Missions Catalyst 09.09.09 – Practical Mobilization

In This Issue: Dealing with Demons

• FEATURE: Dealing with Demons that Hinder Mobilization
• SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Friendship Families
• EVENTS: New on the Mission Events Calendar

Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.

FEATURE: Dealing with Demons that Hinder Mobilization

I suppose that at times I might write a title like that and by “demons” mean tricky little pitfalls we need to notice or possible breakdowns in technology or communication that need to be addressed. In this case, however, I really do mean demons: particular, evil, spiritual beings. I want to be clear about that.

I also want to be clear about the trepidation I feel addressing this topic. While I love to eat and am not totally unable to cook, you wouldn’t look to me to cater your daughter’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Similarly, in these matters I have a small measure of experience, a strong hunch, and almost no expertise. I hope you’ll bear with me as I wrestle with issues that are new and important to me but may seem remedial to some.

As mobilizers we sometimes conclude that people are distracted, don’t care,  or maybe are just selfishly concerned about their own safety and comfort. (Sadly, I’m pretty sure I’ve accused people, at least mentally, of all these things.) Now I wonder if most people who don’t respond to my brilliant mobilization challenge (or yours, because it is brilliant!) don’t do so due to a spirit of rejection. A demon has been working on them so long that they no longer even think about rejection; they innately know they’re rejected.

Certainly some people are distracted, unconcerned, focused on their comfort, and dealing with a long list of other issues. But what if some, maybe most, have simply been duped into a worldview that says they don’t matter, they don’t measure up, and that people like them don’t have what it takes to do what it is we are challenging them to consider?

If that is the case, no amount of “Hey, look at these poor people,” or “You can make a difference among the unreached,” is really going to help. In fact, it may heap guilt on top of an already burdened soul.

If that’s you, you don’t need more information. You don’t need to be challenged. You don’t need encouragement or models. You need to be delivered.

You need to find a way to appropriate the victory of Jesus over our enemy. (And then maybe you will need information, challenge, encouragement, and models!)

I recently spent some time with people who have a deliverance ministry. One of the things I like about them is their very no-nonsense, hype-free approach to dealing with demonic oppression: Identify it, repent of any complicity, cast it out, and then walk in obedience and freedom. Of course it’s tons easier to write and say these things than it is to actually implement them. But it is possible and many are doing it.

1. Identify:

In what ways has your thinking been shaped by Satan’s kingdom rather than God’s? What particular demonic forces have been tasked with rendering you ineffective, broken, and eventually dead? To kick start your thinking here, I would recommend Doris Wagner’s book, How to Cast Out Demons: A Guide to the Basics.” Mrs. Wagner gives a detailed but reasonable look at key areas of demonic attack. If the thought of reading a book like that makes you feel like you might be going off the deep end, couple it with a re-read (surely!) of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. Even staid Oxford dons know demonic activity when they see it!

2. Repent:

If you’ve been thinking like the devil, admit it. Repent and recommit yourself to Jesus.

3. Cast It Out:

Having recognized and repented of complicity in Satan’s schemes, follow the example of Jesus (perhaps with some help from Wagner’s thorough explanations), and cast away evil spirits.

4. Walk It Out:

At this point, you continue on with the “light yoke,” but hard work of discipleship. Allow God’s Word to renew your mind. Take captive every thought and subject it to Christ. Consciously do all that you do for the glory of God.

I can’t believe I’m seriously giving a short course in deliverance in Missions Catalyst Practical Mobilization, but there you are. Please think about this stuff and take whatever action you might take with the Bible in one hand, a stack of books in the other, and thoughtful, brave friends at your sides.

That Spirit of Rejection

I find Wagner’s (and others’) identification of a spirit of rejection to be particularly important for us as mobilizers. Here’s what I mean. A spirit of rejection is a demon who attacks believers in an effort to convince them they have no worth. “I can never raise support.” “I could never build relationships with Muslims.” “My church would never send me.” People may not voice those concerns, and maybe don’t even get to the point of articulating such thoughts in their minds. They just automatically assume they are not the type of person God chooses.

Let’s seek the Holy Spirit for discernment regarding the ways in which demons hinder us and those we endeavor to mobilize. Let’s grow in our understanding of how the power of God can release us (and others through us) from a debilitating sense of rejection.

Really, how can we expect people to “give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ” when they’re pretty sure they’re going to fail even at their small ambitions? Believers who lay aside that cloak of rejection can trust God to use even them in the great work of redemption he’s undertaking.

SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION: Friendship Families

Now’s the time to reach out to international students (at least if you live in the US!). Hundreds, maybe thousands, of students have recently arrived at an institution of higher education near to you. (Unless you live next to Shimer College or a similar place where the number will likely be – in everything but the price tag – smaller.)

Personally, I have found it a bit difficult for a neophyte to navigate the system of linking up with international students at a given school. Now this could just be me and I wouldn’t be surprised. If it’s not though, then we need guides. We need you to figure out how it works at your nearby school and help the rest of us bozos! We also need you to spread the message to others, “Hey, you could do this. You would honor God by doing this. And, no, you’re not pledging financial responsibility for the student, his wife, pets, habits, offspring, extended family, and whole village in perpetuity.”

So here’s the deal:

1. Find the staff person who heads a local school’s efforts to help international students arrive, get settled, and link up with local families.

2. Arrange to buy her a cup of coffee and learn from her how the system works.

3. Take what you learn and feed it back into your church.

4. Become her go-to person for linking up internationals with people in the community. Deliver non-psycho families to her and you’ll be her friend forever. Now, just so we’re clear: This is not subversive in that it’s a tricky way to get access to impressionable foreigners in order to convert them. Rather it’s a way to obey Jesus, and in the process subversively help convert people in your church into disciples with a love for the world.

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EVENTS: New on the Mission Events Calendar

October 5-10 – Encountering the World of Islam Training (Kiev, Ukraine). Week-long event from Caleb Resources to equip Christians from the Russian-speaking world to teach others through the 12-week course. EWI is now available in various cities, online, and in several languages.

October 18-24 – Week of Prayer for International Students (across the US). Why not plan something for International Student Sunday, October 18?

May 11-14, 2010 – Toyko 2010 (Tokyo, Japan). Global mission consultation.

May 23, 2010 – Global Day of Prayer (international). Did you know this is the 10th year? We’re all invited to South Africa, where it started, to celebrate! (May 20-21, GDOP2010 conference).

Questions, comments, submissions? Contact us.