(From the Gospel Coalition) Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Mission Trips

Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Mission Trips.

Struggle

It has been a while blogosphere.

I originally intended for this blog to predominantly remain scripturally focused in a more formal format, but realize that unless you know who I am as a person my thoughts on the scriptures can mean little or nothing to you.

As I posted about a month ago, my family and I have relocated to Connecticut from Georgia (Where I began this blog).  Since moving, I have been able to spend more time with my family.  I live with my grandfather and work with my step-dad.  My wife watches my little sister, and I’ve seen my fathers mother once already since moving.  Kate (my wife) and I were even able to take a spontaneous weekend trip to Pennsylvania to see her family and meet our new nephew.  It has been great to have all of this time with family and it was one of the reasons I wanted to relocate.  On the other hand, there was another major reason that I felt God leading my family up here.

It was my intent to begin a Masters degree upon moving here.  I wanted to take the seeds that I have sown here along with my other studies and put them to use in pursuing a vocation in ministry.  Having this direction and focus gave me strength to endure a job that is incredibly taxing both physically and emotionally, as well as giving my heart peace about the path I feel God is leading me down.  As you may have gathered, I am not currently enrolled in seminary classes.

The past two months have landed me in a catch twenty two.  Kate and I have determined that I would not be able to work, study, and live out the family life we feel is best because of the large amount of time I would have to dedicate to my studies.  I would be able to pass my classes, but I want to teach.  This means I want to master my subjects.

The other side of the coin is the one that plagues most, if not all people who aspire to enter into ministry in our age. Finances.  Given that taking classes part time is not feasible right now I am left with the option of studying full time.   I was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree without incurring a cent of debt thanks to the generosity of my parents and grandfather.  I want to honor their sacrifice by not incurring any debt in furthering my studies.  It is also a strong belief of mine that incurring debt is not a way of handling money that  honors God.  I pay off my credit cards every month, and am doing everything I can to pay off what little is left of Kate’s loans.  Trying to pay for seminary on a dishwasher and nanny’s income is next to impossible.  We could do it if we saved up for the next five to ten years, but that’s assuming that the cost of private higher education doesn’t increase at all in that time frame.

All of this leaves me with an extremely heavy heart.  I have been seeking and praying for a specific direction in vocation for the call God has placed on my heart to seek unity in the body of Christ through teaching and discipling believers into a deeper understanding of their faith beyond the boundaries of the traditions that they were raised in or were introduced to Christ in.  I sincerely believe that becoming a Church History professor at a Christian college would provide me with the opportunity to seek out this calling as well as the calling I have to my wife and children.  I have known I was called to ministry since I was in middle school, and have held a variety of church positions that simply lacked the fire that comes from knowing that you are doing what you were made to be doing.  I have met  a few people who had that fire and it is unmistakable.  For me, that fire was kindled as I began to study Church History (I whole heartedly include New Testament studies in that category) and think about the idea of passing that knowledge onto others.

It is soul crushing to be able to see this calling spelled out in specifics for the first time in my life and not be able to reach it.  It has left me in an incredibly vulnerable space that has brought joy from the Lord and attacks from the enemy.  It was this afternoon that I received a new sense of urgency from Matthew 25: 14-29,

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

I want to honor God with what he has given me.  I want to be able to take this “talent” and multiply it a hundredfold to the glory of Christ.

Pray that  the Lord gives me the faith and wisdom to see what must be done.

History

I got the textbooks for my first seminary course in the mail last week. The course is Survey of Church History. I’ve spent the week devouring the book pictured above (You can click on the image to purchase it on amazon). It is a book I thoroughly enjoy, and is encouraging me in my decision to pursue the course I’m on. I’m coming into the ‘Age of Reason” in the text, and have come to a few realizations.

First, There is no golden age of Christianity. Each age holds its own flaws, and each leader his or her own failings. The patriarchs, the Roman Catholics, the reformers, the emperors, even the apostles struggled in their understanding of God, and how we relate to Him. As a Christian growing up in the evangelical tradition, I have heard a great deal of praise attributed to the apostles and reformers contrasted by sharp criticism, if not hatred, for all things Roman Catholic. While I am a protestant, reading this text has opened my eyes up to an important truth. The Gospel did not pass away between the fourth and sixteenth centuries only to be resurrected by the Reformation. The name of Christ remained a focal point for a millenium in the midst of plagues, persecutions, and political strife, and the Catholic practice of monasticism preserved all of the ancient writings, including the Scriptures, that brought the reformers to their powerful conclusions. There may have been many distorted and overlooked truths, but there were men who stood firm in their trust of Christ and worshipped Him in the way their culture taught them was appropriate.

The second realization is one that has been growing in me for a while now. We as Christians should perpetually be questioning (I’m not sure this is the best word to describe my point, but is the only one I can think of) the practices we use to engage with God and carry out the lives He has commanded us to live. If we assume the traditions we are presented with are ultimate authority in practice as a Christian people, we will begin to lose sight of the truth that God is drawing men from every tongue, tribe, and nation to Himself. He is not only doing this in our age, but has been doing it for over 2,000 years and will continue to do so until Christ’s return.

Third, the study of Church history is of the utmost importance. Ignorance breeds the cyclical nature of false teaching about God. In my reading I have been blown away by how many times the Gnostic teaching of Dualism, the denial of Christ’s divinity, and other teachings contrary to the basic Gospel have crept back into the church. Studying Church history also has a wonderful benefit for personal faith as well. It opens a door to understanding why you believe what you believe. The Christian faith didn’t start with your local church, but has been growing like a mustard seed into a great tree since the time of Christ.

It’s my hope to continue my education until I am able to teach Church history at an undergraduate Christian school. The idea of giving young leaders of the Church an understanding of where they have come from at their deepest roots gives me great joy. Also, the chance to be perpetually learning from the coming generations excites me with the prospect of learning where we are headed from the people who will carry the torch long after I have gone to be with Jesus.