“Let’s focus on biblical images in our conversations about mission,” said CB Samuel, a respected Indian leader at ILT (Servants’ leadership) meetings in Delhi in August. “Lots of words are used to debate mission but they lead to restrictive definitions and even divisive arguments. Biblical images are so inclusive.”
This was a refreshing call for us in Servants. Mission among the poor needs to be so embracing. Visioning mission as images rather than as definitions released us from the struggle to position ourselves in current debates on mission.
Images of mission as “reflecting the Lord’s glory” (2 Cor 3:7-18) and “offering priestly duty” (Rom 15:16f) reveal how all the words about priorities in ministry among the poor are so limiting. “Reflecting the Lord’s glory” as a mission goal, surely quietens the arguments about whether church planting is the priority in a slum where many are dying of AIDS. We long that the glory of the Lord will permeate all we are and do among the poor.
One very hot day some ILT members visited an ASHA community health project with Amanda Raymond. They were welcomed with garlands of jasmine and showers of petals by the women coordinating their community’s health care. For hours after the beautiful perfumes even overcame the heavy perspiration smells. So the image of mission as “spreading the fragrance of Christ” (2 Cor 2:12f) was immediately meaningful to us in Delhi. “The longer you wear the garland, the more the perfume penetrates your clothes,” noted CB. Everyone agreed. “So too – spreading the fragrance of Christ occurs best the closer you are to him. Spreading the fragrance of Christ is a better mission goal than all the biggest and latest definitions.”
Thank you CB. What an inspiring image to take back to Manila, Phnom Penh, Surat thani, Delhi and other parts of India from ILT.
Servants – a network of those who spread the fragrance of Christ among poor communities in Asia. We like that.
(Dr. Dorothy Mathieson is the International Coordinator of Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor)
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