The other night a fellow missionary asked me how I deal with the issue of contentment. He had noticed that most of the missionaries have a very negative outlook on the country, ministry, people… He told me that we seemed to be content in our situation and was curious how that was.
I think missionaries are no different than anyone else. They have the same hang ups, the same problems as you would see in the states. Many people are so driven by how they think ministry should be done, so blinded by how they think God has “told” them to minister that they become unwilling or resentfully flexible, a new sort of individualized legalism. It is such an easy trap that leads to discontentment which opens the door to other in country irritations. It is easy to move from, “they run this ministry in such an ungodly way” to “this country is so backwards in its thinking they should do it this way…” Negative attitudes toward people move toward a habit of negative attitudes towards more people. This hits a little closer to home for me when I think of Kids Alive and the grievances I have with that ministry. I cannot let hurts of the past turn into a path of negativity toward my circumstances.
I believe the best I can hope for is that in every situation I choose that which in my heart of hearts I think is the right thing to do, the thing that lines up with scripture as best as I understand it. This is a choice for myself that I cannot hold all people to. I must make my decisions humbly. My choice may be wrong, I cannot always know absolute right but I can know what I think is the right thing even if at times it seems arbitrary. This is the key to contentment that I must look to every day. When I look back on decisions that seem to have gone awry, I can take comfort in the fact that when I made the decision I honestly thought I was choosing right. I may choose differently now but I need not regret my previous decisions. God give me, give all us the wisdom to see the right we should do, the character to choose it and the strength to endure in it.
-Eric
Sunday, September 10, 2006
The priority of the Gospel...
--Reflection on Acts--
I have been asking myself, “exactly how important is the task of actively sharing the gospel? What do my actions reveal about my belief in the importance of the gospel?” There is the obvious “Sunday school” answer as well as the acknowledgement that I should be more involved in sharing my faith but…I’ll get around to that later because “I’m not perfect”. I do believe that actions speak louder than words and that a life characterized by the love of Christ is more powerful than Bible thumping but as I examine the lives of the heroes of faith I rarely find a passive position that leaves the testimony of Christ at the level of loving character without the actions and words behind it that are purposeful in revealing more than just the love of God but more specifically the gift of Christ in the gospel message itself.
Paul was all consumed with sharing the gospel. He saw caring for widows as important work but only as secondary to the gospel. He was so consumed with this notion, so dedicated to its purposes that he did nothing outside of this scope of sharing the gospel. Is my life characterized by actions pointing to the gospel? Is my primary concern not just for the physical or emotional wellbeing of other people but there spiritual and eternal wellbeing which can only find healing in Christ? Do I believe it so completely that I am compelled to proclaim it in whatever manner or action I can? Do I love Christ enough to dedicate myself to the task he has given me? Do I love others enough to give myself to their needs and listen to them openly? Do I believe the gospel message enough to move beyond mere compassion for others to being an ambassador for Christ?
I often find myself so surrounded by good things that I must refocus myself on the things that matter most and dedicate myself to my specific calling from Christ which, as for all believers, includes the preeminence of the task of love that points to the gospel, a task that is for the benefit of all people whether already believing or not.
-Eric
I have been asking myself, “exactly how important is the task of actively sharing the gospel? What do my actions reveal about my belief in the importance of the gospel?” There is the obvious “Sunday school” answer as well as the acknowledgement that I should be more involved in sharing my faith but…I’ll get around to that later because “I’m not perfect”. I do believe that actions speak louder than words and that a life characterized by the love of Christ is more powerful than Bible thumping but as I examine the lives of the heroes of faith I rarely find a passive position that leaves the testimony of Christ at the level of loving character without the actions and words behind it that are purposeful in revealing more than just the love of God but more specifically the gift of Christ in the gospel message itself.
Paul was all consumed with sharing the gospel. He saw caring for widows as important work but only as secondary to the gospel. He was so consumed with this notion, so dedicated to its purposes that he did nothing outside of this scope of sharing the gospel. Is my life characterized by actions pointing to the gospel? Is my primary concern not just for the physical or emotional wellbeing of other people but there spiritual and eternal wellbeing which can only find healing in Christ? Do I believe it so completely that I am compelled to proclaim it in whatever manner or action I can? Do I love Christ enough to dedicate myself to the task he has given me? Do I love others enough to give myself to their needs and listen to them openly? Do I believe the gospel message enough to move beyond mere compassion for others to being an ambassador for Christ?
I often find myself so surrounded by good things that I must refocus myself on the things that matter most and dedicate myself to my specific calling from Christ which, as for all believers, includes the preeminence of the task of love that points to the gospel, a task that is for the benefit of all people whether already believing or not.
-Eric
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