missionaries are a drag:
1. Religion is adrag. Sure I know we say it’s not about religion but relationship,
but the truth is the dogma associated with that relationship is still
intense, for example, the requirement you must be in relationship
with a God, and not just a nice, loving teacher. Maybe you don’t
want to pretend to be nice to people who try to get people to believe
in a dogma you don’t even agree with.
2.
Judgment is a drag. When you want to drink beers for $1.50, have a
really nice meal for cheap, and then go home with your London
boyfriend, I could see how sitting next to a conscience-pricking
Christian would be a bubble-buster. It’s not necessarily that
they’re judging you, it’s the question, what if they
are judging you. Do I
deserve to be judged? Are my actions wrong? Do they think they’re
wrong? No matter the answer, the whole internal dialogue is
unsettling and a party killer.
3. Really good
people are a drag. Because while hearing about people who are
willing to give their lives to serve a cause is cool, you feel great
for them, good job, way to give back! Do you really want to compare
yourself to them? How would that make you look better?
And if you do
compare, and you do decide for whatever reason that you’re better, do
you really want to have a conversation with someone inferior to you.
It’s a no win, really.
I know after a year
of being a missionary I should have mastered the art of leading
conversations to talk about Christianity with strangers, to hopefully
convert them, teach them something about God and how to experience
the Holy Spirit, connect them with a local church, and then send them
on their merry way. But I haven’t. Maybe Joel Olsteen should write
a manual about that or something.
