Over the last six months I’ve seen several people finish up their term on the field. For some they were relocating, for most they were finishing their term and returning to the US. The thing I kept hearing from many of them….”I need to make sure I finish well.” You have to understand the tone with which it is being said….not with confident determination but more of….”I really need to do well so God will be happy and I won’t have to feel guilty for my time here.”
The behavior that resulted from this was quite interesting to watch. I’ve watched so many of them call any and every person they can find….most of which they have no real relationship with….so they can share with them. Most of the people they are sharing with they have no relational context for sharing and no plan for follow-up should the person actually be interested in the gospel. And they do all of this with an apparent desperation to validate their time overseas.
Part of this is due to the fact that there are so few conversions. It’s typical to serve a term, share the gospel a few times and see no fruit. We all want our time to count and for many they only have 2-3 years to make a difference. This hectic attempt to finish well is also fueled by our misunderstanding of ministry. If we view evangelism as sales and the Gospel as a product then it is easy to feel like we have the responsibility to make a quota or else we’re failures.
The truth is….what I’ve done the first 35 months of my term is more important than what I did the last month. Don’t hear me wrong…there’s nothing wrong with desperately wanting those around us to know God…..I feel that way. But there’s something wrong with getting to the 11th hour and feeling like a failure (unless you indeed are) and appearing desperate to redeem your entire term in one week. So my advice….hit the ground with the mindset of finishing well, see people as people not projects and trust that the Holy Spirit is the one who draws men to God. So pace yourself, relax and enjoy your time….and you will finish well.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with you. I wasn’t an official missionary in Japan, just stationed there in the Navy, but I did teach Conversational English at a church there. I actually got to the point where I would translate all of my stuff into Japanese so that I could get my spiritual point across. The problem was…I didn’t teach any Conversational English! And I didn’t prepare the group for turnover because of that. When I left, and the new teacher came in, she had to essentially rebuild the group because I hadn’t prepared it for her by staying on track. It was an important lesson for me to learn.
Dan makes an interesting point in this. As we are finishing (whether we’ve paced ourselves throughout the time or rushed in the last weeks), do we consider how we’re leaving it for the next person/missionary/witness coming in? When I left my last job (secular) in the States, I made sure my desk “made sense”, notified clients of the changeover, and instruction notes were left for my replacement. Do we view ministry in a similar way, or do we leave it for the next person to figure out?
Because our mission field seems to eject missionaries prematurely, their only thought is getting out quickly. Meanwhile, those of us still ministering in the field, or new ones into the field, are viewed by the locals with suspicion and mistrust due to the last set.
Is there urgency in missional? I mean, I know that you have a community/relationship approach. Very noble…I mean that. It’s never right to grab someone by the collar and demand them to “be saved” or to “answer my questions”.
I know several people in my life that I could sit down with after meeting them for the first time and have a meaningful conversation. I can know about a sickness with a family member, loss of job, the way they feel about the world. I know weather they are from another culture or country, that I can pray that God connects.
I do not want to come across as a “know it all”. I know that God is over all things.
I have been in Amway/Quixtar and know that all of my conversations have had the “sales/recruiting” in the back of my mind for all intent. Now my mindset is to share the Gospel of everlasting life with someone.
If we look at Christianity as a sales pitch, then what the heck are we selling.
Jesus, Peter, Paul, etc had a desire to give the hearer the understanding through the Word of God in Spirit and Truth to seek and save those who are without Christ—perishing.
May God Bless you and strengthen all of us to share Him whenever He chooses and however He chooses.
Grady,
Great post. Martin Luther said something to the effect of: If I knew God is coming back tomorrow I would go out and plant a tree. His point is that if he was called to plant trees he would continue doing that till God took him. Furthermore, if he suddenly changed his plans, what would that say about what he was doing all along?
I think we tend to view evangelism in terms of reaping only. Truth is some of us are just there to sow, water, and prune.
Sow…water…reap.
Which are we to do?
The answer is yes.
25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Always go back to the Word and if you can help it…don’t leave it.
God Bless each of you.