If you haven't heard this news from the evangelical world, here it is in a nutshell. Francis Chan is a well-known pastor and author in the United States. He has a very large online presence and streams his sermons, which you can listen to, if that's your jam. I haven't read his books (I think I may have started CrazyLove at one point, possibly) and I have only listened to portions of his sermons, so I can't speak to his ministry with any authority. Several of my friends and colleagues whose opinions I trust on these matters seem to be responding to him in a positive way, which I find encouraging. Several others have been conspicuously silent, which I find telling.
Recently Chan announced that he was going to leave his mega-church lifestyle and become...a missionary in Asia. He cited a recent trip to Myanmar as a catalyst for this change, which is not surprising to me since if we had to actually SEE and EXPERIENCE what our less fortunate brethren go through daily I imagine many more of us would be moved to help in tangible ways.
Now there is always backlash with these announcements, about why the person doesn't minister to the poor or unfortunate right where they are. I think this shows a distinct lack of understanding about the nature of God's call on our hearts, but that's another post, and I won't be delving into it here. Whether he does or doesn't leave his status position and go to to needy here, or abroad, is mostly irrelevant to me.
It's also easy to feel a bit bitter and jaded about the publicity surrounding this decision - the sheer number of interviews and articles and sermons ABOUT his decision (which, sigh. Have we run out of things to talk about in the Bible and are moving on now?) not to mention his 'I'm leaving' sermon, which I think I would have taken much more seriously if he had made about...God. But he didn't, and that's his choice. That's also not my main concern with this whole shenanigan.
I think my first feelings of unease were when I couldn't find out, in my searching, where he was going. 'Asia' is a little vague, and also very colonialist, like all Asian countries are pretty much the same. It read like a teenager saying they were going to 'visit an orphanage in Africa'. Africa isn't a country, dear.
But surely, I thought, if he's mentioning Myanmar, he's maybe going to Myanmar? Or possibly Burma or even Thailand or Vietnam? Somewhere decidedly under-serviced in multiple ways, where there is a large percentage of the population living on very little. Not that missionaries are not needed across the globe, of course, but the article read like 'I saw poverty and need and I wanted to address it'. Hardly seems likely to me that you need to start a ministry to Japanese businessmen or Beijing nouveau riche with that call, ya know?
But no, it turns out that Chan is going to Hong Kong, which is known for many problems (ever see those cage apartments? Man.) and certainly needs help, although it isn't Myanmar. In fact, Chan has lived in Hong Kong before, and he's visited it, with his family, as an adult. This is not, really, a stepping out into the unknown, is it? It bothers me on some level that someone could go to Myanmar and then say 'God is calling me to ministry in Hong Kong'. I can't explain why. I think it makes me think of equivalencies - 'I have spent a week feeding prostitutes in Indianapolis, and now I really feel like God is asking me to go to the Bahamas'. 'I have served in an orphanage in the Ukraine, and the Lord has laid the city of London on my heart.' I can't quite put my finger on this.
But, you know, here:
"Two months ago, Chan was in Myanmar traveling "from hut to hut with a translator, sharing the Gospel with people who had never heard about Jesus.” The more he did it, the more he realized he wanted to do this for "the remainder of my life."
“When I considered the need and opportunity, I knew I wanted to be based in Asia,” he said. “I also have an opportunity there to work with the ultra poor (living off less than 50 cents a day)—to bring relief, share the gospel, and plant churches among them. When I compare that opportunity to things I currently do in the States, the Kingdom profit seems much greater overseas at this point of my life.”
Chan said he plans to still minister in the United States but will be "based in Asia for this next season of life."
“Our current plan is to move to Hong Kong in February,” he revealed. “A lot can change between now and then, but we are heading this direction unless the Lord redirects us. I have no idea how long I will stay in Hong Kong. I had no idea I was going to live in San Francisco for nine years. We will just try to discern the Spirit’s leading daily.”"
I have just so, so many issues with this. I don't know if I can articulate this properly. To start with, I think we need to address the sentence "Chan said he plans to still minister in the United States but will be "based in Asia..." So, if you are living in Hong Kong, with lots of money to fly back and forth to the States when the need/desire strikes, this isn't really 'leaving to be a missionary'. "Our current plan is to move to Hong Kong in February" - ah! Well, seeing as it is November I'm assuming you aren't going with any kind of sending organization that needs to fulfill standards. I think it's likely he's just funding this whole thing out of his own substantial funds. It's an issue with finances because franky, if you have the money to do what you please without anyone having the ability to check you, pride, selfishness, even heresy, can happen oh so quickly. Which is not to say that this will happen with Chan, but just that there is a reason why we submit to authorities and regulations and remember our 'dusty' selves. There's a reason for this. Cut out the leanings towards pride.
His daughters and their families are moving with him - and both of his sons in law have worked with him as pastors in the same church movement, so he has a ready made (and, I assume here, free) workers for this new ministry endeavour.
But ultimately, what is the biggest sticking point for me is that Francis Chan has not shown, in his actions, that he 'has a heart' for the poor of Hong Kong. He has not said "I am leaving everything. I am removing myself from this place because God told me to go." God has certainly not said 'keep a vacation home in Miami' or 'just go in February and I might move you again in March'. A call that involves "We will just try to discern the Spirit's leading daily" is worrying. God doesn't call like that, he is not a God of chaos and confusion.
No comments:
Post a Comment