Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 194

The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life, and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis

No writer has had greater impact on me than C. S. Lewis. I find both his fiction and nonfiction to be penetrating and life-shaping. That’s one of the reasons I’m excited to be speaking at this year’s Desiring God National Conference, “The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life, and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis,” in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 27-29. My topic is “C.S. Lewis on Heaven and the New Earth: God’s Eternal Remedy to the Problem of Evil and Suffering.”

John Piper will be giving two plenary messages, and there will be other main sessions from Phil Ryken, Douglas Wilson, Kevin Vanhoozer and me. On Friday, there will be breakout sessions from Lyle Dorsett, Colin Duriez, Joe Rigney, and N.D. Wilson. There will also be a variety of 10-minute short monologues in the exhibit hall related to Lewis. In the words of DG’s David Mathis, “Our hope is this will be the next best thing to visiting Narnia yourself.”

In this 2-minute video, John Piper shares more:

I’m honored to be sharing at the Desiring God conference, which Nanci and I think of as the best we’ve ever participated in (we’ve been to two other DG conferences).  

Raised in a nonchristian home, I came to Christ as a teenager. My first Lewis books were The Problem of Pain, then the Space trilogy, then Mere Christianity. By the time I’d been a believer for two years, Lewis’s fingerprints were all over me.

It was Lewis who convinced me that the same person could write good nonfiction and fiction, and emboldened me to try. Those who read my books know how often I quote him. Lewis’s mentorship and impact on my own life, and indirectly on my ministry, has been profound, and I’m grateful to God for him.

As I shared in part 1 and part 2 of an extended blog about Lewis, I learned long ago what he knew, that an author can become a friend, someone you can rejoin at will and pick up right where you left off. In that sense, Lewis has been my friend now for over forty years. I’m looking forward to the conference not just as a speaker, but also as an eager listener.  

If you’re interested in attending this year’s conference, Desiring God is offering a super early-bird rate of $125 when you register by June 1. Learn more and register on the event page.

         

Related Resources

Book: Lord Foulgrin's Letters
Blog: C. S. Lewis's Influence on My Life and Writing, Part 1
Resource: Randy Alcorn Reminisces About His Visit to C. S. Lewis’s Office in England

Christian Universalism

There’s a movement among Christians today towards what’s called Christian Universalism. It’s a belief that everybody ultimately will be saved—there will be no Hell, or at some point Hell will be depopulated and everyone will live forever with Christ in Heaven. It’s a wonderful thought. But does the Bible really teach it?

In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts:

A lot of people look at all the passages where Jesus talks about Hell and immediately and intuitively realize that no, of course that’s not taught in Scripture. But at the same time, there are passages (which I believe are taken out of context) that “Christian Universalists” cite to prove their viewpoint.

One of those passages is 2 Corinthians 5:19, which says, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.” They point out, “Look, it says ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’ That means not just Christians, but the whole world is reconciled.”

I heard in an interview a Christian Universalist (C. Baxter Kruger) say that there are (according to this passage), 1) those who know they have been reconciled to God in Christ, and 2) those who do not yet know they’ve been reconciled, but the point is that all of us have been reconciled and one day all of us will know that. That sounds pretty persuasive to a lot of people. It certainly sounds attractive.

(Here’s a video in which Baxter Kruger doesn’t say that, but something quite similar. Krueger is now regularly making presentations with Paul Young, author of The Shack. You may wish to see my blog I wrote about the book).

There are some major problems with this position on 2 Corinthians 5, one of which is the issue of context. This interpretation ignores something critical. In verse 19 Paul goes on to say “And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Who’s the “us”? It’s believers who are going out to tell people about the importance of reconciliation. So you say, “Well, that could still just mean telling people they’re already reconciled. There’s nothing they have to do. They’re already going to go to Heaven.” (That obviously undercuts the urgency of the Gospel message, doesn’t it?)

Picking back up in verse 20, Paul says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” What’s he saying? He’s saying that you need to be reconciled, so get reconciled, “be reconciled.” Whatever it means that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, therefore, it does not mean everybody is already reconciled in the sense the word is used in verse 20!

Maybe it means that God did a work of reconciliation that is available to all people and He’s already accomplished that. But to say that this is teaching Christian Universalism negates the larger context, where Paul is challenging believers to go forth as Christ’s ambassadors to take the gospel to the world, that people may be reconciled to God!

