Well Done?
Completing the Great Commission
What is God’s means to accomplish His mission?
“His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. – Matthew 25:23
What is done well?
The servant who is commended was “good and faithful” with his talents. (Matthew 25, esp. 23)
Is there more?
In Acts 1:3, Luke tells us what was on the heart of Jesus AFTER the resurrection. He spent forty days before His ascension appearing to His disciples giving “many infallible proofs” of His resurrection “and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
What did Jesus tell them?
We have a fair understanding of what He told them because Matthew and John wrote books to tell the rest of us. Luke wrote the results of his investigation. John Mark recorded what he learned from Peter, Paul, Barabas, and others in the Gospel of Mark.
What needs to be done well?
We need to lead people to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to lead holy lives that glorify God, and to give all people groups, ethnic groups, and language groups in all of the world the opportunity to know, love, and serve God. These things result in proclaiming the Gospel to all people everywhere* and the good works that accompany loving our neighbors as we love God in the way that we live.**
We need to help people realize that none of these things can be accomplished without knowing God, abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, applying the written word of God to the activities our lives.
Several things we can learn from this story of the talents include:
- there were master/servant relationships,
- the master expected his servants to work,
- the master told the servants what to do, and
- the work could be done less than well.
The context of Matthew 5:23 is the kingdom of heaven and the 70th week of Daniel.
It’s about tribulation saints preparing for the return of the Master, but the principles that reveal God’s unchanging character and expectation can apply to the church as shown in 2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:12, Galatians 6:7-10, & Colossians 3:23-25.
The Mission
What is the mission that God wants to be done well?
For the Church, it is the completion of calling out the Bride of Christ.
If the objective is evangelism, then we will spend as little time as possible in each place to reach as many people as we can at least once.
If the objective is preparing hearts to hear the message through humanitarian projects of good works which lead to incidental evangelism through relationships, then we will spend our time establishing clinics, digging wells, caring for orphans, planting crops, and constructing buildings.
There is strong evidence that what God wants us to accomplish is, through preaching and teaching everything, to establish thriving churches of believers in every language, tribe, people group, and ethnic group. (Revelation 5:9)
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – Matthew 28:18, 19, 20
“Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” – Colossians 1:28
Through preaching, the local church is born in those who believe. Through baptizing, teaching, holy living, intentional equipping, and purposeful, Christ-centered, Scripture-driven, Holy Spirit-led interaction, a community of believers is established who are able to proclaim Christ locally and send messengers worldwide.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matthew 16:18
Jesus is building His church. On the highest authority in heaven and on earth He has sent His disciples as His ambassadors to use their gifts and their voices under the power of the Holy Spirit to preach, baptize, and teach in every part of the world.
Is it possible that we, the Church, could be doing good things in the world and not completing the Master’s commission?
We should do the good works which glorify the Father. Our good works reveal God’s character in us, but as shown in previous pages, the work of reaching every language is very much undone. Much of what is part of being the church in the world does not accomplish the commission we have been given. Much of what is called “missions” may not be directed toward the Savior’s mission. If we receive the praise of men but fail to clearly communicate their great need for the righteousness that only Christ can provide, what have we gained?
The Message
How important was His message?
It was important enough that nearly all of the disciples died outside of their home country, telling other people about Jesus, and they had such a profound impact that you and I have heard about them two thousand years later.
They had a message to proclaim to the world.
While the miraculous signs demonstrated their love and concern for the people around them, the message, rather than good deeds, is what drove their work and travel.
Much of ministry today is directed toward people who already have access to the Gospel. Most missions efforts are directed toward people who have nearby local churches, Christians in the work place, and many other resources such as radio programs, movies, TV, internet, email, cell phones, Bibles and literature in their language.
People in one third of the world’s languages have no access to the Good News at all. About two billion have no access to someone who could tell them of Jesus in a language they understand.
How can we teach people to observe “all things” that Christ commanded us without knowing the language of our audiences?
How can we teach truth without knowing the culture which shapes the meaning of their words?
What will we teach people when God’s written word does not exist in a language our audiences understand?
Providing wells, healing wounds, upgrading a standard of living, and improving hygiene is a basic part of just caring for people. Also, people may not care how much we know until they know how much we care. However, if we are not intentional about spending time and effort to deliver the message of eternal life, we will never accomplish our commission. If we do not direct attention to those people who have not yet heard, how can they join us in the ministry?
