The Most Challenging Mission Field

 When I think of places that desperately need the word of Jesus I don’t think of the United States of America. And I never think of other prosperous countries. I think of those countries where people are living in poverty and have little to eat. I think of war zones with mass casualties. I think of countries with dictator leaders and violence everywhere. 

As Americans, we send bits of our wealth to help those living in poverty, thinking we will spread the gospel (of American prosperity) to those have-nots. Churches send out mission teams to foreign countries to help spread the gospel. What happens to those mission teams is that they come back changed. Not because of their great holiness or sacrificial spirit but because they see authentic faith in action unlike any they have ever witnessed at home. Many of those who go on their first mission trip crave another chance to return. And the reason is that they meet with church groups and experience something that isn’t readily found in our country. They see authentic faith in God. They see hope in the faces of those with nothing. 

Violence and poverty strips people of all their dependence on the idols of security and wealth. Mission teams come back with stories of the joy on the faces of those who don’t know when they will eat their next meal because their joy is found in their faith in God. This faith makes no promise to bring them wealth or security. Their faith is in looking to God for every. single. thing. 

This faith is alien and outlandish to us as Americans. All our lives we have seen faith as a thing you do on Easter and Christmas. It is something you print on a t-shirt. It is for those who are Jesus freaks. Many of us who attend church regularly, think faith is something we have to work to deserve and can be earned. We seldom feel it eeking out of our pores so abundantly that we find it difficult to suppress the joy. 

All this is not said to shame Americans for our prosperity because all good gifts do come from God. This is said to give us a global view of Christianity. God is not suppressed by poverty, boundaries or prison cells. In fact it seems the Holy Spirit is fired into flames in these conditions. It is most difficult to spread the gospel of hope where hope is found in possessing the next shiny thing or going on the next elaborate vacation. We Americans live in the most challenging mission field. 

Zap Me, Lord!

 I don’t believe in pulling myself up by the bootstraps. I don’t think I have the ability to change myself. I believe true change comes only from God. However, I also believe I must cooperate with his change. I cannot continue to make bad choices and expect Him to zap me into goodness. This blog is about cooperating with God in becoming peaceful. I believe there are actions that I must take to allow God to sanctify me to become what he wants me to be. This is the basis for this blog.

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Why do we fixate on bad news? Why do we rubberneck at a bad wreck? Why do we gravitate to flaws in the opposition? Why do we gossip or sink into rabbit holes on social media? To deny this behavior would be ridiculous. We love celebrity or political dirt. We are drawn to it like moths to a roaring flame. 24/7 news channels, social media and even the local weather cash in on this truth. And is this behavior so wrong? Shouldn’t we stay abreast of the news in our world? 

But  the real question is why we prefer to let our hearts be troubled rather than peaceful. The fact remains that we cannot be troubled and peaceful at the same time. We cannot love our neighbor while we are judging their choices. We cannot have hope if all we feed on is catastrophe and chaos. Catastrophe and chaos will push out the faith, hope, love and peace in our hearts while filling us with hatred and fear. 

Remember Covid? How could we forget! We feasted on that news. We picked sides and drew lines in the sand. It heightened mental instabilities. We lost our way. I believe it was feasting on the negative that pushed out our sanity. You can probably name some folks that still haven’t returned to normal after Covid.

Do we really want our hearts to be filled with love or do we want our heads full of dirt? We are what we ingest. We must be careful about where our choices lead us. We all know we can be pulled down by hanging with the wrong crowd, but do we know that we can be pulled down by 24/7 news channels and the feed on our social media? Who knew that the wrong crowd can be a network on the TV? 

Pro tip: turn off the news channels, and do not like or repost any political posts on social media. In fact, scroll like the wheel on a slot machine when you see a political post.

What will fill this vacuum? Whatever good or bad thing you choose. Choose wisely. So many good people have become filled with hate and/or fear because they innocently tried to stay informed. And they don’t even see what they have become. Like the injected anesthesia of a leech, we can’t feel the blood being sucked out of our souls by 24/7 news channels and social media. And it doesn’t matter if your news feed is the right one, they all suck out our peace and this loss breaks my heart. But when we choose wisely, we will feel the fresh breeze of freedom from breaking those chains of fear.

The ball is in our court. Instead of feeding on the negative, play a game (maybe not Twister), listen to music, pray, bake cookies for a friend, walk your dog, anything! Just don’t allow your heart to be troubled so you can leave room for God’s peace to take root. 

Being the Weirdest One in the Room

Following Christ is not my best thing. Seriously. It is hard. It is a fight from the moment I wake up to the moment I give up the struggle, close my eyes and go to sleep. This is why I blog. Maybe following Jesus is hard for you too, and I’m pretty sure we need to stick together.

My most recent struggle is that I don’t feel understood because, quite honestly, I’m weird. I won’t go into my weirdness’s here but suffice it to say that I am never comfortable in a group, always having the gut feeling of being the odd person out. Maybe that is how everyone feels? Or maybe that is an introvert thing? Or maybe it is a blessing? No idea.

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But today while reading my daily devotional, the words of a prayer by Francis of Assisi spoke to this very point of my weirdness and not being understood. It said, “O, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.” This selfless prayer made me see the selfishness of wanting to be understood and the beauty of being understanding rather than judgmental. It made me see through the eyes of Christ.

“O, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.”

~Francis of Assisi

So now, when I find myself wallowing in self pity, I must obediently bring it to my Papa and let him do his thing. Hopefully, this is helpful to some other weird person out there. May He give us all a glimpse of others through his eyes so that we can console, understand and love them.