When we started our missions journey in 2004, I had been an ordained pastor for about five years, had my Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Seminary in California, just finished my doctoral work in the New Testament, and had the backing of the PCA as a Mission to the World missionary. I felt pretty good about myself and was thinking, “I have so much to offer these people.” I laugh now at how foolish and proud I must have appeared to my Southeast Asian brothers and sisters.
Twenty years later, I realize that I have gained from the global church much more than I have given. What do we have to gain from our relationship with brothers and sisters around the world?
1. A More Beautiful Picture of the Body of Christ
One of the benefits of engaging in global missions is how it helps us see a fuller, more beautiful picture of the body of Christ. Certainly, this is true for the missionary who lives in a different culture. But it also helps the home church who sends, supports, and encourages the missionary. Hearing reports from the missionaries, visiting the fields, and serving together on short term mission trips help sending congregations see how large and beautiful the family of God is.
Global missions brings to life Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (v. 12-13).
I remember attending a mid-week worship service at a South Sudanese Presbyterian Church located in a refugee camp in Uganda. We were the special guests and so they had us in the front facing the congregation. As the service began, the rhythmic sound of their drums echoed in the makeshift church structure. The whole congregation stood up and began singing and moving in ways that were unfamiliar to this Korean American Presbyterian. One side of the room would start singing and then the other side would sing back to them. I asked our hosts what they were singing, and he said they were singing Scripture back and forth to each other.
I was reminded of the passage in Ephesians 5:18-19, “… be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart … .” There in that church I realized I was a part of something much bigger than myself and could not help but worship. Engaging in global missions leads to a fuller picture of the body of Christ which in turn leads to greater doxology!
2. Insight into our Cultural Idols
Another benefit from engaging in global missions is how it exposes our own cultural idols and helps us grow in greater repentance and faith. How do we know what our cultural idols are? One clue is when we get really mad or upset about something that just seems wrong about another cultural practice. For example, it’s fine if other people value collective thinking, but when they force their collective thinking on me and my individualism – well that’s a different story.
When we were serving as missionaries in Cambodia, I remember sitting with several Cambodian pastors after church service in Phnom Penh. One pastor shared how he was invited to the United States to speak at a church. The trip was coming up and so we were all wishing him well. And then one by one, each of the other pastors pulled money out of their wallets and handed him cash. $20, $50, $100. This was big money for Cambodian pastors.
I was confused and asked one of the pastors why they were giving him money. He said it was for him to use when he was in the US – spending money. This was their way of contributing to his expenses. They looked at me, expecting me to join in, but I just couldn’t do it. I thought, “We didn’t discuss this in advance. What is the money going to be used for? Will there be receipts?” I had too many questions, so I did not participate. What I also didn’t realize was that when he returned, he brought gifts from the US for all the pastors – he even got something for me. I felt so small and petty after that!
When I reflected on this, I realized how much my American individualism is baked into me and how hard it is for me to think more communally. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:16).
I also remember struggling with our Cambodian worship services lasting all day long. My Western sensibilities came up with 100 different ways of making the Sunday experience much more efficient. And yet in many contexts – including Cambodia – spending time together as a community is a much higher priority than efficiency. This exposed my cultural idol of efficiency and personal time.
Sometimes we don’t realize why we are so upset or why we feel so strongly about matters when living cross-culturally. Oftentimes, it is because a decision or action pokes at those things (sometimes good things) we hold on to more than God. We have a lot to learn in our engagement with believers from other cultures.
3. Partners in Fulfilling the Great Commission
Finally, what we gain as we make disciples of the nations are partners in our common mission to see the gospel of the kingdom advance throughout the world.
When we transitioned from the Philippines to Cambodia to start a new church planting team, we recruited three Filipino missionaries to join us. These were folks we knew from the seminary I taught at in Metro Manila. As they joined our team, they brought insight, experience, and perspectives to our team that we desperately needed. They were excellent missionaries.
At some point it dawned on me that other missionaries invested in them and helped shape them for gospel service. Our Filipino missionary colleagues were sent by the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines, which was initiated by Korean Presbyterian missionaries. Our MTW Cambodia team benefited from the labors of others who had gone before us.
In some sense our Korean-American churches in the PCA are an expression of the benefit of the labors of North American Presbyterian missionaries to Korea. Our Presbyterian forefathers sent North American missionaries to Korea in the 1890s. These missionaries gave their time, energy, and lives for gospel advance among the Korean peoples. In God’s providence, many of the descendants of those disciples immigrated to the US, started Presbyterian Churches, and joined the PCA. In light of this history, Korean American PCA churches are very active in global missions. The fruit of the PCA’s past labors is proving great gain for our present church as we labor together for gospel advance. Did our Presbyterian forefathers ever envision how much the North American church would benefit from the inclusion of our Korean-American PCA churches?
While the PCA indeed has much to offer the global church, we also have much to gain. Who knows? Perhaps the descendants of our national partners today will one day lead our global mission efforts in the future?
Dr. Lloyd Kim is coordinator of Mission to the World.