Boldness For Christ
In 2008, there was a World Witness cooperative missionary who was the country director of a small medical ministry that brought children from Gaza and Iraq to Israel, for life-saving heart surgeries. The work involved crossing international borders into hazardous areas of the Middle East.
One day, he sent a co-worker, Carole, to the Israel-Gaza Strip border to wait for a young girl to cross into Israel proper where this child could receive urgently needed medical attention. Typically, this involved hours of waiting in a hot car at the border. That day, however, the wait was longer than usual, and Carole called the director to ask about the delay. He told her he couldn’t reach anyone inside the border crossing, which was unusual. At that moment, over the phone, the director heard sirens and the distinct sound of enemy rockets overhead. Carole described the scene of many people running and rockets passing over them striking positions in Israel. Having no safe option at that point, he advised Carole to leave. She decided to stay and within minutes, an Israeli gunship flew overhead into Gaza and destroyed the terrorist missile battery with several rockets. An hour later, the border reopened. The child made it through safely, and Carole whisked her to the hospital.
Perhaps when we think of the boldness and risk in the life of a missionary, we think of stories like this. Other acts of boldness are like those of a World Witness family who served for years in Pakistan, often in places of high crime and threat of terrorism. They described having to continuously change daily routines to prevent being a victim of a crime. Constantly living under high stress drove the wife to depression. Another World Witness family moved, in 2006, to southeastern Turkey, which was somewhat like the “wild west” of the country and home to terrorist groups like the PKK. Their isolation was oppressive, and the desert heat of summer soared.
The link between these people is not bravery and a resilient spirit; rather, it is obedience and a resilient Gospel. Each believes the Gospel is worth it at any price and, in faith, is willing to risk physical, spiritual, and emotional health, because their eyes are fixed on Christ and obedience to His Word.
In the West, introspection has become almost a religion. There is an obsession to “live your best life now” which precludes emotional, physical, and spiritual pain. We live life staring in a mirror trying to determine how to best satisfy the desires of the one staring back at us. The problem is the more we focus on ourselves the greater our fears of losing our money, power, relationships, or lives. The Gospel’s antidote to fear is not self-examination, but Christ-examination.
Hebrews 12 urges us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Our eyes are to be fixed not on ourselves but on Christ and the joy set before us. Only in beholding Him do we find courage to risk everything for the sake of the Gospel.
The build-up to a life like this, however, begins not with an act of Gospel heroism; rather, it begins in the daily quiet obedience of a life submitted to Christ (1 Thess 4:11-12). It is in the early hours of morning prayer and Scripture, Sunday sacraments and preaching of the Word, fellowship of Believers, and love of God and neighbors. It is in the ordinary, daily walk with the Lord that we fix our eyes on Christ and prepare for a life of bold Gospel proclamation.
World Witness’ first missionary, Mary Galloway Giffen, who was sent to Egypt in 1875, was such a person. She died after seven years on the field, but her story would go on to inspire generation after generation of missionaries and motivate World Witness to proclaim one of its core values – “boldness.” Such boldness is born out of fixing our eyes on Christ and embracing difficulties and risks that come with Gospel proclamation.
World Witness is currently formulating a “policy of risk” to remind us, as a risk-averse West, that boldness for Christ is worth any hardship, pain, or price. I believe this generation does not want more crutches to lean on but desires a cross to carry and a Gospel to proclaim. Together let us fix our eyes on Christ, boldly proclaim His love to a dying world, and find courage in the face of our Savior. The Church needs missions to not only expand the Kingdom of God but to also enable the Church to find its courage in a world hostile to the Gospel.