If we never learn the language and culture of our audience, we will think we have completed our commission and never know that we have not until we can do nothing about it.
If we do not care to make God’s written word accessible to our audiences, then their faith will be in placed in the shifting sand of our words rather than the solid rock of God’s Word. Their growth will be limited to what we teach them. Their outreach will be limited to what they remember. Their endurance may not last a generation.
So, what do we need to do to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant”?
The Ministry
God could have written the message of eternal life in the sky. Instead He chose personal couriers.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Romans 10:13-15a
God chose that couriers should be sent from those who have believed to those who have not yet believed.
He chose to have the message of eternal life delivered, in the context of relationships, language, and culture, by the preaching of His written word to those who have not believed.
He has given His couriers the responsibility to preach, baptize, and teach everything so that new ambassadors, new couriers, are equipped to pass on what they have learned, in life on life relationships, to train faithful people who will teach others also. It has worked that way for two thousand years and will continue until His return to establish His earthly kingdom.
The mission is to communicate Christ’s message effectively, teaching everything, in life on life ministry, within the context of relationship, language, and culture, so that the student is able to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior and become an ambassador, minster, mentor, and sender.
Every person’s greatest need is to know and be known by their Savior.
The Method
The greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is to love our neighbors as ourselves.
How are we going to teach people to love God and love people? How are we going to help people to come to the place where they love the Lord with all their heart? What are we going to do to bring them to this place?
They need to know Him.
There is movement in missions to guide people toward storying and self-discovery with qualified teachers. In contrast, a qualification for Biblical leaders is “apt to teach”. The command, the design of God is TEACHING. Yes, people need to become self-feeders who are growing in their faith through personal investment like the Bereans who searched scriptures; and the Bereans were checking out what they had been TAUGHT. They were also literate; having acquired the skills necessary to search the scriptures.
The command of Jesus: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations… teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” Matthew 28:19-20
We need to tell people God’s story in such a way that He is the focus. How we present God’s word may determine whether or not people understand it.The focus we bring as we present what God has revealed Himself in His word may shape what people come away with after the telling of His story.
For instance, is the book of Jonah about a guy who was swallowed by a fish or about a God who will go to great extents to express His concern for a people who do not deserve His grace? Is the story of Goliath about a shepherd boy who could take out a giant, or about a God who will do great things through a young man who chooses to believe Him?
Many of us tend not to engage with text until someone takes the time to show us what is in it to kindle our interest.
Clear, life-on-life communication of the identity, person, purpose, and plan of Jesus Christ is normally started through teaching.
See all of 2 Corinthians 5. “11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” “18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” “19b …and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” “20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
The Multiplication
The end goal of missions is the completion of the Body of Christ: The Church.
Jesus is establishing communities of believers who are united in obeying Him, ministering to one another in the world, reaching out to tell the whole world, equipping each other to reach into every part of the world, to every people group, ethnic group, language group, bringing the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
There is a progression to spiritual growth. There are some things that must be known, learned, and practiced before other things can be understood, practiced, and taught to others. There are qualifications for effective prayer, for the integrity of the message, and for leadership of the local church. There is some putting off and some putting on. There is some renewing of thinking and of the mind in spiritual growth toward maturity in Christ-centered living. There is some equipping for ministry. (2 Peter 1:3-11, Colossians 3, Ephesians 4, 2 Timothy 2:2, Romans 12:2)
At the same time there is great simplicity in that everything leads to a dynamic, living relationship in fellowship with the one triune God.
2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 2 Corinthians 2:2
Teaching the “all things” that Christ commanded may require relationships, time, and intention.
Effectively communicating as teachers among the least reached language groups may require becoming the student to learn an unwritten language, decipher a mysterious culture, and translate the Bible so as to be able to truthfully communicate and teach Christ’s message.
Vision for Completion
If mission is God’s idea,
then in order to be in alignment with what He is doing,
we need to know His Person, His Purpose, His Plan, His People, and His Process.
Teach everything, communicate effectively, equip the saints, put God’s word in their hands to use, and bring them alongside as valuable members of the Body in the Master’s work.
