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Citizens of heaven with American passports
by Frank Decker

As I write this, the invasion of Iraq by American forces has just taken place. By the time this is published, the outcome of the war may well be determined. Nonetheless, this crisis is illustrative of an issue that American missionaries must face every day: identity and purpose. There is a unique challenge to the missionary or work team member sent as a servant, yet whose passport is issued by a nation that is wealthy and powerful.

 Missionary linguist Dr. Donald Larson used the term “deparochialization” as the necessary process by which a missionary in training must understand the difference between what she believes because she is an American, and what she believes because she is a disciple of Jesus. The goal of deparochialization is to enable one’s ministry to convey the latter transcendent values while minimizing the former ones.

In a recent meeting, a group of European Christians was preparing to host a work team from the United States. Previously, they had received teams that had members who were pushy, loud, and operated on their own agenda, without listening to their hosts. Now, it seemed that this next team was exhibiting in their initial correspondence some of these same attitudes. One of the leaders in the meeting vented her frustration by complaining that American visitors often seemed to be condescending and colloquial. She then looked over at a resident missionary who was the only American present at the meeting and said, “Of course, Andrew, you are not a typical American.”

As an American, I can choose to be offended by that story. Or, as an ambassador for Christ, I can accept its inherent challenge.

When my family and I first served in West Africa, our host government was a military dictatorship. Seldom before in my life had I appreciated the value of the political freedom that I had left behind in the United States. It was something that I had probably taken for granted. When, as a missionary, there were times I felt cheated (and there was no Better Business Bureau to which I could run, nor customer service department to which I could complain), I realized that my understanding of personal “rights” came more from my cultural heritage rather than my identity as a disciple of Jesus.

I believe that freedom and the sanctity of human life are values that come from above. But there is a huge difference between one’s right to freedom and one’s right to a certain standard of living. I believe it is a common mistake to confuse the two.

In 1957 Mabel Williamson wrote a book for missionaries. The title asks the question “Have We No Rights?” She then challenges the missionary to examine certain rights that, as Americans, we assume are universal, such as the right to privacy, the right to a “normal” standard of living, the right to ordinary safeguards of good health, the right to feel superior, and the right to run things. Her final chapter about Jesus is entitled “He Had No Rights.”

In a world where about one-third of the population lives on two dollars a day or less, there is something unseemly about the missionary who complains because his computer won’t function or the air conditioner on his truck is broken. I have seen that missionary. There are times when I have been that missionary. But during those times, I was thankful for hosts who extended grace and enabled me to learn from my mistakes.

Cultural humility is not something that comes easily to citizens of a country that is wealthy and powerful. As long as our country is perceived as the most powerful one on the planet, we will always be viewed from the outside with a measure of suspicion. Motives for going to war will be seen as efforts to insure our elevated standard of living rather than attempts to promote freedom and combat terrorism. 

Every year on the anniversary of the 1986 American bombing of Libya, a demonstration was held at the American embassy in the African city where we lived. We expatriates were usually advised to stay home on those days. During such times, I remember asking myself, “Do my African friends see me primarily as an American? Or do they see me first and foremost as a disciple of Jesus who also happens to be an American?” The degree to which the latter is true is the degree to which one’s ministry will truly represent Jesus incarnate.

Therein lies the challenge to the ambassador for Christ who carries an American passport.



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