Ecclesiastes is one of the most depressing books of the Bible. Lamentations is pretty sad, but Ecclesiastes despairs at the meaning of life.

The Questor, the Preacher, the Teacher… all names translators have given to the man who wrote this exquisitely heartbreaking piece of poetry. He tries everything to satisfy his thirsty soul.

He even tries God.

But still, he cannot find the purpose of his life. After a life of searching, the Questor-Preacher-Teacher writes this:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”

The purpose of life is to live.

But what does it mean to live?

I have seen mansions, the bamboo-stilt houses, and shanties. I have met the people who live in them, and they are not so different. Seasons change and people grow. God moves and the world responds.

I expected this time serving with Monsoon to break and remake me in a dramatic way. I expected it to be a pinnacle learning experience to which nothing else (except my conversion and marriage) could compare.

It hasn’t been like that.

Although I have grown much, it has not been dramatic. Sort of like falling in love with Colin or giving my life to Christ… it was natural and simple. Little by little you learn. Seasons ebb and flow in a rhythm that makes sense if you only pay attention to it.

I think most of what it means to live is to participate in seasons.

The Questor is not fulfilled because God is an eternal God with an eternal purpose. We, the earth-bound, are also eternal but in a season of clock watching. He is not bound by time. We are… for now.

So time passes and we change. Hopefully, we become more and more like Christ. Some people have miraculous experiences where the clock seems to stand still, and they are transformed in an instant, but most of life is not like that.

Recently, I realized that I was only conscious of God during take off and landing when we fly. It sounds like a cliché sermon metaphor, but it really is true. Rather than despair at my lack of faithfulness, I realized that God allowed me a season of spiritual thoughtlessness to bring me into a season of spiritual awareness. It happened, and I can be grateful for it because I have learned. It’s okay to be in seasons of dryness. They make you grateful for the rain.

Colin and I are leaving the Asia Pacific in just under two weeks. This next season of life is new and exciting… but also a bit scary. What new transitions await us? What comes next? Our future here on earth is uncertain, but everything builds towards the last season of perfection.

The Questor was unsatisfied because we are all unsatisfied until our souls find rest when heaven and earth are made new. So we wait.

My Christian walk has been a rebellion against pledging my allegiance to anything but Christ. One of the reasons I became a missionary was so that I could travel the whole world without ties to any certain nation.

I hate the word “patriotic”
I refuse to say the pledge of allegiance.
I don’t put my hand over my heart when the national anthem is sung.
When people call America a Christian nation, I have to stifle snide comments about pop culture, consumerism, oil-wars, and political scandal.

Imagine my surprise when last Saturday, I realized that…

I love my country.

It’s easy to say that I love the people… but I’m not just talking about the people… I love the cornfields…. I love the sidewalks…. I love the broken, messed up culture… I love the snow.

Last Saturday, while at a music festival I sang these words with a crowd of thousands. While they were singing about Manila, I was singing about Kalamazoo… Huntington… America.

Oh God high up in heaven
Won’t You heal our land

Living rain, fall again
Over my life over my land
Living rain wash my heart again

Open wide, heaven skies
Over my street oh Spirit reside
Living rain flood my life again

Come back, back to your first love
Back to your first love
At the foot of the Cross

Our culture is a gorgeous mess. Our church is a gorgeous mess.

And I love it.

I’m tired of trying to escape the place where God made me.

-Rachel

Today I experienced true poverty for the first time since arriving in Southeast Asia.  Up until now, I’ve seen different standards of living that, before I experienced life overseas, I would have thought were poor but have come to accept as simply different. Today for a split second, I saw a naked man digging through piles of garbage, waist deep in stagnant water, while we were driving in Jakarta. It was less than a second, but my mind held the image for a long time. It’s still with me.

Yesterday, I would have said that other parts of the world are mostly just misunderstood by Americans. I would have said that we label countries third-world that simply value different things… like air conditioning, indoor plumbing, or non-dirt floors. Those things are not necessities. Those are just things that we take for granted.

But I wonder about that man.

Does he have a family? Will he catch a disease from that water? If he does, will he die? Why does no one help him?

Christmas music is playing as I write this entry. It surrounds me as the musician joyfully sings, “He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love.” How come all I see is this man when all I can hear is “Joy to the World?”