There’s numbers of places in the book of 2 Corinthians that refer to believers and unbelievers. In the very next chapter Paul talks about not being yoked together with unbelievers, contrasting light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Clearly Paul’s entire argument rests upon there being a fundamental distinction between regenerate and unregenerate people. Can you imagine him saying that the unbelievers God’s people are not to be yoked with are already reconciled to God just as we are, but just don’t know it yet? No, this is a radical distinction, not just in the potential, but the actual, not in just what is known or not, but what is true or not.

What shall we say about Colossians 1:13, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves”? Is our message to unbelievers to be, “God has already rescued you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into Christ’s kingdom—we just need to tell you”? Is it that “you have already been born again, we just need to tell you”? That “you are already going to Heaven, Hell isn’t even a possibility, and that’s the good news you can enjoy, whether or not you believe it”? Do we say repentance and turning from sin to trust in Christ’s atonement is necessary, or do we say “repentance doesn’t matter, you’ve already been forgiven, you just don’t know it, and haven’t asked for it, but it’s true anyway”?

What’s true of 2 Corinthians 5 is true of all the so-called Universalism passages. If you take them as one verse by itself, it can sound like all people will eventually be saved. But when you compare it to all the other passages, numbers of them spoken by Christ Himself, then you realize that’s a myth. Jesus said there’s a wide road and a wide way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. He also said straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:14). Yes, there will be people from every tribe and nation and language in Heaven, as Revelation 5 and 7 makes joyfully clear; but to say all people will be there is to do great violence to countless passages, including those where Jesus emphatically speaks of the fearful reality of Hell.

(EPM staff member Julia Stager has written some more perspectives on this subject which I find insightful.)

The message of “Christian Universalism” sounds like good news, but it is ultimately a false message that sabotages and undermines the true good news of the Gospel of Jesus.

         

Related Resources

Book: If God Is Good
Blog: Universalism: Will Everyone Go to Heaven?
Resource: Reflections on The Shack

Image credit: Krappweis via sxc.hu

How to Fight Modern-Day Slavery

The problem of human slavery, with at least 30 million known victims in the world today, is a staggering one. [i] There are many organizations and people around the world who are dedicated to fighting this injustice, and this is good. (One such ministry that EPM supports is Make Way Partners and their work in places like Sudan, Romania and Peru.) However, you may not be aware of the ways that you personally can help contribute to this fight.

In this post from Desiring God, Ben Reaoch shares about five ways we can help:

What Christians Do About Modern-Day Slavery

by Ben Reaoch 

If you are a believer, be reminded that you were a slave. Jesus redeemed you from that slave master called sin. And he has given us freedom. Therefore, as freed slaves, we should have a heart for those who continue in bondage — whether spiritual or physical, and in many cases, it’s both. It should be our desire to continue in the path that Jesus set out for us in his earthly ministry: to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18).

An amazing thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it’s a message not only for the oppressed, but also for the oppressors; not only to the victim, but to the perpetrators. Remember, “Love your enemies.” And don’t forget that God saved Saul of Tarsus, who was persecuting the church. Our gut response would be, “Free the slaves, and to hell with the cruel criminals who are keeping them in bondage.” But the gospel goes beyond that.

The good news of Jesus crucified for sinners and victorious over death is a message of hope for both the slave and the human trafficker.

In reality, the human trafficker is a slave as well. The predators are slaves to lust, power, money, and all kinds of perversion. The pimps, the predators, the pedophiles, the traffickers, the enslavers are shackled with bonds of a different kind. So, as Christians, we ought to pray for them. We ought to pray for the sex tourists who travel the world exploiting women and children. We ought to pray for the business owners who are taking advantage of their employees. The gospel is a message of hope for all who will repent and believe.

Five Ways to Fight Evil

Now apart from praying for supernatural conversion of the oppressor, what else can we do to fight against the international epidemic of modern-day slavery?

I have at least five practical action points in mind for the Christian community. I understand that God calls us to various areas of ministry, and we are not all obligated to engage in every area of need. But I do hope to make us aware, and to call many Christians to action, in opposition to this grave evil in our world.

Continue reading.

