Calvary Road Baptist Church
“MISSION TRIP REPORT - OUR PARTNER IN INDIA”
Matthew 28.18-20
My text is Matthew 28.18–20:
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Properly understood, this passage establishes the marching orders for a New Testament Church. The passage is usually (and erroneously) understood by Protestants to be the Lord’s authorization for every Christian to evangelize the lost. Such a view of the Great Commission is incorrect because baptism is properly understood to be a congregational ordinance and no individual is the authorized to administer believer baptism. The authority to baptize is only delegated to rightly constituted Church congregations.
As well, the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ is a task Church congregations do not seek to accomplish on their own, but look to collaborate with other Churches of like faith and practice to discharge this holy privilege, and establish Churches of Jesus Christ to collaborate with where duly constituted Churches do not exist. Our charge, then, is to evangelize, baptize, and then train disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ. Where rightly constituted Church congregations exist, we seek to partner with them. Where rightly constituted Church congregations do not exist, we seek to establish such Church congregations.
Prayerful and energetic involvement in the Great Commission to establish Churches is what distinguishes a missionary Baptist Church such as ours from uninformed or uninvolved gaggles of professing Christians. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, support missionaries. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, pray for missionaries. We, which is to say missionary Baptists, send missionaries. Our goal is not limited to evangelism, however.
Our goal is the establishing of missionary Baptist Churches, who are then authorized by this same Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to reach their neighborhood and to partner with us in reaching still other neighborhoods by establishing missionary Baptist Churches. Falling short of this congregational involvement in the evangelism of sinners with the goal of adding them to Churches by bringing them to Christ, seeing to their believer baptism and membership in a missionary Baptist Church where they will be trained to serve the Savior, and establishing new missionary Baptist Churches, is disobedience to the Lord Jesus Christ who commissioned us.
That I have the privilege of pastoring a congregation of people who are missions-minded and allow me from time to time to go to the mission field to encourage missionaries, to encourage congregations, and to both evaluate and learn from our missionaries, is of profound benefit in a variety of ways.
By visiting the mission field a pastor sees things he needs to see to be more effective at home. By visiting the mission field a pastor learns things he needs to know to lead his congregation more effectively with respect to missions. By God’s grace, you have enabled me to gain perspective and wisdom not available to me by other means.
Thank you for the privilege. I appreciate the opportunity.
First, FOR CONTEXT, LET ME EVER SO BRIEFLY REVIEW THE MODERN MISSIONS MOVEMENT
By its nature the faith once delivered to the saints is expansive. One cannot embrace the good news that a Savior has come without a corresponding desire to share that good news with others. Energized by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, this explains the reach of the Gospel in less than a century from Jerusalem to at least Spain in the West, from Jerusalem to Africa in the South, from Jerusalem all the way to India in the East, and who knows how far to the North?
On our final day in India before flying back to Los Angeles, David Mallipudi took us to the large city of Chennai, population of around nine million, which used to be known as Madras.[1] In that city he took us to three locations associated with the apostle of Jesus Christ named Thomas. David first took us to the cave where the apostle hid from those who sought to kill him. He then took us to the hilltop some ways away where Thomas was apprehended and murdered. Finally, he took us to the reputed site of Thomas’ burial. The southeast coast of India is a long way from Jerusalem, illustrating the reach of the Gospel before the end of the first century.
After the first three centuries of the Christian era the spread of the Gospel slowed down, as error crept in and professing Christians began to persecute those who remained true to the faith. For many centuries real Christians were brutally oppressed by state churches that greatly hindered the spread of the Gospel.
In God’s providence, the world dominating British Empire encircled the globe, creating the circumstances that led to the modern missions movement. It was a small group of Baptists in England, enabled to go to regions dominated by the British Empire, who first went to the subcontinent of India, then to the East Asian region of China, and also to Africa.
As the apostles in the first century took advantage of the relative tranquility imposed upon the world by the brutal Roman Empire, called the Pax Romana, the modern missions movement was spawned by the relative tranquility imposed upon regions that became accessible to missionaries. The impulse to start Churches spread from England to the infant nation of the United States, resulting in thousands of Churches being established both here and abroad.
We are the heirs of that movement, that began in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and was revitalized by the good grace of God more than two centuries ago.
Next, THE GOSPEL WE PREACH
Expansive movements are one thing, but expansive movements are little more than mass manipulations using propaganda and coercion, except when the Gospel is proclaimed. When the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is what impels and compels the expansion of the missions movement, it is truly a grassroots movement that results from individual conversions of sinners to Jesus Christ.
More than 2000 years ago the virgin born Son of God came on the scene, born in the dusty little village of Bethlehem, reared in the slightly larger town of Nazareth, and began His public ministry when He was baptized in the Jordan River by His cousin John the Baptist. Different than anyone who had ever walked the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ was eternal God who became a man, lived a sinless life among us, died a sacrificial death on behalf of us, and rose from the dead on the third day to demonstrate that He was more than a man, that His sacrifice for sins was acceptable to God the Father, and that He had triumphed over sin, death, Hell, and the grave.
