Go into all the world and make them into North Americans?

Miguel Labrador linked to an older post he wrote but one that is quite timely. The post is titled Christian Missions, Making Disciples and Cultural Contamination and it focuses on the inescapable linkage between American evangelical mission work and Western colonialism. This sentence really got me...

I would have to say the my North American brethren are far more prone to making little North Americans then Making Disciples of Jesus.

That is my great fear, that we are sending out missionaries that are perceived to be trying to spread the American church culture and American cultural values rather than spreading the Gospel. It is hard for me to understand but in many parts of the world the arrival of white Westerners is a reminder of the colonial era and that can create a stumbling block for the Gospel. Because of this, it is incumbent on Western Christians to be especially concerned with what we are taking to the mission field and all the more reason we should seek to equip and support indigenous missionaries rather than insisting on sending American missionaries.

Give it a read, it is quite provocative but it is an important topic.