Since the founding of Frontier Ventures in 1976, we have been about what is “not yet.”1 Meaning that we want to see God’s kingdom come to all peoples, especially those in which that hasn’t happened yet.

We are not presuming that we know what God is doing in any people or place. In fact, over the years, even though we pursue information about how the Kingdom is expanding into new areas, we have learned that we usually know very little of how he is at work. So, when I say we are all about the “edges of the kingdom” or about what is “not yet,” I mean that as best we can tell, God doesn’t seem to have chosen to move among this people group or culture—yet. So, we press on!

The Apostle Paul was increasingly focused this way as a crucial direction for his calling played out. He writes that Christ became a servant to the Jews, in confirmation of the promises to the patriarchs in the Old Testament (OT).2 Then, he notes there is a purpose that, “the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”3 Paul then lists several OT references, of many possible choices.

The “edges” today are where there is less noticeable gospel impact. And they tend to be hard places to live. It can also be difficult to be sure how to best love and serve people effectively in what is a strange, cross-cultural setting to the outsider. I’ve heard many stories of global workers who really don’t know how to engage the people on a deeper level. The complications inherent in sharing Jesus make this more difficult when the belief systems are radically different than our own. I grew up in a “Christian” country, going to church as a child, getting trained in the ministry professionally. All that makes it harder for me to understand someone from a very different background—say a Buddhist in Thailand, or a Hindu in India, or even a Muslim next door!

Some Western mission and church leaders believe that nothing changes in our message when we serve cross- culturally. While the gospel does not change, that does not mean we always say it the same way. We know from many Bible translators, that the words used in a translation may not communicate what we think they mean. That is why they are trying to be careful and understand how something is understood and received. Hopefully, we are growing in our own relationship with the Lord and understand how to live out what the Scriptures mean in our lives.

We can only come into a right relationship with God through his son, Jesus the Messiah. But there are many methods for how we share that message. Over the past 60 years, Western Christians (and some not from the West but trained by us!) often use a simple outline we heard via Billy Graham or someone like him. That is fine and can be a powerful way to share the gospel—if the hearers have a context for it. But many don’t. And we know that most people come to faith through the faithful, sometimes long and patient witness of friends or family, not in mass appeals. If you tell someone in India they are a sinner, they might slug you! They see “sinners” as those “miscreants” or criminals who steal or cause trouble—which they have never done! They do not see everyone as a sinner. The concepts of sin or missing the mark of God’s perfection are not viewed the same.

People who are going to the edges of the Kingdom need to be a bit different. While we want people to be trained and mentored in faith, it seems best for us to send out those who are not “experts” or “professionals” but learners… listeners… alongsiders.4 Those who come across as spiritual know-it-alls can easily create problems they may not see. Better to come alongside someone in relationship to listen and learn caringly and carefully. They may want to hear our story, and hopefully we will have learned enough that we share in a way that is understood. Perhaps then, in God’s timing and sovereignty, that people or place will no longer be an edge.