Weeks have lapsed since John Starke engaged in a bit of cherry picking by claiming that modern young and restless missionary and evangelistic efforts are as old as old Calvinism itself.
Calvin and Geneva sent missionaries not only to France but also to Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and the free Imperial city-states in the Rhineland. We even know of two missionaries sent from Geneva in 1557 to Brazil. “Missions was not a ‘section’ of his systematic theology,” Keith Coleman says, “it was central to what he was trying to accomplish in his ministry.”
Church planting and missions aren’t a byproduct of the young Reformed resurgence of the last decade but something embedded in the Reformation’s God-centered commitment to advancing the gospel.
Without wanting to add to stereotypes about Calvinism and missions — the old canard that predestination gives no incentive for evangelism, as if justification gives no reason for good works — Starke exhibits and anachronistic turn of thought that could use correction. (It goes with another anachronism he has circulated, namely, that the sort of networks seventeenth-century British dissenting Calvinists constructed are similar to the Gospel Coalition.) The simple point is that sixteenth-century church planting was not the same as modern foreign missions or evangelistic efforts. In fact, the modern missions movement among Protestants did not begin until the late eighteenth century with institutions like the London Missions Society (founded roughly in 1795). What Calvin and other reformers were doing was trying to reform existing churches in Europe. Switching a parish or town from Roman Catholic to Protestant might qualify as missions or evangelism in one sense. But the notion of taking the gospel to a people or society that had never heard about Christ was not something that European Protestants began to undertake institutionally until almost 250 years after Calvin’s death.
Even here, when Europeans and those of European descent began to conduct what we know today as foreign missions, they did so through parachurch agencies (which are like the Gospel Coalition). In fact, Reformed state churches were slow to sponsor foreign missionaries, partly because they were still trying to complete the task of home missions. The Church of Scotland did not send Alexander Duff to India, considered to be the first Presbyterian missionary, until 1829, partly because the Kirk was still trying to plant churches in the Highlands.
Still, the point that folks like Starke need to consider is that prior to 1800 (roughly) European Christians were exceedingly ambivalent about indigenous peoples outside Europe. When Christianity traveled to new worlds, it did so as part of the baggage that either European colonists or immigrants packed on their way to places like North America, South Africa, and Australia. In colonial settings, settlers established churches for Europeans. Only later, as these communities became stable and as Europeans sought some kind of harmony with indigenous peoples did the work of planting of indigenous churches begin. And for the most part, only in the twentieth century did these indigenous churches, formerly dependent on European patrons (both ecclesiastical and colonial), establish their independence and become truly native.
That is likely an overstatement — “truly native” — since European Christianity, either through colonialism or migration, has been responsible for spreading Christianity around the world. Even when missionaries of the newly founded missionary societies, like the London Missionary Society, traveled with the intention of evangelizing non-Europeans, they did so with the blessings of and conveniences afforded by colonial governments and projects. It is virtually impossible to think of a case where Christian missionaries simply dropped into an indigenous setting and began to preach the gospel (how could they unless they spoke in tongues?). Even in Uganda among the Karamoja, where the Orthodox Presbyterian Church has a vigorous mission station, Presbyterians are dependent on the sort of penetration of Ugandan society that Europeans started under colonial auspices. Well before the OPC showed up in Uganda, other European churches had conducted mission works that acquainted natives in some way with the idea and nature of having churches. And these missionary efforts only came to Africa, whether church or parachurch, because of the remarkable (both good and bad) hegemony of Europeans around the world starting at the end of the fifteenth century.
But this dependence on cultural patterns established by former Christians is not all that different from the experience of the first church planters. The apostle Paul rarely preached to people who had no acquaintance with the God of Israel or his followers. When he did preach to the Greeks at Mars Hill, who seem to have had little awareness of Judaism, they snickered. Otherwise, Paul went to local synagogues and used the Christian groups in various cities as the basis from which to evangelism and plant churches.
All of this is to say, if Starke wants to make the point that predestination is not a barrier to evangelism, great. But generally only the Roger Olsons of the world would make such an argument (and to do so they would have to ignore the weekly proclamation of the word in churches of Calvinist persuasion). If Starke wants to claim for Protestant missions continuity between Geneva and Wheaton (the headquarters of Crossway Books and therefore of the Gospel Coalition), he should leave the task of history to licensed professionals.
Old Life 
Interesting. Our old pastor who is now running the African Bible College in Uganda with O. Palmer Robertson just stopped by this weekend. Robertson is on ‘sabbatical’ writing a book for ligonier I believe. Speaking to the issue at hand, somebody asked him if he was bi-lingual and he responded it wasn’t really necessary because of prior British colonization of the area. They’re overrun with the Creflo Dollars and Benny Hinns of the world. Tough gig with Cony in the North and witchdoctors/craft still enjoying broad religious popularity, on top of the ‘American word/faith’ charlatans lining their pockets at the expense of an incredibly poor people. Just getting the Ugandan SEMINARY students to stop marrying their tribal witchcraft to christianity is considered tremendous progress. Then they go back to their villages and not only don’t receive any pay from the pastorate but often the villagers expect THEM to provide for the congregants.
