EMQ » October–December 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 4
By Neal Pirolo
Recently the details of Jesus’s encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus captivated my attention in a new way. Six things that Jesus did stood out like signposts. I saw a distinct parallel between His actions and the actions that every missionary should follow in their missions journey. Join me on this walk:
Working Alongside the Local Community
Jesus came alongside and walked with the disciples. In His glorified body Jesus could have levitated, appeared and disappeared, or passed right through their bodies. But He didn’t. He came alongside and walked with them.
Today even the smallest people group can be represented in the forums of the world. This makes it more difficult for richer nations to exert their “privilege” to exploit those once considered “barbaric.” In places where the principles of Christianity have taken hold, paternalistic patterns more common during the colonial era are not accepted..
Missionaries must recognize the worth of all people from the poorest to the richest, the least educated to the most highly trained. Then they must find ways to come alongside and work with them rather than doing for them. This is for their good as well as for the missionary. What sense of worth can one gain if others come and do everything for him?
Keeping a Low Profile
Jesus hid His own identity from these disciples on the Emmaus road. He did not say, “Look at Me. See My hands and feet; the wound in My side. Can you even imagine how much I have suffered for you?” He unobtrusively walked with them as if He were another traveler. He had the power to deny them the knowledge of His identity.
Keeping a low profile like this can, of course, be a bit more difficult for a missionary. A foreign passport is an identifier that can’t be hidden. Missionaries generally come with resources—finances, people, and materials—that may also draw attention. But in acts of humility, the missionary can allow his or her presence to be in the background. If any names must be in the marquee let it be the names of people from the local community. Or, even better, let the Name of Jesus be the only one lifted up.
Understanding and Integrating the Needs of the Local Community
Though Jesus knew the needs of the disciples on the Emmaus road, He allowed them to verbalize it. Solomon said that only a fool says all; a wise man holds back until the right time. Jesus knew that these discouraged disciples needed to express their sorrow and sadness, process the thoughts and feelings they so recently experienced, and verbalize their disappointment: “We thought He was the Messiah.”
Knowing the felt needs of a community and integrating those needs into ministry plans follows this example from Jesus. Sometimes missionaries put their focus on their own sacrifice and ministry strategies to the neglect of the people they serve. “After all,” they may say, “we have given up so much to come to your country.” Even when it’s not said, actions can communicate this same sentiment.
We know the people of this world need Jesus to find purpose and fulfillment. For there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart (or liver or spleen or throat) of every living person, which can be filled by none other than God Himself. But an entrance of a culturally relevant presentation of the Gospel—one that makes sense to the hearer—likely will take time. It will require listening, understanding, and empathy.
Pointing Others to Scripture
Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples on the Emmaus road through the Word. This is an awesome thought. The very Word of God went to the Scriptures to reveal Himself. Again, He could have just shown them His scars or told them a good story, or tried to cheer them up with a good joke. No! He went through the books of Moses, the Psalms and the Prophets revealing that the Messiah must suffer. This was the message they needed that evening.
Missionaries can increase their effectiveness by pointing communities to Jesus through the Word. The message of hope comes from the Bible. Whether it is by story-telling (a very good method in many cultures) or a verse-by-verse Bible study, the basis of every study must be found in the Word of God. What better do we have to offer? What do our “programs” stand on, if not on the Word? Recall that Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost was one Scripture after another, laced with a few words of his own.
Rekindling Passion
Jesus stayed with the disciples on the Emmaus road until their hearts were “burning” within them. A fire once engulfed in their hearts. Those flames had been all but extinguished by their interpretation of the events of the last few days, but a few smoldering embers remained. Jesus did not come with a blast of the Holy Spirit to blow away those smoking embers. Nor did he wait until he had “earned the right” to share the Truth with them. By the leading of the Spirit of God, he gently fanned those embers into a flame of fire.
Missionaries can follow this example by mentoring people in the local community until a flame burns brightly within them. When I was traveling in Europe, one of my board members asked me to visit a friend of his who was pastoring a church in one of the deadest denominations in Germany. I agreed dutifully but didn’t really want to do it. I met the pastor on a Sunday. In the. afternoon when I had to catch a bus back to Western Europe, he insisted on walking me to the bus. Not until we saw the bus approaching, did I see the “smoking flax” (see Matthew 12:20). In those last few moments he said, “Neal, I know I am pastoring a dead church. I spend my time going from the hospital to the mortuary. Can you send someone to help me with my youth?” The smoldering embers were there, but I with so little time left to talk with him I missed the opportunity to “fan a flame.”
Turning Over Responsibility
When the disciples were able to minister on their own—running back to Jerusalem shouting, “He’s risen! He’s risen!”—Jesus left. He wasn’t needed anymore. He had other work to do. He got out of the way.
Missionaries should anxiously look for opportunities to turn their ministry over to local believers. Often times this happens sooner than anticipated. Missionaries must “get out of the way!” A Chinese believer once said, “Missionaries, at best, should regard themselves as scaffolding to be taken down and shipped on to the next building site as soon as the church can stand on its own.” Unfortunately the mission fields of the world are strewn with the “scaffolding” of well-intentioned missions. Paul seemed anxious for Titus to “get on with it” in appointing elders in Crete. He said that he knew that they were “slow bellies”—lazy! Their own poets had said so. But “let’s get the job done that I sent you there to do,” seems to be the tenor of those opening verses of Titus.
This, then, is the Emmaus road from a missionary perspective. It can help us focus our attention on the primary objectives of Christ’s command: As you are going throughout the world, you will be witnesses unto me. Preach the Word; make disciples of all nations.
Neal Pirolo is the founding director of Emmaus Road International (ERI), an educational resource for cross-cultural ministry. He is the author of five books pertaining to missions. He and his wife, Yvonne, have ministered in the United States and in sixty countries around the world for thirty-five years through ERI.
