And in the midst of giving this special attention, I find it a special privilege to suggest to you two very important issues related to world evangelization. First, contrary to popular views within the established church and missions leadership, God is affirming contextualized worship as He releases His worshiping people and communities around the world. Therefore we mission leaders need to even more aggressively pursue contextualized worship as one of the high priority goals on all our mission fields. And second, God is raising up a new breed of missionary specialists, worship and arts ministry specialists to help intentionally accelerate contextualized worship and evangelism in His efforts to penetrate every tongue, tribe and people with His Gospel. Therefore these days we mission and ministry leaders need to even more aggressively pursue weaving this new breed of mission and ministry specialists into the fabric of our other mission specialists and strategies . . . as another high priority goal on all our mission fields.

Many ARE Noticing What God Is Doing

Many readers might already be noticing well how God is making more of us aware of the importance of contextualized worship and arts ministry specialists in world evangelization. But in my role directing a mission board specifically for creative Kingdom servants pursing Kingdom ministry through artistic methods, I'm seeing these realities every week. Let me give you an example. (1)

In July of 1999 - while giving a challenge to over 400 Christians-in-the-arts (2) concerning the task of world evangelization - I looked to the Lord to provoke these Christian artists towards personal involvement in world missions with the following comments:

"Sometimes" says Dallas Willard, an evangelical believer and USC philosophy professor, "important things can be presented in literature and art that cannot be effectively presented in any other way." (3) The arts are absolutely important to God and Christian ministry! And when our time together is said and done, that is what God wants you to know, feel, and experience. Then I told these arts ministry specialists . . .

"You are not strange - you are beautiful.

"You are not crazy - you are passionate.

"You are not eccentric - you are unique.

"You are not bizarre - you are imaginative.

"You are not rebellious - you are innovative.

"God has hard-wired you that way, AND He likes it - and He likes you. Look around! You are NOT alone!! There's a whole room full of us !!!"

And at that, they burst out in a resounding cheer !!

Why do you think they did that? And an even more basic question: why were 250 Christians in dance, 75 Christians in music, 50 Christians in theatre and drama, and 25 others in visual arts, puppets and a few other artistic expressions . . . and most of them with some clear sense of God's tugging them towards ministry - why were all those folks together there to cheer at my comments in the first place?

It was because God's Spirit is already at work shaping the ministry strategies for this coming new Millennium . . . theologically, strategically and tactically-towards the Father's intentions to win new generations of post-moderns to become His worshipers from every tongue, tribe and nation.

For this reason alone, though there are many more, I suggest to you in this paper several strategic reconceptualizations, reconceptualizations we've already been experiencing in the task of world evangelization. Specifically I urge that all of us in Christian ministry leadership:

1. reconceptualize the Great Commission in terms of "winning worshipers" from every tongue, tribe and nation (since worship, in its fullest sense, is what we will engage in fully when we move into our glorified everlasting state once we're done with our earth-bound assignments on His behalf);

2. more energetically embrace the new breed of missionary and ministry specialists God is training up - Kingdom servants specifically suited to reaching into the post-modern cultures of the world, those servants I labeled worship and arts ministry specialists; and in the process,

3. embrace a more Biblical working definition of artistic expression, a definition that will release us to more proactively recruit and deploy these worship and arts ministry specialists in the development of ministry plans, budgets and projects; and do it because we realized God specially equipped them - like He did King David - to sling His Word straight to the hearts of the myriad of diverse and unique cultures of the world.

Now, Note a Good Question and a Helpful Scripture Passage

Why did those 400 Christians-in-the-arts cheer when affirmed for the way God Himself sculpted them? We find a part of the answer in Scripture. Take a look at Exodus 35:30-36:1, for example.

35:30) Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31) and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-32) to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33) to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship. 34) And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35) He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiders in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers-all of them master craftsmen and designers. Ex 36:1)So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded." (NIV)

When you face a passage like this, you have to ask, "Why would God go to all this artistic trouble? Why didn't He just tell this people, 'Listen you all: Just get it. I'm God?'"

The answer is simple: many important things about God - about participation in His worship, about proclaiming His salvation, about shaping His believers' as a contextualized worshiping community - are just too big for words alone. They can only more fully be presented, expressed and embraced through artistically expressed metaphors, symbols and media. In fact - given the reality that God Himself went way beyond words to reveal Himself, His Truth and his salvation offer, in His ultimately contextualized creative revealing of Himself to us . . . the Incarnate Christ Himself; and all the more, as we face the challenge of reaching the Post Modern cultures of today's world - I trust you quickly and clearly see that contextualized worship and artistic ministry strategies are central to accomplishing the biblical mandates of world evangelization before us. I submit that we cannot present the fullness of the Lord, His love and His salvation to a culturally diverse world arena without them.

So many things - related to God, His accessibility, His worship, His reality, His healing and help - must be addressed artistically . . . because they cannot be presented effectively any other way.

God is stimulating contextual worship and arts ministry - and raising up artistic Christians who want to make a difference for God - all over the world.

It is interesting to me to see that this fact is being manifested all throughout our mission community. Just from my own schedule over the last twelve years I've seen it my self; for example: