Navigating the Tension of Fear and Conviction
Often Christians struggle with the tension of obedience to the command of the Great Commission and fear of the repercussions of obedience from the institutions we are employed by. Though many of the large hospitals we work in were started by churches, nuns, or Christian organizations trying to meet the needs of the people in their communities, the healthcare industry as a whole is an environment that is hostile to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although there is an undeniable need to meet the spiritual needs of patients, gospel conversations are often discouraged. This is very confusing for many to navigate and there is little direction for Christians on how to do so. Many missionaries have struggled with this tension over the centuries and have wisdom on how to navigate these murky waters.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Robert Fuqua, a missionary to both Russia and Greece, about navigating through this tension. This is an excerpt of this conversation.
Sara: Robert, thank you again for taking the time to speak with me today. It's an encouragement to me to have the privilege to be around people who love the Lord and have faithfully served him with their lives. As someone who has served the Lord in countries that have historically been closed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you have invaluable encouragement, knowledge and lessons that you could pass on to those of us who are struggling with fear.
Sara: How would you encourage other brothers and sisters to partake in Kingdom-work in settings that are hostile to the gospel?
Robert: I feel we often over complicate Kingdom work, specifically the work of sharing the gospel. We often feel that we need just the right words or just the right gospel-sharing tool, when the reality is, the power of the gospel to change the heart of man depends not on us, but on the Spirit of God to move on hearts. Jesus said, “No one comes to me unless the Father draws him.” Our words don’t possess that power. Our words can be empowered by the Spirit, but make no mistake they aren’t the power. (That being said, do not neglect the incredible privilege we’ve been given to be part of God’s process for gospel transformation.)
Knowing that God provides the only critical piece of Kingdom work (His Holy Spirit) what is left for us to provide? I believe the answer is relationship. The work of the Spirit in the heart of man is a relational work and an individual work. So, as we partner with God in the Kingdom work of sharing the gospel, our primary role is one of establishing personal relationship of one human to another and engaging that person on an individual level.
I believe this is the key to engaging the gospel in a hostile environment. Keep in mind that a “hostile” environment doesn’t remain hostile if a personal relationship is forged. Regardless of surrounding hostility, or restrictions on what you can or cannot say to someone, relationship has a way of removing hostility and fostering civil discourse.
This is the counsel and encouragement I give to brothers and sisters when urged to share the gospel in hostile settings: respectfully show deference to the institutions or governing authorities to the extent that is possible without compromising God’s mandates. Engage relationally with individuals, pray without ceasing as you go and engage, and with an expectant heart, fervently seek opportunities to give an account for the Hope that is within you (as Peter exhorts us to do in 1 Peter 3). Relationship has the power to open doors and hearts, especially where the Spirit of God has gone before you. If He hasn’t gone before you, as Jesus told the 72 he sent out on the first mission trip (Luke 10), and if the door doesn’t open, shake the dust off your feet and move on.
Sara: Can you share one or two personal stories of God's power revealed in this type of environment?
Robert: On many occasions I’ve led teams to Athens, Greece, for outreach to Muslim refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. Often on these trips we’ve served alongside Catholic Charities in a refugee feeding ministry in Athens. Somewhat ironically, the one thing we are forbidden to do at this Christian charity is share anything about our faith with the refugees. If we are caught doing so none of our teams will be allowed to serve in the center again. On the surface, it seems very odd that a Christian charity would be a hostile environment to the gospel. But, when you realize this charity has been granted the right by the Greek government to serve hundreds of refugees a day, and it’s not lost on these Muslim refugees that they are being fed and served by Christians, you realize there may be a method to this madness.
Because the Greek Orthodox Church is a nationalized religion in Greece, it is illegal for any other faith or even another Christian denomination to proselytize (witness for the purpose of evangelizing). Thus, Catholic Charities is granted the freedom to serve refugees contingent on them not proselytizing. So, when we serve alongside them, we have agreed to do the same if we want to continue to have access to several hundred refugees a day, as we serve them, virtually silently in the name of Jesus. It’s what we do with that access that is most important.
Respecting Catholic Charities restrictions on not sharing the gospel, we’ve used the opportunity to make relational connections with refugees and refugee families while serving them there, usually exchanging WhatsApp contact information and following up later in the day, setting appointments for coffee and deeper conversations in various settings, usually multiple times, with the result in most cases being in depth conversations about the gospel, and often resulting in seeing people come to put their faith and trust in Christ.