I think God is reminding me that He came here. The most glorious being EVER became incarnate on earth… the same earth where this man digs through rubbish… the same earth where I try to ignore that man.
No matter how broken this world may seem, we can still shout, “Joy to the World” because He is here. He did not leave us to die hopeless. We might be digging in the trash right now, but there will come a day when the incarnate one returns to heal and restore.

We celebrate Christmas because he came here in flesh. We have hope because he is coming back to finish what he started.

I’ve been reading a LOT lately. Between our 90 day Bible reading plan, “Under the Unpredictable Plant” (the book assigned by my PRIME mentor), and novels for entertainment, most of my free time is spent reading. I feel like I’m back in school, but this time, there are no grades or teachers to set deadlines. It takes significant will power to continue to read 10-16 chapters of the Bible a day when the Hobbit seems like it takes so much less effort. No matter how great “Under the Unpredictable Plant” is, it is still heavy theology and requires thinking.

Apparently, I don’t like to think.

Feel free to click “read more” to read about that? haha.

Apparently, I am more interested in made up worlds than the Word of God for this one.

Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with Tolkein. He’s a great author and a giant in the world of Christian artists. However, a problem arises when I seek to escape what is around me in exchange for someone else’s adventures.

You would think that living in a foreign country serving the Lord with the gifts that he has given me would be enough for me, but it’s not. It’s not because the glamour has faded. I am desensitized.
How could this happen?

In daily life, I feel like Jonah in Joppa torn between the temptation of thrilling Tarshish and a call to tedious Nineveh. The problem is, I can’t discern which is which.

Is my own country a place that would lead me to illusion and complacency, or a place where I could glorify God the most? Is Manila a place that feels adventurous simply because it is different, or a place where God wants us to make a family? What about the rest of the world? What about those people and those needs?

I can’t answer those questions. So, I tune out the world.

Oh God, please show me your ways, and give me the strength to follow them wherever they might lead. I am afraid of making the wrong choice. I am afraid that you will call me to somewhere I hate.

I’ve always been more heart than head, but that doesn’t mean I neglect logical thought. One of the reasons that I study theology is because when done correctly, it should inform ministry practice. The more we learn about God, the better we understand how our lives should practically reflect truth.

Everything we do has a message. The pastor from the case study probably doesn’t realize what the prosperity gospel communicates on a deeper theological level.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, God is “the supreme or ultimate reality: as the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe.” To further elaborate, “supreme” is defined as “1) highest in rank or authority 2) highest in degree or quality, and 3) ultimate, final.”

Logically speaking, if God is the loftiest being ever, and Jesus is God, no one deserves more than him. In fact, if someone was entitled to more than him, that person would be the loftiest being. They would be God. What the prosperity gospel is actually saying is that Jesus and the Father are vending machines to serve us. It is a reversal of status in which God becomes lower than his so-called followers.

If Jesus was a homeless nomad who was mocked as he was murdered. Why would his followers prove their faithfulness by respect and wealth?

If we choose to accept the prosperity gospel, we must abandon all doctrines associated with God’s supremacy and the Atonement. If the logic behind Christ’s atoning sacrifice is that he is perfect and the incarnation of God on earth, then the prosperity gospel stands as an affront to his perfection. If, as the prosperity gospel states, blessing is wealth and honor, then the cross was the opposite of Kingdom come.

This pastor must re-evaluate the logic of his teaching.

So do we.

Every time we allow ourselves to feel entitled, we risk idolatry. The worship of ourself is so tempting.

-Rachel Whitehurst

For those of you who are following this case study analysis, this is probably one of the most academic, no-fluff posts on this blog (unless you read my senior project research project… which if you did, I’m impressed). I don’t expect many to read this, but I thought that the history and traditions surrounding the case study give important insight. Through reflection upon historical missiology and theology, the benefits and limitations of this approach become apparent.

Click read more if you dare ;)

Felt-need evangelism is a mission strategy that seeks to use something culturally or personally valued as a doorway for proclamation of the gospel. The debate has raged for centuries from places like China (where the term “rice Christian” was first coined to indicate a person who accepted a Christian title for access to food brought by missionaries) to modern day Haiti (where Christian missions teams must decide whether to provide long-term aid to professed voodooists). It is a current underlying tactic in many Christian churches where the gospel is sold and marketed as a product.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this strategy is communicating the cost of discipleship. People may never discover that their needs were answered simply to bait a missional hook, or that the true gospel is not functionally to fulfill personal needs and wants.

