Being Constant

January 16, 2009 at 8:29 pm (Uncategorized)

poster1____So why the title of the blog?

Yes, it’s a reference to a 2005 film, “The Constant Gardener,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz that happened to be set in Africa – Kenya, to be exact. The movie had very little to do with missionaries, and only a little more with gardening – Fiennes played a tame British diplomat who did constantly tend his garden.

I remember seeing the film on DVD while living in Cameroon. I always get a kick out of seeing Hollywood tackle African themes, and this was no exception. Hollywood loves to put big American or English stars in Africa, with sympathetic African supporting characters, and a plotline in which Africans are being victimized. But the heroes are usually American or English!

A quick synopsis of the film – Weisz and Fiennes are an unlikely couple living in Nairobi, where he works for the British Consulate, and she is involved in mysterious research regarding pharmaceutical testing. When she ends up dead, Fiennes goes on a crusade to figure out how and why exactly she died.

The film is based on a book by John le Carre, which I haven’t read. I’m still trying to figure out the significance of the title actually. I suppose it has something to do with Fiennes’ character, Justin Quayle. Justin is a focused, anal-retentive man who wouldn’t dare offend anyone. He spends a lot of time tending his garden – he is comfortable in the tight sphere of his own affairs. The death of his wife drags him out of his insular life for a period of time, during which he is forced to confront the reality of corruption and violence amongst his own countrymen. By chasing down the truth of her death, he is, essentially, tending his garden – he is making a place where he can start again, where new life can sprout.

That would make some sense, I suppose. Except that he dies in the end – there goes my theory.

I stole the title because I feel like I will never not be a missionary. The mission blood is in me.

More than ever, I sense that we are all missionaries. To be a missionary simply means to cross some kind of boundary or barrier in order to communicate.

Every time I get up to preach, then, I am a missionary, for I have to choose words carefully, make connections, define concepts, and do some real translation. There is always something cross-cultural going on – as a Gen-X’er, I speak with a certain voice which must be translated for older, or younger, people; as an international traveler, I speak with a certain experience that some lack; as a Texan, I speak from a certain location that might not make sense to a Yankee.

I believe that one of the most important parts of my own vocation is to “communicate” the truth I know about God. But there are three qualifications that are important to communicating well.

First, I want to communicate clearly. “Clarity” is a virtue that I particularly prize in the pulpit. I want people to understand exactly what I am saying, and to be clear, not fuzzy, with the Word of God.

Secondly, I try to communicate creatively. It’s not that “boredom” in the pulpit is a sin, per se. But it’s simply unnecessary. The Bible is simply not a boring book; it is bursting with a creative energy that requires it be translated into something that is similarly fresh and exciting.

And third, I must communicate faithfully. This means that I can’t preach something that I truly don’t believe, or which I haven’t grasped myself.

I am a constant missionary, a constant translator, a constant preacher, a constant disciple. And in a sense, I am a constant gardener, too … in God’s garden.

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When to Say No to Missions

January 8, 2009 at 5:00 pm (Church)

The big news at the church where I serve has to do with the spring break Missions Trip. Every year, for a long time, the youth group has taken a trip to Amor Ministries near Juarez, Mexico, to build houses.

But not this year.

A few months ago, our youth pastor Curtis Thomas put together a parents’ Leadership Team, designed to determine whether or not a Juarez trip was safe this year. On its website, Amor Ministries promises a secure environment. After quite a bit of work, Curtis determined to go ahead with the trip.

Then over the holidays, bad news from Juarez began to pour forth, almost on a daily basis, in the Dallas Morning News. (See here, here or here.)

So after revisiting the issue with the Leadership Team and the church staff, Curtis announced to the youth that there would be no Mexico trip this year.

It was a difficult decision, given that the youth are so heavily invested in Amor Ministries, and have had such good experiences in the past. There were feelings of heartbreak, disappointment, and anger, of course.

Lots of people wonder what I think about the issue, and so let me be clear: given the present situation, sending a group of young people to Juarez is not a good idea. Leah and I had already determined that we would not send our children.

Some people are surprised by my firm conviction on this, given that I’d moved my family to a third world country which was not always stable. But the situations are extremely different: in Juarez, drug cartels are actively kidnapping, terrorizing, and murdering civilians. Furthermore, the cartels have modern weapons, and the army and police seem powerless to establish order.

There is no absolutely no reason why our church should consider sending groups of young people into that situation, at this point in time. This kind of danger is different from the dangers usually associated with traveling long distances, or encountering natural disasters or challenges. It is a known quantity, and I simply believe we have to avoid it. The kind of missionaries and mission work needed in Juarez, Mexico at this moment in time are of a different sort than a ragtag group of suburban teenagers and their parents!

