Question 1

Merle describes early conservative Mennonite missions as sending workers out with “very little preparation and very little direction” and basically saying, “go try and do good stuff”; what does that reveal about what they assumed God would do for them in the gaps, and how do you discern when that kind of “faith” is actually presumption?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
Based on the speaker’s teaching, it reveals an assumption that “it will work out” even without planning, training, or clear objectives—almost expecting God to cover preventable gaps. The transcript doesn’t give a neat test for faith vs. presumption, but it implies that when we neglect wise preparation and then “fumble” through basics, we are being careless rather than faithful.

**Support from Transcript:**
• He says workers were sent with “very little preparation and very little direction,” basically, “go try and do good stuff.”
• He connects the problems to missing foundations: “we’ve floundered… because we don’t have clear-cut objectives” and “often people aren’t given training.”
• He describes the result as repeated scrambling: “you kind of fumble your way through language learning… now you have to do evangelism, and how do you explain the gospel?”
• The interviewer summarizes the mindset as “going into it thinking everything will work out,” and Merle agrees that better preparation could “alleviate” vulnerabilities.
• Merle concludes, “we need to do a better job of preparing people to go,” including skills and “theological training.”

**Discussion Follow-ups**

Question 2

The speaker says missionaries often lacked “clear-cut objectives” and didn’t know “how to do what we’re doing”; what do you think God intends Christian mission to aim at (church planting, discipleship, relief, evangelism), and how does a lack of stated objectives subtly reshape what a team believes the gospel is?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript suggests Christian mission should intentionally aim at evangelism, bringing people to Christ, discipling them, and forming a church, alongside relief work—rather than vague “doing good.” When objectives aren’t stated, workers can lose clarity on “how to explain the gospel” and what is “important,” which can quietly shrink the gospel into general helpfulness.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle lists the traditional mission impulse: “church planting and evangelism and relief work and those kinds of things.”
• He says they “floundered… because we don’t have clear-cut objectives” and lack “an understanding of how to do what we’re doing.”
• He frames mission as a sequence needing clarity: language learning, then “evangelism,” then “how do you bring people to Christ?”
• He adds the next aims: “how do you disciple people, and how do you form a church?”
• He notes confusion without objectives: “The Bible’s a big book, so where do I start and what’s important, what’s not?”

**Discussion Follow-ups**
If a team can’t name its objectives, what will it default to (projects, relationships, relief)? How might that change how they define “success” on the field?

Question 3

Merle notes that people are “often better at doing than we are at understanding why we do what we do”; where do you see that pattern in conservative Anabaptist life today, and what kinds of “why” questions (biblical/theological) do we avoid because the answers might unsettle our traditions?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript mainly applies this pattern to mission settings: people know the practices of their home discipleship system but struggle to explain the reasons and biblical basis when challenged. It suggests we often avoid “why” questions about our beliefs and practices until we are forced by outsiders to give coherent explanations.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle says, “we’ve grown up and we’ve been discipled in a system, and we know what we do.”
• He diagnoses the weakness: “we’re often better at doing than we are at understanding why we do what we do.”
• In a homogeneous community, statements get affirmed socially: someone speaks, “everyone nodded their heads… ‘Yeah, that’s right.’”
• Once transplanted, the same claims get questioned: “Where did you get that idea?” leading to “Well, is it true?”
• He connects the need to preparation: people must understand “the biblical background for their own beliefs and practices” and “coherently explain that.”

**Discussion Follow-ups**
What beliefs/practices do we assume are obvious because our community agrees? If an outsider asked, “Where does that come from in Scripture?” how confident would we be?

Question 4

He describes the shock of moving from an “internal relationships” community where everyone nods along, into a context where people respond, “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard”; what does that dynamic expose about how a community can mistake social reinforcement for biblical truth?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
Based on the speaker’s illustration, the dynamic exposes how agreement inside a close community can feel like “proof,” even when members haven’t learned the biblical basis. When the social reinforcement disappears, people may realize they never had solid reasons—only community affirmation.

**Support from Transcript:**
• He describes a community with “a lot of internal relationships… people who have the same ideas and the same beliefs and practices.”
• In that setting, a statement is made and “everyone nodded their heads and said, ‘Yeah, that’s right. That’s how it is.’”
• After transplanting, the same claim gets rejected: “Where did you get that idea? That’s the craziest thing I ever heard. That can’t be true.”
• The challenged person then questions themselves: “Well, is it true? And where does that come from? And why do we do that?”
• Merle concludes the vulnerability is being “unprepared to explain their beliefs and why they do… what they do.”

**Discussion Follow-ups**
What teachings in our circles might be held mostly because “everyone nods”? How could we build habits of checking Scripture and learning reasons before a crisis forces it?

