Martyrs, Madmen, and Marauders: Six Ways Christian Missions Needs to Change

There has been much talk about missions lately in the wake of the death of a young missionary, John Chau, who, against government regulation and common sense, went on a fatal excursion to North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman archipelago. Many evangelicals see him as a martyr, many others as an example of stupidity and recklessness.

While I disagree with the evangelical assessment of martyrdom, I can understand the young man. I was once a missionary to a Muslim nation in a South Asian context, you see, and I did some reckless things myself that brought me into serious trouble. All for Jesus’ sake and the need of every tongue and nation to hear the message of the Gospel.

I’ve come a long way since then. For a number of years, now, have I been very critical of missions but I have never voiced it very openly. I think, though, that the time has come to entrust a few words to the virtual page of this blog. There are six things I want to say about the gospel of Jesus Christ that lead to an equal number of implications for the Christian mission.

1. The Gospel is Not a “New” Message

When Jesus and Paul roamed the earth the Gospel was new. When the first Christians whispered of a story about a certain Jesus from Nazareth…