The traditional view of missions has been one of outreach to foreign nations with the objective being introduction of the truth of the Gospel and a revelation of the love of God through the efforts and sacrifice of the missionaries. There is no doubt of the validity of this view. Foreign missions have proven to be an effective outreach to many cultures that were steeped in pagan belief and superstition to the degree that those cultures are now sending their missionaries to us, and for good reason. The moral fiber of American culture has become frayed and tattered to the point that secular leadership is now declaring that we are no longer a “Christian nation.” Unfortunately, many of our fellow Americans are embracing this declaration as a means of justifying decadent behavior, declaring traditional views of morality as an obsolete concept.
These developments would suggest the need to rethink the traditionally accepted roles of missionaries and chaplains to include a response to the emerging needs of our own American society. The traditional roles of missionaries being envoys to foreign countries and chaplains being trained and endorsed for specific areas of need remain the foundation of the outreach of the Diocese of Missions and Chaplaincy.
A new aspect has been added to respond to the shifting societal views of morality. All Christians are admonished to share the Gospel, to walk out their belief in their daily life. Many do, but a need exists for missionaries to our own society; men and women willing to dedicate themselves to the re-establishment of Biblical moral principles, despite the mounting rejection of Christian thought being expressed in the media, the government mandates for the exclusion of the mention of God, and the general secularization of society reflected in the disregard for human life and overt sexual promiscuity.
There are Christians of the opinion that it’s time for the church to come in line with the “new morality.” Their perspective is one of moral relativism; if enough people are doing it, it must be alright.
Our nation has lost the sense of propriety and shame. Few forms of perversion are “off limits” and if a Christian mentions a Biblical admonition against the “lifestyle” or “preference”, that Christian is labeled a “phobe” of some kind.
The time has come for the church to take a stand. As Edmund Burke is purported to have said…”All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” The church can no longer stand by and do nothing.
As a ministry of The Emmanuel Communion, the Diocese of Missions and Chaplaincy (DoMaC) is instituted as an outreach to a lost and dying world, blinded by the deception that man is the be all and end all of life and the universe. Our communion can’t do everything to share the truth of God’s Word with this world … but we can do something. The EC is called by God to join the other expressions of the church universal that have chosen to be “voices crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.” DoMaC is one tool to enable the EC to engage in that effort.
The number of disaffected Christians is growing daily, as the secular perspectives of society take a deeper hold on this nation’s morality. Many churches are embracing the concept of change for the sake of societal acceptance and are compromising the Gospel for the sake of political correctness. In effect we of the EC are all missionaries, entering a field of spiritual need and desolation every time we walk out our door. Our daily contacts are the harvest field and the way we “wear” our faith can be the reaping tool necessary to help our contacts see and experience the love of Christ, rather than just hear someone with a Bible under their arm pay “lip service” to the truth of salvation. There is no shortage of opportunity. There is a shortage of willing individuals that will lay aside their personal comfort and pride and humble themselves for the sake of Christ.
