There is for Here, This is for That

The youth group is going on a mission trip up to New York this week, and it reminds me of the couple mission trips I went on in middle school and high school.  I loved mission trips, because I got to get away from everything at home, go with my church to someplace that didn’t know who I was, and be “extra Christian” for a week.  And it felt good, because I knew in some dark corner of my heart that being “extra Christian” was a really good thing.  I was doing what I should.

But every time we’d come back, I didn’t need to be “extra Christian” anymore…I was home, everyone knew me, they already knew I was a Christian and so I didn’t need to let them know further by doing the sort of things we did on the mission trip.  Which really just means I was afraid, I was lazy, and I was hypocritical.  Because I wasn’t “extra Christian” on the mission trips; I was, in fact, only “a little bit Christian” at home.  “Extra Christian” really was “fully Christian.”  I wasn’t doing what I should when I was at home; when I was comfortable, when I was scared, when I was selfish.

Last night at Bible study we were praying for the youth’s mission trip and I came to the realization that the main purpose of short-term mission trips is not to do God’s work somewhere else.  The primary purpose of short-term missions is to teach us how to do God’s work here.  And of course God uses mission trips to reach people, and he works through them to do his work wherever it is that the mission goes to; but learning how to Love in an unfamiliar setting is a stepping stone towards learning how to Love in a familiar setting.  Because it’s a lot harder to be fully Christian in the place you live, where the people know you and you have to face all the long-term effects and you don’t have anywhere to go back to in a week if things start getting rough.  But doing things for others usually ends up doing even more for you—because when you work for others, God works in you.  He shows you why it feels right and why it is what you should do, and he changes your heart so that you want to do it—whether you’re in an unfamiliar setting or not.

• How can I be a better missionary where I’m at?
• What calling does God have on my life that I’m avoiding because I’m scared, lazy, comfortable, or selfish?
• What can I ask God to change in my heart so that I can Love better?