         

Related Resources

Book: The Treasure Principle
Blog: The Least of These: Street Children
Resource: From Sexual Slavery to Restoration and Rebirth

[i] www.makewaypartners.org/what_we_do.html

Image credit: glendali via sxc.hu

My Thoughts on “The Disappearing Book”

A lot of people have asked me my thoughts about the possible “disappearance” of physical books, due to the fact there are all the different eReaders people are now reading on: the Kindle, the iPad, the Nook, and others.

In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts:

The first thing I say to people is that the book is not disappearing; it’s taking another form. These ebooks are still books. You still read them. Physically, you don’t have a tangible book in your hand, but what some people discover is that they’re reading more because it is so convenient and lightweight for them to have dozens or even hundreds of books on their eReader. I’ve got a Kindle, and I love it.

Now the majority of the books I read are still physical books. That’s because I do a lot of underlining and a lot of notations in the margins. Yes, you can underline in a Kindle and actually type in little notes, but it’s really not built for that. So I love physical books, but I also love ebooks. I’ve got some friends who find themselves reading books much more now because of the convenience of always having it with them. They just love it. You can adjust the font, and you don’t have to have reading glasses if that’s an issue for you.

Another thing that I love about the Kindle (and the same is true of other eReaders), is that you can download audio onto them. So I go to www.audio.com and get a lot of great novels (as well as non-fiction) on audio. I love listening to them. Sometimes I just listen to them in the background.

I actually think that some people are reading more because of ebooks. And listening to an audiobook is a good and convenient form of reading. So to be honest, I’m really not afraid of the reading of physical books disappearing. I think it’s a huge part of human history and of our culture.

My advice is, take books in whatever form you love. There’s something about the feel, the heft, even the smell sometimes of an old book that I just love. But I also enjoy reading ebooks.

The most important thing is this: READ.

How do you like to read? Printed books? An eReader? A tablet? Audiobooks?

         

Related Resources

Book: Eternal Perspectives
Blog: An Alarming Trend: The Illiteracy of Boys
Resource: Setting a Reading Goal

Sports and the Christian Life

In this video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts on Christians participating in and watching sports.

Here’s the deal with sports. The fact is that God made us the way we are, not Satan. We often think that everything about us is because of the Fall and our sinfulness.

Some people look at sports and say, “They bring out the worst in people.” I coached high school tennis for years, so yes, I’ve seen the worst come out in people. But I’ve also seen the best come out in people.

Even in this fallen world, sports can bring out some very good things, including teamwork and the development of physical skills in our bodies that God has made. Can people abuse sports? Can they make it all about themselves? Can they become prideful and arrogant? Of course. We’ve all seen athletes who are prideful and arrogant, and it’s terrible. But I also know athletes who are humble and truly Christ-centered.

As far as watching sports, do some people turn it into a god? Absolutely. Some people turn art and movies into a god. Others turn food or cars into a god. But it doesn’t make any of these things inherently wrong.

I anticipate that on the New Earth we will engage in sports. God has put playfulness and desire to compete in us. Competition doesn’t have to be a bad thing—it can be a good thing if you have a right perspective.

But what about the fact that sports can bring out the worst in some of us? Well, when we’re resurrected and on the New Earth, there will be no worst in us to bring out. It will all be fun. I will rejoice in someone else beating me if there’s competition. I’ll try my best, and when I win I’ll be happy. When I lose I’ll still be happy, because I’ll rejoice that my friend won. We have that to look forward to, and I think it’s something we shouldn’t minimize.

1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, “When you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” If you watch or participate in sports, do it for the glory of God.

I have friends who play in the NFL. They’ve told me (and several other professional athletes from other sports have told me the same thing) that you can say what you want about God and it won’t offend anyone. You can say, “I thank God for this victory”—or maybe it was a defeat—“but I thank God anyway.” You can thank God for staying healthy during a game and people will not turn and look at you. Nobody’s going to get mad at you.

But when you start talking about Jesus and thanking Him, all of a sudden it’s “Wait a minute. I’m not so sure.” If you start talking about Jesus, the One who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me”, that’s different than just talking about “God.” All of a sudden there’s a barrier between you and some of your fellow athletes, and you and the coaches, and in particular you and the media and you and the public. As a professional athlete, if you get serious about Jesus and talk about Him (and this would also apply to an actor or actress in Hollywood), that’s where the challenge is.