Question 5

The speaker highlights practical skills like language learning and cross-cultural adjustment alongside theological clarity; what does that pairing suggest about God’s normal way of advancing the gospel through human weakness—through miracles, through competence, or through disciplined learning—and why might some Christians resist that idea?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript suggests God normally advances the gospel through disciplined learning and growing competence, alongside theological clarity—not by bypassing preparation. Some Christians may resist because they expect things to “work out” without training, or they may undervalue skills compared to intentions.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle emphasizes concrete needs: “you have to do language learning. Well, how do you do language learning?”
• He also stresses culture: “skills in language learning and cross-cultural adjustments.”
• He pairs those with doctrine: preparation “also includes theological training and just a discussion of theology.”
• He says the aim is to “understand the Christian faith” and “coherently explain that to someone who doesn’t believe it.”
• The interviewer contrasts training with an approach of “thinking everything will work out,” and Merle agrees preparation would alleviate vulnerabilities.

**Discussion Follow-ups**
Do we treat training as unspiritual, or as part of faithful stewardship? How might disciplined learning itself be a way God strengthens workers in weakness?

Question 6

Merle says missionaries can be “not prepared to explain even the basic elements of Christianity” when facing other religions; if you had to start from scratch with someone who knows nothing, where would you begin in “explaining the gospel,” and what does your starting point reveal about what you think is most important?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript doesn’t lay out a step-by-step gospel outline, but it suggests beginning with a clear, coherent explanation of the gospel that leads to “bringing people to Christ,” drawn from Scripture rather than scattered bits from “a big book.” Where you begin will show what you think is “important” versus secondary.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle says workers may not know “how do you explain the gospel?”
• He highlights the problem of scope: “The Bible’s a big book, so where do I start and what’s important, what’s not?”
• He connects gospel explanation to conversion: “how do you bring people to Christ?”
• He adds next steps that shape what “gospel” means in practice: “how do you disciple people, and how do you form a church?”
• He says missionaries can be unprepared to explain “even the basic elements of Christianity” when meeting “people from other religions.”

**Discussion Follow-ups**
If your first move is to explain Jesus, sin, repentance, or the kingdom, what does that choice reveal about your priorities? How would you keep your message clear and not lost in “the Bible’s a big book” problem?

Question 7

He contrasts untrained Anabaptist workers with other missionaries who “have gone to seminary” and “can explain” their theology; what fears or suspicions do conservative churches have about theological training, and how might those fears actually contribute to the vulnerability Merle is describing?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript doesn’t explicitly name conservative fears about theological training, but it strongly implies that avoiding training leaves workers unable to explain and defend their beliefs when challenged. A reasonable inference is that any suspicion that training is unnecessary can increase the very vulnerability Merle describes.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle contrasts others: missionaries from other denominations “have gone to seminary… been trained in their theology… can explain it.”
• He describes the consequence for untrained workers: they “can get knocked off balance because they’re not sure how to explain what they believe.”
• He calls this a key vulnerability: “they’re vulnerable because they haven’t been prepared.”
• He argues for “theological training… for people to really understand the Christian faith” and the “biblical background for their own beliefs and practices.”
• He notes real losses: “we have lost missionaries” as they interacted with trained outsiders and other faiths.

**Discussion Follow-ups**
What kinds of training do we trust (practical) but hesitate about (theological)? How can churches pursue training without surrendering faith

Question 8

Merle observes that some missionaries conclude conservative Anabaptists are “evangelical Protestant Christians with a few extra added on” and then feel we should “drop those extra things”; what are the “extra things” people tend to treat as optional add-ons, and how would you argue (from Scripture, not habit) whether they are central or peripheral?

Accepted Answer

**Direct Answer**
The transcript does not specify which “extra things” people mean, but Merle insists they are not mere add-ons because “our whole theology” and “approach to church” are “so different” from evangelical Protestantism. His point is that workers need biblical and theological grounding so they can explain why these differences matter rather than discarding them under pressure.

**Support from Transcript:**
• Merle reports a mindset some missionaries develop: conservative Anabaptists are “evangelical Protestant Christians with a few extra added on.”
• He says this can lead to the conclusion: “we ought to just kind of drop those extra things and just merge into the evangelical Protestant Church.”
• He rejects that framing: “in reality, our whole theology is so different and our approach to church is so different.”
• He argues the difference “has value” and there is “a need for [it] in the world now.”
• He says preparation must include “theological training” and the “biblical background for their own beliefs and practices.”

**Discussion Follow-ups**
If the transcript doesn’t list the “extra things,” what would your group put in that category, and why? How would you build

Vulnerability in Missions — Merle Burkholder — Ep. 038

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