Pursuing the Call: A Plan for New Missionaries预览

Many people view missionaries as super-Christians who are on fire for God and could never possibly go through a spiritual dry spell. This is far from reality. Missionaries are people like any other Christians, and they share the same tendency to grow cold if they are not stoking the flame of faith in their lives.

Almost ten years ago, I was introduced to a concept that forever shifted my perception of ministry. God does not want you to do ministry for Him but rather with Him. We often talk about doing things for God or going into ministry to serve God; there is nothing wrong with this in and of itself. However, doing things for God without also doing them with God is futile. One of the clearest biblical examples of this can be seen in Luke 10:38-42 when Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary. Martha works diligently to ensure that He has the best visit possible. The text describes this in verse 40, saying that she was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. Mary, on the other hand, was doing nothing to assist with the household chores. She simply sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what He said.

Every time I read this story, I relate to Martha. I love having a checklist of tasks that I can complete one after the other. By accomplishing enough tasks, I feel like I have made good use of my time. This, however, is not the mindset that Jesus praises in this passage. There’s nothing wrong with the tasks themselves that Martha is doing. After all, she is making preparations for Jesus so He can have the best visit possible, but while Martha is busy doing things for Jesus, Mary is spending her time with Jesus. Jesus’ response indicates that being with Him is far greater than anything done for Him.

We can conclude that your personal relationship with God is far more important than anything you could do for Him in ministry. Therefore, it is better for you to take care of your own spiritual health at the expense of some ministry tasks than for you to run a million miles an hour to facilitate a seemingly thriving ministry while your own relationship with God suffers.

As you read today's reading, consider if you are doing enough to take care of your own relationship with God.