Buddy Toy

After seeing Jesus as the sweet and precious Savior, our lives are enraptured with the thrill of his love, sacrifice, tender mercy and graciousness.  We are sick people who are suddenly made well, prisoners set free, hungry and thirsty hearts that are satisfied for the first time ever; we are sinners who are saved.  Oh, how we could have echoed, “how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”  We loved much.

For many(and I’d dare say most) Christians, our hearts change over time.  We cannot pinpoint the time or even the cause.  We become saints doing God’s work, equipping other saints, evangelizing the lost so that they can be saints, and have “lost our first love” and forgotten “from where [we] have fallen”(Rev. 2:4-5).  It happens all the time.  There are few who are immune to this.

I remember the joy of forgiveness when I first became a believer.  I knew my sin, the darkness, the depth, the weight of it all.  And then to see Jesus’ completed work of redeeming me to be His forever caused my heart to be changed.  I thought that I would never ever lose this joy in my salvation and love for Jesus.  I saw other older believers, I noticed the joylessness of their hearts.  But I knew that I would never be like them, or so I thought.

Jesus attended a dinner in Luke 7, where a woman wets his feet with tears, wipes his feet with her hair, kisses his feet and anoints them with perfume.  Of course the Pharisees look at her with indignation because she is, after all, a very sinful woman.  Jesus then calls out his host, Simon the Pharisee, and says that he didn’t bother to give water for Jesus’ feet, did not greet Jesus with a kiss, or anoint Jesus’ head with oil.  Here are two completely different people with two different ways of seeing Jesus.  One sees Him as sweet and precious, the other as a normal person, maybe an old acquaintance, almost like someone who has been around too long.  For many of us, we cheer on the woman because we know that’s the Christ we also believe in, the one worth lavishing ourselves upon.  And we condemn the Pharisees for being so clueless and cold.  There they have the Savior before them but treat him worse than a regular guest.  But perhaps why we despise the Pharisees so much is because they represent the worse part of who we are.  They represent the person that we’ve become.

Many of us have experienced both these phases in our lives.  We start off like the woman with this tenderness towards our Jesus but then get hardened and treat Jesus like He’s always been around, like we’ve always been saved.  Is it possible to be saved for too long?  In a way, yes.  It almost seems like the longer we are Christians, the more Pharisaical we become in our love of Jesus.  We forget that there was a time we were in darkness, enslaved, and lost.  And we forget what our salvation is all about because we replaced it with wonderful Christian things to do like church ministries, missions, and whatever else keeps us feeling like good Christians.

Jesus diagnosed Simon the Pharisee’s problem.  Simon was acting the way he did because “he who is forgiven little, loves little.”(Lk. 7:47)  No, Jesus is not quantifying Simon’s sins as less than those of the woman.  The idea is not that one had more sins than the other.  The point Jesus is making is that your love of Jesus is in proportion to your understanding of the depth of your forgiven sin.  For the woman, she knew the vast depth of dirty sin that she had.  And to have that forgiven, resulted in shameless love for Jesus.  But when you are a good religious Pharisee, you see forgiveness as a small thing because in your eyes, you’re not that bad.  That’s why Jesus told the parable of the two debtors.  Which of the servants who owed his master loved him more?  The one who had the greater debt.

But our debts are the same.  We are all wretched sinners.  And for one to feel like a better sinner than another is missing the point completely.  The problem is not our sin but our understanding of our sin because “he who is forgiven little, loves little.”(Lk. 7:47)  So the question for us is how do we see our sin because that will determine how we see Jesus.  During this Thanksgiving, may God help us see sin as utterly sinful so we can see Jesus as wonderful Savior.

Sometimes, there are just stories from the news that are so shocking that it stops us cold in our tracks.  Stories of rape fit into this category.  This last week, there was an incident of rape that was so horrific that it shocked me as I was reading it over the computer.  A fifteen year old girl, who just left her homecoming dance, is not just raped but raped by perhaps ten individuals.  This assault occurred right next to the school.  What makes it worse is that this incident lasted for 2.5 hours.  And what makes this incident even worse is that there were perhaps ten bystanders observing the whole incident.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html

Words really cannot describe what these individuals did to this girl.  They brutalized her.  They enslaved her to their sexual desires.  They robbed her of her dignity.  They used her.  She was merely an object for their pleasure.  They had absolutely no regard for her humanity, her life, her worth, her future.  This kind of stuff has been happening for all time.  Women have always been subjected to rape.  Fortunately, in countries like America, there is some law and some justice that restrains the deep sin of man from fully manifesting itself.  But there are so many countries, even today, where law and justice do not exist and where women expect to be raped.  There are countries where marrying a virgin would never happen, not because the women are promiscuous so much as there is too much time and too many men, who rape at will.

