Ministry in Canada is hard and it’s getting harder.
Church buildings are being redeveloped as condos. More Canadians than ever report having no religious affiliation. “Christianity is in sharp decline,” reports a recent news article. Many Canadians now believe that evangelical Christianity is more damaging to society than beneficial, a new survey reports.
If you look at the news, it’s easy to feel discouraged about the state of the church in Canada.
We shouldn’t ignore the realities of ministry in Canada. Wisdom requires that we face the facts about Canadian society and the church’s place within it. But we shouldn’t dwell on the bad news. Instead, we should focus on the Savior who’s called us to this mission field.
A year into church planting, a friend — an accomplished church planter himself — told me that it would be impossible to plant a church in the community I’d selected. He then told me that even if it was possible, I wasn’t the guy who could do it. It wasn’t the news I wanted to hear, especially since I’d struggled with fear of failure in considering whether or not to plant a church.
I remember reading the story of Jack Miller, a pastor and professor who decided to go to Spain, where people were indifferent to Christ. They “seemed indifferent to religion and Christ. In their minds Christ was remote, powerless, and irrelevant. These attitudes are often typical of the European world,” Miller wrote. What Miller writes describes the attitude of many Canadians today too.
But Miller believed that the Great Commission is true. Jesus told us to make disciples. The Commission is predicated on his authority and empowered by his presence. If Christ has authority, has told us what to do, and has promised his presence, why should we be scared to serve in hard places?
In my early days as a church planter, I’d complain a lot about hard soil. “It’s just tough here,” I’d say. I’d speak about the disinterest, and how the apathy is even worse than opposition.
One day I was confronted by a Christian leader. I don’t think he’d heard me complain about hard soil, but he’d heard others make the same complaint. “I’m so sick of hearing church planters complain about hard soil,” he said. “I wish I heard church planters talk instead about the power of the gospel.” For him, Romans 1:16 counted a lot more than any opposition or apathy we might face.
We need more believers with the conviction of Jack Miller and this Christian leader who saw the power of the gospel, not the hardness of the soil.
Twelve spies surveyed the land that God had promised Israel (Numbers 13). Ten focused on the obstacles; two focused on the presence and power of God. We face a similar choice: will we focus on the obstacles or go to hard places, believing that God will strengthen us for the task?
I’m praying for eyes to see that the fields are white unto harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). I’m praying for workers who are willing to go to hard places believing in the power of the gospel.
Let’s be realistic about the challenges of ministry in Canada. But let’s also believe more in the presence and authority of Jesus who’s sent us, and in the power of the gospel. And then let’s go make disciples.