Before I applied for The World Race, I must admit, I did quite a bit of blog stalking. One word I kept running across was the term “Missionary”. That word tends to make me feel like an under qualified Christian that will never be good enough for that title and almost always scares me off. Even with all my insecurities of feeling like I don’t know enough scriptures or have a good enough relationship with God, I went through with the application process and am now a World Racer set to head out in September of next year.
The thought of being referred to as a Missionary has haunted me every day since. How can someone call me a Missionary? I’ll be overseas for only a year. Missionaries have to dedicate their entire lives to living overseas preaching the gospel. I’m not worthy of that title. I’m not a Missionary!
Wrong…..
All my life, I’ve had this unrealistic expectation of what I thought a Missionary was.
I think we’ve all grown up believing in some way or another that the ONLY Missionaries there are, are people who were called to give up their entire lives and move to foreign countries, live off the items from a mission barrel, and be super spiritual people that we could never compare to.
At least that’s what I grew up believing. Up until today.
We are all called to be missionaries! We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves and to tell the world about Jesus. The world is not just made up of China, Uganda, and other Countries far far away, but also the countries we live in right here, right now! For me, it’s the United States of America. Traveling half way around the world to tell people about Jesus doesn’t make us Missionaries, it’s our willingness to be available and intentional. That’s what being a Missionary is really all about.
We have opportunities every day to live out our Missionary calling. To intentionally go out of our way to be a helping hand to someone in need. To intentionally love the people we can’t stand. To intentionally pray for someone’s sick grandmother whom you’ve never even met. To intentionally share the love of Jesus by simply smiling at people in the grocery store. Being a Missionary isn’t about where you are, but what you’re doing. Yes, being a Missionary is really that simple.
