Seeing the Mission Field in Our Own Backyard

I want to thank you first of all though for what you do to support what we do at North Greenville University.

I hope you're aware that North Greenville University is one of your three South Carolina Baptist Convention Universities along with Anderson University, Charleston Southern University and North Greenville University.

I just want to thank you for what you do to pray for us, for your giving through the cooperative program which helps support our work on the campus there in Tigerville, South Carolina as we seek to minister to these emerging generations and raise up transformational leaders for church and society.

I cannot thank you enough for that.

By the way, my wife and I and our family were also recipients of your prayer and your giving as we served as your International Mission Board missionaries in the country of Ecuador.

So we thank you for that.

You helped educate our kids while we were there.

You provided a house for us, a car for us, a salary for us and you will never know what that means.

So we are indebted to you both as former missionaries and now teaching on the campus of North Greenville University.

Keep on praying for us.

If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I want us to turn to a text.

It's a bit of a lengthy one, but I do want to read it.

It's found in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

So if you have your copy of God's Word with you this morning, I'm going to begin reading with verse 16 in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

You follow along in your copy of God's Word as I read.

Verse 16 of Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.

And some said, what does this babbler wish to say?

Others said, he seems to be a preacher of foreign gods because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

And they took him and they brought him to the Areopagus saying,

may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting, for you are bringing some strange things to our ears.

We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean.

Now, all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling and hearing something new.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus said,

Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription,

To the unknown God.

What, therefore, you worship as unknown, this I now proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything,

since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,

having determined their allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him,

yet he is not far from each one of us.

For in him we live and move and have our being,

as even some of your own poets have said,

For we are indeed his offspring.

Being then God's offspring,

we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,

an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

The times of ignorance got overlooked,

but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness

by a man whom he has appointed,

and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

Would you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, we are grateful this morning for your word.

We pray now that that which we have read,

written in pen and ink,

might become in these moments truly a living word for us

as your Holy Spirit becomes our teacher.

Father, we commit this time to you,

and we ask you to speak your truth into our hearts,

and we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, this morning I want to ask you to think about something.

I want to ask you a question.

What do you see?

What do you see when you look around you?

What do you see when you drive through the town of Pickens?

What do you see when you go to Easley?

What do you see when you head toward Anderson or Clemson?

What do you see when you travel down toward Greenville?

What do you see when you look at the communities and the neighborhoods

that are scattered across this part of upstate South Carolina?

Do you see homes?

Do you see businesses?

Do you see schools?

Do you see churches?

Do you see traffic?

Oh boy, don't get me started on that.

Do you see people going to work?

Raising their families?

Going about their daily lives?

What do you see, really?

I want to say to you this morning that one of the most important things that can happen

in the life of a church is for us to begin seeing our community the way that God sees it.

Because if we only see neighborhoods, you know what?

We'll just live in our neighborhoods.

If we only see businesses, we'll just simply work in our businesses.

If we only see schools, we'll just simply send our children to school.

But if we can begin to look at the people around us as a mission field, then church, everything changes.

So this morning, I want you to see and understand that God has not just placed Pickens First Baptist Church and you in the town of Pickens.

God has placed Pickens First Baptist Church and you right squarely in the middle of a mission field.

I want you to see this morning as we especially focus on one group of people who are becoming increasingly visible in the upstate of South Carolina.

And they are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more popularly known as the Mormons.

Now, by the way, if you encounter some of them, don't ask if they're a Mormon.

That term has gone out of vogue.

They don't like it anymore.

They need to be referred to as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

These people are not part of a statistical table.

They are not part of a religious system.

Church members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are people.

They are people who live here.

They are people who work here.

They are people whose children attend school here.

They are people you may encounter in the grocery store or at work or in your neighborhood or maybe even at your door.

As Latter-day Saint missionaries come to your house.

These are people who need to hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So we're going to look at Acts chapter 17 today because the Apostle Paul shows us exactly what it looks like when we begin to see our communities the way God sees them.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

I have five things I want to share with you this morning very rapidly, very quickly, but I want you to follow along and perhaps even jot these things down in your Bible.

Here's the first thing I want you to see.

We must, as a church, as evangelical Christians, we must begin to see our context, our neighborhoods as a mission field.