“The global purpose of God is not just confined to a couple of verses here or there that talk about Missions. …
“Our God has a global mission that is clear in scripture from cover to cover on page after page after page. …
“The whole point, the whole purpose of God is to bring many nations to join themselves to God.“* – David Platt
Everything
If we are to hear “well done“ from our master, then do we need to know what he wanted to be done well? We must assess what we have done and whether or not we have accomplished what he has commanded. We may need to adjust our ideas, understanding, vision, methods, and results.
In Matthew 28:20 He told His disciples that the work is to include, “teaching all things whatsoever I commanded you.”
What is our plan to do that?
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 11:3
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” – Philippians 3:10
From the verses above, we learn that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that we are not our own, that we are to glorify God in our bodies, that there is simplicity in Christ, and that knowing Him is key. Growing in grace, knowledge, and judgment are desirable and necessary. Growth comes through speaking the truth in love. We should desire the milk of the word to grow by it.
What is the objective of Missions?
…Teaching people to observe all things the things Christ commanded us? (Matthew 28:20) Committing what we have learned to faithful men who will teach others? (… 2 Timothy 2:2) Presenting each person complete in Christ? (Colossians 1:28)
If the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then how are we going to teach people to do that? What do they need from us to be able to hear us? What plan would we follow to teach them the “all things” that Jesus commanded us?
God gave very specific instructions and patterns for the building of the Tabernacle. Willing-hearted people responded in obedience to the commands according to very specific patterns by the gifting and empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Will God build His church without planning, patterns, and empowering the willing-hearted? Will people respond as ambassadors without the clear call of God to the willing- hearted to build according to His pattern?
Teaching “all things” could be about replacing false ideas with God’s thoughts about reality; God, ourselves, other people, values, our role in the world.
Foundational Bible Teaching is about replacing false worldviews with the framework, context, stories, character, and relationships as God has revealed them to mankind historically and in sequence. It’s about being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
How can a person think correctly about God if the same person knows nothing about Him. (See John Cross’ “What’s in a Name?“)
A name, with the information that gives a name meaning, reveals to us the character and context associated with the name. (For instance, few of my readers will know the name Sigard Holm, but most will have immediate associations arise to their thoughts at the names Donald Trump or Barack Hussen Obama.)
In our day, many people have no information or false information in their memories associated with the names, Jehovah, God, Lord, Messiah, and Jesus Christ. It is through the revelation of the Holy Bible that those names take on character and meaning that is true. The Biblical information reveals to us the relevance of those names to our daily lives and eternal future.
Our work as ambassadors is to relay accurate information to the people with whom we interact, so that they can believe the right things, make informed decisions, and know the consequences of their choices and actions.
More than that, it is our responsibility to lead people to know the living God and enter a dynamic relationship with Him. (Jer. 9:23-24, John 15:1-8, 17:3)
If we don’t have time to do accomplish our mission the first time, when will we have time to do it over?
The commitment to establishing thriving churches has driven many missionary teams to evaluate past work, and, in quite a few places, to go back to the beginning; to start over with teaching in the heart language using foundational Bible teaching. If we are in too big of a hurry to teach people in their own language to know and love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, then what is it that we are really delivering to them?
Teach everything.*
Do the rules of relationships and communication evaporate when a team from a local church hops on an aircraft to cross an ocean?
I realize that short term mission teams are often more about what God will do in the hearts of the team members who go and the churches who send them than what they will accomplish in a far away place.
If the goal is to establish thriving churches of Christians who love God, believe and value His word, live holy lives, and glorify Him by proclaiming His majesty in the world, what will a short term team accomplish in a week, a month or even a few years?
Unless the team is supporting the ministry of someone who is fluent in the language and culture, will the short term team be beneficial toward accomplishing the objective of a thriving, holy, reproducing church of people who are equipped for ministry? Will it result in producing enduring fruit? Will a thriving church be established that is rooted in Christ, that can weather the storms and thrive, reaching into areas where Christ is not known?
Just as in our own home area, fluent knowledge of the local language and culture would be essential to effective communication.
Our view of the fruitfulness of ministry might be skewed by our expectation of what will be accomplished.
Our definitions and our understanding of the Biblical objectives may predetermine our measures of success.
Why do we tend to think that we will be more effective in ministry overseas when the things we do there are not effective in our own country where we already know the language and the culture?
Jesus gave a warning proclaiming a false message. If we do not take heed to clearly communicate God’s message, then we will, whether intentionally or unintentionally, be among those who teach falsely. Jesus told His followers to examine the fruit.
