One of the most in vogue topics of conversation in the Christian world centers on evaluating the value of short-term mission trips. Do they really help anyone? Could money be spent more effectively elsewhere? Etc., etc.
The damage comes when we start to try to measure what God is doing. We say things like, “a greater impact could be made if we…” or “we could feed a thousand people at home for the cost we’re spending to go feed a hundred somewhere else.” My goodness, we are arrogant, thinking we know best how to define success in the Kingdom, believing that the Lord works according to the laws of math. God does not want us to serve the most people we possibly can; He wants us to serve the people He has called us to serve. This is foolishness to the world, but that is precisely what Scripture demands of us.
In the Kingdom of God, there is no such thing as “bang for your buck.” There is no such thing as “money better spent in this place or that place,” at least in a general, all-encompassing sense. Money is best spent where God calls us to spend it. We can waste it on the masses just as easily as on an individual. Our flesh whispers for us to consider reason and to weigh everything on the scales of our imperfect perspective. Conversely, the word of God encourages us to “lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
We talk a lot about impact. Are we impacting the people we serve well? Is the impact really self-serving? Let me be clear about this. These are responsible stewardship questions that deserve our attention in their proper place. These are not the basis for whether or not we should go and where we should go. Missions – evangelism, discipleship, and worship – is not a business plan, where we go to the place that makes the most sense and holds the clearest markers for success. Missions is obedience. Radical, beautiful, faithful obedience. Once we have been obedient, then we ask how to steward our calling well. We have a terrible habit of putting the cart before the horse. If we’re not careful, we can talk ourselves out of our calling because we compare the logistics of our calling with the perceived logistics of other callings, which may seem ‘more’ valuable but are not ours. We foolishly measure value by means rather than ends – this is a problem not unique to this topic.
The impact we have on others is not the chief concern of the missionary. The impact that occurs on our own daily lives is not the chief concern of the missionary. The chief concern of the missionary is worshiping God. We live and tell our stories, not chiefly to impact the lives of others, but because we have been given beautiful stories by God and living them is our greatest act of worship. Consider the prophet Jeremiah. If the impact on culture is a measure of success, his is a story of tragedy and failure. If radical and unrelenting obedience to God is the measure of success, his is a story of humility and beautiful faith. If we try to measure our success by the response others have to it, we slip down a dangerous slope of performance-driven missions and we will inevitably become confused and embittered because we are trying to take responsibility for that which only God himself can account. Maybe that’s secretly what we want, to take the place of God. Otherwise, we would not be so afraid of trusting Him with the things that are His.
Short term missions are as valuable as long term, which is as valuable foreign as it is local. The answer is ‘YES!” It is all good. It is fleshly foolishness to try to put these activities into a measurable hierarchy. We cannot define or comprehend the measures of the Divine. We must only trust in them.
Two things are equally true. Some people will say, “Foreign missions matter” and then they will go to an exotic place and just snorkel or jump off a bridge and not really care about being the gospel. Some other people will say, “There is so much mission work to do at home,” and then play their Xbox, watch their Netflix, and ignore their neighbor. People will lie to themselves and there will be abuses either way.
But the eternal truth is that we should go where we are called to go. Even deeper than that, we should be who we are called to be. Where we go matters little compared to who we are.
For the missionary, there is only one place to serve: where God is. Not because of money or measurable impact. But because, as disciples, our sole task is to worship Jesus with the lives He has blessed us with. Our task is not to figure things out but to hear God’s voice.
And trust that He will take care of the rest.