Something like this has been done on large scale in Haiti. Frank Amedia of Touch of Heaven Ministries recently made this controversial comment, “We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refused to give up Voodoo, I’m not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn’t want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the Gospel.”  The backlash has been huge. Ted Olsen of Christianity today said “A Christian aid organization demanding conversions in exchange for food is a rare thing in the 21st century. It’s bad theology (Luke 6:30), bad missiology, and impractical (“rice Christians” tend to be nominal at best). So it’s rare to see such a stark suggestion that non-converts could be ‘cut off’ from aid.”

Issues such as these were discussed in the 1999 Iguassu Missiological Consultation where 159 participants from 53 countries gathered to discuss changes in missions at the turn of the millennium.
Peruvian missiologist Samuel Escobar was unable to attend the consultation because of family illness. But in a paper discussed at the meeting, he criticized the “managerial missiology” practiced by certain North American groups. “The distinctive note” of this approach to missions “is to reduce Christian mission to a manageable enterprise,” Escobar wrote. Practitioners of this approach focus on the quantifiable, measurable tasks of missions and ask pragmatic questions about how to achieve goals. Escobar called this statistical approach “anti-theological” and said it “has no theological or pastoral resources to cope with the suffering and persecution involved because it is geared to provide guaranteed success.”

Escobar vocalizes a real issue with the pastor’s teaching. If being a Christian just means that people accept you as you are without a call to repentance, and if Christianity itself is only about having a good time, what happens when real pain enters the life of the new convert? Moreover, what difference is there between this new convert and a nonbeliever?

Joseph D’Souza, chair of the All India Christian Council, also indicted missiological trends that “have tended to turn communication [of the gospel] into a technique where we market a product called ‘salvation.’ The consumer is the sinner and the marketer is the missionary. In the bargain, what is missed is redemptive living in society.”

However cut and dry this may seem, the issue has major theological implications. Balance must be sought. On one hand, we must communicate the truth of the gospel in a way that doesn’t excuse people from righteous living and also acknowledges the Christian call to suffering. On the other, we must continue to go into the entire world and be all things to all people for the sake of the gospel.

Historically, the negative impacts of felt-need evangelism have been especially notable in China. In an interview, Kim-kwong Chan, co-author with Alan Hunter of Protestantism in Contemporary China, commented on historical Christian Missions trends in China and surrounding areas.

“Average people of China have little knowledge of the history of Christian missions. When the government speaks about the missions movement, it emphasizes its faults. Many Protestant missionaries felt superior to the Chinese; some were even racist. Some exploited the Chinese. Those memories trigger resentment among the Chinese, even among Chinese Christians… They know foreign missionaries brought the gospel to China, but their evaluation of the missionaries is ambiguous at best. Christian missionaries, they believe, were often the agents of Western imperialism … Many China missions were criticized for “bribing” the Chinese with food (usually rice), education, or hospital care to get them to listen to the gospel. The resulting believers were sometimes called ‘rice Christians.’ But recently I’ve visited Asian mission societies in outer Mongolia; as villagers entered one worship service, they were given two kilograms of rice and a bottle of oil. It’s hard to learn from history.” (Christianity Today)

The result of this kind of evangelism manifested between 1949 and 1980 when hostility was directed against Christians in China and other so-called “bad elements” of society, including intellectuals. People lost their jobs, others were thrown into jail, others still were sent to labor camps. Christians were second-class citizens, and that affected not just individuals but their families and relatives, as well.
During persecution, many Christians stopped going to church. Many churches closed. (Christianity Today)
Christians who converted just because the Christian Religion made life easier abandoned the church in times of difficulty. Without realizing it, missionaries had “tricked” them into thinking that following Jesus meant a life with less suffering.

On a much smaller scale, this is what the pastor in the case study is teaching to the church. The cost of discipleship is discarded in the hopes that money and respect will attract and keep believers.

There are long term effects of the so called prosperity gospel. What will the youth of today do when their sense of entitlement crumbles under the pressure of suffering in the world? What if no matter how hard they work, or how hard they study, the economy does not improve? What if they get sick? What if the world really does hate them like Jesus said it would?

Will they remain faithful?

Will we?