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” – Matthew 7:20
Ministry is difficult. No, it is impossible. Without the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and the sacrificial, faithful, persistent living of the messengers, ministry is impossible. But that is exactly what ministry is all about; trusting God to draw people to Himself by the sacrificial living and preaching of God’s written word. He changes hearts and lives as the truth of His word penetrates into the way people think.
There are some questions we can ask to examine the fruit of our own ministry. If we do not like the answers we receive, then we might be wise to reconsider the activities that produced the fruit.
I received some answers that surprised me when I asked questions of people in a Bible-believing church about God’s identity and purpose, their own condition and position before Christ, as well as God’s purpose for us in the world.
If believers generally have a low view of God, His written Word, sin, and other people, then there must be a gap in our communication of truth. We may have failed in communicating the “all things” that Jesus commanded us to teach.
What does teaching everything look like?
This video is about a team starting that work in a remote location where people had an unwritten language and no access to the Gospel. “We are going to do five things. We are going to learn your language, teach you to read in your own language, teach you God’s word from beginning to end in your language, translate the Bible into your language, so that you can take this message to other villages, to other languages, and to the ends of the earth.” reachWantakia: Just Getting Started (10 minute video) – 5 Things (3 minute version)
Examples of missionaries completing their commission in a language group:
Yembiyembi (video 30 minutes)
Ee-Taow: The Mouk Story (24 minutes)
Maleu: His Gift to Gie
Moi: Hearing His Voice
The objective is to lovingly expose people to the truths of God’s in such a way as to let the light of God’s word shine in the darkness and replace false worldview ideas with truth, leading people to love God. (Romans 12:2)
Where does one start with foundational Bible teaching? See Resources below, especially Building on Firm Foundations – Volumes 1-9. Firm Foundations. (Download Volume 1 Free – Biblical principles)
Communications
“Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” – 1 Corinthians 14:19
A key part of missions is accurately communicating the message. If people misunderstand the message, then they will remain eternally lost. If they place their faith in any object of faith other than the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, then there is no eternal life, no hope, no joy, and no peace with God. We absolutely must clearly communicate God’s message so that the audiences understand accurately what God wants us to tell them. As messengers and ambassadors, it is our responsibility to ensure that what we think we have communicated is what the audience has understood.
In cross-cultural missions there are many obstacles to overcome before the message can be clearly communicated. In the least-reached language groups these include barriers of relationships (the right to hear and be heard), language (common knowledge of, and understanding of, words), culture (common understanding of the context in which the words have meaning), Bible translation (being able to speak what God has said to the understanding of the audience), worldview (replacing false ideas with the truth of God’s written word), and time (being in the same place long enough to communicate the message).
Love: Communicating love requires the expression of ideas. Even in families where love is known or assumed, the inadequate or incomplete expression of ideas often results in miscommunication and conflict. Learning the love language of other people is a necessity in our own culture. How do we express God’s love to people in other cultures without learning their language?
Language
It’s not difficult to see how language barriers affect the ability to effectively communicate the great message of eternal life through faith in Christ.
Learning an unfamiliar language takes and time effort to reach a level of fluency that permits communication about abstract ideas like faith, hope, unconditional love, justice, grace, and eternal life.
A common practice in missions today is to avoid taking time to learn the language, and instead use interpreters. While on the surface this may seem successful, in time the fruit of such ministry is revealed. The result is almost always syncretism rather than an unshakeable faith that is rooted in the identity, person and work of Jesus Christ. There are usually outward signs of misplaced faith, but the false ideas may not be discovered until someone learns the heart language to discover what people in the congregation are thinking.
Learning an unwritten language requires developing relationships of trust in which ideas, sounds, actions, values, locations, motives, and meanings can be shared. Without some level of trust it is difficult to discover ideas and sounds that can be written down in words, sentences, paragraphs, and cultural contexts that define meaning into which God’s word can be communicated.
Language is the expression of culture, the ideas, thoughts, beliefs and assumptions the govern the way people think, feel and act the way that they do. In order to accurately share what God has communicated in the local context, the ministers must understand the meaning behind the words that they use to a high level of fluency. This is especially true when translating Scripture and establishing maturing, thriving churches.
Language Stories
- What is Heart Language? (3:04)
- Why Use The Heart Language? (2:54)
- What Do You Mean – Heart Language?
