China: a call to urgency for the Gospel

I recently read a blog post by Matthew Lee Anderson titled "Here Come the Radicals!" Mr. Anderson, who is studying at Oxford University to get his Master of Philosophy, wrote an impassioned article which dealt with the growing movement in our country to be "radical." There were occasions here and there where I found myself nodding my head in agreement and many other times where I found myself grimacing at a vast generalization. Mr. Anderson believes that the Bible speaks for itself and that in the Radical movement, there is too much reliance on "intensifiers" and urgency. I also believe that the Bible is its own pulpit, but the issue is that leaders of many churches, and humans in general, are the ones that distort its message. For too long this country has been lulled to sleep with pointless and trivial matters, while billions across the globe die of hunger, starvation, and even worse: without ever hearing the name of Christ! Read the last paragraph of Mr. Anderson's argument:

"For us in the pews, testing ourselves must include deliberating about our vocations and whether we are called to missions, or to a life of dedicated service to the poor, or to creating reminders with art and culture of the gospel's transcendent, everlasting hope. Discovering a radical faith may mean revisiting the ways in which faith can take shape in the mundane, sans intensifiers. It almost certainly means embracing the providence of God in our witness to the world. The Good Samaritan wasn't a good neighbor because he moved to a poor part of town or put a pile of trash in his living room. He came across the helpless victim "as he traveled." We begin to fulfill the command not when we do something radical, extreme, over the top, not when we're really spiritual or really committed or really faithful, but when in the daily ebb and flow of life, in our corporate jobs, in our middle-class neighborhoods, on our trips to Yellowstone and Disney World—and yes, even short-term mission trips—we stop to help those whom we meet in everyday life, reaching out in quiet, practical, and loving ways."

There is goodness in this paragraph, but man, is there subtle evil as well. There is no doubt that, as Christians, we are called to live out the Gospel where we are. The problem is that we like where we are. We don't want to leave where we are. We are comfortable where we are. Are we called to seek out those who need us in our context? Absolutely. The question is can I do the most good while traveling to Yellowstone and Disney World? Is my greatest spiritual gift really staying in the United States and "creating reminders with art and culture of the gospel's transcendent, everlasting hope?" Art is an amazing thing and it is so cool to see how God can use His people to show His glory. But COME ON! Jesus did not call for people to "Go into all the world and paint pictures of the Gospel." No, He said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Jesus Christ did not spend his last few sentences on Earth with small talk. No, he gave us a command that says "If you love me then love others". There is no way to love someone more than by telling someone about the Good News who has never had the opportunity to hear. And what I learned in China, is that there are billions (BILLIONS) of people who have not heard it but desire to know more. There are billions just waiting to hear the Good News....but there are only thousands that are willing to tell them. Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 9:37b:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few..."

What I saw in China, was hope. Hope for the cause of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God. Every single person we spoke with in this country was willing to hear the Good News. Seriously. In China! Not a single person stopped any of our 14 group members from telling them about Jesus. Not one person. These people were starving. Not like the people in Haiti who were starving for food. No, these people were starving for hope. A hope that only Christ could bring. You could see it on their faces as we told them of the freedom of the Gospel, the unending grace of the Cross, and the satisfaction of sanctification. There were times when some of the students chose to hear and then move on, but so many more times when they wanted to hear more, "Tell me more about your Jesus," they said. And we did. And a seed was planted. And one of the students there gave herself over to Christ. And many more are still emailing us working through the possibility that there is something bigger than themselves out there- something more loving and forgiving and government-defying than they ever thought possible.

Here's the thing though. We were 14 people. In a city of almost 15,000,000. In a country of over a billion. We were a drop in a bucket...a ripple in an ocean. What if though, what if this country came alive for Christ. What if we decided that Yellowstone and Disney world, paintings and sculptures were less important than spreading the good news of the salvation of the world to everyone that we could possibly find to listen to us. What if this country came alive and decided to tell that good news to the people in China who just so happen to want to hear it. What if God used those conversations and then enlivened his Church there. What if the Chinese people then woke up from their slumber of Buddhism and Taoism and went and told the people of another country of the love of Christ. Then imagine if those people were then moved and then another people and then another people. What if we finally realized that the things we fill 95% of our time with here do nothing to promote the Gospel anywhere. What if we finally realized that this isn't a radical movement at all. What if we finally called it for what it is: THE GOSPEL. David Platt, Francis Chan, Shane Claiborne do not call for us to live a life that is radically different from the rest of the world. God does.

God has called us to live a life that is an unending outpouring of love for him. Love your neighbor as yourself. Care for the widowed and orphaned. Proclaim the Gospel to the world- to all tribes, peoples, and tongues. "Not of the world but in the world" is really "Not of the world but sent into the world". The Church has been commanded to be a city on a hill, a light for the world, the hope of nations. There are billions around the world waiting for us to deliver God's goodness and grace to them. The question is will we do it? Is His message and the salvation of this world worth it?

I just have to believe that when John Wesley Work, Jr. wrote, "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born," that he wasn't talking about Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And when it comes to kingdoms I certainly hope that we all agree that between the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and the Kingdom of God, there is one that requires and deserves much more urgency and "radical" living than the other. Let's rise up Church. Let's go tell it on the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere...Jesus Christ is born! He came to Earth, lived, and died so that all may have life in Him and so that we never stop proclaiming him as the Lord of our life to the whole of creation. That is the Gospel, and yeah it is radical, life changing, and world wrecking. Thank you, Lord, for radically changing my life. I pray that you wreck your loving havoc on China and her people and that one day my children may look back on the radical movement, and think that it wasn't very radical at all.