Our Purpose....

Matthew 28: 19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

These are the last recorded words of Jesus, but perhaps the most misquoted and misrepresented of anything He ever said.

In His name, well-intended Christians have destroyed civilizations and annihilated entire nations.  But my point is not to suggest that missionaries are to blame for all the bad things that have happened all over the world. True missionaries have brought salvation and a better life to millions.   I do not believe that any race or nation is even close to being holy, spotless, peace-loving, kind, God-fearing, and without sin.  I think that all people, in all islands and lands, have sinned and fallen short of what God intended, and are destined to eternal death.  I believe that Jesus, and Jesus only, is the sole means to God, the Father, and the only means to enjoy eternal life.

But for a moment let me point out what Jesus did not tell His disciples to do.

Jesus did not tell us to go and teach people how to live up to a moral code that most Christians do not live by.  We were not commissioned to get folks to become like us; Paul and the apostles were clear about this. They knew that their culture and customs were not synonymous with the essential teaching of Jesus.  We’re not required to tell people that they must change their habits or cultures or way of living.  I, for one, don’t think that protesting things that are morally outrageous in America will change people much—but bringing people to Jesus Christ will bring about change.  We were told to make disciples—not to convert to our view of morality—in fact, we’re called to save people.

Think about what Jesus said to His disciples.  Consider also what we have no record of Him addressing: the topic of drinking, sex, the kind of clothes to wear, the best way to raise your children, and so on.  Those things follow conversion.        But in 1492, when  Columbus came to the New World, there was probably nothing very complicated about how he saw these natives did not believe in Jesus Christ.  I read an article in Smithsonian Magazine, and they rightly pointed out that he recognized that the people in the Americas were lost souls, destined for eternal damnation, but able for redemption and eternal life because of the Savior.   Devout Christians then and now hold this to be true!  Christ is able to save those who believe in Him,  and Columbus knew that it was the duty of all Christians to spread his gospel and thus rescue those from an eternity absent of God.  This is not imperialism or arrogance—it is compassion and reflects part of Christ’s great commission—“Go, teach and baptize.”  Some people that want to erase Columbus from the history books, or paint him as the devil, but they deny his good motives or fail to talk about this.  Regardless of his other urges, it does appear that he had a realization that no one could enjoy eternal life outside of the church.

But there’s a lot that Columbus did that was wrong, and we Christians need to admit it.  He did not honor the cause of Christ in the manner in which he treated the native people. And though he did not ever own a slave, he captured innocent people and sent them by the hundreds to Europe to be sold as slaves.  Non-believers often point to the sins of Columbus and those that followed him as a reason to keep the missionaries out of jungles or away from primitive tribes.  Paul and Barnabas were also hated, but not for the evil things Columbus did. The first-century missionaries came into foreign lands meek, careful, kind, and generous—they treated people as Christ treated all men—with dignity and love.

Now, when you come with guns, swords, immense boats, and appear to be gods, I suppose it’s initially easier to get the foreign people’s attention.  But that’s not supposed to be our agenda. It’s not about us——is it?  Actually, if you follow Jesus, you can be sure of three things: you would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.” – G.K. Chesterton.  It’s not safe to follow Jesus—never has been.  Missionaries will be in trouble, for sure, if they preach the gospel, but they should never be in trouble for taking advantage of the very people they came to baptize.

Haiti was the land Columbus really saw up close, and “he fell in love with it from his first glimpse of it. “From aboard ship it was possible to make out rich fields waving with grass. There were good harbors, pristine sand beaches and fruit-laden trees. The people were shy and fled whenever the Spaniards approached the shore, but Columbus gave orders ‘that they should treat them well and make them lose their fear…”. (Smithsonian Magazine)

But Columbus soon found out that this island had gold—and from what they could determine, a lot of it.   The natives offered it to Columbus as a gift—and it poisoned his soul.  Sometimes good things can do that.  Good things become a snare that Satan can use to pervert and distort our efforts of making disciples—he wants to stop us.   Columbus and his men determined that instead of making disciples they would make a fortune.  What good thing is the Devil using in your life or mine to thwart us from completing Christ’s commission?

The natives of Haiti were the Arawak (“arrow walk”) Indians, and according to Columbus,  “they were the most handsome people he had ever seen.  In fact, he found it hard to praise them enough. ‘They are the best people in the world," he said, "and beyond all the mildest.’ They spent most of the day like children idling away their time from morning to night, seemingly without a care in the world. Once they saw that Columbus meant them no harm, they outdid one another in bringing him anything he wanted. It was impossible to believe, he reported, "that anyone has seen a people with such kind hearts and so ready to give the Christians all that they possess, and when the Christians arrive, they run at once to bring them everything.”  (Smithsonian) These folks were nothing but helpful and pleasant to the Spaniards.

