Moravian Missions Movement
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[edit] Moravian Missions Movement
[edit] Founder
[edit] Missionaries
[edit] What are the lessons to be learned?
- Based upon the knowledge of the Moravian experiment with missions, what are the lessons to be learned about missions? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Moravian movement that contributed to the lasting lessons for current world missions’ trends?
- Based upon the Moravian missions’ experiment, one can testify that passion and zeal for reaching the lost was at the center of the movement. The desire to evangelize and send missionaries to lost nations is highlighted in the article “Europe’s Moravians: A Pioneer Missionary Church.” For example, on page 274, Colin A. Grant writes, “the missionary obedience of the Moravian Brethren was essentially glad and spontaneous.” As the Moravians moved and evangelized, they were looking for the adventure. In America in particular, we are facing a status quo situation where people have settled into a routine of life. The Moravian movement challenges missionaries and Christians all over the world to dream of a day when missions and thinking of God doing the impossible is normal Christianity as opposed to it being seen as radical in the eyes of the church. One of the strengths of the Moravian movement is the obedience and faith of the Moravians to do the impossible. Today, we too should dream of the impossible and obey God in whatever he calls us to do with regard to missions.
- Another strength of the Moravian movement was its passion for Christ alone. The Moravians sought Christ through fervent prayer and single-mindedness On page 275, Grant emphasizes that the Moravians had a deep and ongoing passion and love for Christ Himself. Today in missions, we need to learn how to keep the message simple because too many times we try to add more to Christ than what is in scripture. If we simply ask, “What does scripture say about Christ,” then we should find better success in our missions endeavors. The strength of the ongoing passion for Christ in the Moravian movement is that Christ remained at the center of the movement. Therefore, today we too should keep Christ at the center of our missions’ endeavors.
- A weakness of the Moravian movement was the lack of emphasis upon church planting. While the Moravians focused on evangelization, they failed to establish a concentrated effort on church planting. Consequently, much of their zeal and passion for the nations was lost because of the lack of permanent fruit in the nations in which they evangelized. The lesson for today’s evangelists and missionaries is that they must find a strategy and a way of doing missions that leaves permanent, lasting fruit. Therefore, the weakness of the Moravian movement teaches the current missions movement to emphasize church planting and lasting fruit as well as evangelization.
- This text contributed by Russell Stanley.
- Taken from the article "Europe's Moravians: A Pioneer Missionary Church" in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader edited by Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne
