Introduction
What's new at your Southern Baptist International
Mission Board?
Over
the past year, the International Mission Board has
turned its world upside down: revitalizing the overseas
operations, renovating the Richmond offices and
reorganizing throughout. Even our name has changed!
Meanwhile, the entire denomination has restructured
itself agency by agency! In light of all this change,
a more appropriate question might be What's not
new at the International Mission Board.
Newness
and change, however, are relative. King Solomon
observed, What has been will be again, what has
been done will be done again, there is nothing new
under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). Solomon knew that every
generation is a new beginning, yet the cycle of
renewal returns again and again. No doubt his own
kingdom's reorganization and building plans left
him and his colleagues a little jaded about change!
While it's true that one can say in the broad scope
of things that nothing is new, it also is important
to see through the eyes of faith that God is doing
something new all the time. In Jeremiah's words,
His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23)!
This
paradox is like the waves that break on the seashore.1
On
the one hand, waves are a routine and regular occurrence--nothing
to get excited about. A wave is a wave is a wave
. On the other hand, every wave is unique and brand
new, an awesome display of God's power and might
and, for some, an opportunity waiting to be seized!
Our
challenge is to grab the wave that is
cresting today, to maximize its potential and to
ride its might as far as He chooses to carry us.
God
has been at work all over the world for ages. There's
nothing new about this. But today's work also is
unique. It is filled with new and exciting possibilities.
Our challenge is to grab the wave that is cresting
today, to maximize its potential, and to ride its
might as far as He chooses to carry us.
This
is why we are reorganizing, revitalizing, retooling
and recommitting ourselves to new directions. It's
no indictment of the past, rather it's an affirmation
of the present and a preparation for the future.
Yesterday's strategies were once new and pioneering,
too, but yesterday's strategies can't keep up with
today's possibilities. They may be comfortable to
us, but they may not be what is needed today. God's
will and direction for today's generation of lost
people already is unfolding. Like a new wave building
on the horizon, we can see it beginning to surge
our way. Let's not miss it!
Alongside
Solomon's views on change is a completely different
perspective from the prophet Habakkuk. Though living
in difficult times, Habakkuk looked ahead to a new
day and a new epoch of remarkable saving activity
by God. Look to the nations, he wrote, watch and
be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something
in your days that you would not believe, even if
you were told (Hab. 1:5).
There
are four insights we can draw from Habakkuk's words.
First, his words transcended their historical setting.
The book of Habakkuk is addressing a time of dire
crisis. Habakkuk warned his readers of imminent
judgment prompted by their disobedience. However,
in the midst of this coming judgment, Habakkuk repeatedly
glimpsed a brighter day, a season of hope and Messianic
breakthrough.2 It's as if Habakkuk were seeing something
beyond his immediate context, something that offered
the promise of a better time to come.
Secondly,
what Habakkuk saw was something so fantastic that
he felt his readers would not believe it even if
it were described to them! You might call this a
true paradigm shift! Habakkuk was saying, God has
something in store that is not even on your mental
map of possibilities!
Thirdly,
what Habakkuk saw was not for the house of Israel
but for the nations. Look to the nations and watch
..., he cried. The English word "nations"
is used to translate the Hebrew goyim; what the
Greeks called the ethne--our modern equivalent of
"ethnics" or "peoples of the world."
Viewed through the lens of the New Testament, and
particularly the Great Commission, it is not difficult
to see Habakkuk's prophecy speaking directly to
Christ's great mandate to "preach this gospel
to all the nations."
Finally,
what Habakkuk saw was clearly and unconditionally
an act of God. For I am going to do something ...,
says the Lord! This fantastic activity that would
impact all the peoples of the world in a new and
unprecedented way would be fundamentally and definitively
an act of God!
Now
here's the point. Could Habakkuk have been speaking
to us? Did he view something that describes our
world of possibilities? Or is today's mission field
just one more in an endless series of waves in man's
ongoing (ho-hum) activity? The answer may ultimately
come down to faith. A perspective of faith lets
us see that something new is breaking all around
us. The evidence is mounting that God is acting
in a new and definitive way here, now, today. More
and more of our missionaries are returning from
stateside assignment saying, This is what we're
seeing! God is doing something marvelous among the
peoples of the world! Habakkuk's hope is happening
now!
Could
this be the wave of God's activity sweeping over
our generation? If so, we'd better get ready. This
means we'd better retool, refocus, recommit, revitalize--do
whatever it takes to seize the day and enjoy the
privilege of being on mission with God as He does
a powerful new work among all the peoples of the
world!
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