“The aim of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful, not to win the heathen; he is useful and he does win the heathen,
but that is not his aim. His aim is to do the will of his Lord.” Oswald Chambers
I am a missionary… I play a lot of Duck, Duck, Goose. Pato, Pato, Gonzo…Dia, Dia, Kranong… whatever the l
anguage, it’s the same simple game we all played in preschool. Highly spiritual, don’t you think?
“You were made for greatness.” That is what we were taught at the outset of this adventure. Good, that’s why I quit my job and walked away from my life…for greatness…not for children’s games. So, what is it? When I think about greatness, even from a ‘Christian perspective’ my mind automatically goes to those well known and well loved: John Piper, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther. Speakers. Authors. Founders of big churches, big movements, big things. That was my expectation, “I want to do ‘big’ things for God. I want to heal people. I want to see nations changed. I want, I want, I want.”
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angles, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Cor. 13:1-3
God has never asked ‘big things’ of me. He has never demanded that I preach to multitudes, heal the sick or single-handedly save a generation. What He has demanded is love. What he has demanded is to do His will. These may often involve preaching or healing, but such outward acts are not prerequisites to pleasing my Father.
My view of greatness is not changing as much as expanding. Surely those mentioned above have great love for their Lord and for others. But now greatness is also define
d by those such as my mom, who loved her Jesus through adversity, who forgave others through betrayal. Or Emma Jean Hebb, who at 80-something would rather be in an orphanage in Russia than anywhere else in the world.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matt 22:36-40
Love. That is where my greatness lies. Love for my God, and love for my neighbor. I am learning that love takes many different forms.
I love by playing games with children at an AIDS orphanage.
Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction… James 1:27
I love by sweeping up rice after lunch at a Christian school.
…whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant. Matt 20:28
I love by testing English proficiency in ESL classes.
Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men. Ephesians 6:7
I am far from loving well. I am far from greatness. But, I am learning what it means day by day. I’m asking the Lord to teach me to love and to love through me. My goals for the race, my goals for life are transforming. While becoming less defined, they are becoming more focused.
The goal is love.
Let all that you do be done with love. 1 Cor 16:14
