Disappointment in Missions

We often hear spectacular stories of large numbers of people coming to faith around the world. Yet, many missionaries literally labor for a lifetime seeing only a few people come to Christ. How do we deal with our disappointment when we have given years, perhaps decades to the spread of the gospel and so few have responded in our context?

One response that I have observed is that we simply quit expecting God to do anything significant. We literally give up hope, downsize our expectations and in live with quiet sadness. In some cases I have seen workers become cynical of God who promised that we would see much fruit (John 15). It is easy to ask in these contexts whether it is worth the effort we have made.


I believe that Paul would give us another answer. He would tell us that God can do far beyond anything we could expect or imagine (Ephesians 3:20 ) but would then remind us that some water and others reap (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). I also think he would remind us that God's timetable is not always our timetable. When we are promised fruit we are not given a timetable for the fruit.

The early missionaries to China labored for decades without seeing much fruit. What they did not know was that even as missionaries were forced to leave China in 1949 that the church would explode. They watered and went to their graves without seeing much happen but in God's timetable their labor and the seeds they watered came to amazing fruition.

I remember the many times I visited the grave of Robert Morrison as a child in the cemetery in Macao (1782 - 1834). Morrison was the first protestant missionary in China and in his first 25 years he translated the Bible into Chinese and baptized only a handful of believers. Having lost a wife and a child, he worked in circumstances we cannot easily imagine today, and he never saw this side of glory the result. But in eternity he did. How many millions of Chinese will be in heaven whose true spiritual father is Robert Morrison because of his tenacity in cracking hard soil for the gospel?


"In June, 1834, he prepared his last sermon on the text, 'In my Father's house are many mansions.' It was to show how much of the joy of the eternal Home would 'consist in the society formed there ; the family of God, from all ages and out of all nations.'"(Wikipedia).
The same stories could be told about countless places where the gospel took long to gain a foothold but once it did, it flourished - long after those faithful workers had left the scene. 


Morrison took comfort and encouragement from Revelation 7:9 which talks about those from every nation, tribe, people and language who will inhabit heaven. That includes those places where the soil is hard today but where one day there will be a wonderful harvest. We don't control the timing but we can trust God's promise that there will be a harvest and often when it comes it is far greater than we could ever ask or imagine because we labored in the hard years.

Here is the lesson that can be learned from mission history: We will see a harvest, perhaps here, perhaps in heaven but the harvest will come. We are optimistic about what God will do, even if He does not do it on our watch. Those who harvest later stand on the shoulders of those who worked so hard in the lean times. They will have a great reward for persevering when the soil was hard, planting seeds that later sprouted in large numbers.

To those who labor today among the Islamic peoples, often deeply resistant to the gospel I would say, hang in there. Their harvest will come as well and we are seeing perhaps the first trickle of what God intends to do among a billion Muslims prior to His return.


Our disappointment can be mitigated by believing God's word that the gospel will prevail, that there are those who sow, and water and those who reap and that His power working through us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead! If we believe Him, the harvest will come whether in our day or in a future day. Our human disappointment is not divine disappointment because nothing can stop the spread of the Good News and the power of the Gospel.


Morrison was buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau. The inscription on his marker reads:

Sacred to the memory of Robert Morrison DD., The first protestant missionary to China,
Where after a service of twenty-seven years,
cheerfully spent in extending the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer
during which period he compiled and published
a dictionary of the Chinese language,
founded the Anglo Chinese College at Malacca
and for several years laboured alone on a Chinese version of The Holy Scriptures,
which he was spared to see complete and widely circulated
among those for whom it was destined,
he sweetly slept in Jesus.
He was born at Morpeth in Northumberland
January 5th 1782
Was sent to China by the London Missionary Society in 1807
Was for twenty five years Chinese translator in the employ of The East India Company
and died in Canton August 1st 1834.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth
Yea saith the Spirit
that they may rest from their labours,
and their works do follow them

God is still looking for the Robert Morrison's of this world who will go to hard places where the Gospel has not been shared and who will persevere knowing that the harvest will indeed come. 

Every congregation is one leadership board away from trouble and decline

I am grieving for another pastor who is leaving his church because of pain inflicted by some members of the congregation and an unhealthy board.

Like so many church boards there is deep dysfunction on this one. It is a passive board that does not lead but simply reacts.  Members feel free to come and air their complaints and criticisms against the pastor leaving him bruised and beaten up - often without even knowing the facts. Meetings that should be confidential are not always confidential. It has no ability to hold board members accountable. Staff feel free to go around their senior pastor directly to board members and some board members have developed alliances with members of the staff that are counterproductive. All of this with a church that has already been in serious decline and trouble for some years.


