June 11, 2004

The Return Of The (True) King

The other day I watched the last film in the Lord Of The Rings series. I had read the books years ago, and was curious to see the movie. A few weeks ago I did some extra work for McDonalds, and they gave me the LOTR ROTK DVD in appreciation.

As I watched the film, I was struck by parallels to missionary work contained in the story. I am sure J.R.R. Tolkien never intended them, but they are there.

Just as the story is building to a crescendo, King Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas (the elf) and Gimli (the dwarf) are considering their next course of action. They decide that the best thing to do is to take their badly depleted forces and attack the gate of the enemy, thus providing a diversion for Frodo and Sam to destroy the ring (if I have lost you by now, may I recommend you go read the book, then come back and finish this post). Each person assents to the plan, then all eyes turn to Gimli. His response is classic:

"Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?"

This is the kind of attitude needed in missions today: a healthy dose of realism and optimism.

Realistically, our cause is hopeless. The forces of evil gather on every side, and missions works everywhere are hopelessly undermanned and outnumbered. In Brazil, the fellowship of churches we will work with has about 600 congregations. There less than 1,000 of our missionaries working in that country. The Mormons, on the other hand, have 5,000 missionaries in Brazil at any given time. The Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (a charismatic cult founded in Brazil) has over 7,000 pastors. The fastest growing religion in Brazil is Spiritism--or demon worship. Alcoholism and drug abuse are rampant. Crime is epidemic. We are hopelessly outnumbered.

Yet we cannot afford to hesitate in our quest to win Brazil for Christ. And we can indeed be optimistic of the outcome, for we serve the Eternal King of Kings. His sovereignty certainly extends to Brazil, and we will never be forsaken by Him.

In one of the most heart-gripping parts of the movie, the armies of the west have been surrounded by the Orcs (incredibly ugly and numerous monsters in the service of evil). King Aragorn looks at the formidable host which has surrounded his rag-tag army, then draws his sword, yells "for Frodo!", and charges into the enemy.

There are times when I feel overwhelmed at the task before me. We are still on deputation, and then once that is over (and who knows how long that will take!) we will get to the field, and face the challenges associated with missionary work: interpersonal struggles, cultural adaptation, language difficulties, Satanic opposition, discouragement, financial difficulties, etc.

Then I remember why I am doing this. There was a day when Christ died on the cross to take away my sin, that I might not know eternal condemnation. No matter what difficulties I may go through in ministry, there is none that can match what He did for me. My task is to simply obey, and trust His sovereignty.

So, I pick up my Sword, shout "for Christ!", and charge into the fray.

Posted by Andrew on June 11, 2004 2:24 AM.

Comments

Posted by: Daniel at June 11, 2004 7:56 AM

Posted by: Tom at June 11, 2004 2:52 PM