West Port Experiment

Years back, my heart got large for missions — especially urban missions to those on the ‘other side of the tracks.’ At about the same time, I became Reformed (a high octane, old school Presbyterian no less!), putting me in a a sub-subset of a subset. My life and ministry has ever since lived somewhat in the frontiers the unlikely and the implausible. A straightlaced, tall gringo Presbyterian goes out among immigrants, trying to evangelize in broken Spanish and recruit sinners to the “outward and ordinary means” in a humble, little Reformed church 15 minutes to the south. And to sing Psalms. Without musical accompaniment. In English.

I admit that there are all kinds of problems with this model, from a human perspective. But it is actually more plausible than one might think. Yet before I deal with the plausibles, let me first set forth some principles.

The first principle is principle! Principle precedes the practical. We must first determine whether something should be done before we decide whether or not we think it is practical. We ought to go out and bring the Gospel to all. None excluded. Politics quite aside, we may and must not discriminate based on sex, ethnicity, gender, or for that matter even sexual ‘preference.’ By the mandate of our King, we must go and tell them. Yes, as Calvinists, we know that not every “all” means “all.” But “every creature” does in fact mean “every creature.” Even if they don’t look like us, eat like us, or even use our language. It doesn’t matter whether they ‘have papers’ or not, vote Democrat or not. How they got here and whether they should by law be here, is a separate issue for a different discussion (and full disclosure: I lean quite “red” when it comes to immigration policy!). But that they are here means they are here for us to evangelize. And not just gripe about and avoid them as much as possible.

In this vein, we must evangelize our urban cities and their immigrant populations as we are Gospel debtors. Have we (or our ancestors) freely received? We must therefore freely give. All of us Gentile Christians owe it to Jewish fishermen, tax collectors, and especially one rock-ribbed “Hebrew of Hebrews,” that we are even at the Kingdom table, seated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. My ancestors were Viking savages, raping and pillaging their way across the world. But someone left home, came, learned their language and brought them the Gospel. And now I believe, thanks to their heroism. Some of those who read this have Irish and Italian surnames, but now consider themselves generic, American evangelicals. Yet their great-grandparents lived and died under Romish superstition in their Italian- or Gaelic-speaking ghettos. I don’t know anything about Protestant urban missions to Federal Hill in Providence back in the 1920s. I hope my Swedish Lutheran ancestors did me proud and went into these “highways and hedges.” But it was their duty regardless. Or someone’s. Someone who had freely received and should have left their comfortable, upwardly mobile realization of the American dream to go to these “barbarian” huddled masses in need of the pure Gospel.

Further, the Visible Church is one. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:4-5). Not only is the Jew-Gentile barrier dissolved under the Gospel, but all lesser, non-essential distinctions as well. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27-28). All functional divisions of privilege and prejudice must die at the cross, that all people who confess Christ may be one. And that, even one under the same roof when God in providence places people in the same locality (James 2:1-13). Even self-sorting is not in the spirit of the ‘Reformed catholic.’

Last, Presbyterians especially have a duty to reach the unreached and the poorly taught, precisely because (bias alert) they have the purest Gospel. “To whom much is given, much is required.” Westminsterianism must never be a bare hobby, nor its gatherings gated theology-clubs. The doctrine, worship, government, and discipline of historic Presbyterianism is the best thing out there in the religious marketplace. But the supply chain is seized up, and little or nothing Puritan is getting into our grossly underserved (and Pentecostal over-served!) urban centers. This is more than a shame; it is a betrayal. Sadly, too few of us think or feel like Thomas Chalmers, whose heart was burdened for the unchurched masses! “Who cares about the Free Church compared with the Christian good of the people of Scotland? Who cares for any Church, but as an instrument of Christian good?”

Now, for the plausibles. How practical is all this? Well, the Apostle Paul ‘sailed the seven seas’ far, far from home, to preach to very different nations speaking many different languages. But we have the world plopped on our doorstep with a ribbon on it. Almost Amazon-level convenience! I have only to drive ten minutes or less to be right among those from these various countries and cultures. Plus, many of us took Spanish in high-school. Plus, we have GoogleTranslate. Plus, the children of said heathen learn and prefer English and can translate for us. (Believe me, it’s happened here many times.) I’d say this outreach is plausible.

