David Rogers

A big thank you to any of you who may have stuck with me all the way through this entire series, which I broke up into smaller chunks in order to make it easier to digest. Now that all the posts are up, if anyone happens to want to read through the whole thing in order to get a better look at what I am saying in context, here is an index of all the links that will help you to do just that: Introduction Barrier #1: The Geographic Barrier Barrier #2: The Linguistic Barrier Barrier #3: The Cultural Barrier Barrier #4: The Social Barrier Barrier #5: The Spiritual Barrier Barrier #6: The … [Read more...] about Index to World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Great Commission

Sequencing the Seven Barriers Missiology is not an exact science. For every rule, there are undoubtedly many exceptions. It would be a crass oversimplification to attempt to reduce the missionary task to a series of “easy steps to success.” However, this does not negate the fact there are certain logical sequential patterns in which efforts to overcome the barriers to the fulfillment of the Great Commission normally take place. At times, failing to take into account or intentionally going against these natural patterns may produce unfavorable consequences for the advance of missionary work in … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Sequencing the Seven Barriers/ Conclusion)

The Logistic Barrier As stated above, in order to be truly effective, Christian discipleship should take place in a context of one-on-one or small group meetings. However, the enormity of the task before us, in terms of unevangelized and undiscipled peoples and individuals, makes a slow, plodding, one-by-one addition model of discipleship ultimately inadequate if we are to make disciples from among all the nations of the earth. Jesus said, in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” In order to truly be … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #7: The Logistic Barrier)

The Communicational Barrier Efforts to overcome the sixth barrier are, in many ways, the very core of the missionary task. This is the challenge of effectively communicating the gospel. It is possible to successfully overcome all of the first five barriers and yet make no real progress toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission if one does not actually communicate the gospel to those people who are in need of a Savior. As Romans 10:14 says, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #6: The Communicational Barrier)

The Spiritual Barrier When one looks around the world at settings in which there is significant resistance to the advance of the gospel, the most important barrier to be overcome is often of a specifically spiritual nature. This barrier manifests itself through an assortment of different symptoms, such as spiritual indifference, hard hearts, spiritual blindness, and spiritual strongholds. Whenever these are the real cause of slow response to the gospel, methods that are normally effective for overcoming other barriers will have little effect. Spiritual problems require spiritual … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #5: The Spiritual Barrier)

The Social Barrier The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh barriers are somewhat different from the first three in that they are not unique to cross-cultural contexts. The “social barrier,” in particular, must be taken into account even in contexts in which the communicational sender is from a background that is culturally near to that of the receptor. The “social barrier” has to do with the related issues of credibility and trust. To a certain degree, these issues are tied into a successful overcoming of the first three barriers. Though there are some exceptions to the rule, someone who is … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #4: The Social Barrier)

The Cultural Barrier Closely related to the “linguistic barrier” is the “cultural barrier.” Actually, however, they are not the same, and warrant separate treatment in an itemized description of the missionary task. Those without a good understanding of cross-cultural dynamics and the complexity of human relationships and communication often make the mistaken assumption that, as long as an accurate linguistic translation has been made, effective communication has taken place. However, effective communication involves much more than language alone. As alluded to in the previous reference … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #3: The Cultural Barrier)

The Linguistic Barrier Once divinely called missionary workers are sent out to the comparatively needy mission fields of the world, in the great majority of cases, they are immediately confronted with another significant barrier to the fulfillment of the Great Commission: the people to whom they are sent speak a different language. In order for disciples to be made, understandable communication must first take place between the sender and the receptor of the message. In contrast to other religious perspectives in which the communication of the message depends on a mutual understanding of … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #2: The Linguistic Barrier)

The Geographic Barrier If the objective of the Great Commission is to make disciples of every nation, it naturally follows that, in order to accomplish this task, one must first go where the people are. Though the Greek participle poreuthentes, translated “go” or "going" in most English versions of Matthew 28:19, does not necessarily connote geographic movement, it is a logical implication of the overall force of the verse. Verses such as Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to … [Read more...] about World Missions: Overcoming Barriers to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission (Barrier #1: The Geographic Barrier)