This is your chance to read some between-the-times articles — the kinds of articles that remind us that normal Christianity is lived between the times.
For the thousands of polity wonks, policy advocates, and program promoters gathered in San Jose, the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a big deal, the big event on the 2008 church calendar. For them news of the GA eclipses all other news reports.
Most Presbyterians see the world differently. Most are not polity wonks, policy advocates, or program promoters, and, frankly, they don’t get why all that stuff really matters. For them, an active faith is worshiping God, reading the Bible, visiting the sick, loving neighbors, practicing good stewardship, and engaging in mission. Or, to put it in familiar terms, they aim to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with their God.
They do so between the times, as Christians have been doing for about 2,000 years. Ever since the first Christian Pentecost, we’ve been living in the already-not-yet, between-the-times reality of God’s complete-incomplete mission in the world. Yes, we celebrate the triumphal resurrection, ascension, and giving of the Holy Spirit as told in the gospels and Book of Acts. Yet we long to see the full completion of Jesus’ mission:
• when all the realms of our groaning creation give complete, demonstrable evidence of
the reign of God,
• when justice does roll down like waters in a mighty stream,
• when peace like a river attends all our souls.
In this between-the-times era, we see in a mirror dimly, and we struggle to discern God’s voice, understand God’s intentions, and follow God’s will.
That all gets confusing at times.
For example, how come our efforts to bridge racial divisions keep erecting walls? And, if our citizenship is in heaven, how should we operate as citizens of our own country as well?
You will find such questions being asked and addressed in this edition of the Outlook. You’ll also read about other questions generating conversation these days, especially regarding mission service.
A growing debate has risen regarding our mission efforts. Simply put, folks are asking, “Should we send our youth and adults on one-to-two-week-long missions trips, knowing that the bulk of the funds they raise will be spent on airline tickets, or should we just send those funds to the missions themselves, and allow those there to utilize the funds to maximum effect and efficiency?”
Good question. No simple answer.
To be sure, the simple sending of money is the most efficient way for us to support our mission partners overseas. And when needed, the programs can employ local workers who need the work, and in the process, build relationships that may last. On the other hand, the sending of missions teams often provokes a positive spike in giving to missions among the folks back home, and the net increase in long-term giving can far outpace the money that would have been sent in the first place.
We can welcome the opportunity to engage such a topic of discussion, because no matter how it concludes, it reflects an energy and enthusiasm for missions. As Oswald J. Smith has said, “The mission of the church is missions.” Let us be about that task, no matter how we tackle it, and may all the monies given and all the trips taken follow God’s leading in the fulfillment of that Great Commission. Even as we live forth … in these between-the-times days.
—JHH