Pastors can take a lot of hits if they know their board is behind them. But when they don't have a unified and healthy board, they are left vulnerable and unprotected. I have been in that situation and many other pastors have as well.

This is not a renegade pastor. He is well trained, a good expositor and wise (despite his young age) but he has been sabotaged  by a board that does not have its act together, is divided, and cannot chart a common course either for the church or for its support of the pastor that they called just a few years ago.

Divided boards create a divided congregation and that is just what has happened in this situation. Time after time, this board has been tepid in its support of the one they called and were then surprised when he resigned. The ineptness of the board has damaged an already damaged congregation by its actions. In fact, I predict that this congregation that has already suffered deep pain will go even deeper into decline by the actions of its board. Further, any wise candidate in the future will read the writing on the wall and decline to come leaving them with an undiscerning candidate who wants a job. Thus the cycle is likely to repeat itself.

When confronted with their actions, some members of this board refused counsel. The prediction of that counsel has now come to pass. Another pastor is gone, the congregation is divided and further losses are inevitable. They live with an attitude that things are well and healthy. Unfortunately because of their past actions, many of the healthy leaders have have already migrated out of the church, unwilling to live with the dishealth they observed.


Here is the principle. Every congregation is one leadership board away from trouble and decline. This congregation is paying the price of poor, unhealthy and dysfunctional leadership. And, the end result will most likely be a long period before the congregation is healthy if it every regains health - which is an open question. When the leaders don't understand their lack of health, there is little chance for congregations to become healthy.


My concern is both for the congregation that suffers from the poor leadership of its board and for another pastor who is temporarily or permanently out of ministry. The pain of the congregation is high, and for the pastor - exceedingly deep. And in the end, it is the board that is responsible for both. 


Board members are under shepherds of the Lord of the Church. They will one day answer for their their actions, their decisions, their decisions and their wisdom. Many will receive a reward from Christ as "good and faithful servants." Others will receive hard questions as to their lack of faithfulness, wisdom and ultimately poor care for their flock. I bless the former and fear for the latter. 

Too many boards and board members of local churches take their mandate too carelessly. They often do not understand good leadership, lack wisdom and in the end hurt rather than help the people they lead. Such is the case in the church I am watching at the moment. It makes me sad and I am certain it makes the Lord of the church sad as well. It is also why over eighty percent of the congregations in the United States are either plateaued or in decline. Guard the gate of your leadership. Hold your board accountable for healthy practices and pray for wisdom on their part.

Life as we know it and life as we planned it

I can already see the smile on your face if you are in your forties or later! For many of us, perhaps most of us, life as we know it today is very different than life as we planned it. That is certainly true for me. The question is, have we adjusted and embraced life as we know it rather than living in sadness or bitterness over life as we planned it.

Life as we planned it is a product of our youth, largely devoid of the realities of living in a sinful, fallen world which causes life to come undone (see my new book) and change in ways we never could have imagined. More than that, life as we planned it cannot take into account the sovereign work of God in our lives who wants to use us in ways that we could not have imagined. His divine preparation for our use takes us to places we could have never imagined. 

Think of Moses. From a life of privilege and nobility, could he have possibly imagined forty years as a shepherd in the wilderness? Yet that was the path God took him on so that when he met Him in the burning bush he was prepared for the task ahead of him.

Think of David. He is anointed by Samuel as the next king and then finds himself running for his life for years as Saul tries to kill him. Yet, it was in those years that many of the Psalms were written which show how God was shaping his heart in the process of his wilderness experience. He would become the greatest king Israel would ever have. 

The reality is that God has a way of taking our dreams and molding us for impact that is far beyond what we could have imagined but the path to that greater impact is a path of hardship and even the wilderness that forces us to trust Him more, push into Him more, develop authentic faith and hard won character. His diversions for our lives are not aberrations but are His contribution to life as we planned it. Even when that means taking great heartache and redeeming it for His purposes.

One of the conclusions I have is that life as I planned it does not have the color, opportunities, growth, faith filled moments and trust learned the hard way as life as I know it. And that is because my Sovereign Father took my dreams - and willingness to follow - infused it with His purposes and  His preparation and gave me opportunities and impact that I could not have ever had without His participation in my life.


I think of Abraham. What would life have been for Him if he had not walked the life of faith that he did. It was certainly not life as he planned it. But because of his obedience and God's work in his life, He impacted every person who every followed God after him as he became the model of faith and followership.


Seen through God's eyes, life as we planned it is a mere shadow of life as we know it when we have wholeheartedly followed Him in the adventure of life. Without His sovereignty over the course of our lives we would be far less than we are today. For that, in spite of the road that got me here, I rejoice.