Look at Acts chapter 17 again, verse 16.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

It says,

Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him because he saw that the city was full of idols.

He saw something.

Do you see that?

He saw something.

Now let me tell you something about Athens, and I've been blessed to go there on a couple of different occasions.

Even today, it is a remarkable city.

In Paul's day, it was intellectually sophisticated.

It was culturally influential.

It was filled with history, philosophy, art, religion, learning.

Paul saw all that, but he saw something underneath all of that.

He saw a city full of idols.

He saw people following a false religion.

And I want you to notice something else that's very important.

Paul did not look at Athens and say, oh my goodness, what a terrible place.

He did not say, oh my goodness, these people are beyond hope.

He didn't withdraw from the city.

He didn't simply complain about the culture.

He saw a mission field.

And this is what we must learn to do when we look at our own cities and towns and communities.

When you look at the upstate, do you see a mission field?

I want to tell you, we are blessed to live where we live in this part of the country, right?

It is a beautiful part of the country.

We have strong families here.

We have good churches here.

We have communities that still have a strong Christian influence here.

But we must never, ever confuse the presence of the church with the presence of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the hearts of people.

And we must never assume that just because people seem to be religious that they know Jesus.

That is why Acts chapter 17 is so critically important.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Athens was not an irreligious city.

It was a very religious city.

Deeply religious.

The problem wasn't that people believed nothing about God.

The problem was they believed many things about God.

But they did not know the true God of Scripture.

That ought to make us think carefully, church, about our own mission field.

Because I can promise you, there are people all around you today who are religious.

There are people all around you who talk about God, who talk about Jesus.

There are people who pray.

There are people who read religious books.

There are people who sincerely want to please God.

And yet sincerity is not the same thing as knowing Christ.

And that is why we're focusing this morning particularly on our Latter-day Saint friends and neighbors.

Because they do all of those things.

All of them.

And they are growing.

And this is not something that's happening far away.

It's happening right here.

In fact, according to the Latter-day Saint Church's own current statistics,

there are almost 50,000 Latter-day Saints living in South Carolina,

meeting in more than 90 congregations.

Did you know that in the 50 United States over the last 10 years,

the LDS Church has grown in 49 of those 50 states?

The only exception being the state of California.

And their missionary presence.

Do you know how many Latter-day Saint missionaries there are around the world today?

Anybody want to take a wild guess?

This past month,

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially published that they have more than,

listen, 90,000 full-time missionaries.

Do you know how many we have a Southern Baptist?

About 3,500 international and about that number North American.

They have 90,000.

It is the largest missionary force in the world.

Now, there are no definite statistics.

The Church doesn't publish actual numbers of the number of Latter-day Saint missionaries here in South Carolina,

but it is estimated to be somewhere between 300 and 400 of them right here in South Carolina.

That should mean something to us.

Not because we should be afraid.

Not because we should become angry.

Not because we need to start some kind of religious battle.

But because there are Latter-day Saints who are actively seeking to share their understanding of the gospel

with the people in our communities.

And Church, we need to ask ourselves,

Are we going to be willing to share the New Testament gospel,

the biblical gospel,

with them

when they come our way?

You may be aware

that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

is in the process of building

a temple

in Greenville.

The temple is the locus.

It is the center

of Latter-day Saint belief and practice.

This will be the second temple built

in South Carolina.

The other one is in Columbia.

It's going to be built

right in one of the strategic areas of Greenville,

right around Interstate 385

and Roper Mountain Road.

I've seen the artist's rendering of the temple.

It is going to tower over that landscape.

Now,

I understand Pickens

is not Greenville,

but this isn't about Greenville.

This is about the upstate.

Greenville is just the very visible

reminder

that something is happening

in our region.

So when you drive through Greenville

in a year and a half or so

and you see that temple,

please don't just see a building.

See

people.

people who live in the upstate,

people who have families,

people who have hopes and fears

just like you do,

people who want to know God,

people who need the gospel.

So when you see that temple,

I want you to think,

God,

you have put a mission field

right in my

backyard.

That's the first thing

we must understand.

We must begin to see our context

as a mission field.

The second thing,

we have to let

what we see

burden us.

We have to let

what we see

affect us.

