There are so many ways to get missionary callings wrong. One of the most common, as I mentioned last month, is to suppose that we are called to go somewhere and to do some thing, first of all. Well, no, we are not. We are called to Someone, first of all. Only then do we discover some place to serve and some concrete thing to do.
Another common misconception is that specific places and activities don’t matter in the end. We come to believe that we can serve in one place as well as another. We can do one thing as well as we can do another. It doesn’t really matter.
This is like saying that the main thing about a journey to Chicago is one’s sense of comfortability along the way. It doesn’t matter so very much if you head to the north or south, east or west, by freeway or back roads specifically. Roll down your windows, turn up your radio and be at peace. You will get there (or somewhere) eventually.
It turns out that specific places and particular activities do matter. They matter explicitly and in detail. Yet not in the way that we sometimes imagine.
Sometimes we imagine that our spiritual lives will remain forever unfulfilled if we do not discover the one, precise, pre-ordained place – and the one exact career – established for us from before the beginning of time. I have met people like this; maybe you have, too. They may feel unfulfilled perpetually.
This attitude, I am convinced, is a dreadful mistake. It is based in pride, I think – as if you were so extraordinarily special that heaven itself must hold its breath until you discover your magnificent destiny. The attitude may become a bludgeon in marriages and families – as if your marriage and family were all about you and your vocational fulfillment. It is an attitude that is consumed with your specific need for your specific fulfillment in your specific career. It is less consumed with Christ.
Sometimes, on the other hand, we imagine that places and careers matter only theoretically. They are abstract concepts; in real life, any old place will do and any old profession will suffice. You may as well choose some place and some profession that make you happy (and maybe a lot of money.) It only matters in the abstract.
This attitude is a mistake, too. Once again, I think, it is based in pride – as if your own likes and dislikes, whims and fancies were so dear and important that heaven’s own agenda must take note. Everything else becomes abstract. Your own prerogatives and personal fulfillment become paramount.
Here is what I sometimes counsel missionary inquirers along this line: get your heads screwed on straight – square your priorities and convictions with biblical priorities and convictions – and then do what you have before you to do. Do, in fact, whatever you like. But do it with joy and abandon, as your Kingdom service and responsibility, in response to the calling of God in your life, and to please your Lord Jesus Christ.
“Building biblical priorities and convictions” – this is the key here. It is surprising how poorly we accomplish it.
Biblical people are possessed by Jesus Christ, first of all. They are bought and redeemed by the Savior of the world, and to him they belong hook, line and sinker (1 Corinthians 3:23, 6:20).
Biblical people consider themselves sojourners in the earth (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11). They are always moving out and pressing on (Philippians 3:13ff.). They are hearers (Matthew 4:4). They are sharers (Hebrews 13:16). They are disciple-makers along the way (Matthew 28:18ff). They are ambassadors for Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Biblical people are reflectors of the light of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:14) and sounders of his wonderful grace (Romans 10:8f). They are eager to work among “the least of these,” specifically (Matthew 25:40, Mark 2:17, Romans 15:20, Isaiah 52:15, etc). They work in the light of the great throne in heaven, around which every tribe and tongue will one day gather (Revelation 7:9). They work in the interim to make disciples from every single one (Matthew 28:18ff).
So if you feel that you are called to hibernate in some cozy little corner, I sometimes tell inquirers, think again. If you believe that you are called to something comfortable – something manageable, at least – think again. If you believe it doesn’t matter, really, in the end, then you better start thinking, too.
But if you are possessed by Jesus Christ, redeemed by his love and fueled by his grace – if you are moving in direction of the lost and the poor, with the love of Christ in your heart and the word of the gospel in your mouth – why, then, the entire world is your field of activity. And you can do almost anything.
Other posts in this Callings series: