The title of this post is a little misleading. There was a plane ticket purchased, a flight spent sitting next to a stranger from another country, a long layover, and--of course--an occasional struggle with that ever-frustrating language barrier. But I didn't go overseas. Last week, I flew with a team on a mission trip to Portland, Oregon. After two trips overseas, it was a bit strange to be on a trip where I didn't need my passport, a visa, and a lot of vaccinations. I'll admit it--it was even difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that I was even on a mission trip. I couldn't believe that I was ON MISSION in a place where most of the population spoke my language (though there were a few hours spent with children who only spoke Spanish, and there was a significant number of Koreans in that city too), there were no crazy foods to be tried, and the culture shock was negligible (actually, it turns out Portland is eerily similar to Austin, and even claims the title of "2nd most hipster city in the country," with Austin not far behind).
We can be honest, all too often the words "sharing the Gospel" and "missionary" are associated with an expedition to some foreign country and conjure up images of brave souls preaching the Gospel in some obscure, alien-sounding language to "unreached people groups." I already admitted it--I fall into the trap of that kind of thinking too. I've spent time hiking to remote villages and struggled to reach out with the love Christ who didn't speak the same language I did. So it's easy to get into the mindset that Gospel-sharing and "missions" are terms you use when you go someplace far away.
So I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: the lesson I learned on this mission trip is that you don't have to go ON A MISSION TRIP to be a MISSIONARY. You're on mission every day. The things we did on that mission trip weren't anything special. We were sent out by a local Baptist church to aid families who were frequently being ministered to by that church. On a particular day, a couple of the girls and I helped manage the "Essentials Pantry;" the church keeps a closet of hygiene products, laundry soap, paper towels, and an assortment of other, well--essentials, and distributes them to several families. On another day, half the team and I cleared brush, vines and trees on a family's property so they could build a fence; meanwhile the other half was next door mowing a lawn for an older man who wasn't able to do it on his own, and they did some brush-clearing too. On yet another day, we did yard work again and cleaned out a garage for a couple preparing to sell the wife's mother's house. On two afternoons, the team split again to go to two different apartment complexes to play games and share Bible stories with children living there (on Sunday the church would come by and pick those same kids up to drive them to church). We took thank-you notes and cookies to community workers in the city. And, everywhere we went, we took opportunities to "notice the invisibles"--meaning, the people that often get ignored. This can include homeless folks, vagrants, the waiter at the restaurant you're eating at, or the person in line behind you at Voodoo Donuts (a Portland staple). We struck up conversations and simply did our best to work God in; and if that couldn't be done, just treat that person like they mattered, as Jesus would have.
So in summary, there was nothing done on this trip that couldn't be done anywhere else, particularly not your own hometown. Any church can start up a homeless ministry; you, yourself at any time can show a random act of kindness to a community worker, your waiter, the person at the checkout counter in a grocery store, or the guy begging for cash at the street corner. Notice the invisibles, anywhere you are. Talk to strangers! It's not that hard. And who knows? You may get to plant a seed in that persons life. God WILL get His Good News out to the world; He doesn't need your help. But you can have the the honor of being a small part in His grand scheme, and it is an honor indeed. And a great place to start is right at home.
"One of the great realities with which we have to deal is the voice of God in this world.....the expression of the will of God spoken into the structure of all things. This Word of God is the breath of God filling the world with living potentiality. The voice of God is the most powerful force in nature, indeed the only force in nature, for all energy is here only because the power-filled Word is being spoken."
--A.W. Tozer
"Then Jesus came and told His disciples, 'I have been given authority in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given to you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'"
Matthew 28:18-20
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Diversity
So it's been a while since I last wrote (about a month?); between exams, finals and other activities, things have been so busy! Reflecting back on this year, I am struck by the wonderful diversity of people I have met. Where else can you find such an odd combination, a mix of mismatched people but in the church? And whoever would have thought of it but God?
God, the genius that He is, INVENTED diversity. He didn't stop at one species of insect, he created billions. The rainbow isn't only one color; and He didn't conceive just one kind of people, He unleashed that fabulous mosaic known as the human race. Christianity has in its membership billionaires and homeless, teenagers and grandparents; it's congregation spreads across continents and cultures.
