What Is Missions? 

In their 2017 book “When Everything Is Missions”, authors Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters argue that by calling everything we do “missions,” we distort what missions actually is, with the end result being missional drift. Hence the phrase, “when everything is missions, nothing is missions”. They are certainly not the only ones to sound this warning over the years, and thus, it is good to give the matter some thought. The foundational element in this discussion is, of course, the definition of missions. What exactly do we mean when we say “missions”? 

The primary distinction between something that is missional and something that is missions has to do with the level of cultural distance. When we say something is missions, we mean that people from one culture have moved across cultural boundaries and implanted themselves in another culture in order to share the good news of Jesus with that culture. Culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” and would include things like geographical proximity, religious beliefs, language, customs, and traditions. An American family moving to Mali, or a South Korean couple relocating to Tunisia, or a young Congolese person moving to Thailand are all examples of this type of culture-crossing and implanting activity. 

In recent years, however, a new dynamic has become more widespread – the mixing of cultures due to immigration. Or, to put it another way, more than ever, we live in a world that is “on the move”. On the surface, work in these settings may appear to be “missions”. After all, we are interacting closely with people from a different culture – often with language barriers, different customs, etc. However, there are some important differences.

For starters, immigrants have implanted themselves within our midst, not the other way around. This has very important ramifications. First, the stress of the missional worker is almost non-existent. They are not trying to learn a new language, understand cultural norms and read social cues, or adjust to a new climate or style of living accommodations. Second, the reverse is actually true. In missions work, we are bringing an outside message into their norm. In the case of ministering to immigrants, the missional worker is tasked with bringing the gospel into a highly stressful and potentially volatile season of life. Third, the mental framework of those we minister to is desirous of learning and embracing new things. Almost no one immigrates entirely against their will. Even though they want to maintain a measure of their own cultural identity, they are also hoping to integrate into their new host culture. In fact, if you play it out three or four generations, their children will be more like their host culture than their culture of origin. This fact on its own dramatically changes the way we pursue missional work.

For these reasons, I believe that there is not only wisdom in differentiating between culture-crossing and non culture-crossing missional work (i.e. evangelism vs. missions), but also between missions and immigrant ministry. Both are important, and thus, we should talk about them each on their own merits. To be very transparent and frank, I’m afraid that if we lump them together, we will be tempted to gravitate toward immigrant ministry because it is easier. Immigrant ministry is less costly, and it demands less of us than missions. As a thought experiment, consider which would be more difficult: moving your family into a refugee resettlement area of your city, or moving your family into a village in northern Cambodia. If you have immigrants in your city, you should be intentionally involved in bringing them to Jesus. Let’s just not label it as missions so that we don’t unintentionally lose sight of missions. As always, I’m here to help – to process, plan, or implement in any way I can.

Together with you,

Chris
ctweedy@rmdcma.com or (406) 647-2764