I met with a girl in my church this morning at a Starbucks by my house. She's thinking about going on the mission field for a couple years. She's a college graduate, working at an AIDS hospital. It's not a full-time position, but she picks up shifts getting her close most of the time. I really enjoyed our conversation over a "grande skinny vanilla misto, for here."
grande = 16 oz.
skinny = non fat milk and sugar free vanilla
misto = 2/3 coffee and 1/3 steamed milk
for here = in a ceramic mug (always tastes better in a mug!) Recommendation: get it extra hot so it doesn't cool too quickly. Extra hint: 170 degrees is the hottest you want it - beyond that the milk starts to burn.
By the way this isn't on the menu, so at Starbucks say it just like that and they'll know what you mean. It's basically a less expensive and yet more caffeinated Vanilla Latte. When you're around coffee shops all day you find new and less expensive ways of doing things.
Anyway, I was thinking how so many people today are thinking about going on the mission field. I think some of this can be healthy (like for the person I met with this morning), but some of it is VERY dangerous. If you're thinking about this, or know someone who is here are some things you ought to think through...
Are you being faithful where you are, today? A lot of times we think leaving will help us be faithful to our calling. This is a myth. Sure, for a time you might be more focused, but the reality is you'll eventually fall right back into the same ruts as before. This is a heart issue and those are not geographical issues. Before you leave for the future you have to work out faithfulness today.
Are there circumstances in your life that aren't going well? Too often we think if things are not working out for us where we are that must then mean God wants us to go somewhere else. This is actually flawed theology. Can you imagine Christ thinking that in the garden before he went to the cross? Running from circumstances isn't the answer. What happens if circumstances don't work out overseas? The truth is you'll doubt whether you should've went there or not, maybe even leaving pre-maturely and causing damage to the ongoing ministry in which you get involved. Be careful of the counsel of circumstances. They're powerful, but often deceiving when it comes to determining God's will. Not being able to find a job here doesn't necessarily mean God is calling you somewhere else...
What are your impure motivations for going? The reality is you're never going to have 100% pure motives in anything you do. The question isn't whether or not you have them, it's whether or not you recognize them and keep them in check. Acknowledging your impure motives is vital before you leave.
Are you talking with a spiritual leader/authority about this? If you want to make sure you are hearing God's voice in this you want to make sure you're being called by Him. Your spiritual leader(s) are responsible for guiding you in this - they are accountable (Hebrews 13:17). I would go so far as saying that if you're not willing to submit in this way, you ought not go. That's a sign that you may have problems submitting where ever it is you go, and that could really cause damage there.
Do you have a heart for the people? I've found God's calling is always about people. Although we grow through these experiences, it's not about us. It's about God using us to reach PEOPLE in some capacity. If you don't have a heart for the people, again, I would go so far as saying you ought not go.
I know finding a job isn't easy these days. I also know that discontentment is never pleasurable. But even without a job and experiencing feelings of discontentment missions still might not be the answer for you. Be faithful today, sift through what God is teaching you in midst of the circumstances He has placed you in, get in touch with your sinful pursuits, and ask God to give you a heart for the people you see everyday. Today God has called you where you are. Be there. Blessings as you seek to find God's will for your life...
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Comments
Great advice Chuck! This hits home for me.
This applies to so many things besides just foreign missions, so I really appreciate your wise counsel.
I think you offer some good advice, but I am still not sure if you supported your thesis that it is "VERY dangerous." Scripture often supports the opposite ethos. On many occasions God tells people to 'go' or 'follow' when all reasonable indicators suggest that they should remain wherever they are. I guess I just can't imagine a scenario where someone would be worse off (spiritually) because they did not follow their inclination to go into missions.
Chuck, you said, "Are you being faithful where you are, today? A lot of times we think leaving will help us be faithful to our calling. This is a myth. Sure, for a time you might be more focused, but the reality is you'll eventually fall right back into the same ruts as before. This is a heart issue and those are not geographical issues. Before you leave for the future you have to work out faithfulness today."
I do believe that there is no excuse for not being faithful in the here and now. Missions work isn't a magic wand, which when used activates our spiritual disciplines and faithfulness. However, I do believe and know that missions work opens the doors to change in the servant's life like they couldn't have imagined.
You say it's a heart issue, and not a geographical issue, and I think you are wrong here, friend; I think it's most definitely both. Though the heart may be suffering and tempted and tormented (most hearts are about something), nothing can be worse than staying in the situation causing it, or the situation which makes it easy to do. Point being, if your friends gossip, tell them to stop gossiping or stop spending time with them. And if you can't help but gossip when you are around them, you should probably not spend time with them anymore because they cause you or help you to stumble.
I think creating a new, healthier environment for oneself is biblical. If that means you need to leave the present area and go somewhere else to do it, so be it. If that person who can't pull themselves away from the sin is convicted that a different environment will help, then God bless them. Imagine if Joseph had stayed while the Potiphar's wife undressed in front of him. How would that have helped Joseph make good decisions? Granted, Joseph didn't go and start a ministry so that he could avoid naked seductresses, but he did remove himself and go somewhere else so to stay faithful.
Maybe missions work can put people in a place where they are safer, where they are more inclined to be spiritually disciplined. God will give us good things; God will give us the heart help we need. But if I am hanging out with my pot head friends, and have easy access to internet porn, and close girl friends who don't have many boundaries with me, what am I doing to allow God into my life? Joseph didn't just stand there and resist, he ran! He wanted to stay right with God, and I'm sure something in him wanted the bad stuff too. If running is a sign that you are doing the Godly thing, or getting those things out of your life is a sign of faith, then figure out how to get those things out of your life. Don't hang around to be tempted. You might ask, "so what if you are tempted in the missions field, do you run then, and where to?" I would say it's never going to be perfect and missions work isn't the cure. It, however, is better than staying in a terrible situation.
To finish, I am not saying that missions is the end all be all to these situations of temptation, but if you think it might be, prayerfully give it a try, maybe it is where God wants you, and maybe, by God, it will transform your life.
Chuck, thanks for taking the time to write and post this. I work with students, sometimes in a 2/3 world context. So much emotion, guilt, escapism involved. I appreciate your words of caution. If God is indeed in it, he'll make a way, and he does in the context of community. Thanks for ministry!