Guest Editorial for Dec. 9, 2004
By John Upton
John Upton, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, gave this address during his report to the board at its meeting last week.
Given the current global trends of people migration, our era is one of the most fascinating eras in which to live. It is already having a tremendous impact on our daily lives. But that's nothing compared to the impact it will have on our personal lives, on our economy and on our churches in the future. The makeup of U.S. society is changing daily because of the global human migration, and in 10 years these present trends will greatly affect the fabric of all we experience.
We see the symptoms of these changing trends in several ways already. One involves homeland security. This has affected any number of Virginia Baptist churches. Numerous pastors from other countries, currently serving Virginia Baptist churches, have to deal with religious visa issues. I'm currently talking to four pastors in Virginia who have had their applications denied.
The best I can understand is that this is a reaction by government to the influx of those born outside the U.S. and to the concern for terrorism. Yet, an unintended consequence is that the U.S., once a global society, is quickly turning into a “gated” community. This reaction is symptomatic of the fact that the migration of people groups to the U.S. is growing faster than the system can absorb.
A second, more observable symptom is the number of languages one hears during the typical shopping run, or by observing numerous different food items on the shelves in local grocery stores, or just visiting your local Wal-Mart. A trip to the mall would yield such languages as Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Korean or any other of 40 different family languages spoken in all parts of Virginia.
Why are we all of a sudden noticing this phenomenon across the state and nation? It's because we are living in the greatest age of migration that has ever occurred in human history. From 1990-2000, the migrant population was about 97 million. Just since 2000 to 2003, the migrant population has exceeded 150 million. That's the equivalent of over 60 percent of the population of the U.S. moving at one time to another location.
What is the pattern of this migration? It's from South to North-that is, from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern. As you can imagine, much of this is economically driven. There are many other reasons as well. War and persecution rank high. Economic opportunity is still one of the primary contributors to this global trend. Ninety-five percent of global population growth in the next quarter century will take place in “underdeveloped” countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of these will be born in poverty.
Yet, 60 percent of the world's wealth is in the “developed” countries, which compose 15 percent of the world population. Compound that statistic with the fact that in every developed country the birth rate has dropped below the replacement rate of 2.2 births, including the U.S. That means for the developed countries to maintain their economic viability they must increase the work force, but due to low birth rates the work force is shrinking. Hence, the current massive migration movement to supply the work force. It is estimated that the Spanish-speaking work force (blue collar jobs) will reach 60 percent in Virginia in the next few years.
What should be the response of Virginia Baptists to this huge influx of people moving to the Commonwealth? We need to remember that Christianity has always been a migratory religion and has been from the outset. The Christian faith depends for its growth, and in some places its survival, upon cross-cultural diffusion. All one has to do is read the book of Acts to see how the faith migrated from its Jewish heritage to its Gentile mission. The center of Christendom moved from the Middle East to Europe. Then it moved from Europe to the U.S. Currently, the emergent church is in Africa, with an anticipated population of 350 million Christians by 2025. That's over 100 million more Christians than population in the U.S.
It has been fascinating to see how state Baptist conventions are adjusting to this migration. Several states, for the first time this year, elected non-European background state officers, including Virginia. What we need to realize is that God has given us a tremendous gift. The world is moving our way. There is a major reversal and diffusion of mission enterprise underway. The flow of mission is now primarily south to north and east to west, rather than north to south.
As groups move our way, they will bring their families, food, culture and faith. The good news is that most of those moving our way are Christians. They may do church a bit differently, but they are our brothers and sisters. God is increasing the Christian fellowship in Virginia by bringing to us others who are willing to do God's work by our side. They are coming with a sense of call and feel God has brought them here just as I felt God sent our family to Taiwan when we served there as missionaries. These brothers and sisters want to work side-by-side if we let them. They are waiting to see if we will accept their presence.
After our last annual Baptist General Association of Virginia meeting in November in Roanoke, I could not be more encouraged. There was a spirit at that meeting that showed me we are ready to embrace and welcome these opportunities that God is sending our way through this migration. I felt that Virginia Baptists are ready to be God's people in the 21st century. The spirit among us is healthy and right. I cannot tell you the number of phone calls, emails, letters and personal conversations in which individuals described the annual meeting as: “In all my 27 years of attending the BGAV, this was the best”… “inspirational”… “positive”… “We're headed in the right direction”… “I've never felt better about giving to the BGAV than I do right now”… “Can't wait to get back to our church and tell them we need to ‘act our size.' ”
All those comments say one thing-the mission is back at the center. We were alive at that meeting, and what glorifies God and honors him is when his people are fully alive.
What is that mission? Jesus made it clear in the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin what matters most to God. Jesus made it clear that he will always be in the business of passing out brooms and shepherd's crooks in his hunt for the lost and missing. To be people of God called Virginia Baptists is to be in the hunt for the missing and to challenge our churches to take this hunt up with passion!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of David dancing in front of the Ark of the Covenant. He brought the Ark from a farmhouse where it was being stored back to the center of Jerusalem. It was a time of celebration. In November in Roanoke, we brought the mission back from the edges of our communal life and made it front and center. We could only celebrate.
Remember how David danced before the Ark? Was it pretty? Probably not. He was over 50 years of age, a fighter and a shepherd. Furthermore, he was wearing an ephod. The closest I could come to describing that item of clothing is a hospital gown. Was it pretty? No, but David didn't care. He was in love with God and danced before God with the mission of his life in hand.
Now, David had his detractors. One was Michal, his wife, who watched from an upper window. She sneered when he came home and said, “Aren't you some King, dancing in front of all the servant girls to see!”
Our call is to be truly alive in our mission, in love with the presence of God and what he is doing in this new day. Oh, you can count on it-there will be nay sayers and detractors. Many “Michals” are sitting in the upper windows sneering. You will recognize them because they will be vocal.
We will want to play in the mission of God-but they will say, “Better look at who you are playing with.” We'll want to join others on mission-and they will say, “Better look at all your differences.” We'll want to lift up a strong heritage in Virginia Baptist life-and they will say, “Look at the division it has caused.” Yes, the spirit of Michal is alive and well and will tempt us to retreat into fear.
We need to say to the “Michals” in our midst in essence what David said to his wife. “Michal, I'm not looking at myself. I'm not looking at others looking at me. I will dance before the Lord!”
The time is right and Virginia Baptists are ready to be the truly alive body of Christ in Virginia. Yes, Lord, bring these new partners to us. We will welcome them, walk along side them, and together we will advance the Redeemer's Kingdom!