-Rachel Whitehurst

Okay everybody, get ready for a slew of theological posts. I haven’t written anything too academic lately, but I’ve always been passionate about seeking to better understand our God. My professor Dr. Kent Eilers says that theology is simply faith seeking performative understanding. In other words: it has real effect on the way we live daily life. This case study analysis is an example of something I have been dealing with not only in South East Asia, but my own cultural context as well. I want to clarify that this is only one instance and does not depict our full (and many wonderful) church experiences overseas.

So without further adieu, click read more and get the full story.

This Sunday my husband and I were very excited to attend church with our overseas host family. This week, a visiting pastor’s sermon was about the “Steps to Living a Blessed Life.”

He said that blessing meant accumulating wealth and honor. He used a Bible verse to “prove” that God wanted all of his people to be rich and have the respect of the world. He said that thanking God that you are better than other people helps you to stay positive on your road to blessing. He made it seem like fearing God was more of a means to an end… the end being riches and honor.

I have heard the prosperity gospel before, but only on television or online. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I’m not sure I agree with what the pastor was saying.

Scripture is the norming norm when it comes to our theology (faith seeking performative understanding). The Word of God has much to say about money, what it means to be blessed, and the Christian’s call to suffering. All of these Biblical themes lead to the conclusion that the prosperity gospel is dangerous and false.

Jesus himself said in Matthew chapter six,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Christ’s teaching is that the disciples’ heart must choose between submission to God and submission to materialism. His entire argument culminates in “You cannot serve both God and money.” The greek word in this passage for “serve” is douleuō. It means to submit, and has connotations of slavery. Sometimes, it even means yield, like money is luring the person and they eventually give into its persuasion. In this passage, Jesus describes money as a tempter and slave driver that can lead away from God.

Hebrews chapter thirteen verse five says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” In this verse, the author explains that the reason we should be content with what we have is because Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. The “for” connecting the two parts of the verse indicates that with Christ, we are satisfied… not by the love of money.

With this view of money in mind, what does it mean to be blessed by God?

The pastor in the case study obviously believed that blessing meant riches and worldly honor, but the Scriptures say something different. One verse that can be misconstrued is Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Some might pull this out of context and say that God promises a safe and comfortable life, but this is a mistake. Jeremiah was a prophet during the time of the Israelite exile, which definitely wasn’t comfortable. In fact, he is often called the “Weeping Prophet.”

A key word in this verse is “prosper” or “shalowm” in Hebrew. Other translations of the Bible use “peace” instead of “prosper.” It means completeness, and peace with God in covenantal relationship. Kingdom prosperity is about right standing with God. That is blessing.

If there are still questions about what it means to be blessed, Jesus clearly explains in Matthew 5:3-10,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, 
for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Christ takes the worldly view of blessing and flips it upside down! The comfortable are not blessed. Those who are suffering are considered blessed.

For the disciple of Christ, the way is clear, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39). The prosperity gospel is contrary to the Bible’s teaching.

So why does this matter?

It matters because there are people who feel oppressed by a false gospel. They, myself included, have had people tell them that it is because of a lack of faith that they are suffering. Or, worse yet, we believe that being a Christian is supposed to be glamourous and easy. Let’s really think about this. Do we as American Christians think less of those who struggle financially? Do we feel entitled to a safe and comfortable lifestyle?

I do.

I wish I didn’t.

Pray with me.

Let me apologize in advance for the antagonistic title. Before taking this controversial statement at face value, please read and wrestle with this post. Truthfully, I just want people to read it and figured that this title would be intriguing. It is something that I care very much about, and my hope is to begin a conversation that challenges us all.

After multiple “chance” conversations with strangers about standards of living, and reading a beautiful devotional by Sadhu Sadar Singh (as well as many other events), I believe that God is stretching my heart and mind to include my brothers and sisters around the globe who many wrongly call “less fortunate.”

With that said, please click “read more.”
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”-1 Corinthians 12:19-26

All around the world – in spite of war, economic collapse and religious conflict – life goes on. Afghanistan’s 51 vibrant language communities are no exception. Babies are born, children go to school, people marry, cook dinner, question the meaning of life, seek God and sell watermelons at the market. And the 35 vibrant language communities in Afghanistan who have no single portion of Scripture in their language do so without the opportunity to hear the Good News.
Watermelon anyone?

Photo: Steve Evans