Missionary
Quick what was the first thing that popped into your head when you read that word?
I used to think of people living in a hut in far remote places and speaking a foreign language which involved clicks and grunts. I thought of women in denim jumpers, white socks, tennis shoes, and a bun, and men in suits and ties. In a few words: narrow, ridged, and boring.
We had missionaries come to our church and give slide slow presentations. You could see the people in the village they were working with and hear about their ministry. I thought it was neat, but I felt removed from it all.
I have gone on missions trips before, but they have not lasted more than a month.
I don’t know if I really would have considered myself a “missionary” — and if you would have told me then, or heck a year ago, that I was going to be a missionary …. Me? Really? God isn’t there someone out there more qualified to do this? But here I am, Gabrielle a missionary, and in Africa of all places.
Missions is not a concept, it’s a life style. It did not start when I saw my first orphan, when I arrived in Africa, when I boarded the plane, or even when I signed the “official papers,”
it is not for a far off distant time when I am in a “better place,” know more, can be more, am more in tune, focused, or in a far away land.
Even if I never got on the plane, missions is what every Christian is called to. It started the moment I said I would follow Him.
It is not about me taking God somewhere, He is already here. It’s my job to recognize this, point Him out to others, and get involved in what He is already doing.
It is dying to self, taking up my cross and following, letting go, and being with my Father, and through that abundance of joy, compassion, mercy, and humility sharing in that life with others to encourage their faith.
All this is not rocket science. It is us just remembering who I am and who it is that God has created me to be. To live up to who it is that he has already created me to be and to embrace who it is that He says I am. This is not about me but about what I get to be a part of in what He is already doing.
“Missions then is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of God who is already there. It is almost as if being a good missionary means having really good eyesight. Or maybe it means teaching people to use their eyes to see the things that have always been there; they just did not realize it. You see God where others don’t and then you point Him out.”
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
I have heard many times since I have been here ‘Lord we are waiting for you to show up and show off.” I have prayed that prayer too! I want to see God work in amazing ways! Yet, maybe it is the other way around – maybe the Lord is saying: “hello I am already here and I am waiting for you to show up and show me off.” Not because He needs us too, I can look at a sunset to see God showing off, but because He wants to involve us in what He is doing. It does not matter whether that is to the person who lives next door to us in America, or to that one orphan in the farthest corners of Asia. He is working everywhere, but will I recognize it or let it pass me by?
What else was I made for, but to know God and to make Him known?
How amazing and exciting is that!
