Doing the work of the Kingdom…not for recognition, not for material gain.
Jackie Pullinger is a missionary to Hong Kong and you could relate her to a Mother Theresa figure. She works tirelessly and has a vision she and the community of St. Stephen’s are persistent to enact: “Preach the Good News, reach the poor and see people set free through faith in Jesus.”[1] Her book, Chasing the Dragon, is filled with stories capturing the transformation of the poor by the Good News of Jesus. They are flashy but not in a way most would expect. There are no lights, smoke or mirrors, rather the ‘fanciness’ of their ministry is based out of a pure reliance upon the Spirit and the Scripture to see people healed from a life of death and decay. Although they do not advertise or have large showy church services, they are famous. Their reputation comes from those who have left lives of crime, addiction and slavery as the witnesses of God’s work in their lives. However much Jackie and her team are doing, they relay all the glory to God as it is not about them. They seek to do the will of the Father as they emulate Christ in the world.
Pullinger’s text is a memoir of sorts although her focus is never on her life. We learn much about her life and character by the ways she lives and interacts with others, fully focused on the gospel, that Christ’s disciples be multiplied and sent out from the depths of Hong Kong. We do not hear about her husband or her own personal struggles. She tells the stories of the people who God brought into her life and how they responded to His message. She tells of the pain, the tragedy, the need for salvation. Jackie also communicates from the outset that her book’s purpose is to inspire others to chase the dragon rather than to enjoy a good story of someone else’s life. She concludes her introduction with, “There are many more battles to be fought. It would be such fun to be a part of them rather than just read of them. So go! Write your own books. Go!”[2]
As I read Pullinger’s text three thoughts kept running through my mind: “I know people who are that focused on Jesus’ mission in similar settings”; “what does this focus look like for me in my context in the U.S.”; and “why aren’t more Christians like Jackie?”.
Missionaries:
When I consider the people I know who have a laser focus on the gospel and on the poor, I immediately think of missionaries. There seems to be a freedom for missionaries that there isn’t for local church pastors. Maybe it’s because of their adaptability, or getting fully outside their comfort zone of home, or raising their support with a very real faith in God for their livelihood rather than their weekly church attenders. Whatever the reasons, their mission outweighs the burden of their own needs. The stories they tell are not of their life so much as they are of the building of the school, the healing of people with disease, or the radical change of lives to follow Jesus.
US Pastors:
When I consider my own life as a pastor in the US and the pastors I know, particularly from my faith tradition, I realize we have a calling just as our missionary brothers and sisters, to share the Good News of Jesus and to see the poor healed and come to faith in Him. Our approach however, is much different. Many of us have a responsibility to care for the members of our existing community while reaching out beyond the walls into the places of poverty and pain. There is a tension between discipling those in our care and mobilizing them to go out and make disciples. The temptation may be idleness in the comfort of a paycheck and a ‘stable’ job. For some it looks like the need to gather as many as possible, forgetting the necessity of equipping and sending them out. Pastors may grow comfortable with the day to day happenings in the church organization and need a reminder of the battles God has called us into for the sake of the kingdom. We may need some inspiration from a Jackie Pullinger and a fresh look at our own city to see that many more still need the good news, and sharing Jesus with them might change our philosophy of ministry and our current church structure.
Christians:
Why aren’t more Christians more like Jackie Pullinger? Have they not received the Spirit? Has someone handed them and empty gospel? Have they not been exposed to the great needs in our world? Are they consumed by being a consumer? Surely a broad combination of these and other questions apply. Of course, as one who is focused on discipleship and the raising up of the next generation of leaders I look to my own peers, pastors. I wonder what it is that we might need to be able to disciple those in our care so that they might be filled with the Spirit to be compelled to go into the world and share the Good News. Perhaps a revival of the Spirit needs to break out. Perhaps it will take some troubling of the waters for the American and Western church to be enlivened to move in ways that are well known in other parts of the world.
Reflecting on Jackie’s story, I am inspired to look again at my context and ask myself the hard questions about the simplicity of her vision and whether or not Jesus’ gospel is the center of the gospel I preach and live. Will my peers and I risk our own lives and paychecks to make Jesus’ fame known by the life transformation in the regions to which we are called?
[1] Pullinger, Jackie. St. Stephen Society. http://www.ststephenssociety.com/index.php (Accessed May 24, 2018).
[2] Pullinger, Jackie. Chasing the Dragon. Chosen: Minneapolis, MN. 2001.
