Coming from a small city with over 40 churches, I have observed many of peers go on week long "mission" trips or conferences and come back. During their time with the group, away from home, students (I realize this tends to be the case for adults, too, but I'll just use the word students--students of God) become gung-ho about getting sweaty and dirty just to serve people. Many students become more bold in saying the name of Jesus, and even will talk to strangers about Him. Afterwards the pseudo-high they have received lasts a few weeks, maybe even a month.
That is really cool, I am glad they get those experiences. Sometimes, going to another town is just what someone needs in order to think beyond themself and begin a life of service and following Jesus' footsteps. But it is so frustrating because here I am, at home, trying to live a life that continually has that mindset but I don't receive the praise of parents and friends saying "wow, that is so great of you to serve those 'in need'". I don't seem as "cool" to my peers because I did not go on the mission trip or conference trip that everyone else did. I don't have a million pictures of random strangers covering my facebook and computer from my one week of being in a new area that I now think the "the best place ever".
Even though I am a Christian, I sometimes feel like I don't fit in in a Christian town because I don't go to conferences each year or mission trips on my spring breaks. When people ask what I did during my break and I don't mention a mission trip, I feel judged and looked down upon. But, I am not going to go on a trip or to a conference just because others do. I have gone before, and most of the times I had no desire to but the Lord clearly told me to go. So I obeyed, and it was a sweet experience.
But in my whole course of being raised in a Christian town, I have gone on 3 trips and to one conference. Instead of going, the Lord is teaching me and training me to have these mission trip mentalities wherever I am.
While I might not receive the praise for what I'm doing from parents and friends, I know that the Lord is pleased and that the great cloud of witnesses in Heaven (Hebrews 12) is cheering me on. In being "lame" from not going on mission trips or conference trips during spring or summer break, I have learned what it means to not conform for conformity's sake, even if it is to a generally good thing. And instead of pouring into stranger's lives for a week and leaving, those "strangers" that I talk to about God, and those people I serve with all my heart, are people I see again and again. It is a kind of accountability because I stay where I serve.
I am convinced that this mentality of service and love not only can and should be, but needs to be an everyday thing in the life of a Christ follower.
Maybe that means making goals for each day of how to live out this serving mindset whether at work, home, or play, until the love and service becomes engrained into normal life. Maybe it means taking a week off from work to stay and serve whomever whenever. Or maybe it does mean going on a week long trip with an accountability group to stay focused before, during, and afterwards.
Whatever that may look like, may this mission trip mentality be an everyday thing and may the Lord transform your mind as you seek Him.
I see in this post your are not conforming but are rather being transformed. (Romans 12:1-2) Being transformed not overseas, not out of state, but learning what it means to be a follower of Christ right here in a small town.
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