Perhaps what’s worse than those who committed this crime were those who stood by.  Not only did they not do anything about it, they observed the whole incident like it was some form of entertainment.  This, to me, says more about the depth of sin in our hearts than anything else.  In a way, it would have been almost more understandable if these bystanders participated and took an active role or would have just callously walked away.  But to just stand and observe?  That baffles me.  But it truly shows the indifference, the coldness of our love for each other.

Unfortunately, this incident says a lot about the youth of our nation.  I fear that they are going down a slippery slope that really has already deteriorated to an all-out free-fall.  I am very familiar with the youth mindset of glamorizing violence, sex, and every form of carnal living.  Our youth feel snitching, or the reporting a crime, is a flaw in one’s character.  Individuals who shut up and do not cooperate with law enforcement are deemed faithful and true.  Speaking ghetto slang is cool.  Breaking the law, double points.  Dressing in a way to ostracize yourself from the rest of society is normal and then they wonder why they’re being treated differently.  We can thank MTV and rap music for much of this decline among many other factors.

Unfortunately, I am not surprised by this whole incident.  This is not to minimize the situation.  My heart breaks for this girl and if there was anything I could do, I would absolutely do it to help her.  I really wish I could say that I’m surprised by what happened.  I would love to live in a world where I could truly believe that.  I wish I was surprised so I could believe that my sister didn’t have to worry about this kind of stuff.  Or if I was married or had daughters that I didn’t have to worry about their well-being.  But, I am not surprised by this incident because I know there is no limit to the darkness of human depravity.  This kind of behavior that we witnessed is truly normal for sinners.  It is a surprise that this type of incident doesn’t occur more often.  By God’s grace, the restraining influences of societal laws, familial upbringing, and the threat of punishment keeps us in check.  If it were not for God’s restraining grace, we’d be living in hell.  This kind of stuff would be perfectly normal.  One day, things will get worse and this will happen everyday.  But then, in some parts of the world, that’s exactly where they’re at now.

A few weeks ago, Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland and is being prepared to be extradited to the US for crimes he committed in 1969.  Thirty years ago, he decided to drug and rape a 13 year old girl.  He confessed and agreed to a plea bargain.  Prior to sentencing, he jumped ship and returned to his home country of France, where he was safe from extradition.  For thirty years, he was off the hook and now justice is catching up.  Somehave voiced outrage that Polanski is undergoing extradition for crimes he committed thirty years ago.  The rationale is that the crimes were done so long ago, the victim is no longer pursuing this matter, he has been a wonderfully talented human being who has not harmed others, so what’s the big fuss?  To these folks, the extradition is much to do about nothing.

The arguments against extradition of Polanski reveals how twisted our culture views justice.

-Justice has a time limit.  No one will say what he did was not wrong.  But the argument always seems to emphasize how much time has passed away.  In this instance, thirty years is enough to make amends for raping a 13 year old child.  And not just any thirty years but thirty years of freedom back in his home country.

God’s justice is true justice, where every sin will be accounted for.  No sin will go unpunished, none!  They will be either accounted for by each sinner or by Jesus.  God never forgets, never falls asleep, never gets lax.  But thankfully, His love and wisdom works along with this perfect justice where many are spared.

-Justice depends on who you are.  A successful internationally renowned artist who inspires people through his films has justice applied differently than, say, a Catholic priest.  Check out the below article.  I don’t usually agree with Catholic priests but I stand hand-in-hand with this one.  If Polanski was a priest, everyone would be calling for him to be hung immediately.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/09/father_polanski_would_go_to_jail.html

-People are not serious about justice. Read how silly this petition to free Polanski sounds(http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html)

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.

The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.

Apparently, if someone commits a crime, there are times when they should be out of the reach of the hands of justice.  One of these times are film festivals.  According to this statement, filmmakers who commit crimes should feel free and safe when they attend film festivals.  And Polanski’s arrest “opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.”  Apparently, if one commits a crime, they shouldn’t be surprised when they get arrested.  Justice should not creep up on them, they should be able to anticipate when it happens.  Filmmakers from this day on will be afraid to travel to film festivals, not knowing when justice will catch up and they will have to pay for their crimes.  Criminals across the world should not live this way!

