Q&A: Justin Pearson on international mission work
The nations have been the goal since the very beginning. When God called Abram (Abraham) to leave his country, that call came with a promise. The promise was a blessing, but the blessing was not just for Abraham. Genesis 12:3 ends, "...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." God's blessing to Abraham was not to end with him or even Israel, but all the families of the earth were to experience God's blessing through him.In Galatians 3, Paul connects this promise of blessing to the nations with faith. Faith in what? Jesus Christ crucified.
"Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."Galatians 3:7-9
The Bible doesn't really leave us in suspense either. We get a beautiful picture of the end of all this in Revelation. In chapter 5 as the creatures and the elders are worshiping Jesus who alone is worthy they say:
"And they sang a new song, saying,“Worthy are you to take the scrolland to open its seals,for you were slain,and by your blood you ransomed people for Godfrom every tribe and language and people and nation,and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,and they shall reign on the earth."Rev. 5:9-10
Then John gives a vision of what those from the nations that Jesus ransomed will look like and what we will be doing:
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice,“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”Revelation 7:9-12
The good news is that Jesus has bought a people, by His death, for God from every people group and in the end we will all be together as the Bride in God's presence giving Him glory forever.This is the hope for the nations. This is why we go. This is why we proclaim the good news of Jesus who is the Christ.
"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price."Revelation 22:17
International missions at The Paradox looks like what we have been told all along: family of disciples on mission for God's glory and for the good of the city. Hopefully, international missions at The Paradox will be an outflow of City Groups just like everything else at The Paradox.
We are the body of Christ and as a unified body we are best able to reach those to whom God has called us. In Fort Worth there are so many opportunities to reach the nations. God has given us access to the world through international students, refugees, and coworkers from other countries.My hope is that as we live as a family of disciples on mission that we would reach out to those who have come here seeking safety, security, freedom, education and more. In reaching out, I hope we love them enough to point them to the One who provides true freedom and security.There are many outlets we can use to do this: The Net works with refugee children, World Relief provides many refugee services, and UTA and TCU international students are always in need of connections and basic things like rides to get groceries or just people to practice their English with.As far as overseas mission work goes, it's going to take a little more leg work. We are working toward planning short term trips for next summer and hopefully building to send missionaries, church planters and church planting teams long term. We are praying and looking at opportunities for developing relationships with existing missionaries to build partnerships and avenues for sending short term or longer term missionaries/teams.City Groups can begin cultivating this interest in international missions by committing to support (financial, prayer, and encouragement) missionaries. City Groups could commit to sponsoring children through one of many organizations (Compassion, World Vision, AMG International, Global Outreach)
Many things keep Christians from taking an active role: fear, comfort, a misunderstanding of calling, disobedience and more.Fear can come from many avenues, but a fear that keeps you from the mission of God is not from God. The call is to come and die, but the reward for that death is eternal life with God. Missions will cost, but the promise of Scripture is that the cost is worth it.Comfort is a killer of mission. It is easy and safe to keep from joining the movement of God, but it is not the abundant life that Jesus has promised. Not everyone will be called to go overseas, but everyone is commanded to make disciples of the nations (Matt 28:18-20, Mk 16:15, etc...). Even if you don't go, you have a role to play in international missions. As John Piper has said, "Go, send, or disobey".
I have been at The Paradox for 2 years. I started coming August of 2011 and became a partner that October.
My role at The Paradox is being the go to guy for international missions. We don't want to be about programs at The Paradox I could say that my role is facilitating our people sharing Jesus with people across the World. There are many ways that I will be doing that. First, I will continually be praying. Second, I will look for ways to connect City Groups with internationals here in Fort Worth. Third, I will be looking for places and people to serve and to serve with overseas, hopefully making sure that it is done in the most God glorifying way possible. Finally, I will be connecting the church to those who are already going as missionaries.
Five years from now I would love to see our church look like the scene from Revelation 7 where people from every tongue, tribe and nation are together, worshiping Jesus at The Paradox Church. I hope to see several short term missions teams serving in several different locations. I also hope to see long term missionaries, international church planters, and church planting teams going out and surrendering their lives for the glory of God. I would love to see The Paradox be a place that spiritually and practically supports everyone it sends.
I need prayer for wisdom and empowerment from the Holy Spirit. This is quite an undertaking. I need prayer that God will raise up leaders that are more wise than I am to help get this all going. I need prayer that as a new husband I will be able to shepherd my family well as I balance this, seminary and work. Julie, my wife, and I need prayer as we look into adopting internationally and as we look to eventually serve overseas.Find other stories of international missions and missional living on our blog here.