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Stranger in a Strange Land (10-10-03)

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Alice
Oct 19 2003
10:59 pm

“Go ye into all the world, making disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Anytime we go, we risk the danger of bringing western culture and our mores, prejudices, ways with us, yet to not go is to refute the command.
I think we still need to go and that God calls some of us to do just that…yes, to different countries, yes, to our neighborhoods and churches even.
How we go and how we be there are the issues…I think missions as a whole have come a long way since my grandparents were missionaries in India. Much of what I read and hear about now regarding missions in other countries is that we join with and/or disciple native Christians to disciple/teach/preach/reach their own people with the Gospel. And yet, we musn’t become lackadaisical in sharing the Gospel!
Dave, it’s good to ask those questions of yourself and good for us always to look hard at why we’re where we are and how we may be impacting others. But can we ever go wrong with experiencing another culture and letting it impact us? Is being thrilled with the adventure wrong? Doesn’t this experience make you a richer person? Doesn’t having relationships with others in a foreign country give us a bigger view of God’s world…God’s grace…our small place in it all?
I think to go is good. I think to go is to obey a command. I think to go humbly is imperative. I think to go with servant heart, love, and the Gospel in our words and actions and teaching is key.
Dave, I think that being thrilled with the adventure and feeling good would be positives…I don’t know many missionaries that aren’t passionate about being where they are…and I can’t imagine a more ineffective missionary than one who would be there out of a sense of duty…don’t you think God gives us not only the calling but the passionate and enthusiastic heart and gift for going and doing?
I find hospitals and preschool classrooms and middle schoolers and churches to be an adventure…I love going into all of these places and feel God calls me there..they make me feel good too.