This is such a sanitized type of justice, where it nice and pretty.  There are all these rules to justice even though a person has confessed to the crime.  Our culture has no love of justice.  There is no crying out for the upholding of what is right and the punishing of what is wrong.  There is no commitment to justice which is the foundation of our social contract with each other.  How will these people react to the justice of God?  They will mock how petty his rules are and object to his excessive his punishments are.  They will reject God because this God does not conform to their understanding of what they deem right and wrong and how they uphold that.  This Polanski fiasco shows our culture’s mockery of justice and it’s mockery of God.

I love Cinderella stories.  Recently, with all these shows like Britain’s Got Talent, it seems like these Cinderellas are being discovered more and more.  What draws us to these people is the story behind each person.  These seeminly normal, unattractive, and sometimes awkward individuals have some special talent that blows people away.  Some of these people have amazing talents that rival even those who are professionals.

God is amazing in how He has blessed all people with amazing talents.  The talents these individuals have show the goodness, the creativity, and the beauty of God as creator.  When I think of humans and how we use instruments to express ourselves, how we choose to go to the moon, and how we are able to imagine and display beauty in art, dance and music, it shows just how wonderful and glorious the creator is.  Here are a couple of individuals that I praise God for.

Paul Potts, a mobile phone salesman.  Who would’ve thought that this guy could sing like he did.  He’s an unassuming, average looking man who has an amazing talent at singing opera.  Had it not been for the show, his talent would’ve never been discovered and he may have never blessed us with what God has blessed Him.

Susan Boyle, a 47 year old, unmarried, British lady, who has a very awkward way about her.  Everyone wrote her off from the beginning.  Her looks, her clothing, and everything else about her was not superstar material.  But the moment she opened her mouth, people were shut up.  God gave her something wonderful.  Too bad it took so long for it to be discovered.

Kevin Skinner, a chicken catcher from Kentucky.  The man is just raggedy but when he sings, it’s like you can hear his heart.  He wears a baseball cap backwards, a hoodie and a pair of jeans.  What an average guy with an amazing heart.  People laughed so much when he was introducing himself but in the end, they were surprised!

God is good.  Even in a fallen world, He has given such amazing talents to individuals where we can still have a glimpse of His goodness, His beauty and His creativity.  God could’ve left this place a cold, dark, unaesthetic world but He has given us glimpses of Him in the talents He has given us.  What a joy to one day see individuals of all kinds of ages, ethnicities, languages, worshiping God in their own God-given creative talents.

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Mt. 16:24-5

The Bible is full of tough passages, passages that if we allow ourselves to understand and entertain the implications of, we’d be faced with a radical beckoning from God.  This beckoning of God calls us to die to self; where our will, dreams, and everything else about us is taken away from us and subjected under the lordship of Christ.  It is an uncomfortable thought for humans to think that there is another who is sovereign ruler over their life.  Giving money, going to church, those are easy but to no longer be ruler of my own life, that is tough.  When I was an unbeliever, I hated this concept.  I hated the concept that I had to repent, die to self, and surrender it all to God.  I hated it and it kept me from being a Christian.  It was my life and I wanted to live it my way. Why can’t I just do what God wanted me to do, why did I have to die to self?

To me, dying to myself and coming to God was a necessary obstacle that I needed to get around in order to go to heaven.  I was at point A and I was going down a path and I needed to appease this God before I can get to point B, heaven.  And the way to appease God was to die to self and be a subject of His lordship.  But that was when I had a me-centric view of the Gospel.  I was terribly wrong.

The Gospel is not about me getting to heaven.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that heaven really isn’t that big a deal.  I needed salvation.  I had dug such a deep hole from sin that there was only one who could rescue me.  And the rescue from sin was far grander than I could have ever imagined.  Going to heaven to me was salvation.  But the real salvation I had found was far greater than what I thought I needed saving from; I needed to be saved from myself.  It was salvation from my own will, my own pride, my own self-centered aspirations that I needed to be rescued from.  I was ruining myself and I had no idea.  I needed to save myself from living for myself.  I needed to be saved from myself so that I could be restored to live as I was created, to live for Him.