Besides, there are other places where mission teams are needed now, domestic and international. And that’s Curtis’ big job now – finding a replacement destination.

I extend my sympathy to everyone who grieves the loss of the Mexico trip. Saying “No” to mission trips is never easy – at least I hope it never is!

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Africa Needs God … says the Atheist

January 6, 2009 at 8:22 pm (Africa)

An appropriate first post for this blog would be a link to a fascinating column in the (London) Times Online by Matthew Parris, entitled “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God.”

Essentially, Parris makes the argument that missionaries, not aid money or non-governmental organizations, make the biggest difference in Africa. Why? Because Christianity teaches a direct, unmediated, two-way relationship to God which ends up dismantling the “crushing tribal groupthink” which exists in most African villages today. In other words, Christianity is liberating and democratic, while traditional African society is oppressive and subordinate to tyrannical rulers.

What gives this column its peculiar twist is that Parris himself is an atheist. He is not a missionary himself, nor is he sympathetic to Christian dogma. He reluctantly admits that the Christian faith system itself is what will change Africa.

I found myself conflicted when reading this column, to be honest. Yes, I’m flattered, I suppose, that an unbeliever would be impressed by the work of Christian missionaries. I applaud his intellectual honesty.

However, I must say that one must always be skeptical when hearing someone else say, “What Africa needs is …” Especially when the one speaking is not an African himself. There is a bit of Western arrogance that occurs, however slight and unintended, in speaking this way.

This is, after all, what George W. Bush said prior to the Iraq War: “What Iraq needs is regime change.” It is not at all self-evident that Iraq either needed, or wanted, such a thing at all. Nor did it need or want what Bush had to offer afterwards!

It would be better, and easier, to say that everyone needs Christian missions. If the gospel is true, and really does have all the side benefits that Parris believes it does, then the whole world needs God!

I resonate with Parris’ distaste for traditional-rural tribal African groupthink. Here’s his quick take on it:

I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the “big man” and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.

Anxiety – fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things – strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect, a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won’t take the initiative, won’t take things into their own hands or on their own shoulders.

Again, I experienced much of what Parris is speaking about. However, I am not sure if I agree with his overall assessment that Africans are … well, naturally or culturally passive. Besides, I always had the feeling that much of African culture is actually a necessary corrective to Western culture. Wouldn’t it be better if we, as Americans, thought collectively more often? Wouldn’t it be better if we asked ourselves what was best for our neighborhood or community first, rather than simply our own individual selves?

We are committed radical individualists in the West; wouldn’t even a small step in the direction of African village collectivity be good for us?

Regardless, Parris is on to something, and every Christian knows it. The kingdom of God is coming, even to Africa. And that’s a good thing.

Otherwise, as Parris puts it, the continent would be left to “the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.”

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Beginning Again

January 5, 2009 at 4:00 pm (Personal)

In mid-2004, the Magruders embarked on an adventure which took us to Cameroon as United Methodist missionaries. It was a wild, wonderful journey, documented and dissected on the Preach Peace blog.

That blog was a life-saver for us. We made friends for life through that silly thing … Lots of people kept up with us and the Mission as we slogged through life in West Africa. You laughed at our foibles, prayed for us, and began planning mission trips to Africa.

As you know, the adventure came to an abrupt end at the beginning of last year. My last post came on April 3, 2008. By that time, I had already started my new life as an associate pastor at FUMC Rowlett. But I’d also determined it was time to close that blog, just as one chapter of our lives had closed.

After a long period of assimilation, I feel it’s time to blog again. Thus, “The Constant Missionary” is born.

First, a word about the title. I don’t mean literally that we will be missionaries again anytime soon. In fact, Leah and I have decided that we will be staying in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church for the time being. As the children get closer and closer to the all-important senior high years, we feel responsible for giving them some educational stability.

However, the fact is that we are different people than we were when we left. I am a different sort of pastor now, forever branded by my experience in Africa. In a sense, I will always be a missionary.

In addition, I believe that every Christian is a missionary, and that there is no such thing as a church that is not global. I believe that everything the church does is missions, and we ought to do everything with that in mind.

I can tell that I’m starting to climb up on my portable soap box, so let me stop there. This is why I’ve opened a new blog. I need a place to continue to reflect on the meaning of the “global church,” as well as process my experiences of the last four years. In addition, I have begun writing a book about missions, which will incorporate lessons learned in Cameroon. And this blog will be a place to bounce some of those ideas around.

Of course, if you want to know how the girls are doing, I can do that, too! They’re doing great, and have embraced their new lives as … former missionary kids!

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