This story illustrates the impact of relational connection, the work of gospel transformation by the Holy Spirit is a relational and individualistic work. We should never sell short the value of making those relational connections, regardless of the circumstances, and watch expectantly for how God will use them.
Another scenario that comes to mind is when we ministered to orphans during our twenty-plus years in Russia. Like Greece, Russia also has a state religion, The Russian Orthodox Church, and also like Greece, proselytizing by non-Russian Orthodox believers is illegal. This wasn’t the case when we first began ministry in Russia, but once the new religion laws were put in place by Putin, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the law in virtually everything we’d gone there to do.
What wasn’t illegal? Building relationships wasn’t illegal. As God would foresee and establish, by the time the new laws were put in place, our team had already formed trusted relationships with the orphanages, and most importantly, the directors who ran them. Though they knew our team was often in violation of federal law, they had already seen the impact of the gospel on the lives of the children the government had put under their care, and they weren’t about to stand in the way of what they saw God doing.
We serve a relational God, and where He has gone before us and is moving on the hearts of men and women to call them to Himself, never underestimate the spiritually strategic importance of the relationships He may be asking you to forge on His behalf in the wake of the move of the Spirit.
Sara: What encouragement and exhortation do you have for those who are fearful of repercussions to sharing the Gospel in their places of work?
Robert: I can’t address this question without first addressing the issue of fear. If we indeed find ourselves fearful of repercussions, I first would consider the source of our fear. God says throughout Scripture to ‘fear not,’ but he also says repeatedly to “fear God”. Because the Bible makes it clear fear is not of God nor from God, the presence of fear in my life and heart is usually a good sign that I’m wrestling with something not of flesh and blood but of principalities and powers. In response, I would start by asking the [Holy] Spirit who indwells me to overwhelm the spirit of fear attempting to come against me.
Once I’ve given the fear battle over to the Spirit, I would want to consider which repercussions concern me the most. Am I more concerned about the potential repercussions from the institution I serve or the repercussions from disobeying the God I serve?
Sara: How do you balance institutional respect with obedience to God's leading?
Robert: As you may have already been able to guess, I do believe there’s a need for balance here, and a need to respect the institution we may be accountable to, while also being sensitive to and obedient to God’s leading. Hopefully we’d all agree there’s a place for respecting institutions, including governments, up to the point they demand violation of the laws of God. (Most would likely agree there’s a place for civil disobedience to institutions.) At the risk of seeming to over-spiritualize, let me say that I’ve tried to remain cognizant of the fact that it is ultimately God who I must see as my provider, even though he may be using the institution as his means to support.
Sara: How does spiritual warfare influence these environments and how should Christians respond?
Robert: This is an important question. The enemy of God is like a roaring lion on the prowl, seeking to devour. Therefore, we must be on the alert for spiritual attack, especially when we sense a nudge from God to engage darkness. In the healthcare field in particular, I know there’s rarely a day goes by that you don’t find yourself ministering care in a very dark situation. Dark, due simply, to how dark disease and death can be in themselves, as well as the deep darkness of sin that so often is the root of much of the disease you deal with day-to-day. I would say the healthcare profession is one that requires of God’s servants a heightened level of spiritual discernment than most of us require in our day-to-day jobs or routines.
So, my advice to believers in any field is to never go out half-dressed when it comes to putting on the whole armor of God that you may be shielded against the fiery darts of the enemy of God. Then, as you begin to take on fire in the battle, resist the temptation to fight in your own power, but summon the powers of Heaven through prayer and solicit the aid of prayer warriors when you sense you’re entering a particular war zone. We were never meant to do battle alone. Don’t let the enemy fool you into believing otherwise.
Robert is an elder at the Village Church Fort Worth and a church planter, leading teams to share the gospel and start new churches in various locations worldwide. After working in a corporate environment for several decades, Robert and his wife, Ann,3 began working with East West Ministries International. Robert’s career with East West Ministries International started as the Communications Director. By the late ’90s, he and his wife Ann were leading teams to Russia, ministering to orphans. In 2004, they launched a ministry to orphanage graduates, and in 2005, they moved to Russia to launch Hope House. A team of Russians now carry on the ministries as Robert and Ann cheer them on from the sidelines and continue to support them in various capacities. As a minister of the gospel oversees, Robert has the unique perspective of sharing the Gospel in environments that are known for being hostile to the Good News of Jesus Christ.