Verse 16

of Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

when Paul walked through Athens,

it says,

His spirit was

provoked

within him

as he saw

that the city was full of idols,

full of false worship.

What Paul saw

affected him.

His spirit was provoked.

He was troubled.

He was

burdened.

He did not just

simply walk through Athens,

see the false religion,

shake his head,

say how bad it was,

and then go on

with his life.

What he saw

got inside

of him.

That is where

missionary vision

begins.

Not with anger.

Not with a sense

of superiority.

Not with a desire

to win an argument.

But with a burden

for people.

You know,

I can't help

wonder sometimes

if one of the reasons

we don't engage

more of the people

around us

with the gospel

is because

we've never stopped

long enough

to see them

as God

sees them.

What do you see

when you see that

Latter-day Saint missionary

riding his bicycle

through the neighborhood?

What do you see

when you see

that sister missionary

walking through

your neighborhood?

What do you see

when you see

that temple

being built?

Oh, we can see

the signs,

but do we see

the person?

Do we feel

the burden?

Do we wonder

what he believes?

what she believes?

Do we wonder

what they believe

Jesus has done

for them?

Do we wonder

whether they really

understand the gospel

of grace?

Do we wonder

what would happen

to them

if they died tonight?

See, Paul's heart

was troubled

because he knew

that behind

all of those idols

there were people

who were desperately

searching after God,

but they did not

know him.

Do you imagine?

Do you think

maybe that's what

God's wanting to do

in our hearts today?

To give us that burden?

To give us that

feeling of being

provoked in our spirit?

Perhaps God

wants to take something

that we have simply

noticed

and turn it into

something

we really care about.

We're really

burdened about.

You see,

there's a huge

difference between

just saying,

you know what,

there are more

Latter-day Saints

around here than

I've ever seen before.

There's a difference

between saying that

and saying,

you know,

there's a whole lot

more people around

here today

who need Jesus

than I've ever

seen before.

One is merely

an observation.

The other is a burden.

The first produces

mindfulness.

The second produces

mission.

So,

we have to let

what we see

burden us.

Number one,

we have to see

our context

as a mission field.

Number two,

we have to let

what we see

burden us.

Number three,

we then have to

move toward

people.

Notice what

Paul does

with his burden.

It doesn't just

stay within him.

Verse 17 says,

so he reasoned

in the synagogue

with the Jews

and the devout

persons

and in the

marketplace

every day

with those

who happened

to be there.

Paul took

his burden

and he moved

toward people.

He went

where the people

were.

He talked

with people.

He listened

to people.

He engaged

people.

And I want you

to notice

those two little

words,

every day.

Every day.

You see,

Paul did not

treat evangelism

as an occasional

event.

He treated

ordinary,

everyday life,

wherever he

was,

as an opportunity

to have a

gospel conversation

with somebody.

The marketplace

became a mission

field.

The synagogue

became a mission

field.

The streets

became mission

fields.

the places

where people

lived their

ordinary lives

became places

where Paul

talked about

Jesus.

Church,

mission

is not

something we

do somewhere

else.

Mission is

something we

do right

here.

You don't

have to get

on an airplane.

You don't

have to learn

another language.

You do

not have

to go

to another

country.

You may

simply need

to talk

to your

neighbor,

your

co-worker.

Maybe

there's a

Latter-day

saint family

living near

you.

Maybe you

work with

someone who's

a Latter-day

saint.

Maybe your

child has

a classmate

whose family

is Latter-day

saint.

Maybe you

meet a

Latter-day

saint

missionary.

Maybe

the first

step you

need to

take is

not to

give them

an evangelistic

tract.

Maybe it's

not to ask

them if

they're saved.

Maybe it

is simply

to become

their

friend.

Maybe the

first step

is to ask

them questions

questions and

then just

listen to

them.

Hey, would

you tell me

about your

faith?

Would you

tell me what

Jesus means

to you?

I wonder,

what do you

believe happens

when somebody

dies?

How do you

know that you're

right with

God?

What do you

believe Jesus

actually accomplished

on the cross?

those are not

hostile questions,

church.

Those are

loving

questions.

I'm going to

let you in on a

secret this

morning, okay?

It's just

between you and

me so don't

tell anybody.

