Secret Missionaries – Is It Biblical?
(Revised - 03/13/2008)
Addendum

I have wrestled with this article perhaps longer than any other that I’ve ever written. And it is with grief and tears that I bring it to you. I do so knowing that many will disagree with me and that it will cause pain to my brothers and sisters in Christ. But as Martin Luther once said:

“Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

For those of you not familiar with the concept, the objective is to send someone into a culture that would not normally allow entry to people whose primary intent is evangelization. This is accomplished by their declaration that they have such and such a skill or job and are immigrating there for that purpose. Once there, they hope to be “salt and light” by going about their normal daily lives in the hopes that the people that they encounter along the way will notice a difference in them and enquire about it. No direct evangelization is attempted because it would jeopardize their visa or possibly even result in prison or physical violence against them. However, the witness of their daily lives combined with their prayers and the prayers of those who visit there on short term mission trips will hopefully allow God to directly reveal Himself to the people of that region.

I spoke to such a missionary and told him that I was trying to understand his ministry and asked if he would be willing to explain it to me. He kindly conceded. He and his wife have been missionaries in an Islamic country for several years. They felt that they were called to that particular country because his wife (during the course of performing her regular job) kept encountering people from there and at one point she heard the voice of Jesus telling her He wanted her to “take up the cross for them.” He had been working for a mission organization at the time and after much prayer and consultation decided to go.

He felt that their primary calling was to pray for the people there and encourage others to come there and pray as well. He also felt that he was to help disciple men in the local Christian church (almost all of whom were Westerners) in the hopes that they would be ready to disciple locals when they came to Christ.

He cited a recent survey by the Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies of 750 Muslims who had converted to Christianity ¹. The survey was conducted from 1991 to 2007 and respondents came from 30 countries and 50 ethnic groups. Although making no claims to scientific accuracy, the survey results indicated the “lifestyles of Christians” was the single most important influence in their decision to accept Christ. This was followed in descending order of significance by the “power of God in answered prayers and healing” after conversion, “deliverance from demonic power,” “dissatisfaction with the type of Islam they had experienced,” and the “spiritual truth in the Bible” (in particular, the love of God and the love expressed through the life and teachings of Jesus). However, he emphasized one aspect of the survey which indicated that 27 percent had “dreams and visions” prior to their conversion, 40 percent at the time of conversion, and 45 percent after conversion.

He concluded from the survey that since observing the lifestyles of Christians was the most important factor for most of the respondents in their decision to accept Christ, relationship evangelism was the most effective method to pursue. He also concluded that God was appearing directly to Muslims (through dreams and visions) in a significant percentage of cases and that local prayer was the best means to foster more such occurrences.

I had a few questions. One was concerning what other missionaries in the region were doing. He said that some were distributing tapes of the Bible and that the Jesus film (http://www.jesusfilm.org/) was making the rounds. I proposed that one explanation of the survey results was that there was essentially no direct evangelization of Muslims occurring so, of course, no one was coming to Christ because of hearing the preaching of the gospel. I stated that “faith comes from hearing” and asked “how will they hear with out a preacher?” I then proposed a crazy notion and asked him what he thought would happen if somebody just started preaching the gospel on a street corner (of course, they would have to know Arabic or have a translator). As I suspected, he felt that they would be deported. I also asked if prayer offered here would not be just as effective as prayer offered there for the region. He said that he found no Biblical basis to suggest otherwise, but that people made a stronger connection and commitment after actually meeting the people and experiencing the culture. And I agreed that was the case and that I had experienced it myself in Liberia. There are obvious benefits that direct exposure to a different culture brings but one could do the same thing by taking a vacation…it doesn’t make it a ministry. So I still couldn’t buy into the concept that going over there to pray instead of praying here constituted a “mission” or merited the support given a mission that directly spread the gospel.

All in all, I was very fond of him and his wife and I found his openness and honesty encouraging. And it is with a heavy heart that I find myself unable to support what they’re doing.

The concept of the “Secret Missionary” is a direct result of the popular notion that the only way to effectively witness for Christ is through “relationship evangelism.” I have written several articles on the subject ( Are We Ashamed of the Gospel?, Direct Evangelism vs. Relationship Evangelism, The Subtle Misdirection of Contemporary Evangelism Methods ), but the basic idea is that direct presentations of the gospel are no longer effective today and only offend people. Therefore, the only way to make an authentic disciple of Christ is to create relationships with people and allow them to view your faith in action on a daily basis (often involving directed acts of humanitarian assistance) and then wait for them to ask you about your beliefs.

An additional assumption on which the credibility of this mission depends is that God has chosen to act in a new way by reaching out directly to a significant percentage of the Muslim world through dreams and visions instead of through His people and that by praying we can increase the frequency of such visions.

If "relationship evangelism" is, indeed, the primary methodology advocated by the Bible to reach others for Christ (as opposed to the preaching of the gospel) then this makes perfect sense. And although the Bible is replete with examples of where God has spoken to people through dreams and visions, nowhere do I find an example where it was used by God as a substitute for His people speaking His Word in order to bring an entire segment of the world to Christ.