Isaac Watts wrote:

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

How unloving it would have been for God to rescue me from hell and leave me to live for myself.  How unloving it would have been for God not to demand all of me.  How unloving it would be if God allowed my life to continue on its course of living for and loving self.  We were all like drunkards behind the wheel and it was when we gave the wheel over to God did we really find salvation.  My desire to escape hell only to continue living for myself was like a drunk who wanted to get out of getting a ticket only so that I could continue driving.  I’m so glad that God demands it all!  I’m so glad God was not lukewarm in His love for me!  I’m so glad God loves me enough to not only rescue me from a fiery punishment but also loves me enough to make Him, my Master, and me, His unworthy subject!

Chris Tomlin said it pretty well also:

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

There was a day when the dying that God demanded was sickening to me.  It was a necessary evil I was willing to endure to be in heaven.  But one day it became my joy.  To my surprise, the bid to come and die was exactly what I needed.  It was the dying that allowed me to truly live.  Yes, God’s love is that great.  The Gospel is not so much about escaping hell and having a membership in heaven.  Those are really just the minor details.  The Gospel is that I no longer need to ruin myself by living for myself.  I can die and I can have Him as I was created for.  All the while, I thought dying to self was what I needed to reap the benefits of the Gospel.  But now I realize, dying to self and knowing Him, that is the Gospel!

After reading Part 1 of this series, many folks will think that I’m propagating some sort of extremist and masochistic brand of Christianity.  But that’s not what this article is about at all.  I’m not encouraging us to willingly endure suffering just because living that sort of life is simply more godly.  I’m not saying that if we believe eternal glory is the best thing to happen to us that we should somehow work to hasten our own death.  I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with self-preservation, the avoidance of pain, or even the enjoyment of pleasure.  And I’m not saying that Christians should live every moment of their lives ready and wanting to die.

What I think  Paul reveals to us is the necessity of having a biblical and eternal view on life and death.  Without the Word helping us to see things as they truly are, we will never be able to live in a way which reflects that reality.  If our love of life drowns out the truth of what death means for a Christian, we will live in a way which reflects our love of life.  But if the joys of eternal glory come into focus in our lives, we will live in a way which reflects our eternal perspective.  Jesus said, “…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Mt.6:21)  For many, we live for the temporal because we love life.  But when dying is gain, we are freed up to start living for the eternal.

I don’t think that when the Apostle Paul said that dying was gain, he wanted Christians to live like an alien space cult that was constantly waiting for their spaceship to arrive to bring them back to the motherland.  Remember Heaven’s Gate?  I don’t think God wants us to live with a sickening obsession with death where it occupies our thoughts day and night.  What I do think the Bible teaches us is that when the truth of life on earth and death for a Christian begins to take a grip on us, we will begin to have our lives transformed.  And when I say transformed, I don’t necessarily mean being a pastor or missionary(this does not necessarily mean transformed).  I think the whole direction and focus of one’s life changes to where they see things differently, resulting in a change in values.  This change in values affects their decision-making process and the decisions they would consider.  And eventually, they will consider and make decisions that would be utterly foolish if dying was not gain.  Boom, in the end, you have a person who’s available to God for whatever He wants.

For example, what if God calls Jack to do something so seemingly stupid in the world’s eyes, so potentially dangerous, and so unrewarding in earthly standards?  If Jack loves life, he’s not even going to consider it.  He will only consider God’s calling when God’s calling compliments, or doesn’t hinder too much, the type of lifestyle that Jack loves.  But if Jack understands that dying is gain, the decision may still not be easy.  There may still be a struggle to obey God.  But he is struggling with the truth and the decision at hand; there’s much hope.  Isn’t that the aim, to be a ready instrument for God’s glory?  The power of believing dying is gain is not so much in the act of dying itself but more so in the new direction, the fervency, and the recklessness to live in a way that reflects this grand truth for every Christian.  This truth liberates Christians to live for God in a whole different way.

The nineteen hijackers could’ve pulled off many acts of terrorism like a car bomb or even planted a bomb on those flights.  But for them to pull off the attack that they did, it required a willingness to die.  It required that they sit in that cockpit and aim those planes into those buildings.  And a person who loves life cannot pull this off.  As Christians, we can serve God the way we are.  But if we love life, there will always be areas of our life off-limits to God.  We will serve God but only as long as it doesn’t cost us what we love, our lives.

