Hands and Feet

This morning, our three pastors spoke about the idea of “Missional Church”. The congregation is in the process of raising funds to build a new children’s wing, in order to accommodate and serve more children. This is not simply for the families within the congregation, but for the larger community as well. The focus is on being Missional; on being Jesus to the people around us, whether or not they are connected to the community of faith.

One of the pastors made the statement, “Lots of people head out to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but it’s hard to be the hands and feet if you’re not connected to the rest of the body.” And, being a visual thinker, you know where my mind immediately went with that?

Thing. The disembodied hand from The Addams Family. Yes. Really.

Follow me on this. Thing runs around the family home like a manic five-legged spider. He (she?) manages to communicate with the rest of the Addams family by use of jumping gestures. Thing is very expressive. And Thing manages to care for the homestead in spite of being just a hand. In return, the family cares for Thing and makes Thing feel welcome and honored and loved. 

Though Thing is disembodied, Thing is not without a body. That’s Missional.

We’re preparing to head off to the other side of the world from where we are now. We’re heading off to be the hands and feet and eyes and ears of Jesus. And we’re leaving the congregation and friends and family that have been so close to us for years. We’re about to be somewhat disembodied. But… we hope to not be without a body. We will still be connected intimately to the Body of Christ. But we also need to be connected to you all, our body. Christ’s Body for us. Our support, our nourishment. Our sustenance. 

You nourish us now. Many have joined with us and are standing alongside us praying and supporting us. But developing partners can be a long process, and one that is occasionally discouraging. The numbers don’t always grow as quickly as we would like them to. It’s important for us to know that we are not the body-less hand. It’s important for us to feel as connected to you as you hopefully feel to us. If there are ways that we can connect more with each of you, please let us know. Please let us know. And know that we hold you all very close and are very grateful for each of you, and that we cherish our connections with you.

You Get Credit for Trying

One of my favorite scenes in the whole of the Pirates of the Caribbean series takes place between Pintel and Ragetti, the two most consistent supporting characters of the Black Pearl. The exchange takes place towards the beginning of the second movie, Dead Man’s Chest. They are paddling a small boat toward an island. Pintel has hopes of “salvaging” the Black Pearl, but Ragetti refuses. Pintel is paddling while Ragetti squints his one good eye at a book. It turns out to be the Bible. 

Ragetti: "Anyways, I ain't stealing no ship."  
Pintel: "It ain't stealing. It's salvaging. And since when did you care?"  
Ragetti: "Since we're not immortal no more. We gotta take care of our immortal souls." 
Pintel (after a pause): "You know you can't read."  
Ragetti: "It's the Bible. You get credit for trying."

I love that! You know why I like it? Because I believe it. Wholeheartedly!

Pintel doesn’t. Pintel: "Pretending to read the Bible's a lie. That's a mark against... (Points up)"

Sound familiar? How often do we hear that kind of thing in church? How often do we say things like that or imply them? “You’re not doing it right, so God isn’t going to like it.” Maybe God isn’t going to like you either. 

I definitely think God would rather have us try and not get it quite right than to not try at all. 

We don’t know much at all about planting churches, and we especially don’t know anything about planting them in Southeast Asia. We’re like the one-eye man squinting at a manual we can’t read, trying to make sense out of it. But that isn’t going to stop us from trying. And we believe that God is going to give us credit for trying, and pick up our slack. 

This coming Sunday is Easter. Worldwide there are two billion people who won’t celebrate Easter because they know nothing about it. In the Isaan region, 1 out of every 634 people is Christian. In Ubon city, it’s 1 out of 814. We want to plant a few house churches, lead some Bible Studies, Disciple new believers. We want to try. 

“Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the Good News not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’” ~ Romans 15:20-21. That’s our goal; will you help us get there?