Lifetime Achievement Response

Thank you, my brother Steve for that gracious and hyperbolic introduction. Unlike the Academy Awards, when they hand out the Oscars to hopeful but surprised recipients, I knew ahead of time that this evening would come. I received an email from our president Ben Hartley in January, that the Board of Directors had selected me to receive this honor. But unlike tonight, I had no advanced warning, no indication that I would be chosen. And so, when I read Ben’s email, it was such a shock that I broke down and cried—from the surprise of being chosen and from an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

I turned to my wife Laurie and said, “This Award is usually given to thoroughbred racehorses, like Steve Bevans, Dana Robert, Chuck Van Engen, Dan Shaw, Gerald Anderson, Janet Carroll, Bill Burrows, Anjie Dries, George Hunsberger, and others. I’m not a racehorse, I’m just an old plow horse.” Laurie leaned over on the couch, patted my arm and said, “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with a good Clydesdale.” I think I cried even more when she said that.

So, here I am, a work horse, who has given my life to one overarching passion and purpose. That is, to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their own social and cultural context, without having to abandon their birth identity in order to affirm their second birth identity, as a follower of Jesus.

I believe the insights of missiological anthropology have something to contribute to our discussion and understanding of mission. I became an anthropologist to become a better missionary, never ever to become a professor, nor to enter the academic world of missiology. However, by God’s grace, I’ve been able to do that through teaching, writing, and training people for cross-cultural ministry.

The central idea that has driven me all these years is the notion that the incarnation, the historic event of God becoming a human being in the person of Jesus the Jew, born into Roman-occupied Palestine, is more than an important theological doctrine. It is also the model for how we are to join God’s mission in the world. “How is the Incarnation a model for mission?” you may ask. I believe that in the same way that Jesus emptied himself of the power and prestige of being God’s son in order to become a human being (Philippians 2:5-8), we must also empty ourselves of our pride, our prejudice, our posture, and power, in order to identify with those to whom God has sent us. It’s not easy to do, and I have occasionally been called the “prophet of doom and gloom” when it comes to missionary lifestyles, when I encourage them not to try and go native, but rather to live in ways that are appropriate to the social and cultural context that enables them to develop deep and lasting relationships with the people among whom they live and serve.

I’ve had a long and fruitful life, but not without sin and brokenness. The American Society of Missiology has become my intellectual home and its members my tribe. I’ve been active since my very first meeting in 1985, when I met a very young and charming professor from Boston University at the ASM meeting, held at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. That young lady was Dana Robert, and a few years later I would meet Steve Bevans, then Chuck Van Engen, and over time, life-long friendships have been forged with many of you.

In those days we were the new and young kids on the block, now we too have become the old white-haired men and women in the ASM. But we’re not done. God’s mission is still alive and well, around the globe, and as long as God continues to give me plenty of passion, good health, and a sound mind, I intend to keep going and training people on crossing cultures with the gospel, and hopefully be present for our annual meetings on Father’s Day weekend for another 10 to 15 years. Thank you so much for bestowing this honor on me.

I am also grateful to Laurie for 53 years of marriage, lived around the world, including in a grass-hut in the Solomon Islands and a high-rise apartment building in Singapore, and I’m so proud of my children Geoffrey and Julia, and daughter-in-law Kriss Whiteman, who continue to teach me new things about following Jesus in a rapidly changing world. I may not be a thoroughbred racehorse, but I’m a grateful and fulfilled Clydesdale.

In closing, the words of Fanny Crosby, written in 1872, seem just right for this occasion:

To God be the Glory, Great things he hath done.

So loved he the world that he gave us his son.

Praise the Lord, Paise the Lord, Let the earth hear his voice.

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the People Rejoice.

Thank you very much!