I don’t think I need to mind when my blog posts are not impressive. I had this revelation a while back. It went like this: “my blog is about what I feel like doing with it, instead of being what I think other people want to read.” Now that sounds like a terribly selfish philosophy, but really, I think it is the best strategy both for me and for readers. If posts are real they’re more likely to be interesting.
Where I teach–at our church school here in Stuarts Draft–high school is optional. That’s because we’re “Amish” and Amish don’t have to go past the 8th grade, thanks to the 1972 Wisconsin vs. Yoder Supreme Court ruling. While many students elect to take high school, some “graduate” from the 8th grade and quit. To take high school or not has been quite the controversy this year in my class. One of my students presented a convincing speech on the issue–and gave me permission to post it here. I thought she did well in not only talking about the high school question, but also about our responsibility to learn
Dorcas Yoder
Mr. Hershberger
Tenth Grade English
10 October 2007
High School: Its Purpose and Benefits
Is high school necessary? Is it really good for teenagers to spend their time studying or should they be working and learning practical skills? Is high school just a boring waste of time or an unnecessary amount of hard work? I don’t think so. While it may be impossible to prove that high school is necessary, there are good reasons for doing it. High school is required by Virginia law. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it’s a good way to train your mind in order to use it for God and for the fulfillment of God-given responsibilities.
According to Virginia state code 22.1-254,
“Generally speaking, with a few notable exceptions, those who go from one country to another as missionaries end up hindering rather than helping the cause of Christ.” That’s the second sentence in Bob Finley’s 2005 book Reformation in Foreign Missions. Finley says that Christians from rich countries should stop sending missionaries to poor countries. Instead, they should support indigenous missionaries.
The economic disparity between us and those we hope to reach is the main problem. People from industrialized countries, such as America, Canada, or Korea, appear fabulously rich when they go to poorer countries. “The foreigner’s presence is likely to breed covetousness and destroy any sense of self-sacrifice which may already exist among Bible school students or native workers in poorer countries” (12).
But trying to live on the level of the people is an inadequate solution. Missionaries who live in conditions as poor as the natives do often get sick, and end up spending so much time on the basics that they have little time to “do mission work.” The solution? “Go home where you belong and send your support money to an indigenous ministry whose missionaries can cope with the environment in which they have lived since childhood” (69).
Cultural differences between missionaries and natives often cause offense. The gospel is identified “with aliens who appear weird to those people” (11). Even though missionaries are usually aware of these differences and strive to transcend them, it often takes one or two generations before cultural barriers are overcome. Native missionaries do not experience this challenge.
Foreign missionaries often bring an attitude of superiority. “We are superior, they are inferior; therefore we have to go over there and train them” (12).
We must rethink missions.
Just last summer, I spent 4 months in Asia with IGo, a missionary training school. I experienced and learned life-changing truth. We examined missions from many angles—discussing key ideas like incarnational living and contextualization. We thought long and hard about how to transmit the Gospel from one culture to another. I returned with an ardent desire to pursue a missionary calling. My sister sent me Finley’s book, and now I’m trying to pull it all together.
But what about the Great Commission? It’s everyone’s question to Finley’s proposed reformation. He spends the first chapters examining the biblical model of evangelism and showing that we are not even close to imitating it. Finley believes and seeks to obey the GC, but not with traditional foreign missions.
And there are exceptions to his call to stay home—ways rich people like us could go and be effective.
We could immigrate. Permanently. Without support from a mission board. Marrying a native of the country would be the best way of doing this.
We could go as Bruce Olson went to the Motilones. Olson endured incredible hardships to get to know the Motilone tribe in Columbia, and after several years was able to bring the Gospel to them. It was miraculous. But he did not come as a rich foreigner/missionary. He came as himself—as a representative of Christ.
Going as a foreign student is another option Finley recommends. Foreign students will accept the gospel from a fellow student more readily then from a professional missionary.
Read the book, available at www.christianaid.org or www.amazon.com .
Missions is God’s work, not ours, and he uses all kinds of methods. I know for a fact that he has used and is using many traditional foreign missionaries.
I’m not convinced of all of Finley’s conclusions, but I am sure of one thing. Here we are, in a land where we speak the same language as the people, where there is no economic disparity, where we are familiar with the culture. We are blind if we do not see the opportunity, and disobedient if we do not go, make disciples, and baptize.
Is not a good thing to do. But millions of people have forgotten him. And it’s a temptation for me every single day.
My friend Glendon pointed me to the blog of an very successful tech professional who is battling depression, and has decided to anonymously blog about it. His story is desperate, but so compelling because it so clearly expresses The Lie and the tragedy of the American Dream.
The truth is that incredible personal and / or professional success DOES NOT EQUAL happiness.
Read his story and let it speak to you. Speak and live the truth.
I am really wanting to know if it can be my normal experience to have God speaking to me in an extra-biblical way. This is something Christians obviously don’t agree about. I came in here this morning and was reading Amy’s blog and was Totally THRILLED to discover a link to a John Piper article about God speaking to him. Turns out he was “only” talking about the Bible, and he doesn’t seem to have much faith in extra-biblical revelation at all. I was highly disappointed.
Doesn’t the Bible testify to direct communication from God to us? What about “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” It seems to have been Jesus’ normal experience, at any rate. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…”
If Piper is right, then how can anyone hope to be led by the Spirit of God?
At the risk of succumbing to unmanly sappiness, I am going to gush about a few people I really like. I love my friends, and just got back from a wonderful weekend with them.
First of all, a photo of my recently married cousin Brian and his wife Melissa, whose wedding I attended in mid January. I’ve got a lot of “best” friends, but Brian is definitely the one that goes back the farthest, starting from that momentous night as a thirteen year old with him and Loren in Brian’s dad’s haymow when we revealed to each other our deepest secret–who we liked. Turns out he liked the same girl I did, a fact I wasn’t particularly thrilled about, especially since he was always a couple steps ahead of me in the race to win her heart, but being able to talk about that sort of thing with other guys was definitely a big moment for all of us. Anyway, he’s happily married, as of January 13.
Going on to more recent friend events, this past weekend was a big one. SMBI’s Night of Music, the premiere conservative Mennonite event of the year, was Friday night. My little bro Eric was singing, and did very well on a solo. It was lots of fun meeting lots of people I hadn’t seen for ages.
One of the highlights was meeting Marlene, Kyle’s brand new girlfriend. They both seemed very happy, which is awesome!
After hanging out at Denny’s with a million night of music refugees, I had a great ride up to Lancaster with Karen and Sheri, who were nice enough to take me all the way in to the middle of Lancaster city to Jordan and Robin’s house. Michael came the next day, and in the evening Vince and Lydia and KrisAnne came over for supper and we had a totally wonderful evening. As we feasted around great food and conversation, I felt perfectly happy. Perfect happiness is not something I experience every day, that’s for sure, so I definitely notice it when I do feel it. I could go on, but to do so might be desecration. I don’t want to spoil it.
God is pure goodness. Take the love he pours into you this week and lavish it on someone in your life. Be happy.
Quick Question: In your life, how does, or how do you want, surrender and devotion to God and total dependence on him to relate to your own goals for self-development and your own intelligence and strategies for building the kingdom?
I hope you understand the question. I don’t have time now to write more.