Enthroned at the Father’s right hand on high for more than 2000 years, the Lord Jesus Christ is both our Savior and our Advocate. Those who come to Him by faith are justified in the sight of God, with peace the result of our Lord Jesus Christ’s blood shed on our behalf.[2]
Yes, it is the foolishness of preaching, when that preaching is the straightforward declaration of Gospel truth, that God uses as the means of saving sinners from their sins. And when a movement is the result of the individuals in that movement coming to faith in Christ, becoming new creatures in Christ,[3] indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God,[4] with Churches being established to advance the Gospel even farther.
How far has the Gospel advanced? It has advanced to the other side of the world. It has advanced to the remote valleys that separate the highest and most insurmountable mountains to be found anywhere in the world and to the most populous nations on earth.
Third, OUR COMMISSION AND MESSAGE MERGES
Would it not be wonderful for God to raise up people in our Church to involve themselves in evangelism, both reaching individuals nearby and also establishing congregations far away? Someone once said “The light that shines farthest shines brightest at home.” No doubt a missionary, a missions-minded pastor, or a strong supporter of missions in a Church can effectively reach family, neighbors, and colleagues.
Calvary Road Baptist Church has a commission from the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that commission at the beginning of this message. Calvary Road Baptist Church also has a message, the Gospel. The way the commission is to be executed is by means of the message being declared and those responding to the message being properly tended to.
But what happens when no one from our Church is called by God to pioneer the establishing of another Church? It’s not our job to call people to the mission field. It’s not our job to call people to the Gospel ministry. That’s God’s responsibility, though we are directed to pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers, Matthew 9.38. But until God raises up men and women in our Church for us to send, our only alternative is to seek out others to be our partners, to be their supporters, to be their encouragers.
That is where our commission and our message merges with the commission and the message that is being executed and carried out by others. For 2000 years congregations have partnered with other congregations to send and support Gospel ministers in places they could not go to reach people they could not reach, with the goal of reaching a group, baptizing those new converts, and duly establishing a Church to fulfill in their neighborhood what the missionary had begun.
That is what we have done in India with a man named David Mallipudi. An Indian man providentially prepared, spiritually equipped in an unusual way, he is the son of a fruitful Gospel minister and the grandson of a fruitful Gospel minister. Not called to be a pastor, Indian-born and reared David arrived in the USA in 1970 and obtained a degree from Chapman University. He then married his wife back in India after she received her training as a registered nurse. They lived their lives faithfully attending a Baptist Church in Orange County, raising their family, and visiting India once a year on vacation. Over the course of thirty years, they two succeeded in establishing twelve Baptist Churches in India! The great thing about David Mallipudi and his wife is that they were doing what they did long before anyone in the USA knew what they were doing or helped them in any way. They are the kind of missionary Churches should partner with.
How it all came about I do not precisely know. But their former pastor, a very successful missionary to Hawaii, American Samoa, and New Guinea, Dr. Robert Knutson, was persuaded to return to the USA from the mission field to rescue the dying Church where he had interned many years earlier. Once there, he discerned the unique ministry of the Mallipudis, establishing new Churches in India, though David Mallipudi was not an in front of other people spiritual leader, did not preach and did not teach. Rather, the Mallipudis were prized influencers in the Baptist congregations of their part of India. Somehow discerning their usefulness, Dr. Knutson then persuaded the Mallipudis to seek missionary status, raise some support from Churches, and continue doing in retirement what they had been doing throughout their professional secular careers ... start Churches. And that is how I came to know them. Dr. Knutson said to me, “John, your Church has to support them!” So, we did.
Fourth, THE GOSPEL IN INDIA
If you know anything about the modern missions movement you have heard of William Carey, the English cobbler and Particular Baptist[5] pastor who was the first of the wave of missionaries sent to foreign countries. Carey went to India and was greatly blessed by God. To read more about William Carey and his incalculable impact for Christ and for India, I have copies of this booklet the ushers will give you as you leave the auditorium.[6]
Over the years my wife and I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Mallipudis in their Orange County home when they are not in India,[7] occasional phone calls, and infrequent services at our Church. But I will admit to never truly grasping the significance of their unique ministry in India. All of that changed when we visited them in India and saw for ourselves what we had never seen before.
There is a brutal caste system in India under the influence of profoundly pagan Hinduism. Though technically illegal under current Indian law, caste discrimination still prevails.[8] Even more troubling, it is not unusual in India for someone to lose his or her job for being a Christian. And the current leader of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a virulent anti-Christian Hindu, who leads a political party that espouses “India for Hindus,” despite the number of Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists living in India.
Before the caste system was outlawed, when India was still a British colony, two English missionaries arrived to the region where David’s grandfather, then a teenager, lived. Facing great discouragement, they decided to preach one last time before returning to Great Britain. That last Gospel sermon was used by God to save David’s young grandfather, who became a prolific preacher and successful Church planter.