All right?

Our secret

this morning.

You ready?

Sometimes the

best evangelistic

conversation you

can have with a

Latter-day saint is

for that Latter-day

saint to realize,

oh my goodness,

you know what?

This person I'm

talking to actually

wants to understand

what I believe.

Talk to them.

Move toward them.

Be friends with

them.

Love them.

That's the third

thing.

Number one, I

must see my

context as a

mission field.

Number two, I

must let what I

see burden me.

Number three, I

must move toward

people.

Number four, I

must begin to

understand the

people I'm

trying to reach.

I've got to

understand the

people I'm

trying to reach.

See, Paul didn't

just walk into

Athens and start

shouting.

He didn't just

walk into Athens

and start telling

people how wrong

they were.

No.

He paid attention.

He observed

their culture.

The text says he

had listened to

their philosophers.

He had understood

some of their

poets.

He understood the

people he was

trying to reach

and once he

understood them,

then he was able

to find a point of

connection for the

gospel.

Look at verse 22.

Men of Athens,

I perceive in

every way that you

are very religious.

I need to tell you

something about

Latter-day Saints.

they are some of

the most sincerely

religious people

you will ever meet.

And they are some

of the nicest people

you will ever meet.

They want to please

God.

They want to follow

Jesus.

I can promise you

they are not

knowingly following

a false religion.

religion.

They regard the

Bible along with

the Book of Mormon

and a couple of

other texts as the

Word of God.

They use a lot of

the same vocabulary

we use.

They talk openly

and sincerely about

God, Jesus,

salvation, the

atonement, repentance,

grace, faith, the

gospel, and eternal

life.

Now those words

mean something

radically different

than what we

understand them to

be in that LDS

context.

But they use that

vocabulary.

They want to

please God.

They want to know

God.

They are just

following a false

religion.

That is why we

need to ask

Latter-day Saints

questions.

And then we need

to listen to them.

Not argue with

them.

Not debate

with them.

them.

Just start by

listening to them

so that you can

understand.

I'm going to make

you a promise this

morning.

This is true whether

you're dealing with

a Latter-day Saint or

anybody else.

You will never

effectively be able

to share the gospel

with people that you

have already decided

you know and

understand without

ever having listened

to them.

That's a promise.

I'm going to say

it again.

You will never

effectively share

the gospel with

people that you

have already decided

you understand and

know without ever

having listened to

them.

Paul was effective

because he understood

the people he was

trying to reach.

He took what he

learned as he

listened to them

and then he was

able to use it as

a bridge to share

the gospel.

That's why I could

say in verse 23

and this is my

favorite verse in

this text.

Verse 23 Paul says

as I observed the

objects of your

worship I found an

altar with the

inscription to the

unknown God.

But what you

worship as unknown

I can now proclaim

to you.

Do you understand

church?

This is what we get

to do.

As we understand the

people we're trying to

reach we can begin to

say to them we

understand what you're

looking for.

We understand what

you're searching for

we can now tell you

exactly what that is.

It is the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Paul took what he'd

learned about the

Athenians worldview and

he used it to build a

bridge to the gospel and

that is essential if we're

going to reach Latter-day

Saints.

We should never approach

them with caricatures.

We should know what they

actually believe.

We should ask them

questions and we should

listen carefully.

Now we don't compromise

the truth of what we

believe but we need to

understand the people

we're trying to reach

with the gospel.

I want to tell you you

do not have to be afraid

of a conversation with a

Latter-day Saint.

You don't need to be

afraid of questions.

You don't need to be

afraid of their religious

background.

All you've got to do is

listen to them carefully,

love them genuinely and

then open this book and

tell them about the

Jesus and the difference

he's made in your life.

Okay, number one, we have

to see our context as a

mission field.

Number two, we have to let

what we see burden us.

Number three, we have to

move toward people.

Number four, we have to

understand the people we're

moving toward and wanting

to reach.

And number five, we must

proclaim Christ.

This is where Paul ultimately

takes the conversation.

He doesn't simply tell the

Athenians to become better

people.

He doesn't tell them to

become more religious or to

add Jesus to everything else

they were doing.

He opens the scriptures and

he tells them about God,

creation, humanity, repentance,

the resurrection.