- Heart Language Ministries
- Why Heart Language Ministries?
- Why Prioritize Language and Culture Acquisition?
- A Taste of God’s Word In Their Heart Language
- A Three Day Walk To Hear In His Heart Language
- How do you learn an unwritten language? (4:16)
- Culture, Socio-Linguistics, Discourse
- What does culture have to do with it? (3:24)
- Wantakia: At First Light – Bible Translation
Literacy
Literacy gives a person access to God’s written thoughts without an intermediary. (Romans 12:2)
Literacy enables people to know for themselves what God has said rather than depend on the testimony of the teacher. God wrote a book that transcends the deaths of the generations of people who were used of God to communicate His message. God wants people to know what He has said.
Literacy was a requirement of the kings and priests of Israel. Literacy was required of the Israelites as they taught God’s word to their children, writing His law on door posts. Literacy is necessary in the church congregation. God expects that what He has written be read.
- Deuteronomy 17:18 (the king writes his own copy)
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (scripture is profitable)
- 2 Timothy 4:2 (Can you “preach the word” if you don’t know what it says?)
- Colossians 4:16 – (“Cause that it be read”? – Someone must be literate.)
- Ephesians 3:4 – (when you read…)
- Luke 6:3 – (“have ye not read…”
- Matthew 19:4 – (Have ye not read…?)
- Luke 24:25 – slow of heart to believe the prophets
- 2 Timothy 2:15 – Study … rightly dividing the word of truth
- Acts 17:11 – the Bereans searched the scriptures
- 1 Peter 2:2 crave the spiritual milk of the word
“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:27
Literacy gives a person the power to fuel him or herself with information from God on a daily basis that will be used in that person’s life by the Holy Spirit to guide and direct that person into good relationships and behaviors. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Literacy protects the church from false teachers as the local church can search the scriptures like the Bereans to discover whether or not the things they have been told are true.
Translation
If what one person says and what another person hears are not the same thing, then communication has not occurred.
Translation is the means of matching the intention of the speaker with the understanding of the hearer. Every word translated has a context in a sentence, a paragraph, and a culture. Without knowledge of these contexts
It is vitally important that what God has said be understood by every person. It is a matter of life and death, both spiritually and physically, both in having life and in ministering life to others. People die for lack of truth.
More about translation below.
Worldview
Even when teaching in the heart language of the audience it is difficult enough for a person to effectively communicate truth over entrenched false assumptions about reality. There are cultural contexts that change the meaning of words or ideas, habitual animistic manipulation of the world, and the historical practice of syncretism. (Syncretism is mixing new ideas from the Bible with old ideas to develop a new system of religion. It usually results in a religious system based on performance, rather than resting in the righteousness provided by Jesus Christ by faith.)
Add to this mix the belief systems of the interpreter and his or her own ideas about what the missionary has communicated, and (as has been realized in many places) it is unlikely that what has been delivered to the audience is a faith that is based on confidence in God’s written word, founded on the Biblical identity and character of God, and is centered on the finished work of Christ alone.
The apostle Paul told us, as a wise master builder, to be careful how we build. – 1 Corinthians 3:10
Speaking truth to people without caring enough to discover who they are, what they believe, and what their needs are, may just result in communicating loud noises rather than loving truth. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
It is easy to communicate ineffectively by delivering answers to questions people are not asking. – Proverbs 18:13
Worldview Resources:
- Reachtheisles.com – Worldview Series
- Wet Paper Bag (Part 1)
- What is Real? What is true? What is good? How can you know those things?
- Sand In Your Pockets (Part 2)
- If The Shoe Fits (Part 3)
- Sir, There Is A Rabbit In Your Hat (Part 4)
- The Brief on Unbelief (Part 5)
- Where Shall I Hang My Hat? (Part 6)
- Wet Paper Bag (Part 1)
- reachWantakia: Bible Message Replaces Worldview
- Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
- Heaven by Randy Alcorn
Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (perspectives.org) by Ralph D. Winter
Culture
“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” – Nehemiah 8:8
Learning culture is learning how people think and how they express their ideas.
Language is the spoken expression of a people’s culture. Culture is how they live and the story by which they live. Culture is communicated by language. Culture is the story behind the people.
Culture is what determines the way you think, act, and feel the way you do.
What make you cry? When is it appropriate to cry? What is the proper way to cry? When should you hire someone to cry for you? When is the proper time to stop crying?