When God calls us to battle in the Spirit (Ephesians 6), an army of robots or clones (Star Wars reference) is not what He had in mind. He compares us to a body (an analogy used over 30 times in the New Testament, though the most famous reference is 1 Corinthians 12). When you look at the many types of cells that make up the human body, they are different from one another as anything can be. Apart from the body, what could a white blood cell--this amorphous blob, floating around seemingly oblivious to the activity in the rest of the body--possibly have in common with a sleek muscle cell? What unites them is purpose--everything that they are is for the sake of the body. At the first sign of danger, a white blood cell will sacrifice itself to destroy a toxin that could endanger the whole body; and a muscle cell devotes its entire life to pulling and relaxing, pulling and relaxing in unison with other cells like a team of rowers so that your body can walk, run, jump, and move forward in space, though the cell itself will never see the grander movement it helped create.
I believe that is a reflection of God Himself. When he calls us to life in Him, He's not calling us to a life that's boring and drab. He offers a life that's an explosion of vibrancy, color and excitement. What else can you expect from the One who conceived the masterpiece of diversity He painted the world with? And it's a life with purpose, the ecstasy of community within a family, a Body, united in our devotion to its purpose. Yes, we could live on our own, with ourselves as our only concern, just as a cell could operate on its own (consider the solitary amoeba, living its life depending on other cells only when it ingests them for food). Becoming part of the community that is the body means sacrificing some degree of independence, but what about the grander purpose, the plan that God may have had in mind when He created the masterpiece of diversity to begin with? I mean, which would you rather be? An amoeba, completely independent, swimming around with only yourself to think about (to whatever degree of thought an amoeba can manage) or one of the many, many fabulously diverse cells that make up you and me, aiding that body to accomplish a purpose bigger than any of us can imagine.
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them, they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me."
Psalm 139:13-18
"To be a member is to have neither life, being, nor movement, except through the spirit of the body, and for the body."
--Blaise Pascal
God, the genius that He is, INVENTED diversity. He didn't stop at one species of insect, he created billions. The rainbow isn't only one color; and He didn't conceive just one kind of people, He unleashed that fabulous mosaic known as the human race. Christianity has in its membership billionaires and homeless, teenagers and grandparents; it's congregation spreads across continents and cultures.
When God calls us to battle in the Spirit (Ephesians 6), an army of robots or clones (Star Wars reference) is not what He had in mind. He compares us to a body (an analogy used over 30 times in the New Testament, though the most famous reference is 1 Corinthians 12). When you look at the many types of cells that make up the human body, they are different from one another as anything can be. Apart from the body, what could a white blood cell--this amorphous blob, floating around seemingly oblivious to the activity in the rest of the body--possibly have in common with a sleek muscle cell? What unites them is purpose--everything that they are is for the sake of the body. At the first sign of danger, a white blood cell will sacrifice itself to destroy a toxin that could endanger the whole body; and a muscle cell devotes its entire life to pulling and relaxing, pulling and relaxing in unison with other cells like a team of rowers so that your body can walk, run, jump, and move forward in space, though the cell itself will never see the grander movement it helped create.
I believe that is a reflection of God Himself. When he calls us to life in Him, He's not calling us to a life that's boring and drab. He offers a life that's an explosion of vibrancy, color and excitement. What else can you expect from the One who conceived the masterpiece of diversity He painted the world with? And it's a life with purpose, the ecstasy of community within a family, a Body, united in our devotion to its purpose. Yes, we could live on our own, with ourselves as our only concern, just as a cell could operate on its own (consider the solitary amoeba, living its life depending on other cells only when it ingests them for food). Becoming part of the community that is the body means sacrificing some degree of independence, but what about the grander purpose, the plan that God may have had in mind when He created the masterpiece of diversity to begin with? I mean, which would you rather be? An amoeba, completely independent, swimming around with only yourself to think about (to whatever degree of thought an amoeba can manage) or one of the many, many fabulously diverse cells that make up you and me, aiding that body to accomplish a purpose bigger than any of us can imagine.
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them, they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me."
Psalm 139:13-18
"To be a member is to have neither life, being, nor movement, except through the spirit of the body, and for the body."
--Blaise Pascal
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