His goal was not to tear down

their false religion.

His goal was to introduce them

to Jesus.

And that must be our goal too

because if we're going to reach

our LDS neighbors, coworkers,

our goal is not to defeat them

in an argument.

It is not to try to embarrass

them about their beliefs.

Our goal is not to collect some

kind of theological victory.

Our goal is to help them see

Jesus as he is revealed in the

scriptures.

That means we need to talk about

the Jesus of the Bible.

A Jesus who is not merely a

spirit child who became exalted,

but the Jesus who is the

eternal Son of God.

The Jesus who is truly God and

truly man.

The Jesus who came into this

world to save sinners

completely.

The Jesus who offered himself

once for all.

The Jesus who doesn't need

another priest to mediate his

sacrifice.

The Jesus who doesn't need

another temple sacrifice added

to his finished work.

The Jesus who is our great

high priest who is the

one mediator between God and

man.

The Jesus who died.

The Jesus who rose again.

The Jesus who was resurrected.

Who reigns and who will come

again.

That is what we must proclaim.

That salvation is found in

Christ alone.

Through grace alone.

By faith alone.

That is the Jesus we proclaim.

Paul never once said to the

Athenians, listen to me,

you are wrong.

He never said that.

He said, let me tell you who

God really is.

I understand what you're

searching for.

I've got the answer.

What you worship is unknown.

I can now proclaim to you.

You see church, pick in South Carolina

is not merely where you live.

It is the mission field God has

placed before you.

So when you see that LDS missionary

walking down the street, don't

think, oh my goodness, I hope she

doesn't come to my house.

I hope he doesn't knock on my door.

Instead, start thinking, God, maybe

you're going to answer my prayer

and give me an opportunity to be a

missionary in my own backyard.

See, the question is not whether God

has given you a mission field.

He has.

The question is whether you're going

to see it.

Open your eyes.

See the people.

Let God give you his heart, his

burden for them.

Move toward them.

Love them.

Listen to them.

Simply tell them about Jesus.

Because the mission field church is

not somewhere else.

It is right here in your own

backyard.

This past Wednesday, I was seated at

my desk in my office on North

Greenville University campus.

And a couple of students came to

my door.

They were out of breath.

They said, Dr. McQuite, there are

two Latter-day Saint missionaries

out in front of this building.

Now, do you know what I was doing

when they came and told me that I

was working on this message?

I was working on this message.

I thought, well, I can't sit here

and keep working on this message.

I've got to do what this message

says, right?

So I went out, engaged with them,

had a wonderful conversation with

them.

So proud of some of my students who

came alongside of them.

In fact, my wife Ruth this past

Friday saw three of my students

and these two missionaries that

they had met on our campus and

they had taken them out to lunch.

Building relationships with them.

Loving on them.

I invited Friday, I invited, I

mean Wednesday, I invited these two

sister missionaries, they're

female, somewhere between 19 and 20

years of age, see if they would come

to my house for dinner.

They're coming tonight.

So you can be praying about that.

I won't tell you their names just

because I'll keep that, I don't want to

get that out in the open.

But pray for them.

They're going to be at my house

tonight along with several other of

my students.

For a time, we're just going to, we're

not going to try to debate with them,

we're not going to try to argue with

them, we're not going to try to win

some theological argument with them.

We're going to love them.

We're going to listen to them.

And we're going to let them see

Jesus in us.

You can do the same thing.

Because the mission field is not

somewhere else.

It is right here in your own

backyard.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your

word.

Thank you for how it encourages us

at times.

Thank you for how it challenges us

at times.

Thank you for how it convicts us

at times.

And Lord, what we've said this morning

about Latter-day Saints would apply

to anybody in our community who does

not know you.

Help us to see, Father, that the

mission field is right here in our

own backyard.

And as we come to this time of

invitation and commitment, Lord, if

there are decisions that need to be

made of any sort, I pray that your

people would bow their hearts and

their knees before you and say, Lord,

I'll be that missionary.

I'll make a difference here in my

community.

I'll see it as a mission field.

I'll be burdened by what I see.

I'll move toward people.

I'll try to understand them and I

will share Jesus with them.

God, may this be the prayer of each

of our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.