I am a Missionary…
We have been called a “Missionary” by many people lately. I am not a big fan of that title. Not that the word itself is necessarily negative, but the connotations that come with the title are what I don’t like. Being a “missionary” automatically separates you. It makes you different. And that difference does a few things.
First of all, it automatically makes the “missionary” somebody special. You know, they have all those amazing stories, are super-spiritual and hear God’s voice audibly all day long. They go on these grand adventures, all overseas by the way, find themselves in these impossible situations and then God shows up, rescues them and boom baby…newsletter material.
Secondly, it relieves the “non-missionary” from the responsibility of being who God has called them to be. After all, they aren’t a “missionary” and don’t have to do “missionary” things (OK, I am going to stop putting quotes around that word). The non-missionary just has to go to work, raise their kids, not cheat on their wife or kick the dog and they are good to go. That missionary stuff is for those who are called to be a missionary.
The word mission originates back to 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem, meaning, “act of sending”. It paints the picture of somebody being sent to do some special work in regards to religion. These special people that were sent on these missions were called missionaries. Then maps with yarn are placed in the church lobby, foyer, narthex, or whatever you call it, plaid and bad haircuts become the official uniform and now we have this great divide between those who are missionaries and those who are not.
I am not trying to slam anyone here, I am just trying to understand why we have this grave difference between what we call a missionary and everybody else. As we sit here in Uganda the main difference I see between us and our friends back in the states (which is probably you) is location. Location! Location! Location! We are still doing all the things that are involved in keeping a marriage together, raising a family and taking care of the mundane (groceries, laundry, paying taxes, etc.). We just happen to be doing all of those things on the other side of the world. Granted we do some of those things a bit differently than we did back in Austin, but we still have to do those things.
So as I see it, we are all missionaries. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a missionary. You are sent. The two cannot exist separately. In John 20 Jesus appears to His disciples and sends them. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (vs. 21). I Peter 2 makes it very clear we are all members of the royal priesthood and our role as a priest is to “declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (vs. 9). So as I see it, we are all supposed to be telling the story of how God brought us out of the darkness into the light. We are all to be telling the story of God’s redemption and restoration in our life. We have all been sent, with the authority of a priest, to share the story of the mercy of Jesus! Yes, our locations are different, our cultures are different, but we all have been sent to impact and change the world around us by sharing the Good News that Jesus takes people who are broken (which is most of humanity) and puts them back together again. I am a missionary who has such a message, as are you.
So, we have been sent to Uganda. Where have you been sent? We have been sent to work at Cherish, where have you been sent to work? We have been sent to churches to serve them as we help them minister to their children. What church have you been sent to? Your sent place is boring you say? Your sent place is insignificant you say? The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,” Jesus explains, “which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches” (Matt.13:31-32). The obscure, the small, the seemingly insignificant – this is how God brings about His kingdom. These are words of life for any Christian who wants to see the results of his or her obedience. Though at first and on the surface, the work of God in your life might appear insignificant, but it mysteriously yields an abundant harvest.
So I say, look around and take notice where you have been sent and embrace it. It is by no accident that you have been sent there. In fact I would argue that it is strategic on God’s part that you have been sent there. Might you be sent somewhere else in the future? Maybe, but for now this is where you have been sent. This is where His kingdom needs to be built, and you, fellow missionary, are the one He has chosen.
2 comments
Amen.
Ok, I have heard from Pastors, and my College Pastor that some people are called to be missionaries, and some aren’t. However, I believe we all are Missionairies in our own ways be it on the way to work with a friend in the car, the grocery store down the street. I see being a Missionary as how we live our lives, but i can’t seem to prove that to my own College Pastor. I know he is living for God, an that is not in question, but is there some verse’s in the bible that I can actually show him to prove this…… Email me at
AlexRodgers333@Gmail.com….. Yes I know Spam Bots will try to eat this up, but they have something waiting in store for them if they do…..