About the Author
Trisha Welstad
Trisha is passionate about investing in leaders to see them become all God has created them to be. As an ordained Free Methodist elder, Trisha has served with churches in LA and Oregon, leading as a pastor of youth and spiritual formation, a church planter, and as a co-pastor of a church restart. Trisha currently serves as leadership development pastor at Northside Community Church in Newberg, OR. Over the last five years Trisha has directed the Leadership Center, partnering with George Fox and the Free Methodist and Wesleyan Holiness churches. The Leadership Center is a network facilitating the development of new and current Wesleyan leaders, churches and disciples through internships, equipping, mentoring and scholarship. In collaboration with the Leadership Center, Trisha serves as the director of the Institute for Pastoral Thriving at Portland Seminary and with Theologia: George Fox Summer Theology Institute. She is also adjunct faculty at George Fox University. Trisha enjoys throwing parties, growing food, listening to the latest musical creations by Troy Welstad and laughing with her two children.9 responses to “Doing the work of the Kingdom…not for recognition, not for material gain.”
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Trisha,
Thanks for the introduction and acknowledging Pullinger’s humility in service and ministry. I watched her video and was very impressed with her presentation and personally connected with her story and ministry to hard case drug addicts. I know, I used to chase them, arrest them, use them to further justice, and imprison them. Saving addicts from drugs and into the Salvation of Christ is hard work, unappreciated, and filled with set-backs. Getting them sober enough to hear the Gospel is challenging. I have never seen a valid conversion with addicts while high on drugs or under the influence of alcohol.
Getting into the muck and mire of this type of ministry is not for the weak hearted and must be a conviction and calling from the Holy Spirit I believe.
Good post! I’m traveling to the ME starting tomorrow.
Stand firm,
M. Webb
Thanks for this post, Trisha. I appreciated your clear 3-part reflection and how you related it to your own (our own) experience here in the US. I suspect that is one of the main functions of a memoir like this: to cause the reader to stop and think about their own situation in light of what they have read. That’s the power of a testimony like Jackie Pullinger’s. Good questions that you asked and yes, those are ones I’ll also be thinking about.
Hi Trish,
Very piercing final question! Thanks for asking it. Unfortunately, my response probably would not be as pure as Jackie Pullinger’s. Just being honest…
I appreciate the way you broke your Blog down. Very easy to read and follow. Well done!
Trisha,
I enjoyed the approach you took to this blog. Viewing this story and the natural questions that come from reading about someone so willing to follow God into the heart of Chaos makes us begin to ask these great questions.
I do believe that living overseas, or in the US the real question is “what are you willing to surrender to follow God?”. I think no matter where you live the questions is the same but the distractions are a little different. I was listening to a speaker today that said that many move overseas to do work for God, but we need to think that God moved us overseas so He could do work ON us. I was reminded reading your blog that no matter where we live or what job we have, your final question is ultimately about surrender; control, security, paychecks…
thanks for the reminder.
Hi Trisha! You approached this blog the same way I did, but with three different observations…:)
One of your most poignant points was this statement:
There is a tension between discipling those in our care and mobilizing them to go out and make disciples.
This tension or space is the sticking point at most (should I better clarify ‘a lot of’) churches. That comfortable place where people want to be cared for, made comfortable, have fun activities and small groups, but struggle to get OUT the doors and into the pain and poverty in their community.
You mention developing disciples who “go out” as one of your goals in ministry – have you found an effective tool to help your congregants feel comfortable and take action in doing so?
Trisha,
I think all pastors need to take a hard look at how we are equipping our flocks. I was convicted in reading this book that I was not doing what I was called to be. It is a hard thing to look into a mirror and not like what stares back. As pastors we need to look into our own lives to see if we are following our call. Thanks for the insight.
Jason
Trisha,
Thanks for your observations.
I would offer that we don’t see these kind of works frequently in Western contexts because we aren’t desperate enough. We don’t need God. We don’t really need a miracle.
Maybe I should just end there.
Lord, have mercy.
I’m intrigued by your assessment regarding missionaries being more free to be courageous than US pastors, largely because of our job to take care of members. I’ve deeply struggled with this which has finally caused me to step out of the pastorate for some time, though I know I will miss it as well. From your reading last semester, do you think capitalism and consumerism has put the church in a catch-22? Pastors are called to ministry in the church but the people who pay her salary have their own consumer demands, and by nature of the employment situation, the members have power over the pastor. In other words, the Hebrews didn’t hire Moses to lead them through the wilderness, which seems to be a pretty critical piece to their ability to be led. In our context, if the pastor doesn’t please the people, and the people aren’t really following Jesus, they can’t simply replace the pastor for one who will give them what they want. Do you see this system at play in our society and what in the world can be done about it?
Trish, absolutely. I ask myself the same thing when I read stories like this. “What am I even doing with my life???”
This book I had the excuse of, “well Im in America, so its different.” Reading a book called, The Cross and the Switchblade, I did not have that same luxury. It’s very similar to Chasing the Dragon. I think you’d like it.