But yes, the language barrier is a real problem. With some care and effort, however, a little Presbyterian church can minister to an immigrant population. Love is enterprising. Puritan John Eliot began learning the language of the heathen natives to bring them the Gospel and utilized bilingual interpreters. It is doable, if were willing to leave our comfort zone and endure some inconvenience. Sure, maybe not everyone interprets. Maybe it’s clunky. Maybe we have to realize our limitations–not every church is equipped to translate for Afghanis, Cambodians, and Ukrainians all at once. But we can’t all keep passing by the Samaritan on the Jericho Road. Can we not all play a part, however small? Must we not?

Also, does this mean two separate labors? The English-speaking church and the wholly separate, non-English mission work? Not at all. In fact, I think full inclusion and integration is the ideal path forward here in the U.S. I say this for several reasons. In terms of principle, the Church is composed largely of families, and families should not be divided (if at all possible). Reformed evangelism is always household-evangelism. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved: and thy house.” We cannot pick and choose, taking the English-speakers and leaving the rest behind, if it can at all be helped. And usually it can be helped.

Further, interpretation was the solution for several tongues under one ecclesiastical roof (1 Cor. 145, 13, 27). Yes, the gift of tongues has ceased with the death of the apostles. But Mandarin for Dummies can be a gift too. And thankfully, with the advent of various technologies, there need be little if any interruption of a regular English-speaking service. Such an arrangement may not be ideal (since some visitors may not be able to sing along, etc.), but then again, it’s not ideal to ask Padre y Madre to stay back from church since they don’t know English.

I’m very much of a believer in a ‘both-and’ approach to integrate immigrant households. Implement translation capabilities for the regular worship services (so invited immigrant households can come and worship together), and hold regular or periodic Spanish, French, or Swahili, etc. meetings with or without English translation on the side. I hasten to add that the children of immigrants invariably learn and end up preferring English in this land of the free and home of the brave. No government mandate requires it to happen (witness how many Italian-Americans actually speak Italian). But until total assimilation is reached, love uses means in the meantime.

And in terms of plausibility, add in the locality principle a la Chalmers, and efficiencies go through the roof. Adopt a district, visit it door to door, talk, preach, pray, repeat. Year after year. But that’s a topic all of its own.

But to close, I want to turn this question of plausibility around. Here is a great and tremendous opportunity. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. I never tire of telling folks my encouraging experiences, over and over, in S. Providence. Nowhere have I met with such comparative openness. Never before have I been invited inside, served coffee, allowed to read the Bible, and prayed. I’ve witnessed to so many white middle-class types in my years, people just like me; but I’ve come close at times to shaking the dust off my feet with them. I may not have seen waves of conversions among our local immigrants (that’s the Spirit’s job anyway), but their receptivity is much, much greater. Frankly, I enjoy doing outreach more in S. Providence than in white suburbia because it’s always an adventure and rarely a head-against-a-brick-wall exercise in futility.

Let me also add one last bit. The pragmatist in me also wants to push this for its possible secondary political benefits. Whatever you think about participation in the current political process, I think pretty much anyone who has read this far would agree that voting Democratic is a bad thing. If we can (on the back-end of Gospel work) rescue new immigrant populations from becoming the next political slaves on the great Democrat plantation, that will be a happy byproduct. I have literally been in the house of African immigrants who considered themselves evangelical Christians. They had an idealized (messianic!) portrait of President Barack Obama proudly set out for viewing. Did they have any understanding of what was actually in the Democratic platform? Hardly. In any case, I’m Kingdom first. But if I can indirectly weaken the power of the white, liberal establishment, then let it be.

I could use help. Join me if you like, in any capacity and for any length of time. Or subsidize a helper. Or, put your hand to the plow in your own area and drop me a note of encouragement. Let’s rescue the Gentiles together, Gentile to Gentile. Let’s assimilate them to the Kingdom, including them at the table as they repent and believe the Gospel. And then we can teach them English.