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The URC has a church plant in Milan, Italy (overseen by a consistory in California, I believe) and a church on the island of Kauai. Can I count Hawaii as foreign missions?!
Dutch Reformed churches are a tough sell outside of Dutch enclaves in the U.S., much less overseas. The URC is getting more organized regarding missions, however, so we press on!
I taught Sunday school on the start of the CRC in 1857 yesterday. They started with 5 churches and 1 pastor after the split from the brief (7 year) union with the RCA. Good things can start from small numbers (although Dutch immigration helped their growth tremendously).
The Methodists had virtually no followers immediately after the Revolution. By mid-Century they were the largest group in the U.S., I believe. I don’t want to model missions after them, though.
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One reason I like The White Horse Inn is that they are at least tilling the soil for the possibility of Reformed Church planting. They are on Christian radio in Des Moines.
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Sean, and this is why westernization looks pretty good (to me anyway) if it means doing away with animism, witchcraft, medicine men, and even polygamy. Sure, I’d rather the natives do so for religious reasons. But if modernization pulls down certain barriers — like polytheism — then let’s have more cities and highways (in Uganda, anyway).
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If you let Keller know that Uganda has cities he could maybe get excited about that.
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Speaking of Uganda, “Last King of Scotland” is a good movie.
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Not even Pella is immune:
Man dies after shooting himself during standoff with police in Pella
A man who shot himself during a standoff today in Pella died after he was taken from the scene, KNIA-KRLS radio reported. Police responding to a report of shots fired followed a man later identified as William Shaw to an area near the Pella water treatment plant. After a 20-minute standoff, Shaw shot himself, police said.
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I spent a year in Madagascar thanks to the LMS’ current incarnation. There was a church where some of the early missionaries were buried. One tombstone stated that the missionary brought the blessings of civilization and the glorious Gospel. At least they were upfront about it.
My time there certainly made me thankful for Western plumbing.
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Darryl, Yup. And at the risk of sounding like a bigot, it’s hard to argue against colonialism in those settings.
Erik, shoot Keller an email. Tell him he can run mid-week bible studies oriented toward boy-soldiers who kill their parents and then eat them, and another for women who contract aids from their bosses in return for a job. Tell him he’s hiding behind a city that’s already done all the heavy-lifting and he needs to try his philosophies out in a more ‘primal’ urban environment. Tell him it’s a once in a lifetime chance and he can start with redeeming the drinking water.
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Phil – “My time there certainly made me thankful for Western plumbing.”
Erik – Even by Non-Christian plumbers? Inside joke if you don’t get that.
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Sean,
What’s the Starbucks situation like over there?
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Erik, didn’t hear much about Starbucks unless your talking about the unfiltered drinking water, it even comes out with a frothy topping no baristas necessary.
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Erik,
I got it. Long time lurker.
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Sean,
Never mind. Sounds like they need the Culligan Man more than Keller.
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Paleo Bob is not going to like this.
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Darryl, nice post. Last fall I taught a course at church on missions that included some, no doubt, amateur history surrounding the missionary efforts in the places we were studying (Nigeria, Mali, Guinea, Mexico, PNG). The connection between colonialism and Christian missions is unmistakable. As we wrung our hands over the exploitation that colonialism entails (and that is so politically correct among liberal-minded westerners), I reminded us of the providence of God in all this. Not only do we have Christianization in some cases, but we seem to have an improvement in general social conditions. I understand that there is less cannibalism in PNG than there used to be. I know you will all mock me if I claim any of this as the fruit of the gospel, but…
Interestingly the CRC is doing some hand-wringing over the so-called Doctrine of Discovery where Christendom blessed the overrun of indigenous peoples for the cause of the expansion of the church. Without necessarily disagreeing with the objections to unjust land grabs and exploitation of peoples and resources by westerners in the Americas, South Africa, Indonesia, etc. I like to point out that the subjugated peoples probably would not be Christian as they are today. Perhaps that’s Romans 8:28 in action.
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Hand-wringing, the third sacrament in the CRC.
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D.G.,
I would be curious to know your input on some findings I had a few months back on the PCA on church planting and professions of faith by adults.
I bring this up regarding your comment:
But this dependence on cultural patterns established by former Christians is not all that different from the experience of the first church planters.
If I understand you correctly, you are attributing to Paul a method of evangelism (i.e., to the Jew first, and also to the Greek) that was less ambitious (presumptuous) than the evangelicalism of today. The method is one of redoubling on existing efforts as opposed to new-venture (i’m trademarking that one – no neo-cals stealing for their church name please…) method since the modern missions movement.
