Missions "Mythbusters"

January 21, 2009 – 11:20 am

J. Herbert Kane in his missions classic Understanding Christian Missions, attempts to debunk 9 popular missions myths. We will post each of these “mythbusters” in a series entitled “Missions ‘Mythbusters’” and offer critique and elaboration to the issues that Kane surfaces.

Kane’s introduction:

There is a great deal of confused thinking these days with regard to various aspects of Christian missions. Church members continue to support missions, mostly with their money, sometimes with their prayers; but they seldom read literature dealing with missionary strategy and policy. Most of them know little or nothing about the progress of the past or the nature and extent of the problems that remain. Much of their information comes through the annual missionary conference, and this is usually more inspirational than informational. Hence the myths persist. In this section we can only deal with the more obvious myths.¹

¹Kane, J. Herbert. Understanding Christian Missions. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986), p. 16. ISBN: 0801054508.

Next post: Myth #1: The myth of the vanishing missionary.

FYI, you can buy Understanding Christian Missions (hardcover) for as cheap as $4.50 and read along with us.

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