THE GREAT OMMISSION

The most neglected part in Great Commission

As Evangelical Christians we often hear about “The Great commission” but we seldom hear about the Great Omission. I borrowed this title from an article written by Gregg Detwiler, the director of Intercultural Ministries at Emmanuel Gospel Center who says, “Even while attempting to be missional is it possible to be “omissional” of the “others” around us? Oswald J. Smith says, “No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.” “Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.”

The traditional form of missions has been and will continue to be is that missionaries are sent to the places where the Gospel has never been heard. I call that, Global missions in line with the Great commission, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15). In Acts 1:8 Jesus gives his final instructions to His disciples- and by extension to us on how to carry out this mission. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The disciples were to be witnesses in four areas of ministry: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” These four spheres correspond to four areas of our ministry today: Detwiler explains, “Jerusalem ministry reaches to those in our towns or neighborhoods who are culturally like us. Judea ministry applies to people who are culturally like us but who live in the communities surrounding our Jerusalem. Ministry to the ends of the earth involves going or sending others to distant parts of the globe as cross-cultural witnesses of Christ.

But how about Samaria ministry? This ministry to a large extent then and to a certain extent even now has been the Great Omission. Why did the disciples (Jewish believers) avoid Samaria? How could they miss out God’s heart which is for all people including Samaritans? Why did they keep the great gift of salvation exclusively to themselves?

In the time of Jesus, Palestine west of the Jordan River was divided into three provinces of Galilee, Samaria and Judea. Because of its strategic location Samaria became the natural route for travelling between those two provinces. But Jews avoided Samaria altogether instead they would travel east, cross the Jordan River, and detour around Samaria. Jews considered that the blood line of Samaritans became polluted through their intermarriage with foreigners from the Assyrian empire. By commissioning his disciples to be his witnesses in Samaria in a way Jesus was saying to them that he loved the Samaritans as much as he loved any one else and that he shed his blood and died for them so that they can be made pure again by receiving him as their true messiah.

What is our Samaria? Who are the people that we might consider unworthy and like to avoid? What is our attitude to the people who are different from us? The modern day Samaritans come from all backgrounds, they might dress differently, eat different kinds of food, and talk a strange language. They might be the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or Atheists. They may be from a different socio, economic and educational background. They are not too far from us; they live within our reach in our neighborhoods.

How did Jesus model this Samaria ministry? What are the lessons that we can learn that would help our Church to reach our Samaria with the Gospel. John 4th Chapter gives us some principles:

I. BE INTENTIONAL: (John 4: 1)
Jesus was ministering in Judea; he left Judea and went back to Galilee. The distance between these provinces was approximately 70 miles. The shortest way to travel from Judea to Galilee was to go through Samaria. Jews categorically avoided going through Samaria because they thought they would be defiled. But Jesus’ mission however required an intentional break from Jewish practice. John 4:4 tells us, that “Now he had to go through Samaria”

Samaria ministry calls for intentionality. It does not come naturally for us to mix with people of other race or culture. As the saying goes, “Birds of the same feather flock together” But we as Christians are to be intentional to come out of our comfort zones and be able to relate with people who are different from us. We have to be intentionally engaging not only the immigrants that are coming from all over the world; but also to the local North American Caucasian community, and the Afro American community.

A touching story of how an elderly African American man named Theodore Roosvelt Adams made an impact on a predominantly white congregation: Teddy grew up working in the cotton fields of Louisiana, he often encountered racism. Once he attended a Church with a white friend and had to sit in a closet because he was black. No wonder he developed an intense hatred toward white people. Mercifully God changed his heart. When he came to Boston he became a member of a congregation in the north End. For about ten years he attended the Church, Bible Study, became a good friend to many. He was also involved in mentoring young leaders in the Church. Teddy was intentional in reaching out to his Samaria, he endured racist slurs, glares and one occasion a physical assault from a neighborhood youth. Through all this Teddy was reaching out to his Samaria. But it was not until Teddy’s funeral that the congregation saw the full beauty of the transformation he had brought. The eight Italian women present in the congregation who had been raised in Boston’s north End, a community steeped in prejudices against people of color. Yet at Teddy’s funeral these women stood with tears in their eyes and praised God with trembling voices for their beloved Teddy.

Teddy’s life is an example of some one who was intentional about reaching his Samaria. How are we fairing in our Samaria? How are we reaching out to the people of color among us? In our Church over the past year we have seen several people from different ethnic backgrounds attending especially the Chinese. It is appreciated that many in our congregation reach out to the different ethnic people that are coming to our Church. But there are many more out there that need Jesus, it takes all of us intentionally doing our part to see our Samaria (neighborhoods) reached with the Gospel.

