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Humility and Servanthood
The following is from: “Lausanne Occasional Paper: The Willowbank Report: Consultation on Gospel and Culture” from the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Using the content from this lesson, respond by connecting the content of this lesson with the material from the The Willowbank Report:
Wanted: Humble Messengers of the Gospel!
We believe that the principal key to persuasive Christian communication is to be found in the communicators themselves and what kind of people they are. It should go without saying that they need to be people of Christian faith, love, and holiness. That is, they must have a personal and growing experience of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, so that the image of Jesus Christ is ever more clearly seen in their character and attitudes.
Above all else we desire to see in them, and specially in ourselves, "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1), in other words, the humble sensitivity of Christ's love. So important do we believe this to be that we are devoting the whole of this section of our Report to it. Moreover, since, we have no wish to point the finger at anybody but ourselves, we shall use the first person plural throughout. First, we give an analysis of Christian humility in a missionary situation, and secondly, we turn to the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ as the model we desire by his grace to follow.
A. An Analysis of Missionary Humility
First, there is the humility to acknowledge the problem which culture presents, and not to avoid or over-simplify it. As we have seen, different cultures have strongly influenced the biblical revelation, ourselves, and the people to whom we go. As a result, we have several personal limitations in communicating the gospel. For we are prisoners (consciously or unconsciously) of our own culture, and our grasp of the cultures both of the Bible and of the country in which we serve is very imperfect. It is the interaction between all these cultures which constitutes the problem of communication; it humbles all who wrestle with it.
Secondly, there is the humility to take the trouble to understand and appreciate the culture of those to whom we go. It is this desire which leads naturally into that true dialogue "whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand" (Lausanne Covenant, para. 4). We repent of the ignorance which assumes that we have all the answers and that our only role is to teach. We have very much to learn. We repent also of judgmental attitudes. We know we should never condemn or despise another culture, but rather respect it. We advocate neither the arrogance which imposes our culture on others, nor the syncretism which mixes the gospel with cultural elements incompatible with it, but rather a humble sharing of the good news—made possible by the mutual respect of a genuine friendship.
Thirdly, there is the humility to begin our communication where people actually are and not where we would like them to be. This is what we see Jesus doing, and we desire to follow his example. Too often we have ignored people's fears and frustrations, their pains and preoccupations, and their hunger, poverty, deprivation or oppression, in fact their "felt needs," and have been too slow to rejoice or to weep with them. We acknowledge that these "felt needs" may sometimes be symptoms of deeper needs which are not immediately felt or recognized by the people. A doctor does not necessarily accept a patient's self-diagnosis. Nevertheless, we see the need to begin where people are, but not to stop there. We accept our responsibility gently and patiently to lead them on to see themselves, as we see ourselves, as rebels to whom the gospel directly speaks with a message of pardon and hope. To begin where people are not is to share an irrelevant message; to stay where people are and never lead them on to the fulness of God's good news, is to share a truncated gospel. The humble sensitivity of love will avoid both errors.
Fourthly, there is the humility to recognize that even the most gifted, dedicated and experienced missionary can seldom communicate the gospel in another language or culture as effectively as a trained local Christian. This fact has been acknowledged in recent years by the Bible Societies, whose policy has changed from publishing translations by missionaries (with help from local people) to training mother-tongue specialists to do the translating. Only local Christians can answer the questions, "God, how would you say this in our language?" and "God, what will obedience to you mean in our culture?" Therefore, whether we are translating the Bible or communicating the gospel, local Christians are indispensable. It is they who must assume the responsibility to contextualize the gospel in their own languages and cultures. Would-be cross-cultural witnesses are not on that account necessarily superfluous; but we shall be welcome only if we are humble enough to see good communication as a team enterprise, in which all believers collaborate as partners.
Fifthly, there is the humility to trust in the Holy Spirit of God, who is always the chief communicator, who alone opens the eyes of the blind and brings people to new birth. "Without his witness, ours is futile" (Lausanne Covenant, para. 14).
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2 Replies
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“We repent of the ignorance which assumes that we have all the answers and that our only role is to teach. We have very much to learn. We repent also of judgmental attitudes. We know we should never condemn or despise another culture, but rather respect it. ” This quote relates to when Duane Elmer told the story about the monkey and the fish and how the monkey came in with its own perspective but didn’t come from a learning perspective. This story relates how we (as missionaries) should be going into another culture.
“It is the interaction between all these cultures which constitutes the problem of communication; it humbles all who wrestle with it.” This quote relates to when Elmer asked the question of “how can we serve one another?”. We need to be asking this question with humility as we head into a new culture. Without a humble posture, we will be ineffective in our communication.
“Only local Christians can answer the questions, ‘God, how would you say this in our language?’ and ‘God, what will obedience to you mean in our culture?’ Therefore, whether we are translating the Bible or communicating the gospel, local Christians are indispensable. It is they who must assume the responsibility to contextualize the gospel in their own languages and cultures.”. This relates to when Elmer spoke about how often times issues in communication are started in innocence. People are not going in to try and purposely cause issues, but like the monkey and the fish, innocently we can make mistakes. That is why it is so important to work very closely alongside local Christians.
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“For we are prisoners (consciously or unconsciously) of our own culture, and our grasp of the cultures both of the Bible and of the country in which we serve is very imperfect” directly correlates to what Elmer explained that lots of North Americans think they are servants in reality, they may be effective servants in their own cultural context but not in the context of the culture they are ministering to. This is very important to adjust!
“We repent of the ignorance which assumes that we have all the answers and that our only role is to teach” is a punchy line that reflects the importance Elmer communicates of truly learning and understanding culture. When we do, we know better how to reach people in another culture in a meaningful way, rather than building a wall by maintaining the thought that we know everything and what we know is the right way.
“To begin where people are not is to share an irrelevant message; to stay where people are and never lead them on to the fulness of God's good news, is to share a truncated gospel. The humble sensitivity of love will avoid both errors.” This is a beautiful and very true concept. I need to be implementing this more in my life. I find that when I have an agenda to lead a friend to Christ I often begin where they are not. This leads to my discouragement because they aren’t receiving my message so I relate to them where they are but never end up moving them forward to the good news. I didn’t realize this was a pattern until I read this line. This is so true in my life and I see the harm of starting where others are not and the importance to push them forward from where they are!
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