Rethinking the M word

I had to do a word association test as part of a psychological evaluation before being accepted to come and work in Cambodia. I'm sure it showed I'm not terribly religious. Next to the word lamb I wrote roast...mint sauce. For the word cross I wrote something like the road and hot cross buns.

When I think about the word mission my associations are very positive. I think about a compelling purpose and a grand adventure. Why then does the word missionary make me think social misfit and neo-colonialist? When I try to picture missionaries I think of some blue-eyed Americans who live in a simple but spacious home with their 3.2 children and do some kinds of vague but noble, well-intentioned good works. Recognising that this over-simplified stereotype still dances in my subconscious, I figure it is time to rethink the M word.

1. Missionaries. Sent Ones.

Too often I think of this sent-ness in purely organisational terms. I have in mind the long-term/ professional/ career missionaries who go through a lengthy process of selection, training, deputation and commissioning that can stretch over many years. While all these things may be necessary, thinking about sent-ness can be as simple as grasping this one verse that Jesus spoke as a prayer to our Father-

"As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world." (John 17:18)

What does this mean? It means that God's purpose for mission isn't at a distance. As Graham (one of the Pastors at the International Church I attend on Sunday afternoons) reminded us yesterday, "It is mission close-up and personal...It is engaging with real people in real relationships in real contexts." To do that we are simply required to deny our own agendas and follow as apprentices of the Master. More fundamentally than HR logistics, this is what it means to be sent.

2. Missionaries. Pushed Ones.

As I've just stated, the sending out of God's co-labourers and friends must not be thought of only in organisational terms. It is a calling from God to follow the Master through the enabling of the Spirit. I wonder if the Spirit sends as much by pushing as He does by quiet invitation!

In his book "A Time for Mission" Samuel Escobar points out that missionaries are a mixed bag. There are those who come with material, financial, educational and technical resources that are often far above the community they enter. Then there are "the little ones" who come "from below". Sometimes they are pushed from their countries- by war, persecution or disaster. Sometimes they are pulled by work or educational opportunities. So, we find in the mix of missionaries the refugees, the migrants, the students and the poor...and the blue-eyed Americans.

3. Missionaries. Desperate Ones.

Sometimes I wish I could be one of those "little ones" who comes "from below". I sometimes pretend for a few moments when I'm washing my clothes by hand in a bucket that I am one of the powerless I'm trying to understand. But then a few hours later when my clothes are dry I'll take some of them to change into when I do my session at the air-conditioned gym that costs me as much per month as many Cambodian people receive for their entire salary. Not wanting to be always seen as one who comes "from above", perhaps the best I can hope for is to come "alongside".

Although in many ways I'm rich, I seek the same empowering, dynamism, dynamite of the Spirit that compels those who have nothing but faith to go. It is this same Spirit who beats in my chest, compelling me to stay, live, proclaim, serve, seek transformation, worship and pray....because He has made me desperate. It starts small. Graham asked us last night, "How small was the Kingdom of God at the beginning?" He answered, "As small as a baby in a manger." I believe in this Kingdom growth of the mustard seed. I believe our small parts are directed by the conductor of history. I want to see the future reflected in the present. To stand and say with the bride of Christ, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come."