That’s why I think a big test of those who are celebrities, and are in the limelight and the public eye, is this: how willing are you to speak up about your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who went to the cross for the sins of all people? That implies some things about people’s sinfulness, and their need to repent and turn to Jesus. Those aren’t popular subjects. I think it’s a test of Christ’s lordship in your life. Are you willing to talk about Him?

True, people are going to talk about it in different ways. Some people are going to be more outspoken than others. But certainly all followers of Christ—no matter what we do—are to speak up for Jesus and share the gospel as God gives us opportunity.

         

Related Resources

Book: Heaven
Blog: Books on Preaching, Managing Time, and Sports Nanci and I Watch: Part 2 of a Q&A
Video: Sports, Art, and Creativity: Part of Being Made in God's Image

Trophy image credit: tome213 via sxc.hu

A Simple Sound Check and the Power of Christ

In We Shall See God, I share a remarkable story that Spurgeon told about an experience early in his ministry:

In 1857, a day or two before preaching at the Crystal Palace, I went to decide where the platform should be fixed; and, in order to test the acoustic properties of the building, cried in a loud voice, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was being done, heard the words, and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He was smitten with conviction on account of sin, put down his tools, went home, and there, after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace and life by beholding the Lamb of God.

It was on his deathbed that this man told the story of his conversion, the result of God speaking to him through a single verse of Scripture uttered by Spurgeon. When Spurgeon preached in that building a day or two later, it was to a crowd of 23,654 people. But such is the power of Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin not only of the world, not only of a potential 23,654 people, but of one lone man working in a building when a preacher came to test the acoustics. This man will be forever grateful that when Spurgeon stood up front to do a sound check, he did not simply count to ten!

      

Related Resources

Book: We Shall See God
Blog: Charles Spurgeon Meets Shai Linne
Resource: Charles Spurgeon: A Man Faithful To God's Word

Happy Mother’s Day to My Wife Nanci and Our Daughters Karina and Angie

In this video, I share some thoughts about my daughters:

I am deeply grateful to the Lord for my wife Nanci and for our daughters Karina and Angie! Nanci is a great mom, and a fantastic grandma. I love the way she cares for our grown daughters, giving them space, but always being interested in their lives, their husbands (both conveniently named Dan) and their children.

I love it when our daughter Karina, now living a thousand miles away, calls her just to talk. And when our daughter Angela, two blocks away, drops by for reasons large and small. I love to hear the laughter—and Nanci’s laughter is delightfully contagious and therapeutic.

I look at Karina and Angie now as moms who are in their thirties—the mothers of my grandsons—and I am just delighted to see their hearts for Christ and the ways God has gifted them. I marvel at my daughters’ love and discipline and wisdom, their grace and truth, and the patient ways they pour themselves into our grandchildren. I marvel at them. I always have, and always will.

I watch Karina with Matthew, Jack and David, and the thoughtful way she approaches each day, creatively laying out a schedule for home schooling and field trips and errands. She knows just how to talk to each of her boys, to motivate and train and encourage them.

I watch Angela with Jake and Ty, driving them to their charter school, picking them up and taking them to their afternoon sports, listening to them and helping them problem-solve. I watch Karina and Angela and their husbands reading Bible stories to their children at night, just like I did to them, and praying with them as Nanci and I did.

This means more to me than I can express, because I grew up in a non-Christian home. I love my Dad, but as a child I heard him come home drunk in the middle of the night, and listened to my parents fight. I have vivid memories, as I lay in bed, of hoping (I didn’t know anything about prayer) that they wouldn’t get a divorce. They’d both been divorced before, so that wasn’t unthinkable. I loved my parents, and had the joy of later leading each of them to Christ.

But to see our daughters and their husbands passing on to their children what I didn’t have as a child brings tears to my eyes. To watch our grandchildren growing up in Christ-centered churches where their fathers and mothers are leaders means more to me than most, because as a child, until I was teenager, I knew nothing of Christ or the church.

A while ago Nanci received an email from Karina that made both of us laugh at how life comes full circle (or as they say, what goes around comes around):

Mom,

Matt [eight years old] is paying me back for every well-organized campaign of logical attack I ever made against taking piano lessons as a child. He has his heart set on a point system for chores which will earn him certain prizes, and will not let a day go by without making some very difficult-to-refute points…. The degree to which he is able to drain my mental energy is absolutely amazing. I can't believe how nice you were to me, and patient. At the time, of course, I thought you were totally unreasonable. :) And yet now... I can only hope to receive an email like this from Matt in 25–30 years. :)

Karina

I remember the girls’ childhood years so specifically, and when I look at them I can always see them as they were at the same age our grandchildren are now.  Because we’re in close touch with Karina and Angie and their families, it’s like we’re reliving those years again.

