Human Trafficking in the Church — Part 26
Recognizing the Six Characteristics of the Religious Spirit of Babylon
They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”—Genesis 11:4 (AMP)
6. Not Being Scattered (continued)
In these last days, churches seem to be separating themselves into one of two main types.
Those who are concentrating on discipling their members and preparing them to be sent out as laborers in God’s great end-time harvest might be called apostolic training and resource centers.
In contrast to churches who are focused outward on the harvest fields, preparing their members to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, other churches seem to be mainly focused inward, concentrating on building up their own church programs and making church meetings the center of their members’ spiritual lives. Often, I hear these churches refer to themselves as “dwelling places” for God. That sounds very spiritual at first, until you realize that a dwelling place doesn’t move. It has settled into one place, and it never moves again. The problem with that is that God is always on the move.
Which do you want for your church? Do you want to be participants on the front lines of the next great move of God? Or do you want to settle where you are, focus your efforts on building an organization with a great reputation for touching Heaven as a dwelling place for God … and never move again?
Bethel Church, in Redding, California, may be the most recognizable example today of an apostolic training and resource center. In contrast to a “dwelling place” church, Bethel has many teachers in place, providing constant training and mentoring for people who are eventually sent out into ministry roles beyond the walls of their church. Bethel is one example, but there are many other churches that have answered the call.
In the summer of 2011, I attended a conference at the Church of Acts in San Antonio, Texas. The conference speakers included Bob Jones, Bobby Conner and Paul Keith Davis—all big names in the prophetic conference circuit. The Church of Acts, in contrast, was a relatively tiny church that didn’t even have a paved parking lot. I mentioned to one of the church members there that I was surprised that such a small church could draw such huge ministry names for a conference.
The church member replied to me that it is not a goal of the leaders of the Church of Acts to become a large church with a large building and thousands of members. Their goal instead is to provide the best training and preparation that they can, and then to send their members out to fulfill needs for ministry beyond the walls of the church.
The Church of Acts in San Antonio does not need to be concerned about becoming nothing more than a dwelling place for God’s presence. They have obviously been chosen to be an apostolic training and resource center, and the pastor communicates that readily to the church members there.
If you notice more and more of the symptoms that indicate that your church has settled for being a dwelling place; if your pastor begins to declare that your church is a dwelling place, or if God Himself tells the pastor that your church is a dwelling place, church leadership may mistakenly take this as cause for rejoicing. However, it may indicate that your church has been evaluated by God, and come short of the higher calling of apostolic training and resource center. Rather than rejoicing, it may be a time to mourn and re-evaluate.
Get out!
God sends His people out! He never intended for his people to be content with centering their spiritual lives around attending meetings week after week in the same large buildings.
Jesus gave us the model for discipleship programs. Jesus’ first big assignment for His disciples was to be sent out—not into religious meetings, but *out *into the cities and surrounding towns. He sent them out where the people were. He sent them to minister to the lost and hungry people who had needs.
“One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”—Luke 9:1-2 (NLT)
“After these things, the Lord commissioned seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go. He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest.”—Luke 10:1-2 (CEB)
“You say, don’t you, ‘In four more months the harvest will begin?’ Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now!”—John 4:35 (ISV)
Because the Church as a whole does not maintain a priority of training and preparing disciples and sending them out into the harvest fields, when a season of potentially great harvest comes, those opportunities are often missed, and the harvest is lost.
The Loss of a Great Harvest
After Japan’s defeat in 1945, Japanese investigative journalist Eiichiro Tokumoto writes that “There was a complete collapse of faith in Japan in 1945—in our invincible military, in the emperor, in the religion that had become known as ‘state Shinto.’” (McGee)
General Douglas MacArthur understood this and saw this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to introduce an entire nation to the good news of Jesus Christ. General MacArthur urgently called for 10,000 missionaries to be sent to Japan without delay.
“’General MacArthur asked us to urge the sending of thousands of Catholic missionaries—at once,’ bishops John F. O’Hara and Michael J. Ready later reported to the Vatican. MacArthur told them that they had a year to help fill the spiritual vacuum created by the defeat.” (McGee)
However, the Church sent far less than the 10,000 missionaries that MacArthur urgently called for. Many of those who did go to Japan were poorly prepared to engage with people in the Japanese language and culture.
Christianity did make a short-lived impact in Japan, but it fell far short of the potential to see an entire nation of Christian disciples emerge, as Jesus commanded us:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”—Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
The Church failed to respond adequately to this golden opportunity in the short window of time that it was open. Today, that failure is clearly evident. Japan is a nation of lost souls. Most Japanese subscribe to the Shinto or Buddhist religions. Many others describe themselves as spiritual, but not religious. Less than 2% identify themselves as Christian.
How different it could have been for Japan—and for the world—if the Church had been prepared and had responded to God’s call through General MacArthur in the short window of time when the Japanese people were desperate to fill the void of faith that was created by their defeat in 1945!
The Greatest Missed Opportunity
In what has been called the greatest missed opportunity in the history of the Christian Church, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, was so affected by the Christian witness of Marco Polo’s father and uncle, that he requested that 100 Christian missionaries be sent to his empire to teach him and his people more about Jesus, the Bible, and Christian beliefs. Khan was actually searching for a religion that was worthy of his devotion. Khan was in the process of evaluating several religions to find one that was superior to all others. The religion that he chose would then become the religion of the entire Mongol Empire.
“Send me 100 men skilled in your religion,” Kublai Khan wrote to the pope about 700 years ago. If they were convincing, he said, “I shall be baptized, and then all my barons and great men, and then their subjects. And so there will be more Christians here than there are in your parts.” (Zylstra)
In the time of Kublai Khan, the great Mongol Empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea to what is now Afghanistan. His empire was so vast that it encompassed most of the Asian continent. The conversion of Kublai Khan had the potential to win a huge portion of the world’s population to Christ!
Nicolo and Maffeo Polo delivered Khan’s request to the church authorities in Europe, but the church had other priorities at the time. Church leaders were embroiled in petty arguments among themselves. Some reports say that they were trying to decide on new colors and designs for the vestments of the priests.
Finally, after two years, only two monks were sent—far short of the 100 that Khan had requested. But the difficulties of the journey discouraged the monks, and they turned back even before reaching the half-way point of the journey.
Having been given an open door to influence the entire Mongol empire for Christ at the very highest levels of its government, the Church decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble.
Today, Buddhism is the majority religion among Mongolians while 40% do not claim to believe in any god. Less than 2% of Mongolians today identify themselves as Christian.
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”—Jeremiah 8:20 (KJV)
References:
जयकृष्णः | ജയകൃഷ്ണൻ. (2009, June 22). Converting Kublai Khan. Varnam Indian History. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://www.varnam.org/2009/06/22/converting-kublai-khan/
Klaus, K. (2018, December 9). Missed Opportunities. The Savior’s Story. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://www.thesaviorsstory.com/old-devotions/missed-opportunities
McGee, S. (2011, June 3). MacArthur encouraged religion in postwar Japan. The Christian Century. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-06/book-details-macarthurs-efforts-fill-japanese-spiritual-vacuum-after-world-war-ii
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 9). Japan. Wikipedia. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#Religion
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 9). Kublai Khan. Wikipedia. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 9). Religion in Mongolia. Wikipedia. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Mongolia
Zylstra, S. E. (2017, August 7). Rectifying the ‘Greatest Missed Opportunity in Christian History’. The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/rectifying-the-greatest-missed-opportunity-in-christian-history/