The new Harry Potter movie came out. It turns out that this newest one is number six. I am just shocked because I had no idea they had more than three. I have not watched a single one of the Harry Potter movies, not so much because of the witchcraft stuff, but because these movies just don’t appeal to me. Harry and his friends have grossed $4.5 billion in theaters worldwide in the first five films. Yes, $4.5 billion! That’s not including the Harry Potter action figures, the Harry Potter blankets, the Harry Potter witchcraft set, the Harry Potter potty training set, the Harry Potter DVD’s, extended DVD’s, director’s cut DVD’s, Blu-Ray and all the other Harry Potter things that parents buy their kids.

Now it’s not wrong to go to the movies and enjoy some entertainment, although some folks might be against this kind of entertainment(but that’s a different topic). But what I can’t figure out is how we, as a global community, can allow $4.5 billion plus to be flushed down the toilet to pay for entertainment. Yes, every individual is only spending about $8-$12 per pop. But together, it adds up.

I liked them more when they were young and cute.

In Sudan, I know the town that I visited could be totally transformed with just a few million. Yes, I could sit here and sound like a broken record by saying that we’re spending money watching 2+ hrs of Harry while people are literally dying from totally preventable causes such as unclean water, the lack of mosquito nets and malaria treatment. But I think there’s a better way of addressing our entertainment desires and also the survival needs of millions.

Sometimes we face this dilemma and feel like we need to give up things like entertainment altogether for the cause of eliminating world hunger.  But the amazing thing about the position that we’re in is that we don’t even need to choose either our entertainment or the needs of millions.  We are actually at a place, even in this dire economy, to be able to satisfy our cravings for everything Harry Potter and also meet the needs of the poorest in the world.  The shocking part may not be how much money Harry Potter as a franchise has made but the fact that we, as the richest of the rich, have enough money to have our Harry Potter and still have enough to drastically impact the greatest needs of our world.  At the end of the day, it’s not a question of if we can have both but whether we choose to.

If we want to radically change the world with $4.5 billion, we don’t need to skip the entertainment and we don’t even need to work more overtime or find a second job.  We have enough money to watch Harry and contribute to help folks in countries such as Sudan. Instead of spending $11 to watch Harry, maybe we can spend $22 to watch Harry and give to our favorite charity. I don’t want to put people on a guilt trip when they watch a movie this weekend. No, I don’t think the solution is to live like a monk and give every penny to charity.  The solution is actually far easier and far less sacrificial because God has blessed us so abundantly, we can actually have both.

Nineteen men completely changed the world on September 11, 2001. What they did on that day was so devastating, so spectacular, so infamous that it is etched in every person’s mental calendar from that year on. The 11th day of September will never be the same. What made them so successful is partly due to the planning, the training, resources, and their execution. But the most crucial part of the puzzle that allowed these men to change the world was their belief that dying was gain.

Osama Bin Laden said, “We love death. The US loves life. That is the difference between us two.” In his mind, this factor is what will allow them to win this war because this factor is greater than military might, wealth, or numbers. It is impossible to stop a person who is willing to die. But a person who loves life, there’s always a limit, a certain price they are not willing to pay. There’s always a point where it’s not worth it and they stop fighting to preserve what they have. Why? Because they love life. And in the end, there is only so much they are willing to do for whatever cause they are embarking on. They will do what is good, fight for what is right, and even live for God but there is always going to be a limit.

Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”(Php 1:21) And he also says that, “…to depart and be with Christ…is very much better…”(Php 1:23) The Apostle Paul was able to endure a hellish life in order to stand firm in proclaiming the Gospel. Why was he able to push ahead in spite of all his sufferings(2 Cor 11:23-8)? Simply because he believed that what awaited him after death made everything worth it.  To him, dying was gain.  To break it down for boys who grew up in the 80’s, it’s just like how we endured our weeks in elementary school because we knew that at the end of the week, we’d be with Nintendo controller in hand.

Unfortunately, for most Christians, we do not live like the nineteen men or like the Apostle Paul. We are not willing to die. And we definitely don’t want to die. We love life. This love of life is what keeps unbelievers from Jesus(Mt. 16:24-6) and is what keeps Christians from living all-out for God. The Christian life is not easy to live. There will inevitably be times when a tough decision is made; perhaps a decision that determines life or death. And when a person is faced with this tough decision and they don’t believe that dying is gain, they will do whatever, even compromise, in order to save what they truly cherish, their lives.

