Save the Parish, a campaign group within the Church of England, published a report Sept. 4 warning that the number of stipendiary parish clergy has fallen to crisis levels and that more priests are now leaving ministry by resignation than by retirement.
A small island nation with a stable democracy, a high degree of freedom, and a majority Christian population faces a catastrophic threat because of the actions of others in the world. As sea levels rise, the world has a responsibility to ensure that the islands and the people who have flourished on them for more than 2,000 years (over 120 years as Christians) do not disappear.
The mission isn’t ours, it is God’s. But those who hold power in the missions community (usually those holding the purse strings and prioritizing activities) too easily forget that. To reach nations with the gospel requires a posture change. Instead of doing missions through, with, or by sending indigenous leaders, expatriate involvement must show up differently and now be willing to come under indigenous leadership.
For a followers of folk religion in Taiwan, who understand religion as transactional with individual spirits, forgiveness of sins may not immediately sound like an answer to the practical fears that emerge during Taiwan's Ghost Month. Yet the gospel can reframe the human problem without ignoring the fear that brought the person to the conversation. Our deepest problem is not that we have failed to satisfy every unseen power. It is that we are sinners before a holy God.
Disciples are made to need one another, and in their interdependence they reveal God's glory. Collaboration with those who follow Christ from other backgrounds is a powerful witness in this regard. By living and ministering well together the lives of those who don't know Jesus will be impacted by a community of spiritually transformed, self-giving people who demonstrate a love that is not of this world.
