Ziegenbalg and Plutschau

I've been reading Stephen Neill's A History of Christian Missions off and on for months now. Although the book is relatively short (478 pp.), Neill offers a good bit of detail concerning past efforts to evangelize the world. He attempts to trace the evangelistic efforts of Christendom as a whole, so he includes Roman Catholic and Orthodox missions. Although the book is a history and therefore supposedly interested only in relaying fact, I wish Neill would more forwardly express the fact that the erroneous views of the gospel held by the Roman and Orthodox churches compromise and eventually invalidate identifying their work as Christian missions.


That said, I want to turn to the focus of this post. While I have enjoyed reading about past missionary endeavors, I have especially appreciated the fact that Neill sometimes includes the principles which guided these historic efforts. His treatment of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plutschau is one example. These men were Pietistic Germans sent out by the King of Denmark in 1705 to south-east India. They also happen to be Europe's first non-catholic missionaries to India. Neill records 5 principles that these men followed in their attempts to make disciples (pp. 194-97). I will include all five even though the first two do not directly apply to our mission to France.


1. "Church and school are to go together." That is, people must be able to read the Bible, so the mission must provide education.


2. "If Christians are to read the Word of God, that word must be available to them in their own language."


3. "The preaching of the Gospel must be based on an accurate knowledge of the mind of the people." I think this principle applies to our mission to France. At the most basic level, such efforts may contribute to building a rapport with our target audiences because it will hopefully communicate the sincerity of our desire to know and help them. Beyond that, however, it will help us know where to begin our presentation of the gospel. In light of the fact that a majority of the French are practically atheists or agnostics, our starting point will very often have to be the assertion that God exists and rightfully demands their devotion. This assertion must be presented as the Bible's claim and supported by evidence from science, etc. Third, a knowledge of the French worldviews will also show us what terms we need to carefully define so that we do not unwittingly cloud the gospel by carelessly using words that carry unbiblical connotations in the French culture. Fourth, understanding the mindset will help us know which ideas we should emphasize. For instance, a pervasiveness of the belief in the goodness of man necessitates a focus on man's inherent sinfulness and guilt, but to those convinced of their guilt, a greater emphasis on the good news of reconciliation instead of sustained emphasis on sin and guilt would be appropriate. Fifth, acquiring this knowledge will help us remove as many stumbling blocks as possible. The gospel itself is a stumbling block to the natural man. We do not want to add other stumbling blocks simply because we are ignorant of the French way of thinking.


4. "The aim must be definite and personal conversion." In the setting faced by Ziegenbalg and Plutschau, this emphasis was not due to the danger of mass conversions, but of professions based on the desire to profit materially from the missionaries. The gospel is attractive to those who are in some sort of need. Self-sufficient and self-reliant people aren't looking for help outside themselves. But the down and outers need outside relief. We must be careful to avoid communicating any hint of the health/wealth perversion of the gospel. We cannot present Jesus and his gospel as a way out of suffering and misery on this earth. The effects of the gospel may deliver us from some of the results of our sin, but the gospel also may be the reason we enter into persecution, etc. So we need to make sure that we are careful to present the gospel call as a call to follow Christ in his suffering. We also must take pains against creating an atmosphere that inclines people to "convert" for the purpose of obtaining our material help.


5. "At as early a date as possible, an Indian Church, with its own Indian ministry must come into being." Obviously, for our purposes, the desire is for a French church with French leaders. We are committed to the establishment of French churches in France. We do not desire to set up little ecclesiastical kingdoms over which we are the heads. Our desire is that God will raise up men among the French believers to lead his church. Actually, both Tim and I have undergone extensive training for the purpose of teaching others to lead the French church. Nor do we desire to import the forms of Southern American Christianity into France. A church whose outward forms are consistent with the French way of thinking (and the Bible, of course) will be far more effective in winning the French people. The best way for that to take place is for French men to take the reigns of leadership. Finally, we want to instill within the French a feeling of responsibility for French churches. We do not want to establish churches that are dependent upon the "free" labor of the missionaries or on gifts from supporting churches. Although we aim to spend ourselves in beginning churches and training leaders for those churches, our goal is for French believers to view themselves as the primary means by which the church is established, maintained, and grown. We also desire that they feel responsible to give of themselves and their finances for the purpose of being the primary supporters of their pastors and the needs of the church.

Self-testing on the Mission Field

"When we realize a constant enemy of the soul abides within us, what diligence and watchfulness we should have! How woeful is the sloth and negligence then of so many who live blind and asleep to this reality of sin. There is an exceeding efficacy and power in the indwelling sin of believers, for it constantly inclines itself towards evil. We need to be awake, then, if our hearts would know the ways of God. Our enemy is not only upon us, as it was with Samson, but it is also in us. So if we would not dishonor God and His gospel, if we would not scandalize the saints of God, if we would not avoid our own conscience and endanger our own soul, if we would not grieve the Holy Spirit, then we must stay alert to our own danger" (John Owen, Sin and Temptation, 7).

As I ponder this quotation, I realize how necessary self-examination will be once in France. (Not that it isn't important now in the US, but I am thinking of our mission to France.) I need God to search me now while I have a church family to support me. I will definitely need God to search me in France when I will lack a strong church to encourage and help me. In France, the Bible will be one of the primary means by which God checks my spirit. (Thank God I will also have a good wife and the Bixbys while in France.) Recently I have especially thought of self-testing along the lines of Proverbs 2:1-4. I think of these verses as providing something I call the 3E test. The first test of my condition has to do with my Estimation. I must ask myself if I value wisdom (the skill to please God) above all things or if my pleasure or will rank above God's. The second test of my spiritual state involves my Emotions. What do I love? What moves me to action? If it is not God and his ways, then I am off base. The final test has to do with Energy. What am I putting my strength into? If I find myself spending more energy on my pleasure, pet projects, entertainment, etc. then it is time to repent and ask God for a reallignment.

It is scary to think that there remains within me a bent away from God. The enemy within wants nothing to do with the conversion of the French. It will undermine all my intentions with selfishness and pride. Thank God for his Word that can pick out and suppress my remaining corruption. Thank God for the Spirit who strives against my flesh. Thank God for the hope that in Christ Jesus he can keep me from falling until the final day!