choice of civil disobedience, such as that of the Apostles in Acts 4. 18 – 20 and 5. 28 – 29, must be considered with seriousness, courage and love. it shouldn’t be to stay alive. The grace of the Lord is better than life (Psalm 63. 3). Or, as Paul said,
“However, I do not consider life to be precious to me, as long as my career is over and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20. 24).
Paul said this, even though the Holy Ghost has testified to him in all the cities where chains and tribulations await me (Acts 20. 23). Safety was not his goal, salvation was his goal (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). These were glorious and terrible days at the beginning of the Christian mission. Is there anything in the Bible to suggest that the ending will be less glorious or less terrible than the beginning?