II. WHO IS OUR SAMARIA?
We don’t have to travel very far to our Samaria, if we take a walk around we will bump into some one who is not from this predominantly Anglo Saxon white American culture. Since 1965 God has been bringing immigrants from all over the world to the United States, I believe one of the purposes is that the Church in the US would reach out to them with the Gospel. According to the US Census Bureau 2006 report an estimated 37.5 million immigrants are living in the US. In Boston alone we have people from over 100 countries speaking 140 languages. Some of them come from countries which are closed and hostile to the Gospel.

Who are living in our neighborhoods?
Quincy has many Chinese but also Vietnamese, Korean, Cambodian, South Asian Indians and Arab immigrants. During the recent Mayoral elections (2009) the two candidates running for The Mayors office courted the Asian voters knowing that their numbers are growing. In fact in 1996 there were1,519 registered Asian voters. This year there are 5,942 registered voters which is only a fraction from the overall Asian population in Quincy. There are around 30,000 Hindus live in Massachusetts.

III. CONNECT WITH PEOPLE :(John 4:7-15)
People matter to God more than programs therefore they should matter to us too. Jesus during his ministry would always find time to connect with people. As he approached Samaria he was tired of his travel sat down by the well. His disciples had gone into the town to buy food because it was around noon time. A Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. Jesus asked her “will you give me a drink?” The Samaritan woman said you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?

In order to connect with the Samaritan woman Jesus crossed four barriers: Firstly him being a Jew, talked with a Samaritan,(Gegrophical barier) Secondly, him being a Jewish man talked with a woman(Gender barrier) Jews rabbis in those daily prayed a prayer some what like this, "Blessed art thou, O God, for not making me a Gentile, slave, or woman." Thirdly, He was willing to drink from the cup offered by a Samaritan (cultural barrier) fourthly, as per the tradition Samaritan’s were considered sinful and immoral, Jesus broke the (Sin barrier).

If we want to minister to our Samaria, we also must be willing to cross barriers. Some times our barriers could be small such as giving up certain food or wearing certain dress so that you are not offending those you are trying to reach. A friend of mine in India gave up eating his favorite pork in order to reach the Muslims with the Gospel. When we had visiting teams from overseas we would require the women in the team to wear Indian clothing, some women loved it others hated it. Crossing barriers could also mean giving up our pre conceived ideas or prejudices of various ethnic groups.

IV. A FEW PRACTICAL STEPS TO GET YOU STARTED:

1. Develop a genuine interest in other cultures:
Being aware that another culture is not only about other looks, and other food habits but often a whole different worldview. I would call this cross-cultural sensitivity and it is key in building bridges.

2. Laying aside assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes.
Not all bearded people are Osama bin Laden's cousins. Nor are all Pakistanis terrorists. Nor are all Indians, Hindus you may meet a Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Jewish, Parse, Buddhist or a Christian Indian like me, Not all black people are basket ball players and musicians. Nor are all Americans Christian as I used to assume before coming to the US. Only when we lay down our preconceived ideas of people are we able to listen, learn and appreciate the uniqueness other cultures bring. Every one is unique and precious in the sight of God.

3. Develop friendships with internationals:
Hospitality can be a great key as many cultures place a high value on hospitality. Hospitality communicates trust and acceptance. We can be hospitable at different levels, as a church, as a community, as families, as singles. In the O.T we see God several times commanding the Israelites to love the aliens among them and urging them to remember what was it like to be aliens in Egypt. When white Caucasian Americans take the first step to invite ethnic people they will be glad to respond to their invitation.

I can tell from experience the vulnerabilities, the huge adjustments, the sense of loss and alienation internationals feel as they move into the US. This sometimes causes people of other religions to be more open and receptive to hear and respond to the gospel. When we lived in Malden during my studies at Gordon Conwell we made some wonderful Brazilian, Eritrean, Haitian, Korean, Bolivian, German and Indian friends. Once you win their trust you can't easily out give some of those kind people, they will lavish you with some of their most amazing hospitality and gifts of friendship!

The Great Commission mandates us to reach the ends of the earth with the Gospel. In our Mission’s Sunday we have highlighted ministries and missions in Asia. However it truly would be a great omission if we fail to reach the Asians represented in our cities. Many decades ago a young Indian from the Sikh religion came to North America for his studies. Someone reached out to him and did his Samaria ministry as a result he found Christ, returned to India and became the leader of a huge evangelical church movement in India.

What a tremendous opportunity for the body of Christ to minister to these people with the Gospel and disciple them, in return some may take the Gospel to their own nations.