Have you ever been sent by someone?
The folks in charge of missions at my church have adopted Journey4Hope as a mission. So I’m not just going; I’m being sent.
That means they’ll provide prayer support and some help with logistics—all very needed and much appreciated. But there’s another implication that has me reeling in a bit of an identity crisis.
I’m a missionary!
I can’t be a missionary. Missionaries are special.
Missionaries go to dangerous places and perform miracles, right? Missionaries attend Bible colleges and speak some sort of holy language. God talks to them, they know exactly what He wants them to do with their lives.
None of that is me. I just want to ride a bike and talk about hope. I can’t be a missionary.
I’m a lot more comfortable with the notion that God calls someone else to fill those special roles. I’m just a messed-up guy. I’d rather write a check, pay a professional pastor, toss a few dollars into the missions collection, hire folks with specialized training and some specific calling from God. Let them be responsible for ministry.
Except, of course, that’s not the way Jesus did it. He picked ordinary, uneducated people and sent them. Frequently He chose outcasts, social misfits, the worst of the worst. He hung out with them, equipped them, and then sent them to accomplish the most important tasks in history.
And honestly, I’ve known a bunch of those “professional ministry” folks, and they’re just as messed up as the rest of us. It’s hard to escape the fact that not much ministry will get accomplished if we wait for the perfect folks to do it.
Frankly, I still don’t like the labels very much. I really don’t want to be a missionary, and I don’t want a ministry. I’d rather just share my story and hope others might find some encouragement in it.
I prefer my project to be about a guy riding a bike and encouraging others to face their fears and pursue their dreams. I’d rather embrace the reality that we’re all called, we’re all missionaries, we all do ministry with the gifts we’re given.
But I do like the notion that it’s not about me, that there’s a bigger plan and a higher purpose to all of it. I’m motivated by knowing that I’m serving something other than my own wishes and needs.
I like the idea that I’m not just going. I’m being sent.
You’re being sent, too.
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