This is one of my beefs with Presbyterianism – for all its benefits of a churchly nature, I am befuddled that Presbyterians are less evangelistic (albeit, my experience in Presbyterianism is limited to the past 2 years). Maybe its a hold-over from my soupy evangelical upbringing but the primacy of planting of churches does not seem to be a first-order evangelism method. Granted, I’m not as ambitions as evangelicals that conversion is an easy matter of moving preacher + modern christian rock band = shoe-in conversions (even if it sometimes works). But I do think there is something to the fact that Christianity has at its core a willingness to embark and venture into new areas in which the gospel is not present whatsoever.
Maybe I’m missing you on this one, but I don’t believe that church planting is the best method of evangelism. Just from the PCA alone, they should stop planting churches since for every church they plant 5 fewer people profess faith in Christ.
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Nate,
One question I have is to what degree profession of faith by adults is the model for how the gospel spreads vs. the maturing of the children of believers. Most adults are pretty set in their ways. That’s not to say that people don’t change, but it is the exception rather than the norm. I think you’ll find that even in evangelical churches with a lot of new “converts” most of those people have a church background as children.
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Our Reformed church has run radio ads. Zero response. We have gone door-to-door in the neighborhood (an inner city neighborhood) inviting people for food and Bible study. Zero response. People bringing friends and people with Reformed backgrounds moving into town (or coming from other Reformed churches) have been the primary way we get new people. We have had some Reformed “converts” (from evangelicalism) — I am one of them. Like it or not Reformed Churches are kind of the “graduate schools” of the American church scene.
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Nate, what I am saying is that it is almost impossible to bring the gospel to a culture that has no awareness of monotheism, or the sense of law, guilt, sacrifice, forgiveness. In addition to needing the work of the Spirit, we also may need more cultural efforts — not to make Lagos into NYC, but to make some of those conventions of Christian thought plausible to non-believers. In some ways, I am arguing for a chastened and modest (as if that were possible) form of colonialism. And in that context, planting churches is the only way to go. It is the ordained means, the PCA’s experience notwithstanding. That doesn’t mean that church plants will not fail.
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Nate,
I don’t believe that church planting is the best method of evangelism
I am not sure what you would propose in it’s place, what kind of evangelism “works” best? Evangelistic meetings (e.g. Billy Graham Crusades), lifestyle evangelism or programs like Evangelism Explosion. Part of the problem is how much weight is put into statistical analysis, even by the PCA. Evangelism is certainly an important component of the church, but, it takes more than what passes for evangelism in Western Evangelical culture – most importantly it involves gospel proclamation to covenant children. I know the emphasis on adult conversion is a sexier statistic, but I would argue that the church is sustained (numerically) by cultivating disciples amongst the covenant children – their conversion (if it is best called this) is of no less value than that of the unbelieving adult. I am not sure if the PCA tracks its retention of covenant children – but I would think this would be a far more telling statistic with regards to the health of its churches, and the value of it’s church planting efforts.
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Darryl,
what I am saying is that it is almost impossible to bring the gospel to a culture that has no awareness of monotheism, or the sense of law, guilt, sacrifice, forgiveness.
I am probably a little more leery to the value of colonialism, but it is hard to argue with the fact that historically, colonialism, and even the cultural connectivity of an imperial structure like Rome weren’t an important external factor for the spread of Christianity. But, I would argue that evangelism to unreached people groups is quite possible, but the work is very arduous, and often takes decades to yield even the smallest results. Wycliffe Bible Translators, for example have demonstrated a proven track record of reaching out to the most remote tribal groups. But, there is a sense where their work is not all too different that what you anticipate as the benefits of a benevolent colonialism – often they bring in cultural structures such as schools, medical facilities, and even written languages to these people groups. I had the chance to get to know some Wycliffe MK’s in my Moody days, and they attested to how their parents evangelistic efforts were tough sledding for many years. But, amongst some of the tribes in places like Papua New Guinea, especially after the 2nd generation, there has been some successful indigenous churches established, that have achieved self-governance.
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Jed – “But, amongst some of the tribes in places like Papua New Guinea, especially after the 2nd generation, there has been some successful indigenous churches established, that have achieved self-governance.”
Rumor has it Keller has made similar inroads with the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Polo Ponies & Fendi handbags have proven invaluable in bridging the cultural divide.
Why am I reminded of this:
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Jed, I’m not really a fan of colonialism. But Christianity greatly expanded as Europeans started in the fifteenth century to expand. I am more convinced that for Christianity to succeed (?), we need to send out whole communities of Christians who will adopt another land as their home. This is what made American Christian, not evangelizing the natives.
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I’m volunteering for someplace warm. Are Florida and Arizona still part of the U.S.?
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