Missions Catalyst 03.09.11 – Practical Mobilization

In This Issue: The Seven Deadly Sins of a Mobilizer (The Rest of the List)

• We dishonor those who don’t go.
• We prioritize ministry over family, and even God.
• We talk about it, but don’t do it.
• Bonus sin: exaggeration.

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The Seven Deadly Sins of a Mobilizer: The Rest of the List

By Shane Bennett.

In the last Practical Mobilization column, I laid out the first four of seven deadly sins of mobilizers.

1. Arrogance.

2. I know God loves my stuff best.

3. Info-vomit.

4. Look on the outside, miss the heart.

I don’t know about you, but it made me glad that grace abounds. Come to think of it, I do know about some of you, because you wrote and said, “ouch!” or something similar.

Well, we have three to go. And these are personal. So firm up your resolve and let’s plow into them.

5. We dishonor those who don’t go.

In an effort to call forth the apostles who will lead teams to the most under-evangelized peoples on the planet, I can imply that such people are the real stars on God’s team.

Of course I think they are stars. That’s not really the problem. The problem comes with the logical conclusion that if the goers are the stars, the rest are scrubs. Obviously they’re not. God uses all kinds of people in all kinds of ways in all sorts of places.

One night a few years ago the need to honor senders hit me like a ton of bricks. (I might add, it should have hit me every month of the past 23 years I’ve been raising support from faithful senders around the globe!) On this particular night, I was facilitating the “Sender” table for the final lesson of a Perspectives course. The leader had divided the class into groups according to what they perceived was their role in missions. The mighty sending juggernaut, which consisted of me and two other people, looked over at the “goer” table: They couldn’t all fit up to their table, but were stacked two deep in most places. Fourteen of them. Three of us. Long odds indeed. Unless we were Truett Cathy and Dennis and Barbara Green, we were sunk! How could we do all that sending on our own?

So I’ve endeavored to say frequently and vigorously that the opportunities to participate in God’s purposes for the planet are as varied and diverse as we are. But sometimes I blow it. Just recently my pastor asked me about a comment I’d made: “Were you saying that it’s always a better idea to live overseas? I don’t really think you believe that, but that’s what it sounded like.”

I am concerned that far too often I may sound that way to too many ears. Maybe you do too. Will you join me in redoubling our efforts to honor all the ways God chooses to use the likes of you and me?

6. We prioritize ministry over family, and even God.

I could regale you with stories of my guilt, but I thought it might add a ring of authenticity to let my dear wife Ann chime in for a minute:

“There have been times in our 18 years of marriage that it really felt like the kids and I took a back seat to Shane’s mobilization work. I didn’t like it, but felt like ‘who was I to argue with God?’ Shane would be out traveling and speaking, and I was home changing diapers. Then when he would get home, he’d have other work to catch up on. It was challenging. As the kids have gotten older, it’s become a little easier, but there are still times. In fact, just a few days ago he came home from a long trip but had several meetings to attend and a sermon to prepare for the next Sunday. I had a hammer in my hand that I wanted him to use on a house project, but I also kinda wanted to use it on him!”

I don’t need to tell you the bad things that can happen when you neglect your tribe. And this is not just for professional mobilizers. If you’re doing your day job and then logging several hours on your mob passion, living life with a cell phone to your ear, setting up the missions conference, and coordinating Perspectives – while the kids grow up and move away – you might miss some good stuff. May God give us grace to righteously balance both the families and the ministries he’s given us.

And when, as unbelievable as it sounds, we put our work for God ahead of God, may he gently remind us of Martha and Mary and Jesus. In Luke 10 Martha’s hustling the baklava and chai, getting increasingly annoyed with sister Mary at the feet of Jesus. Finally she snaps, and in a tone, I presume, one shouldn’t take with the Son of God, she demands, “Jesus, tell her to help me!” So Jesus replies, “Martha, you’re so busy and caught up in your serving. I like the baklava and all, but really Mary has chosen the better thing. I’m not going to take it away from her.”

May we likewise choose the better way.

7. We talk about it, but don’t do it.

At the (admittedly fun) risk of stirring up undue controversy, can I share one of my favorite Rob Bell quotes? At a conference for church leaders, he asked, “Pastors, are you smoking what you’re selling?” Translated into non-drug-culture vernacular: “Are you believing and acting on the stuff that you’re preaching?”

It’s a good question for mobilizers. Someone (probably a lot of someones) has said, “A good mobilizer would rather be a goer.” I don’t know if I agree with that. Some mobilizers simply have a good handle on what God’s asking them to do. If they went overseas, it would be a real and true example of Dr.Ralph Winter’s perennial tease when people from the U.S. Center for World Mission left to be missionaries: “They’ve lost the vision and gone to the field.” Many mobilizers stay in their home culture because it’s what God is asking of them.

That being true, if we try to mobilize people to what we’re unwilling to do ourselves, we may be on thin ice. How can we encourage others to engage Muslims, if we’re afraid of them ourselves? Or more personally, what business do I have asking believers to pray for the nations when my own prayers rarely venture beyond my wife, kids, friends, and church?

Most smart people have a built-in “baloney meter.” When your feet don’t match your mouth, they know it. Your opportunity to influence will drop off like church attendance during a series on stewardship.

We can’t do everything, but we’ve got to be willing to do the stuff we ask others to do. And it wouldn’t hurt to actually do some of it. Here’s an easy one if you need an idea: Invite an international student or two over for Easter dinner. Tell them the story of the holiday. They would likely do this for you if you were in their city on an important day. This will also earn you a sweet basketful of credibility for when you encourage your people to invite international students over next Thanksgiving.

Bonus sin: Exaggeration.

I could have listed a hundred more sins, but that would have been the worst thing ever. Get it? Too often we swing for the fence by stretching the statistic or embellishing the story. Remembering the “baloney meter,” I want to simply stick to the truth. Really, most of our statistics are potent even ratcheted down an order of magnitude! And there are stories so powerful in their bare facts that they need get no taller in the telling. Granny Brand is my latest favorite example of this. She’s also my new hero.

Thanks again for wading through these issues with me. Welcome back next month when I’ll write about “The Eight Really Cool Things about Mobilizers that Make God and Other People Really Like Them.”

Until then, take issue with this list or add to it on our website.

Shane Bennett has served in missions mobilization since 1987, much of his energy going to recruiting, training, and sending short-term teams. He’s been on research teams in Bangkok, Bombay and Turkey. He coauthored Exploring the Land, a guide to researching unreached peoples, and has written numerous articles.

Shane now works as a public speaker for Frontiers and is part-time missions pastor at Union Chapel. He and his wife, Ann, have five school-aged children. They live and work in Indiana.