In November I got the chance to attend my first Christian conference in Japan. It was organised by the Japan Church Planting Institute in a beautiful resort in Shizuoka prefecture. There, some 500 foreign missionaries and Japanese Christians (pastors and lay people) gathered together over 3 days to talk about church planting in Japan. I attended with several of my WEC coworkers and while not engaged in church-planting work myself, I took it as an opportunity to see what the Lord was doing in Japan.
All in all, it was an encouraging experience.
This conference was the largest visual representation of how the Lord is drawing workers from all over the world to Japan and how they are working in close cooperation with Japanese churches. There were many different organisations present from missionary groups, worker to student focused outreach groups, evangelism training, rural church planting networks and many more. I was amazed and really felt my eyes opened to the variety of ways that the Lord was moving people to seek and save the lost. It really felt very thrilling to see this firsthand.
However, to my surprise, the keynote speaker actually had nothing to say about Church planting. In fact, his focus was simply to encourage and to remind us about Jesus. This surprised me as it definitely didn’t fit with what I thought would be preached at a conference on building churches for the Lord.
Actually, despite all the buzz and excitement of the conference, there was a much more sobering undercurrent. Right at the start, the organiser announced that there were to be certain rules of conduct throughout the conference.
Firstly, there was to be no boasting as there could be those around us who could be experiencing great suffering even to the point of giving up. Secondly, we should be concerned about the brother and sister sitting next to us and be ready to support them if needed. Next, there should be honest sharing, even if it meant sharing openly about our doubts and failures in ministry. Lastly, there should be fervent prayer for those who needed encouragement and comfort.
For all the successes that were on display at the conference, it was all masking a lot of pain and frustration. No matter what we were doing we had all experienced struggles in our ministry work. Despite years of labouring to share the gospel, many people in Japan still have yet to hear the Gospel. That was what united all the people who were gathered there. That was what the keynote speaker was trying to do in his message; he knew that all of us there just needed a word of encouragement and a reminder of how Jesus was always with us.
Even though I didn’t learn a lot about church planting during this conference, in the end I actually learnt quite a lot. I saw a lot of faithful people share about their weaknesses, their struggles and confess that they actually had no new ideas or strategies to save the lost. At the end of the day, it all boiled down to simply sharing the gospel and trusting the Lord to establish His church in His time. I was greatly touched by their humility in admitting all this. Despite some of them having worked in Japan for over 30 years, accomplishing amazing things, there was really no secret sauce. The gospel, Jesus Christ, was all that was needed. Christ alone can bring to completion what man cannot.
I won’t forget one of the verses the keynote speaker quoted. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, he shares with them his struggles against the thorn in his flesh. When he pleads to the Lord to relieve him of it, the Lord replies in verse 9:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
As a result Paul’s attitude changes as he realises that his weaknesses are not an obstacle to the work that he is doing. Rather it is through his weaknesses that Christ’s power is made perfect in him.
This is the most important lesson I learnt from this conference. Indeed, dear brothers and sisters of Christ, our weaknesses are not a hindrance to the advancement of the gospel. They are actually a key feature in our cooperation with the Lord. Whenever we confess our sinful desires or our weaknesses to the Lord, we are admitting our reliance on Him and inviting Christ to come and fill us with His power instead. He is the only one who mends broken hearts, heals our wounds and leads us to salvation.
In Singapore, I am grateful that the Gospel has continued to advance and that many profess to have a living faith in the Lord Jesus. That is to me a most precious encouragement and reminder that while things move slowly in Japan, the Lord is working swiftly in other parts of the world. At the conference I saw how all over the world, His Spirit continues to lead and inspire people to be a part of the work of sharing the Gospel. All this He has done through His weak and easily discouraged servants: us.
So, at the end of the year, I would like to invite you to join me not in boasting about our strengths or accomplishments but instead to boast of our weaknesses, so that we return the focus back to the Lord and the great things He has done in our lives. May Christ’s grace be sufficient for us in the new year and His power be made perfect in us.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.