Culture tells you when you should be happy, sad, joyful, angry, indignant, or protective.
Culture tells you where you should wear business casual versus a bathing suit, where you should or should not walk, and when you should or should not wear lipstick.
Culture tells you whether eating grub worms for the evening meals is very good or very bad.
Culture is your accumulation of assumptions about reality that are derived from observations, family practices, peer pressure, personal desires, historical experience, and teaching.
Your culture informs your sense of right and wrong; your sense of what ought and ought not to be done.
What actions trigger a response of anger in you? What is the proper way to express this anger? Should you hold an entire village of people hostage while you express your anger?
Acceptable and unacceptable behavior is determined by culture.
Culture teaches you what to say or not to say that is politically correct, or racially insensitive, or sexist, as well as when and where your behavior should be modified.
Should you wear a halloween mask when you deposit money in your bank? How do you know the proper attire?
The Bible and Local Culture
Culture is what gives words meaning in sentences. The meaning of a sentence is often determined by the cultural context within which it is given.
To accurately communicate God’s word, it is essential to know the culture that shapes what your audience will understand.
The Bible is transcultural. As the Creator of all, God speaks truth into the lives of people in any culture, transforming the way that we think through His written word.
Where Christian ideas have been communicated without the presenters taking the time to understand the language and the culture, there will usually be “christianized” people who sing Christian songs and speak Bible words without understanding of the Biblical concepts they convey.
This is one of many reasons why it is important to teach the Bible from beginning to end; the Bible shapes what you think, act, and feel about many things in life.
The culture of the Bible teaches us right from wrong, good from evil, kindness from cruelty, generosity from avarice, and love from hatred.
To the extent one’s culture aligns with God’s written word, that culture is informed by truth. Where culture is in contrast or conflict with the truth will be discovered primarily by the careful foundational teaching of God’s written word.
Even very Biblically informed cultures can be greatly misinformed when pieces of truth are examined outside of the original Biblical context and culture.
The excellent goodness of God’s written word informs, shapes, and corrects cultures. God’s word shows us how we should think, act, and feel about the things that happen in the world around us, even within our own cultural heritage.
There are things in a culture that everyone knows without speaking.
Words, sentences, even paragraphs have no meaning without knowledge of the cultural context in which they are expressed. Without the culture, the listener will use his or her own imagination and experience to give words meaning. Our work is to tell what God has said in a way that communicates His meaning in cultural context of our audience.
There are words that people use to say something… and behind those words are the ideas of what they are thinking.
What is the normal and abnormal to your audience?
What is the background behind what they say?
Culture Stories & Videos
The Bible is God’s word. The Bible is best taught to people with knowledge of the culture in which their words are used. God had very specific ideas He wants to communicate with people. Accurately bringing those thoughts and ideas across into a different language and culture necessitates that the translators and teachers know what the audience understands when the words are spoken or read.
The words of a language have no meaning without culture. Behavior and motives can be judged negative by cultural references, blocking peaceful and effective communication. Nonverbal communication can prevent an audience from hearing words.
Culture stories?
Demonstrate how words and sentences have no meaning without culture?
Unknown culture can hinder your message.
As I sat on a bench in a long corridor between gates at Hong Kong International Airport, I heard an announcement of a flight arriving from Bangkok. I tried to make myself comfortable with my right foot up on my left knee as I waited for my flight to Papua New Guinea. A while later a stream of about 300 people moved rapidly up the corridor from my left to my right toward the center of the airport and their next connection. As I watched, one man moved rapidly off the beaten path, headed directly toward me, and slapped my shoe so that my foot fell off of my knee and landed on the floor. “What was that all about?” I thought as he walked away briskly. Then I remembered what I had been told many years before and thousand of miles away in missionary training. The worst insult to a Thai person is to show them the sole of your foot. I had shown my foot to a whole aircraft load of Thai people.
Culture stories?
Demonstrate how words and sentences have no meaning without culture?
Translation
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12
If you can read the Bible, then you have someone to thank for it. Someone cared enough about God and you to, at great personal cost**, make it available to you in a language you understand. And someone cared enough about your ability to read it that they provided a way for you to learn to read.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Bible translation has been a key part of the propagation of the Good News about Jesus since His resurrection.
God cared enough about the integrity of His message to all people that He has instructed His prophets to write it down and He has prompted many people to translate the written message so that people may have ready access to it.