That young man enjoyed spiritual blessings, and also married and had a number of children. One, David’s father, also became a preacher and Church planter. One of David’s brothers was a pastor and Church planter. But David was never called to lead a congregation. Instead, he migrated to the USA, later married and took his wife to the USA, and served God the whole time while working in business.
With David’s grandfather and father being pastors and Church planters, and his wife’s father also being a pastor, it is understandable that the ministry would be close to their hearts. But God had not called David to stand in front of people and preach the Gospel, or to stand in front of people with an open Bible to teach. They are both soft-spoken and reserved individuals who are most comfortable sitting in the back of the auditorium and drawing no attention to themselves. They are humble.
What does that mean? That means David Mallipudi is not qualified to take oversight of a Church, according to First Timothy 3.1-7. He has no interest in teaching and shies away from any suggestion that he take care of the Church of God, verses 2 and 5. David and his wife are not spiritual leaders of any stripe by an ordinary understanding of the concept. Rather, David is what I call an influencer.
Let me explain. My wife and I were guests in their home for nine days. During that span I sat in amazement as, day after day, three, four, or five different pastors took time off from their jobs, using up to a half day of their time, to come to the Mallipudi home to seek David Mallipudi’s counsel. I have been in the ministry for almost a half century, yet I have never heard of, much less seen, such a thing as that constant stream of pastors seeking wisdom and advice from such a man. The first few days we were there it was a surprise to David’s visitors that guests were there from America, so they weren’t visiting him to impress anyone. Those men, upwards of twenty-five of them, sacrificed a half day’s pay, used up a half day of their time, to spend an hour or two waiting their turn to seek David Mallipudi’s advice. And the number of people in each Church who approached him after the service, asking him to pray for them ... now!
If it was put to me, I would say that David Mallipudi is not a spiritual leader. Leaders have to lead. Leaders have to be out front in some way. David and his wife are nothing like that. What they are is influencers. And what influencers they are! He is never at the front of the auditorium, but without fail the pastor would call him to the front at the conclusion of the service to pray. Every time. Their ministry is remarkable!
Finally, OUR CHURCH’S INVOLVEMENT IN INDIA
I think it would be a mistake for our Church to partner with an American claiming to be called to serve as a missionary in India. For one thing, it is illegal for any foreigner to travel to India to engage in proselytizing, trying to persuade someone to change religious affiliations. Even if it was not illegal, I think it would be a mistake. Let me explain my thinking.
In India, the complexities of discrimination are mind-boggling. Discrimination is based on complexion. Discrimination is also based on last names. Both are an indication of your caste. Then there is discrimination based on your religion. And the multiplicity of languages spoken adding to the complexities of cultural nuances, can be overwhelming.
Vastly better for a Church such as ours is to partner with an Indian to plant Churches in India, than to invest several decades supporting someone trying to learn languages, seeking to discern cultural nuances, who additionally is not legal allowed to do what he is there to do. Thankfully, David and B. Mallipudi are just such specially prepared vessels to partner with.
The fact that Indian pastors go to such lengths to seek wisdom and advice from him attests to his usefulness. And that in addition to David’s insightful remedies for the likelihood of government intrusion by locating Church properties in places where local jurisdictions result in bureaucratic interests in Church affairs very unlikely. Beloved, the man is masterful.
Although I recommended last week that you consider vacation travel to Nepal to expose yourself to Samuel Rai’s ministry, I would not suggest traveling to India for that purpose. Though the Christian populations of those countries are mostly poor, they are most definitely not equally accessible to travelers from other countries.
I hope Baptist pastors will visit David Mallipudi to gain some exposure to his missionary activity. But such a trip will be beneficial only for those pastors who take a keen interest in observing and learning how a not very American approach to Church planting is conducted.
As with the Baptists in Nepal, there is nothing Americans can teach Indian Baptists about Church planting and evangelism, unless it would be to emphasize the unscriptural methods of manipulation and motivation made popular by Charles Finney.[9] God help them both countries have enough Pelagian influence from Charismatics and Pentecostals. They don’t need Pelagianism from Baptists.
David Mallipudi is seventy-five years of age and in pretty good health. I pray God gives him five more effective years of influential ministry and success in encouraging pastors and congregations.
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[1] https://www.britannica.com/place/Chennai
[2] Romans 5.1-9
[3] 2 Corinthians 5.17
[4] 2 Corinthians 1.22; 4.13; 5.5; Galatians 3.2; 5.25; Ephesians 1.13
[5] https://www.gotquestions.org/Particular-Baptists.html
[6] I highly recommend S. Pearce Carey, William Carey: The Father of Modern Missions, (London: The Wakeman Trust, Revised 1993)
[7] They spend monsoon seasons at their Southern California home to escape the torrential rainfall that brings most activities in that region in India to a halt.
[8] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616
[9] See my treatment of Charles G. Finney in John S. Waldrip, Suffer The Children (The tragic legacies of Finney & Bushnell), (Monrovia, CA: Classical Baptist Press, Revised Edition 2022)
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