Christians will never be the Christians they can be until they believe that dying is gain. They will live the “Christian life”, the one that our Christian culture deems spiritual. They will serve in the church, give, and fulfill the Christian duties but they will never be able to live radically different from non-Christian life-lovers because in the end, both love life.  The problem is that when we have a limit to how far we’ll follow God, how much we’re willing to sacrifice, we will always live with a lukewarm half-hearted passion that aims for little.   But when the final and biggest barrier of death becomes gain, the sky’s the limit.  If I can get someone to believe dying is gain, then tithing, moving to Afghanistan, or whatever else it is God’s calling them to becomes a piece of cake.

The world does not need another scared Christian who’s afraid of entering into glory. The world needs Christians who believe that dying is gain, who are willing to risk it all in this life knowing that eternal glory awaits them. And then, they will dream big and take risk for the glory of God which they would never have entertained when they were lovers of life.  They will do so even if it may result in death because to them, death is gain.

What does this mean for Christians? Should we just die then? Before you apply any of this, wait for part 2.

Nobody knows who Michael Collins is.  But 40 years ago, he played a role in one of mankind’s greatest achievements.  Although Collins is unknown, everyone knows the other two guys he was with on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.  Armstrong and Aldrin get all the glory because they were the ones who actually walked on the moon.  They’re household names.  But no one knows Collins.  Collins never touched the surface of the moon.  He was orbiting around the moon in the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin took that one small step.

The Apollo 11 mission was Collins’ second mission into space.  It was also his last one.  He never had another opportunity to go back up.  He came so close to the moon yet was so far.  It takes some sort of humility to be the only one on Apollo 11 to not have walked on the moon.  It was one of the most historic moments of mankind, the first time a human being walked on anything besides Earth.

I couldn’t help but think about us, the body of Christ.  It took thousands of people to make the moonwalk happen.  But only two individuals really got to experience walking on the moon.  As I grow older, I see how wonderful the body of Christ is.  I see the wisdom of God in providing such a diverse people with such different backgrounds, talents and gifts.  I see more of how miniscule my gifting and role is and also how important every other part of the body is.  For every Armstrong and Aldrin in the body, there are thousands of believers out there, whose role in building God’s kingdom may not be as public but is just as integral.

Prior to going overseas, one common question asked of me was whether I was going for missions
or for work. If I had quit my job, joined a missions organization, and raised support, there would be no question; I was going for missions. But since God provided an opportunity to go abroad through my current employer, doing the same job, and making even more money, it wasn’t quite clear to some whether I was going for God’s work or simply for work?

Our compartmentalization of work and missions reveals a very deep problem that holds back many from going overseas. Subconsciously, Christians feel that in order to go overseas for God, they must quit their lucrative jobs, join a Christian agency, and get paid “peanuts” for teaching English or living off support like a student. These three unspoken requirements (although often necessary) create huge barriers that keep many Christians from going abroad. And even if they do go abroad for work, they believe and therefore live like their only purpose overseas is for work since they didn’t go for “spiritual and missionary” reasons. Even though there’s much talk of tentmaking in the Christian circles, we still do not grasp just how simple and viable the concept really is.

Let’s look at it from another angle: What if this equation was changed? What if it was changed so that “regular” Christians began to see that their regular secular work could be as potentially impactful as “missionary” work? What if missions was not about what platform, job, organization, or company you go with — but about living your same Christian life – but only in a foreign land among unreached peoples? What if people began to see that the way the global job marketplace actually is today, they can work in their same profession overseas and get paid just as well? What if people didn’t need to quit their jobs – often only job they’ve ever known — and start a career in a whole new field? What if going overseas meant that you don’t have to waste your master’s degree and years of professional experience to teach conversational English to ten-year-olds, college students, or businessmen? How many more people would go if the usual barriers of quitting their job, joining an organization, and the “horrors” of raising support were not mandatory for going overseas? All of these possibilities would be realized with a new perspective on missions and work.

This shift in philosophy will open up doors for many people who are “on the fence” about going overseas. Going overseas has enough barriers of its own, so why add extra barriers and hurdles for Christians to jump through for them to arrive overseas? Sure, we must die to self, lay it all down for Christ, and make the sacrifices. However, what if our definition of a missionary is causing our brothers and sisters to lay things down which they don’t need to lay down because of our flawed perception of a missionary’s qualifications? What if we adjusted our values to believe that we Christians will be more willing, more able, and more fruitful if they go “as is”, simply making the same tents, but in a different place?