Bible translation is a key part of establishing thriving churches among unwritten languages. How could a messenger, a missionary, teach the “all things” that Jesus commanded His disciples unless those things which Jesus commanded exist in that language to teach?
Bible translation is necessary for the maturity of the local church so that believers may grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bible translation protects the integrity of the message and assists believers with identifying false teachers. Bible translation assists with communicating the authority and authenticity of God’s message. Bible translation communicates, “God really does know my thoughts”, and “God speaks my language”, as well as, God’s word is for me, too,”
The Bible in the hands of weaned believers is profitable:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Bible translations in the hands of the people helps to establish faith in God’s word rather than the word of the missionaries.
Bible knowledge is necessary for the growth, maturity, and fruitfulness of believers. Bible translation makes that knowledge readily accessible.
Reasons why a local church needs the written word of God in their own language.
- 2 Peter 1:3-11 — People need knowledge to grow and avoid being barren and unfruitful
- 2 Timothy 3:15 — God’s word makes people wise unto salvation.
- Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
- 2 Timothy 2:15 – Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
- Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given … That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works…
- Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
- Joshua 1:8 …meditate therein day and night…
- Deuteronomy 6:7 ..teach them diligently…
- Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs…
- 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word…
- Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
- Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if thou wilt receive my words…
- Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
- Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Bible Translation Questions & Definitions
- The Bible Translation Process – vimeo.com/718451251
- How Important? – Stuart
- Introduction to Bible Translation – Crockett
- Bible Translation Teamwork – vimeo.com/440443747
- Why Translate in the Heart Language? –vimeo.com/691644147
- Consultants (Experienced translators) – vimeo.com/440442753
- Does it make sense? – ethnos360.org/magazine/stories/does-it-make-sense
- Mother-tongue coworkers – vimeo.com/440444413
- Workshops – vimeo.com/440443747
Translation Stories
- Dabato Bible Translation
- Bagwido Bible Translation
- Translation Brings Understanding
- Does God Speak My Language?
- Why Translate the Bible? – (Excellent presentation.) – vimeo.com/461080440
- One Bible Many Versions – Brunn
- Language and Linguistics – 22 Lessons – AccessTruth
- Bru: A Sacred Responsibility – https://ethnos360.org/magazine/stories/a-sacred-responsibility
- Intro to Bible Translation AccessTruth.com
- More on translation – https://ethnos360.org/translate
A missionary writes home…
“And now and then we remember those long ago misconceptions about
translation — primarily that it would be a one person job very quickly
and easily accomplished. And we laugh.
Just something seemingly as simple as explaining concepts can be a
challenge.
Just today in church one of the church elders addressed one
of our translation challenges. How does one explain gratitude or
express thankfulness in a language that has no word for it and a culture
where gratitude is a foreign concept?
And he readily admitted that
gratitude comes from knowing God.” (R.S. 202106)
“The desire of Erasmus that the husbandman might sing parts of the Scriptures at his plough is echoed in Tyndale’s remark to a ” learned man ” :
” If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than thou doest.”
Believing that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process, order and meaning of the text,” Tyndale set himself to translate the Bible into English.”
— Quotation from “The English Bible” by George Henry Nettleton 1911
— Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake for his work in 1536. His love for God and us continues to bear much fruit.
Rooted
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” – Colossians 6:7
“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. – Ephesians 3:9-21
To have identity, value and purpose on earth, people need to be rooted in the identity, character, and purpose of Jesus Christ.
Being rooted and grounded in the truth is the foundation of realizing our salvation, of our understanding of God’s provision for our needs, of our understanding of our identity in Christ, of our understanding of our position in God’s family, of our understanding of the power God has given us to overcome self and speak truth to others, and of our realization of the work God would do through us as we walk by faith.
It is Christ’s identity as the Creator, without whom was not anything made that was made, which helps people to discover His power and authority to govern, rule, judge, and guide the activities of all people.
It is His righteous character of goodness, kindness, graciousness, compassion, forgiveness, justice, and that reveal to us all His authority to tell us what is good and what is evil.
It His goodness, righteousness, holiness, and justice that requires all people to sit up and take notice of His word, of His requirements of us, and the promise of judgment to come.
It is His identity that gives our lives and work value and purpose. It is the value our Creator has put on individual people that gives their lives value.