But on Christmas Day, 1492, the Santa Maria ran aground off Caracol Bay. The local leader in that part of Haiti, a native named Guacanagari, rushed to the scene and, with his people, helped the Spaniards to salvage everything aboard. Once again Columbus was astounded at these remarkable natives. He wrote to Queen Isabella, “they are so full of love and without greed, and suitable for every purpose, that I assure your Highnesses that I believe there is no better land in the world, and they are always smiling." While the salvage operations were going on, canoes full of Arawaks from other parts of the island came in bearing gold. This was actually a mistake and would lead to their utter ruin.

So from Spain settlers came, not to share the gospel, but to get all the gold they could find among the natives. The Arawaks continued to be generous. But precisely because they did not value possessions, they had little to turn over. When gold was not forthcoming, the Europeans began killing them.  In 1495 a punitive expedition rounded up 1,500 of them, and 500 were shipped off to the slave markets of Seville.

The natives, seeing what was in store for them, dug up their own crops and destroyed their supplies in hopes that the resulting famine would drive the Spaniards out. But it did not work. The Spaniards were sure there was more gold in the island than the natives had not yet found, and were determined to make them dig it out. Columbus built more forts throughout the island and decreed that every Arawak of 14 years or over was to furnish several ounces of gold dust every three months.

But what Columbus did not know was that all the gold the Arawak had at first presented him was the total accumulation of many years. They could not give Columbus what they did not have

The Arawaks were worked to death in search of gold that did not exist.  So they were tortured, burned, cut up, and fed to the dogs by their masters. They died from overwork and from new European diseases. They killed themselves. And they took pains to avoid having children. Life was not fit to live, and they stopped living. From a population of at least  100,000 in 1492,  within 100 years only 200 were left.   An entire people were exterminated.  If you go to Haiti today, you will not meet an Arawak; you will meet the ancestors of the slaves imported by the Spaniards from Africa to work the land.  There are no more Arawaks in Haiti.

It is not the task of the missionary to exploit the people for money or the benefit of another wealthy nation, or to force Arawaks to wear the heavy, sweaty, ridiculous clothes of the Europeans, or to that a monarchy is better than a being ruled by a chief,  or that capitalism is better that socialism or communism, but rather that heaven is better than hell— and being a son or daughter of God beats being an object to be devoured by Satan.  That’s what Christ commissioned us to teach!

To his everlasting shame, Columbus forgot this… but so do some modern-day evangelists, administrators of Christian children’s homes, and mission workers. Have we forgotten this in our country? Are we so confident of our government or commerce or medicine and technology that we have forgotten that we are all mortal, and that just like the Arawaks and Spaniards we will one day die and stand before God to give an account of our lives?  “If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small.” – Pat Morley.  We are required to make disciples, teach, and baptize.  Leave the rest to God!  Is this what we are doing today?

And when I preach and share my faith, it’s not meant to be me talking about how He blessed I am or what He’s done for me!  The gospel is about what He has done for all mankind and what He is prepared to do for the ones listening to me. Oh that Paul, and not Columbus, had landed in Haiti!  Oh that the Kings of Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, France and England could have been true disciples of Jesus Christ!  How different and better life would be all over the world today.

The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— i,e, His sacrifice for us has completely satisfied the wrath of God.  The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.

“A missionary is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Chambers)

Jesus Christ did not say go and change the habits of the foreigners, or show them how to properly cook and eat,  or even go teach them how to read and write!  He said, “Go and make disciples; that is, ‘teach them” to observe what He is recorded to have taught the disciples.  No one who reads the gospel of John could believe they represent the authentic words of Jesus, and do what Columbus did—and what some people are even doing today in the name of Jesus Christ.

It’s been said that, “The aim of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen; he is useful and does win the heathen, but that is not his aim.  His aim is to do the will of his Lord.” – (Oswald Chambers)

Is that what we are doing in our nursing homes, children’s homes, summer camps, youth programs and Sunday services?   If we’re surrendering our personal or ecclesiastical enterprises to Him, we will win souls for Jesus Christ, but our aim has got to be to honor Him by making disciples, one at a time, and loving them as He loves us.