Sometime take a sheet of paper and make three columns: Life as I planned it; Life as it is today and lessons God taught me in the process. Then ask, "how am I different because of the path God took me on - including the painful and hard times?"

For my many readers in the UK

My book, Live Like You Mean It: The 10 Crucial Questions That Will Help You Clarify Your Purpose; Live Intentionally and Make the Most of the Rest of Your Life is currently being offered as a free Kindle download (UK only). 

Take advantage of this offer and help spread the word in the UK!

Reputation management

Everyone who leads, whether full time, or in volunteer settings accumulates wounds from that leadership. Sadly, the most painful wounds are not from those outside the Kingdom but from those inside. The deepest wounds for many of us are attacks on our character. I once had the joy, years ago of listening to six pages of accusations against my character read in public. Nothing is more painful. One cannot lead without being attacked and the most painful attacks are to what matters the most to us - our reputations.

When our character is attacked, what we want to do at the least is to respond and defend what is so precious to us. Or, even to strike back in righteous anger. Both are human reactions but neither are helpful. Those who attack our character will not be moved, and in the end only God can vindicate our actions and character. 

David, agonized over those who attacked his character. He also gave us great advice when evil men speak ill of us - and attacks on our character are often the work of either "evil men" or those who the evil one is using to discourage and hurt us, whether believers or not. David tells us when attacked:


"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him"
"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret"
"Wait for the Lord and keep his way"
Psalm 37


Time and God have a way of sorting out our character in the minds of others. We play not to the crowd but to an audience of One. His opinion is the one that matters, not the opinions of our detractors. The best thing we can do when attacked is to refuse to fight back, give our pain to God, guard our own hearts, attitudes and words and focus on being the people God wants us to be.

This is neither easy nor natural. In fact, responding in grace to personal attacks can only be done when we are staying close to God, have His perspective and are walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the end, we cannot manage our reputation, that is God's responsibility. What we can do is live in a way that pleases him rather than worrying about what others think.

When Life Comes Undone: Walking by Faith when Life is Hard and Hope is Scarce

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The new book is out. Copies can be ordered from Next Step Resources.

The book is written:

• For those going through hard times
• For small group discussion around suffering and pain in our lives
• As a resource that churches can provide for those whose lives have come undone.

Life comes undone for all of us and when it does, we live with the pain, uncertainty and questions that come with it. Using a biblical perspective When Life Comes Undone can help you navigate those times when life is hard and hope is scarce.  The book is written out of deep, personal experiences with catastrophic illnesses, and speaks to the question of suffering with the candor and honesty that comes from grappling with pain firsthand.

Table of Contents

1.   Life Undone (When Life Changes Forever)

2.   The Unlikely Gift (Learning to Walk in Faith)

3.   Divine Scars (The Fellowship of His Sufferings)

4.   Creation Interrupted (Why Bad Things Happen)

5.   God's Amazing Heart (Understanding God's Love for Us)

6.   High Ropes and Waterfalls (Where Faith and Grace Collide)

7.   Storming Heaven's Gates (Bold Prayer)

8.   Offensive Plays (Taking Life Back)

9.   Life Redone (New Perspectives Forged in Fire)

10. Freedom (Reshaped Hearts)

The book will help you understand how you can turn your human scars into divine scars

• Understand why bad things happen to God's people
• Develop bold faith and understand God's grace and love
• Pray boldly
• Take life back
• Experience the freedom that pain can bring
• See how God takes the pain in our lives and turns it into something good and meaningful.

Distraction management

Our lives are full of them. They include the many ways we can spend our time, great ideas that will take us nowhere, other peoples agendas for our lives. They are all the distractions that pull at us for our time and attention and if we are not careful can pull us away from those things that are most core and central to our lives and our calling.

Some of the most spectacular and tragic air crashes have been a result of distractions in the cockpit where pilots fiddled with some unimportant issue, ignoring the fact that the plane itself was going to crash. One of the most notorious was a crew fiddling with a broken light (a minor issue) as the plane proceeded to crash in a swamp (a major issue).

That is the irony of distractions. They are often little things, innocuous things that steal our attention from the most important priorities of our lives: relationships; ministry calling; using our God given gifts; investment in others; and the big rocks of our lives. It is the good robbing us of the best. 

This is why it is so important to take time periodically to take stock of our activities, priorities, focus and relationships and determine whether they are in sync with what we believe God has for our lives. It is also where the power of NO comes in. The only way to deal with distractions is to say no to them and to those who offer them to us - graciously of course.

Here are three questions that it is worth asking on a regular basis. I do so monthly: What is core to my life and calling?; What distractions are getting in the way of my life and calling?; and What am I going to do about it?

All wise people practice "distraction management."