Making disciples, teaching people to observe all the things Christ commanded us, is all accomplished through guiding people to hear, believe, and obey God’s written word.
In a context of a language group of people who have no knowledge of God, we must start where God starts: in the beginning. Having established relationships through the process of learning language and culture, missionaries develop a curriculum of the teaching highlights that follow the Biblical pattern of historical revelation. The path begins in Genesis 1 and leads through to the maturity of church leadership.
Teaching the “all things” that Christ commanded requires a plan and intention to complete it.
You can learn more about Foundational Bible Teaching and the Building On Firm Foundations curriculum here.
(Sample – Read this!)
Download & Read Volume 1 – Building on Firm Foundations
Thriving
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” – Romans 15:13
It’s all about thriving relationships. The primary relationship is responding to His lavish grace by being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, being holy as He is holy, purifying ourselves as He is pure, walking in the Holy Spirit, and engaging in the lives of people around us, leading them to Him.
The objective of missions is to establish thriving churches of Christ-followers in every language group, people group, tribal group, and ethnic group, who are able to represent Christ to the world as His ambassadors and worth-shippers.
Our mission is to bring people into fellowship with Christ as partners with us in proclaiming His glory, to all people everywhere, as our most precious treasure and as the greatest gift to all people of the earth.
We seek to do this by lovingly confronting people with the identity and character of the Creator, letting their own short-comings be exposed to the goodness of the light His glory, so that they can respond in faith; being rooted in their own value and purpose because of the value and purpose given to them by Jesus.
Relating is a key aspect of every part God’s mission.
- God to us
- Us to God
- Us to our family
- Us to the Church
- Us to our neighbors
- Us to the unreached
- We are all about relationships. We can all have a part in developing those relationships which encourage meaningful action toward reaching the least reached.*
Videos
- reachWantakia: Welcome Home
- reachWantakia: 5 Things
- reachWantakia: At First Light
- Facebook.com/reachWantakia start Feb 27
- #raisewantakia, #teachwantakia, #reachwantakia,
Word. Life. Identity. Discipleship.
There are many variables which make measuring the quality of our work a bit of a moving target. People do not fit in neat categories and spiritual fruit is not always overtly visible. Yet, the Bible does lay out some evidences of the fruit of the Spirit; and of the works of the flesh. The “W.I.L.D.” framework is a resource that can help us evaluate the work of our ministries as related to the clear teachings of scripture and help us identify areas where we can grow in our effort to glorify God.
Resources
To Carefully Lay the Foundation for Mission
Christ-centered Evangelism
Career Missionary Training
- Ethnos360.org/go
- Ethnos360 Training
- AccessTruth (Australia & Online)
- Emanate (Canada)
Preparation
- So You Want To Be A Missionary? (youTube video)
- Missions FAQ – stilluntold.org/missions-faq
- Strategic Planning: Local to Global
- What You Can Do
More Vision Casting
- Lessons From The Field
- Radical.net
- When Everything Is Missions
- Verge
- mission nexus
- 9 marks
- Going Global – AccessTruth
Under Construction - This web page is a work in progress.
Construction notes:
Key Thought: Can we hear “Well Done” if we did not do what the Master commanded?
Dare we ignore His commands, vision, and provision?
Pleasing God through an interactive relationship of fellowship and obedience.
Does everything on this page lead to this thought?
Things to address:
- (Objective) What is Well Done?
- (Obedience) What is to be done well?
- (Fellowship) What has the Master commanded?
- (Understanding) The necessity of learning the heart language to a high level of fluency for effective communication.
- (Culture) The necessity of learning culture – the context that gives words meaning: the things everyone knows but nobody speaks.
- (Syncretism) The mixing of truth with error resulting in performance rather than rest in God’s provision.
- (Authority) The necessity of Bible translation for establishing God’s Word as the final authority; the basis for worldview & spiritual growth toward maturity.
- (Foundational Teaching) Patterns of intentional discipleship toward equipping ministry and leadership. Unveiling God’s glory through His patterns of revelation.
- (Relationships) Walking with God demonstrating individual accountability
- (Purpose) Joining God in what HE is doing – Vision Casting – Helping people see God’s purpose from eternity to eternity. You CAN get involved here or anywhere
- (Encouragement) Testimonies of what God has done and is doing. Helping people see God’s work of transforming lives in today’s world.
