Webster’s dictionary defines a missionary as a person who is sent to a foreign country to do religious work.
I would suffice it to say that most people around the world see this as the most accurate definition of a missionary. However, I would like to challenge this definition. I like to think of a missionary more simply as anyone who is on a mission for Jesus. Someone who has given their life to Jesus and said, “I am giving up the things that the world tells me that I need in order to follow your plans for my life.”
I want to propose that this doesn’t have to be complicated. Anyone can share the love of Jesus whether they are a businessman, a stay-at-home mom, serving in a foreign country, working at Starbucks or delivering pizza. If we truly are giving up our own lives to follow Jesus, this simply means that we are looking at every person as a child of God who needs to know Him and His love for them. NO MATTER WHAT THEY MAY HAVE DONE TO US! This means that instead of keeping to ourselves with a stern look on our face in the line at the grocery store, we are talking to people and pursuing them as a person. We don’t have to even bring up the name of Jesus or preach at them, but simply show them that they matter through our interactions with them.
I think society as a whole has gotten so self-focused and independent minded, that we have lost the beauty of communication and interaction in the process. Just because you say hello to someone or ask how their day is, or make a funny joke about the football team logo on their ball cap, doesn’t mean that you are proposing to them, or asking them to be a lifetime friend. It simply means that you are recognizing that they exist and in that moment, seek to make a connection. It seems that we have all lost this key factor that connects us all as human beings. Everything is over-complicated, and an innocent smile across a room or in passing by is seen as a physical attraction or being weird. Where did we get the idea that just because someone smiles at you or seeks to start a conversation means that they are interested in talking to you with a romantic or platonic motive? This is so silly!!
I don’t intend to ramble, but my point is that we have so overcomplicated what it means to follow Jesus, that we often end up missing out on so many opportunities to show people that they matter, that they are loved and that there is joy in interacting with one another! This has been proven time and time again when I have stepped out to say hello to someone or ask their name and they go from having a dead stare on their face to replying with a smile. There is so much fear bound up in talking to a stranger, but as soon as someone breaks the ice, the atmosphere seems to feel lighter.
So instead of thinking that in order to be a “missionary” you have to give up everything you own and move to another country… allow yourself to ponder the idea of what it would look like to simply follow Jesus, wherever He asks you to go, and to encounter people with His eyes and His heart. Because I think there is something beautiful in the every day life that we often miss out on. I admit that before leaving to come on the World Race, I over-glamorized everything. I allowed myself to get worked up thinking that every day would be this mind-blowing experience where the word was preached and hundreds surrendered their lives, or where God would break me down and I would be changed overnight. But that is such a deception! Yes, there are events where many people hear the Word and want their lives to be changed. Yes, there are moments here and there where something clicks and I no longer struggle with that one issue or way of thinking. But the majority of the time, ‘ministry’ is the every day life. It is serving by cleaning or preparing meals, by simply talking with the people in the community about their life and, if given a chance, sharing what Jesus has done in your own. Building relationships is key to long-term effectiveness in the Kingdom. Sometimes, long-term change will come when you talk to someone about Jesus and tell them the truth, but most of the time, you will see that long-term change comes when a relationship is made and trust is built.
Even looking back on my past, when someone came up and invited me to their church my first thought was “Why would I go there? I am not good enough to go to church. I have too many issues and too many things I have done wrong. I don’t want to be like those people. They are nothing like me.” But if that person would have pursued being my friend, taken time to get to know me and about my life while sharing theirs, and brought church to me, I would have responded much better.
We get too caught up in the “how” instead of just simply being. If we truly are living our lives to model Christ and being vulnerable with ourselves and others, we will see so much growth and change in how people react when the time comes to talk to them about Jesus and ask them if they want to know who He is. Instead of seeing missionaries as the people who leave their home to go to a foreign place, people should be seeking to be on a mission for Jesus in whatever situation they have been given. At home, in an executive office, working for a non-profit, practicing medicine, working in customer service, delivering pizza or making music.
ALL places allow you to live your life and be who God created you to be! ALL places have opportunities to interact and build relationships with people! All you have to do is change your perspective and see that every day life IS ministry and you have a choice what you will do with each and every situation you are given, and the words you speak to people. Your life is what you make of it! You can choose to allow your circumstances to completely ruin your attitude and make you bitter, or you can choose to take what you have been given and shift the focus onto loving other people where you can. Learn from the negative experiences and seek to put those lessons into practice so that you don’t continue the cycle! Your circle of influence is handed to you, and you have to choose what you will do with it!
