Insights from India

“There are many ministers working for Christ.  But I can count on my hands the number of people doing it without a second motive.”  The statement hit me hard, as the bus hit a pothole hard swerving to miss a cow. The translator was holding onto a railing as he shared his testimony, rocking back and forth on the bus that seemed absent of any shocks, except the shock on our faces as we took in the driving style of our bus driver.  “Without a second motive.”  Honk, honk.  And that quote is what stuck with me as one of the most memorable lessons I witnessed by example while I was in India.

The Lord did a lot of amazing things on our trip.  I was amazed at the prayers that were answered and hearts that were changed.  Many times a surreal feeling would creep over me as I looked around and what we were doing.  Andrew would be standing there, preaching about the Prodigal Son to a crowd of barefooted children, as dogs, goats and chickens meandered around the thatched roof huts lining either side of a narrow street used by cows and motorbikes.  Exactly what I’ve pictured reading so many missionary stories but never imagined that’s what I’d be doing.  Countless kids coming up for prayer, sharing the gospel in small, smoky, one-roomed huts, preaching on the streets, sharing testimonies at orphanages, leading people to Jesus…the Lord worked powerfully.  But through all that, the constant nagging question was, “How do I take this sense of ministry home and apply it in the states?”  I saw God working so effectively through the pastors and in the villages we were ministering in.  The pastors and ministries found a way that worked in those rural Indian villages.  But the cultures and attitudes are very different in the States.  And yet, our attitude about service and prayer and faith should be consistent, I believe no matter where we are!

And that's what affected me most in India: the pastors and their mentalities of ministry.  At one of the pastors' conferences we attended and presented at, some of their mentalities sunk in, and I jotted down notes, praying that I could have the same kind of attitude back in the States.  Here's a few of the things I learned.

One of the quotes that stuck out to me was "Jesus told us He would built His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, and told us to go and make disciples of all the nations...and yet, we're building churches."  The emphasis at Serve India Ministries was on discipleship.  "Too many times," one of the pastors told me, "pastors emphasize the number of believers they got.  They talk about how many conversions, how many baptisms.  But what I want to know is how many disciples do you have?  That's what Jesus told us to make.  Disciples."  I see that trend in America.  We love having an impact!  We love seeing fruit!  But if we get them in, get them to make a profession of faith, baptize them...then they leave and continue leading lives like they always did, what have we accomplished?  It's not about the numbers...it's about the heart changes in people.

Paul warned us against this mentality in Galatians 6:12-15:

Galatians 6:12-15 "As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.  (13)  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.  (14)  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.  (15)  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." KJV

The Galatian church was dealing with Judaizers who were constraining the Gentiles to be circumcised, saying they needed to be circumcised to be saved.  But Paul reveals their true motives: they wanted to glory in their flesh!  If they could produce some visible change, they could say, "We got this many circumcised!" and glory in their numbers.  People do that today with many external things, like standards of dress and other things.  But Paul says we only glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In Him, the only thing that makes a difference is not whether you've been circumcised or not (an external change) but whether or not you've been born again and are a new creature (an internal change)!

Too often we build a church or a ministry and invite people to come.  But in India, these pastors go into village and find people to disciple, and the churches grow up organically from that!  It's possible also to begin discipling people before they're saved!  If they know more about Jesus and who He is and that His teachings work, they will be more likely to commit their entire lives to Him and get to know Him personally!  We cannot have a second motive when ministering the gospel.  It must be chiefly the glory of God and our love for Him and what He loves--which is people!  People have many second motives, whether it be money, the opportunity for education, a chance to showcase skills, one's own glory in acquiring a position, or feeling accomplished because of what a difference you've made.  But God's glory MUST be our primary motive!  In a future post, I will tell a story from my time in India to illustrate how I believe our attitudes should be as we go through our lives looking for disciples.  God bless you all!