Now there’s nothing wrong with letting people see Christ in us in our everyday lives. That is an obvious and essential part of being a Christian. But it is completely unbiblical to state or imply that it is the only effective way of sharing the Gospel or that God does not call each person to SPEAK the gospel whenever or wherever we have the opportunity.

Romans 10:14,17 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

2 Timothy 4:1,2 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

2 Timothy 4:3-5 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

No, I think that if the Islamic world opened its doors tomorrow to Christian evangelism we’d be going over there in droves to provide humanitarian aid and build church buildings and we’d STILL wait for them to ask us about Jesus. And in the churches we built we’d be preaching the same message we do here (carefully avoiding saying anything “negative” about Mohammed or Islam). You see, all we have to export is what we already have here. We have so bought into Relationship Evangelism and our 2% gospel that we have nothing else to offer. That’s the problem.

I appreciate the sincerity and desire of people who are desperately trying to find some way to get through to the “10/40 window” of unreached people. But we must not base our decision about whether a mission is of God on how much we like the people or the fact that they are sincere. As with everything else that we do in the name of ministry, we MUST restrict ourselves to what is scripturally sound and that which has consistent Biblical precedent. And I find no scriptural or Biblical basis for the “Secret Missionary” type of mission. If God truly calls someone to a mission field, then they must be prepared to preach the gospel (perhaps preach and run or preach one-on-one or preach in secret gatherings) and accept the consequences. How can you be a missionary if you never tell anyone the gospel?

Ezekiel 3:18 “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-4 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.

¹ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/42.80.html

I’ve added this addendum to the article based on feedback that I have received from friends stating that my point was not entirely clear. I think the reason for this is that I rewrote the article three times (something unusual for me) in an attempt to make it more objective and less “pointed.” My reason for doing this was my genuine love and affection for the people involved and their supporters. I felt compelled to speak the truth about this in order to avoid future misconceptions but I also wanted to spare the feelings of those I care for as much as possible. But I’m afraid that in the process I may have muddied the issue.

To clarify, I have no issue with “relationship evangelism” AS FAR AS acknowledging the obvious fact that those with whom we come into contact on a regular basis should observe Christ in us. My issue is with the idea of it being a SUBSTITUTE for preaching the gospel. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we (despite popular consensus) are to preach the gospel to all the world (for a sample, see the verses listed in the original article). It is NOT optional nor does the idea of people seeing Christ in us in our daily routines act as an alternative. We must SPEAK and speak THE GOSPEL!

My issue with the concept of the “Secret Missionary” is not the fact that they are secret but that they do not preach the gospel and rely on the witness of their daily lives as the only means of reaching others for Christ. The gospel MUST be preached for it to constitute a biblical ministry. They may do it one-on-one, or in secret meetings, or in the course of their job, or in a church, or on a street corner but the gospel MUST be preached! Otherwise it is NOT a Christian mission deserving of financial and other support by our fellow Christians and the church.

Any Christian can be led of the Lord to take their family and / or career to a new city or country. And when they get there, as should always be the case, those with whom they interact over time should observe Christ in the way they conduct themselves. But it doesn’t make it a “ministry” or justify seeking financial support from the church and / or other Christians. It would be like me saying that I feel the Lord wants me to move to Guiana and I have no plans to actually do any preaching or sharing of Christ but I hope that the people there will be moved to accept Christ by the witness of my life. Therefore, it is a ministry and I’m asking for the church and my Christian friends to help me financially while I’m there.

It’s sort of like Paul going to Ephesus as a tent maker…and that’s where it ends. He never preaches the gospel to anyone. He just sits there on the side of the street making his tents and hoping that people will come to Christ by observing the witness of his daily life.

As far as going into countries where evangelism is illegal, I think that this is a classic example of where the laws of men conflict with the commands of God. Whenever there is conflict between the laws of men and the laws of God, God takes precedence. Not only do we have the example of Daniel, but we have Peter and John being confronted with that very issue:

Acts 4:18-20 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

I am reminded of the Student Volunteer Movement which between 1850 and 1950 sent out nearly 10,000 missionaries. Many of them left their home with their belongings packed in a coffin aware that 80% of them would never return.

Allow me to leave you with an excerpt from a sermon by Paris Reidhead:

“Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2000 to 3000 slaves. And the owner had said, ‘No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he's ship wrecked we’ll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he's never going to talk to any of us about God, I'm through with all that nonsense.’ Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic and there to live and die without hearing of Christ.

Two young Moravians heard about it. They sold themselves to the British planter and used the money they received from their sale, for he paid no more than he would for any slave, to pay their passage out to his island for he wouldn't even transport them. As the ship left its pier in the river at Hamburg and was going out into the North Sea carried with the tide, the Moravians had come from Herrenhut to see these two lads off, in their early twenties. Never to return again, for this wasn't a four year term, they sold themselves into lifetime slavery. Simply that as slaves, they could be as Christians where these others were. The families were there weeping, for they knew they would never see them again. And they wondered why they were going and questioned the wisdom of it. As the gap widened and the housings had been cast off and were being curled up there on the pier, and the young boys saw the widening gap, one lad with his arm linked through the arm of his fellow, raised his hand and shouted across the gap the last words that were heard from them, they were these, ‘MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!’”