16/10/2024
Christian Mission: Thoughts and Reflections.
Global Christianity is apostolic and historic. Many believe that History is God’s story and in-between times, God has always shown his unlimited love and mighty power to helping humanity and the world he loves.
In 18th century when the British empire was at the peak of its imperial might, God visited his Church and his world with the ‘Great Awakening’ and a surge of Evangelical revival. Here in Britain, the evangelical movement by its life and gospel proclamation challenged the nation to examine its conscience, culture and values. This led to massive national repentance and social transformation. The evangelicals championed the abolition of slave trade, fought against colonialism and encouraged independence for colonies. Christian missionaries left the comfort of their great nation to travel to the colonies with the gospel, in most cases at the danger of their lives. Many of them died in the fields serving their Master our Lord Jesus Christ. They reflected Christ’s incarnation in their mission approach and practices.
As Christ left the glories of heaven, emptied himself and came into our world, so most of these British missionaries did. They brought to us what we don’t have - the gospel, education, hospitals, improved agriculture, etc. They challenged and changed aspects of our cultures that were obnoxious and ungodly such as human sacrifice, burying the dead with the living, killing of twins, slavery, violence to women and children, etc.
These missionaries were sacrificial in their approach and not exploitative. Like the incarnate Christ, the missionaries were self-giving and selfless in character. As Christ became poor so that through his poverty, we might be rich; the missionaries relatively became poor in comparison to their mates back home in Britain in other that we might be rich. Young medical doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, etc left promising careers in Britain to become missionaries in Africa. I have been privileged to have interviewed Dr Elizabeth Edmunds, Dr Anne Phillips, Kenneth Gill (an accountant), John Goodchild (Mathematician cm Theologian),etc, that served as missionaries in eastern and midwestern Nigeria and their stories are the same: people who for the high calling of God in Christ, laid down their lives, ambitions and futures at the foot of the cross, to serve the Lord in foreign lands. Their joy was simple: knowing him, serving him and making him known! They lived humble and modest lives both in mission fields and at homes.
Today, Britain and the entire global West need Christian mission in what some have termed ‘reverse mission’ - that is Christianity coming back from the former British colonies. Sadly, the reality is that we are not having this mission in reverse. Instead of having the authentic and genuine and sacrificial Christian missionaries who reflect Christ’s incarnation, we are having ‘economic migrants’ who are escaping their almost failed states and almost failed nations to better their lives and lots in Britain and the West. This is because another form of slavery is going on in Africa right now - this time fellow Africans enslaving their brothers and sisters. Presently, in most African countries there is no hope, no future, no jobs, no social security; hospitals are becoming slaughter houses, education has been reduced to mere certificate acquisition process producing certificated illiterates that are incapable of critical thinking, corruption is at its peak, kidnapping for ransom has become a culture, ritual killing and human sacrifice for money have all returned. Political processes are shamelessly compromised, election results are written before the elections, justice is for sale to the highest bidder and Judiciary is no longer the hope of the so called common person. Might has become right and in place of democratic states and institutions, we now evolving to lawless fiefdoms.
It has never been so bad. It’s another dark age in our beloved continent. People are in bo***ge and desperately seeking for ways and places to escape. Professors are escaping, doctors are escaping, teachers are escaping, engineers, accountants, nurses are all escaping. Massive migration for those who can afford to escape, leaving the weak and vulnerable at behind. This escape is done at risks of death with many dying by drowning at the sea and some at dying in deserts, all in their bid to escape.
Where are they escaping to? They are coming back to Britain, the West and the Middle East; willing to be subjected to ‘modern day slavery’. The Whites and Arabs welcoming Africans to do the so called menial jobs for them and paying them peanuts. Out of desperation, a PhD holder is condescending to becoming a health care assistant. Here in Britain, many are desperately looking for someone to give them COS - certificate of sponsorship to enable them just do any work! Just any work! It’s as bad as that. Hence the rise in modern day slavery, sexual exploitation, child labour, people living in ‘black market economy’ without access to social and medical services, etc.
The irony is that in Africa, religion is growing and thriving. But as we also know, religion, ignorance and poverty are like triplets. It’s a proven social fact that the poorer countries are the more religious countries. Take my country Nigeria as a case instance; we can boast of the fastest growing church of the Anglican Communion, fastest growing church amongst the Roman Catholics, largest auditorium of any Pentecostal gathering, and massive growth in other religions including Islam and African Traditional Religion which is experiencing a resurgence. However, these religious growths are fuelled by poverty and socio-economic uncertainty and not by faith or encounter with Christ.
It is Christianity that brought about renaissance, reformation, social justice, and societal transformation in the Britain and the West. What we have in Africa is more of a very little Christianity and an overdose of religion! Religion is indeed the o***m of the masses. Africa needs authentic, biblical, apostolic and historic Christianity that will catalyse and midwife the much needed social transformation to bring about social justice, rule of law, equity and fairness in the society.
No one should delude himself that Africa is coming to re-evangelise the West because most of us here are mere economic migrants and not missionaries. The African form of Christianity is essentially transactional (what I can gain) and is about looking for monetary benefits. Most African churches here in Britain are just extensions of their economic religious empires at home. They are established for commercial purposes and interests and not for Christian missions!
On the contrary, genuine Christian missionaries will tabernacle with their host nations, diffuse and infuse themselves into the host nations as catalyst to bring about church renewal and revival. Sadly, what we are seeing as mission in reverse is nothing more than ethnic gathos and what looks like gathering of tribal cults.
The bottom line is that both the former colonies and the nation of Great Britain need Christian mission and they need mission partners today. No one has it all in terms of Christian mission. Britain doesn’t have it all anymore and Africa doesn’t either. We need one another. Christian mission is no more what Britain and the global north do in the global south including Africa and Asia. Christian mission can be from anyone to everyone and from anywhere to everywhere. But whoever answers the call of Christian mission must have genuinely encountered the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of African Christians in diaspora need to go back home to re-evangelise our nations because what we have there now; in the words of Femi Adeleye (of NIFES & IFES) are mainly ‘preachers of different gospel’ and it is this ‘different gospel’ that most Africans are exporting to nations as they migrate in search of jobs and livelihood. No wonder it is not impacting the indigenous host countries.
©Joe Ajaefobi