I remember going into our girls’ room while they were sleeping and praying over them. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I would get up and come in and quietly pray beside their bedside. When our grandsons spend the night with us, before I go to bed I pray over them as they sleep, just as I did my daughters, often in the same room.

(A couple years ago Angie told me, “You know, Dad, when you would come into my room in the middle of the night and pray over me, I was often awake. I would pretend I was asleep but I was aware of you praying for me. And I want you to know how much that meant to me and how much that means to me now looking back.”)

God gave me a wonderful mother, who went to be with Jesus in 1981, ten years after I had the joy of leading her to Christ. (See my tribute to my mom.) God gave me a terrific wife who is also a great mom. And to top it off, God gave us two amazing daughters who are also fantastic moms. I thank God for each of them, none of whom I deserve. And that is the grace of God, isn’t it? To give us in Christ what we don’t deserve.

“For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

      

Related Resources

Book: Help for Women Under Stress
Blog: A Tribute to My Mother

A Joy and a Privilege: Translations of My Books

One of the things I really love getting in the mail is a new translation of one of my books. They’ve been translated now into over 50 different languages. It’s a joy to see what God is doing in other cultures with books that I’ve written.

In this video and the following transcript, I share about some of the translations.

My book Heaven for Kids is in Korean. And when I first got it, I thought, “Isn’t that cute? They’ve got all these Korean kids on the cover, and this old man with a cane.” And then I realized that the old man with the funny-looking hat and cane is supposed to be me!

Heaven for Kids in Indonesian has a cover that includes a Disneyland-like castle, a monkey up in a tree, and green children. Puzzled, I sent an email to a friend who is a missionary in Indonesia and a good photographer. I’ve seen his pictures of Indonesian kids before, and none of them were green! So I asked him, “Are kids green in Indonesia? Are these photos you send color corrected or something?”

He said, “Well, not only are they not green, I have no idea why they would portray Indonesian children as green.” But that is just one of the characteristics of another culture.

Another one I really like is the Danish translation of The Treasure Principle, titled Spar Op I Himlen. What it means is, “Saved up in the Sky.” The idea is, when we invest our treasures in Heaven rather than on Earth as Jesus said, they’re saved up in the sky.

I was really excited to receive a copy of my Heaven book that has been translated into the Nepali language. Back when I was in Bible college, they talked about Nepal and how there were only something like 15,000 believers in the entire country. And now, there’s one-half million, maybe closer to a million, known believers and they are actually having Christian literature translated into their language. That thrills me and most importantly, I think it thrills the heart of God.

Our ministry received this note from a believer in Nepal:

Just got book of why Pro-Life - ( English)  personal I studied ,it’s very useful to my life and my work also need of our Christian community also Our Church youth ,  I long time ago I am working   HIV Ministry , it’s very full to me, at the moment I am spoken some of the  Church and youth get-together ,   I feel your Eternal perspective ministries  need our Place in Nepal , also I am praying.

Thank you

I’ve also been told that the translation of Why ProLife? into Nepali is now in progress. Why ProLife? is a book has been translated into (or is currently being translated) into over 30 languages, which is wonderful because of the potential impact it can have in saving the lives of unborn children. Here’s another response we received about Why ProLife?, this one about the Russian version of the book:

I was especially excited to see the translation of Purity Principle and Why Prolife? into Russian. The Soviet system really aimed to demolish the family, with abortion the only "official" birth control, and I deal with women often here in Kazakhstan who have undergone numerous abortions (especially middle-aged and older women), and are now dealing with the pain of them all. Immorality among the young is as rampant as in the West, with very little responsibility. —J. O., Kazak Reader

People of every tribe and nation and language are being reached through the translation of Scripture as well as Christian literature. What a thrill and a privilege to have my books translated into so many different languages. (You can see the full list of translated versions on our site.)

