Tena tātou katoa e te iwi mīhana… (Greetings to all the people in mission)

This month’s whakataukī is: “He rā ki tua” (Better  times are coming).

The hope that we have in Jesus, even in our day, that better times are coming, was wonderfully reiterated at the funeral of one of my mentors last week. As I stood at the back of a packed gospel hall, it occurred to me how many barriers Denise Edwards had had to hurdle as a woman, from the ‘Naki (New Plymouth, Taranaki), within the Open Brethren movement, to have had such a broad range of influence on the local and global Christian scene.

The impact of Denise’s life was felt at BCNZ/Laidlaw, LeaDev-Langham, APCM/Pioneers, and Massey Community Church, among many other churches; as well as the CLTC, SIACS and MEGST theological training institutions. People spoke of her warmth, hospitality, tenacity and intelligence, and I knew her as a woman who loved to develop others (as the Chair of my Board for half a decade she certainly wouldn’t let me rest on my laurels) and championed the cause of women in leadership. For a woman of her era (she was in her late 60’s), this was no mean feat; but Denise always saw better times ahead. Those who spoke, noted her infectious optimism and I can certainly testify as a beneficiary of it.

I have been so blessed by women leaders.

Missions and so-called ‘para-church’ organisations have long been places women have been able to use their gifts and talents in ministry, but not so much in leadership. That’s a tragedy for mission in my opinion. I have been so blessed by women leaders. They have shaped me more than they knew and helped me see a much broader, deeper, richer and a more suffering world than I would have otherwise.

As a recent example, at our Spiritual Leadership Retreat for mission leaders Cathy Hine, an international leader with Interserve, reminded us of the fact that Jesus, as a leader, allowed himself to become unclean while ministering among the unclean. Cathy’s topic was “Influence from the Margins”. Drawing on the example of women that Jesus encountered, who were often multimarginalised, Cathy noted how Jesus responded to their faith.

Illustrated in the image above is the woman with an issue of blood who “touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.’” (Matt. 9:20b-21). It had not occurred to me before that this audacious act of faith made Jesus ceremonially unclean. Cathy saw it. We too easily miss it because Jesus publicly rewards the act and carries on with his ministry—at a synagogue leader’s house no less! How desperate must that leader have been to have allowed an unclean Jesus to take his daughter by the hand. Both the unclean woman and the synagogue leader had their eyes fixed on better times, and they believed Jesus was the means to access those better times.

I wonder sometimes if we minister at ‘arms length’, in condescending fashion, rather than fully engaged, as Jesus was. Do we fear being tainted by those we are ministering to (or alongside)? Are we closed off to the possibility of being led by those who don’t fit our paradigm of leadership, afraid that they’d lead us astray perhaps? Perfect love drives out such fear, and it’s through a unity that embraces diversity out to the furthest margins that the promised better times are ushered forth.

Let us make perfect love our aim as we #stayonmission. 👊🏼

Ma te Atua e manaaki koutou (may you all experience the very best things from God),

Jay