牧师必读的一本宣教书20Quotes from a Missions Book Every Pastor Should Read
Matt Smethurst 摘录 Duncan Liang 翻译
我读Andy Johnson 的短篇杰作，《宣教：地方教会如何全球化》（Crossway,
2017）时，以下摘录吸引了我的关注。我要毫不夸张地说，每一位宣教士，但特别是每一位牧师，都应读这本书。
The
following quotes caught my attention as I read Andy Johnson’s outstanding
little book, Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global (Crossway, 2017) [review
| excerpt | excerpt | excerpt]. I am not exaggerating when I say that every
missionary—but especially every pastor—should read this book.
“想象有一家地方教会，人清楚知道并认同会众对万民的宣教使命。长老指引会众开展策略性宣教。强调宣教是所有基督徒，而不仅仅只是小众‘宣教俱乐部’要关注的问题。新潮流和要有立刻可见结果的高压专政不能操纵人。教会成员看宣教是全体教会的工作，而不是个人自己私下的活动。在这样的教会里，教会成员把宣教当作教会的一项核心事工，而不是偶然为之的短期项目。教会与宣教士关系深入、认真和长久。欢喜为宣教做奉献是教会预算的基本部分，而不只是偶然和情急之下呼吁的结果。教会成员确实重视宣教到了如此地步，以至于一些人要告别原本的生活，接受教会长期差派。” (19)
“Imagine
a local church where the congregation’s mission to the nations is clear and
agreed upon. Elders guide the congregation toward strategic missions. Missions
is held up as a concern for all Christians, not just the niche ‘missions club.’
The tyranny of new trends and demands for immediate, visible results hold no
sway. Members see missions as the work of the church together rather than the
personal, private activity of the individual. In this church, members see
missions as a core ministry of the church, not an occasional short-term
project. Relationships with missionaries are deep, serious, and lasting. Joyful
giving to missions is a basic part of the church’s budget, not merely the fruit
of occasional and desperate appeals. And members actually value missions enough
that some want to uproot their lives and be sent out long-term by the church.” (19)
“教会是神想出来的主意，是祂普世宣教一个和唯一一个组织方面的计划……任何人发明出来协助宣教的机构都要记住，它们是伴娘，而不是新娘。” (27)
“The
church was God’s idea. It is his one and only organizational plan for world
missions. . . . Any humanly invented organizations that assist in missions must
remember that they are the bridesmaids, not the bride.” (27)
“鼓励你的教会宣教的最好办法，可能就是暂时不讲宣教，而是更多讲福音。我曾见过有的教会努力让教会成员对宣教感到振奋，却没有让他们对福音感到振奋，结果就是可悲。” (32)
“The
best way to encourage your church in missions [may be] to stop talking about
missions for a time and, instead, talk more about the gospel. I’ve seen
churches that have tried to get their members excited about missions without
being excited about the gospel. The
result was pitiful.” (32)
“福音的荣耀——而不是人类的需要——是全球宣教独立持久的动力。”(35)
“The
glory of the gospel—not the neediness of mankind—is the self-sustaining fuel
for global missions.” (35)
“宣教士并不是自封的自由人，他们应当向具体的地方教会负责。”
(39)
“Missionaries
are not just self-styled free agents. They should be accountable to a specific
local church.” (39)
“如果我们选对了人，就无需担心给他们的钱是不是太多。如果你真的担心给宣教士的钱太多，钱会浪费掉，你很有可能就应当把他们召回家，取而代之的是差派值得信赖的宣教士……我们的责任是差派要慎思明辨，而不是支持的时候心存疑惑。”(41)
“If
we choose the right people, we need not worry about giving them too much money.
If you are seriously concerned that excess money given to your missionaries
will be wasted, you should probably bring them home and send out trustworthy
missionaries instead. . . . Our
responsibility is to send discerningly, not support suspiciously.” (41)
“我们与教会成员谈论到万民那里去的时候，我们，而不是某个与教会平行的差传机构，应评价他们的品格，按需要协助他们成长。” (43)
“As
we talk with members of our churches about going to the nations, we—not some
parachurch sending agency—should be the ones to evaluate their character and
help them grow as needed.” (43)
“如果你认真读使徒行传或书信，就会留意到异端、混乱和混合主义常常出现在福音扩展的最前线。因此，我们需要把装备最精良的人派上前线。这样的工作并不是每一个只是喜欢分享自己信仰的基督徒都能做的。我们需要确保我们派出去的人有深入的神学知识，使他们的教导可以在他们听众的生命当中准确复制出来，直到基督再来。” (45)
“If
you carefully read Acts and the Epistles, you will notice that heresy,
confusion, and syncretism most often occur at the edge of gospel expansion.
Therefore, that is where we need our best-equipped people. Such work is not for
every Christian who simply loves to share his or her faith. We need to make
sure those we send possess deep theological knowledge, so that what they teach
can be reproduced in the lives of their hearers with accuracy until Christ
returns.” (45)
“教会是造就忠心宣教士的地方。” (46)
“Churches
are where faithful missionaries are made.” (46)
“宣教预备的核心并不是学习宣教，而是敬虔、认识圣经、有传福音的热心、对基督教会的爱，以及要看到基督得荣耀的激情……我们对福音和教会的认识，远比我们可能运用的任何具体宣教策略重要。” (47, 48)
“The
core of missions preparation is not mission studies. It is godliness and Bible
knowledge and evangelistic zeal and love for Christ’s church and a passion to
see Christ glorified. . . . Our understanding of the gospel and the church is
more important than any specific missionary strategies we might employ.” (47, 48)
“广泛的旅行和国际经验，并不是宣教工作的先决条件。爱福音，生活忠心，有支持的教会，有愿意去的心才是。宣教士并不是拥有各地护照的环球旅行家。最好的宣教士倾向会去一个地方，留在当地，有时在那里度过余生。” (48)
“Extensive
travel and international experience are not prerequisites to missionary work. A
love for the gospel, a faithful life, an affirming church, and a willingness to
go are. Missionaries aren’t world travelers with full passports. The best
missionaries tend to go to one place and stay there, sometimes for the rest of
their lives.” (48)
“地方教会……承担着为它宣教士的福祉负责的责任……让人难过的，许多教会使用与教会平行的差传机构，做法似乎更像是弃权，而不是委派。”(51)
“The
local church . . . retains a responsibility for the welfare of its missionary.
. . . Sadly, many churches use parachurch sending organizations in a manner
that looks more like abdication than delegation.” (51)
“太多的教会用他们支持宣教的广度，而不是深度来衡量他们对万民的爱。我曾见过许多教会走廊里装饰着一幅世界地图，在教会支持一位宣教士的每一个地方钉上一枚图钉。这可能没有问题，但如果教会认定，图钉越多等于宣教的影响更大，这就有问题了。实际上情况常常相反——对一群宣教士微薄的支持，会众几乎不认识他们。但如果我们把广度和深度调换位置，那会怎样？如果教会奉献同样的金钱，但不是给五十个图钉，而是只给五到十个图钉，那会怎样？不是在一家大教会有大量图钉，而是只在全世界三四个地方。这会如何改变局面？”(59–60)
“Too
many churches view the breadth of their missions commitments, rather than the
depth, as the measure of their love for the nations. I’ve seen many a church
hall adorned with a map sprouting pins for every place where the church
supports a missionary. That may be just fine, but not if the church assumes
that having more pins equals more impact for missions. In reality, it often
means the opposite—meager support to a bunch of missionaries barely known by
the congregation. But what if we turned breadth and depth on their heads? What
if a church gave the same amount of money, but instead of fifty pens there were
only five or ten? Or lots of pins in a large church, but in only three or four
places around the world. How might that
change things?” (59–60)
“宣教的目标，就是召集植堂建立其他教会的教会。”
(63)
“The
goal of missions is to gather churches that plant other churches.” (63)
“如果你请一位宣教士讲一讲她上周或上个月做了什么，她就觉得你得罪了她，你就要小心了……愿意为福音搬家到海外，这根本不能反映他们品格、工作能力或工作伦理的状况。” (66)
“If a
missionary is offended that you ask for a description of what she did during
the past week or month, be concerned. . . . A willingness to move overseas for
the gospel doesn’t say anything about their character, competence, or work
ethic.” (66)
“我曾去过几个国家，那里好意的宣教士追求速度和人数的愿望如此强烈，使用的方法如此漫不经心，以至于新的教会宣告成立，然后遭放弃，更多像是灵命流产而不是灵命出生……宣教工作迫切，但并不疯狂。我们盼望有收成，但神从未担保会有怎样的增长速度。”(68)
“I’ve
visited several countries where well-meaning missionaries became so urgent in
their desire for speed and numbers, and so careless in their methods, that new
churches were declared planted and then abandoned in a manner resembling
spiritual abortions more than births. . . . The work of missions is urgent, but
it’s not frantic. We long for a harvest, but God has nowhere guaranteed a rate
of increase.” (68)
“我们绝不应接手撒但的工作，给宣教士施加压力，让他们变得不忠心，以此试探他们犯罪。然而当我们要求人数，暗示要把人数与对他们的支持联系起来，我们就是在这样做了。如果我们像一些人曾经做过那样，微妙传递一种愿望，要有某个受洗人数指标，我们可能就在不经意间取了彼得在马太福音16:23的角色。在那里我们的主责备他：‘撒但，退我后边去吧！你是绊我脚的，因为你不体贴神的意思，只体贴人的意思。’让魔鬼去做牠自己的工作好了，我们不需要帮助牠。” (73)
“We
should never take up Satan’s work by tempting [missionaries] to sin through
pressuring them toward unfaithfulness. Yet we do that when we demand metrics
with an implied link to their support. If we subtly communicate a desire for a
certain quota of baptisms, as some have done, we may unwittingly be taking up
Peter’s role from Matthew 16:23. There our Lord rebukes him, saying, ‘Get
behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind
on the things of God, but on the things of man.’ Let the Devil do his own work.
We needn’t help him.” (73)
“关注长期，这意味着用长期的心态做短宣工作。不是仅仅提供‘宣教经验’，而是考虑短宣工作要协助你们现在支持的已有长期团队的工作。” (84–85)
“Being
long-term focused [means] doing short-term trips with the long-term mindset.
Rather than just providing ‘missions experiences,’ consider trips that support
the work of existing long-term teams to whom you are committed.” (84–85)
“改变一家教会如何宣教的最好方法，不是通过下命令，而是通过教导。” (118)
“The
best way to change how a church does missions is not by decree but by
teaching.” (118)
“我们的忠心可能失败，但神的宣教使命不会失败。基督要得着万民作祂的基业。与神要拯救基督为之而死的每一个儿女这不可阻挡的计划相比，疯狂猜测哪些人会得救，给人罪疚感，这些都是无力的动机。父赐给基督的，祂一个也不会失去，神已选择使用我们在无数的地方教会作祂福音胜利的工人。” (120)
“We
may fail in our faithfulness, but God will not fail in his mission. Christ will
have the nations for his inheritance. Frantic speculation and guilt are weak
motivators compared with the truth of God’s unstoppable plan to rescue every
child for whom Christ dies. Christ will not lose any of those whom the Father
has given him, and God has chosen to use us—in countless local churches—as the
agents of his gospel triumph.” (120)