      

Related Resources

Book: Heaven for Kids
Blog: The Word of God Entering a Tribe's Language
Resource: In Many Tongues: Randy's Books on Other Languages

Girl image credit: flaivoloka via sxc.hu

The Most Important Thing About Us

In his great book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

In this video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts about the quote and book:

I remember having lunch a couple years ago with Gerry Breshears, theology professor at Western Seminary, and Bruce Ware, who teaches theology at Southern Seminary. We were there with another friend.

Bruce asked me the question, “Randy, of all books besides the Bible itself, what book has had the greatest influence on your life?” And I said, “That’s easy to answer. Without a doubt it’s A. W. Tozer’s book The Knowledge of the Holy.”

Bruce looked at me and said, “You’re kidding. That’s the book that has had the biggest influence on my life.”

And then Gerry Breshears said, “I’m not kidding! That’s the number one book for me.”

The Knowledge of the Holy is a book that I think people need to read, because Tozer writes things like this: the most important thing about any of us is what we think of God. He says that if you know what a person really believes in his or her heart that God is like, you will be able to predict with certainty the spiritual future of that person.

What we think about God determines so much about us. If we get it wrong about God, it doesn’t matter in some ways what else we get right.

Look at Jesus. Who is Jesus? If you don’t believe He is God incarnate in human flesh, if you don’t believe He could take upon Himself the sins of the whole world and be that perfect, sinless, infinitely holy sacrifice on our behalf, then you can say you “believe” in Jesus. You can say you “believe” in God. But in the end, does it really matter? Because is the God you are talking about the real God of the Bible? Is the Jesus you’re talking about the real Jesus?

Now I’ll ask you: besides the Bible, what book has had the most profound influence on your life?

      

Related Resources

Book: We Shall See God 
Blog: My Favorite Nonfiction Books
Resource: A Tenuous Hope Versus a Certain Truth

Peace Child Revisited, 50 Years After First Contact

Many years ago I read Peace Child by Don Richardson. This great missions story had a strong impact on my life, demonstrating the power of the gospel in a primitive culture. I also read and enjoyed Don’s books Lords of the Earth and Eternity in Their Hearts. It was a privilege 25 years ago to have Don come speak at our church.

Here’s the basic story behind Peace Child: In 1962, Don, his wife Carol, and their 7-month-old son went to Dutch New Guinea to minister to the Sawis, a group of cannibalistic headhunters. Don immersed himself in learning the complex language, and began working to teach them about salvation in Jesus. But the cultural barriers made this seemingly impossible, especially because of the value the culture placed on treachery and deception. Ruth A. Tucker writes:

As he learned the language and lived with the people, he became more aware of the gulf that separated his Christian worldview from the worldview of the Sawi: "In their eyes, Judas, not Jesus, was the hero of the Gospels, Jesus was just the dupe to be laughed at." Eventually Richardson discovered what he referred to as a Redemptive Analogy that pointed to the Incarnate Christ far more clearly than any biblical passage alone could have done. What he discovered was the Sawi concept of the Peace Child. [i]

During this time, the village Don and Carol were living in was attacked by an enemy tribe. Weeks of fighting ensued, and the Richardsons were considering leaving. Motivated to stop the fighting, the chief of Don’s tribe paid the price of peace: in a ceremony, the chief took his own infant son and placed him in the arms his adversary. The child would live with the enemy tribe for the rest of his life; as long as he lived, there was peace between the tribes.

Don wrote: "If a man would actually give his own son to his enemies, that man could be trusted!" Through this analogy of Jesus being the ultimate peace child who will never die, Don was able to reach the Sawi with the truth of the gospel. Eventually the New Testament was published in their language, and many villagers placed their trust in Christ.

It was a great delight to me to watch this 15-minute video showing the recent return of Don Richardson, now 77, to the tribe that he and his wife and young son had gone to 50 years ago. One of his sons narrates. If you have read Peace Child this will affect you deeply, and even if you haven’t you will see the power of the gospel of God’s grace. And this will stir your heart toward global missions—either to go out as a missionary, or to pray more and give more to God’s kingdom work:

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:10). 

      

Thanks to Stephanie Anderson for helping me with the background on Peace Child.

[i] Tucker, Ruth (1983). From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan

Related Resources

Book: Money, Possessions and Eternity
Blog: World Evangelism Statistics, and Missions Giving
Resource: Scriptural Principles for Giving