Hard day at work
I spent the whole day in a golf tournament! Man was that hard work. It was a perfect day for golf. Not to hot, not to cold. I thought we were going to get rained out but it was awesome. I got asked to be in it around a month ago by Brian and Melonie. It was a fundraiser for their son's hockey team. The beautiful thing about it was that it cost $65 and they covered my cost! To top it off, our team came in second. It was texas scramble so it was best ball, thank goodness we had some good golfers on our team!
It was just a good day to get out of my little sphere of influence and meet some new guys. This may sound really profound to some, but I think being a missionary in the communities in which we live requires us doing things with the people in the communities in which we live. I know, I know. It's profound and revolutionary. The funny thing about this is that if a lot of us were to examine our lives (especially mine) we'd find that we are pretty crappy missionaries. We think that going to church and listening to a pastor talk for hours about stuff we already know is what it's all about. We think that giving money to the missionaries overseas is how we fulfill our duty to missions. What we miss is the essence of what being a follower of Jesus is all about.
I told a guy today that if being a Christian is just about going to church on Sunday and trying to follow a whole bunch of rules and be a good person, I don't want it. In fact, that's the prescription for the most boring life ever! It's when you let your faith consume your whole life and see everything as spiritual, that's when the adventure begins. You actually start to hang out with real people, with real lives and you see that they are really cool to hang out with. You don't have to impose your beliefs on them or anything like. Trust me, these guys could swear like the best of them and I didn't say a word. I've been around people that make it known that they are Christians and that people shouldn't swear when they are present. Give me a break! What do we expect from people who don't follow Jesus.
Part of being a missionary in our culture is to be with people on their turf. We don't have to do everything they do but we need to be with them. I look at it this way, if I was going into a village in northern africa as an overseas missionary, I couldn't build a church building and wait for people to come to me. They wouldn't. I couldn't sing western songs, eat western food, dress western, talk western, act western...and expect them to give a flying rip. I would have to go to them and become one of them (just like Paul said he did). Eat their food. Dance like they dance. Dress like they dress. Learn their language.
So why do we have such a hard time getting this here? Why are we hung up with all the formulas and 4 steps to Christianity? Why not play some golf? Why not grab a burger with the guys after work? Why not join the local hockey/soccer/etc league? Why not get into their world and live so contagiously that they have to ask questions about who you are?
What are we so afraid of?
It was just a good day to get out of my little sphere of influence and meet some new guys. This may sound really profound to some, but I think being a missionary in the communities in which we live requires us doing things with the people in the communities in which we live. I know, I know. It's profound and revolutionary. The funny thing about this is that if a lot of us were to examine our lives (especially mine) we'd find that we are pretty crappy missionaries. We think that going to church and listening to a pastor talk for hours about stuff we already know is what it's all about. We think that giving money to the missionaries overseas is how we fulfill our duty to missions. What we miss is the essence of what being a follower of Jesus is all about.
I told a guy today that if being a Christian is just about going to church on Sunday and trying to follow a whole bunch of rules and be a good person, I don't want it. In fact, that's the prescription for the most boring life ever! It's when you let your faith consume your whole life and see everything as spiritual, that's when the adventure begins. You actually start to hang out with real people, with real lives and you see that they are really cool to hang out with. You don't have to impose your beliefs on them or anything like. Trust me, these guys could swear like the best of them and I didn't say a word. I've been around people that make it known that they are Christians and that people shouldn't swear when they are present. Give me a break! What do we expect from people who don't follow Jesus.
Part of being a missionary in our culture is to be with people on their turf. We don't have to do everything they do but we need to be with them. I look at it this way, if I was going into a village in northern africa as an overseas missionary, I couldn't build a church building and wait for people to come to me. They wouldn't. I couldn't sing western songs, eat western food, dress western, talk western, act western...and expect them to give a flying rip. I would have to go to them and become one of them (just like Paul said he did). Eat their food. Dance like they dance. Dress like they dress. Learn their language.
So why do we have such a hard time getting this here? Why are we hung up with all the formulas and 4 steps to Christianity? Why not play some golf? Why not grab a burger with the guys after work? Why not join the local hockey/soccer/etc league? Why not get into their world and live so contagiously that they have to ask questions about who you are?
What are we so afraid of?
