(2 Cor 10:5) casting down arguments . . .
So you’ve been contemplating going on the mission field, ‘eh? Now why would you want to do that? I can give you many reasons why you should NOT go on the mission field but here are the basic ones you need to consider:
FAMILY: You would miss them. You’d be so lonely for home it would make you sick. You wouldn’t make it through your first holidays before you’d be running home. You’d miss birthdays, graduations, and all kinds of special times with the people you love. You wouldn’t be there for anybody. And think of how your family would worry about you. Do you want to put them through that? You can serve the Lord right here in this country!
FUTURE: What a waste of your future, going on the mission field. Giving up your security . . . for what? Look how hard you’ve worked building your potential. Are you going to leave it all now for an uncertain future? Are you in dreamland? What are you even thinking?
FINANCES: You want to be poor all your life? Don’t you know missionaries are constantly struggling just to meet the basic needs of life? Do you want the ongoing agony of worrying where your next dime (or peso) is going to come from? Do you like depending on people and begging for money in the newsletters you’d send home? And besides . . . do you think you can raise enough money to even get to where you want to go?
FITNESS: Who do you think you are even considering going on the mission field when you know what a rotten sinner you are. You don’t have the spiritual qualities it takes to even be a Christian right here in your own backyard! And besides your spiritual life, you’re not strong physically. How could your body ever hold up under the rigors of the mission field? You’ve heard about all those diseases over there. And what about the sub-par medical care?
FEARS: Something might happen to you in that place you’re thinking about going. And you’d be so far away from home for anyone to help you. You’ve heard about missionaries getting kidnapped. And do you think you’re going to meet your marriage partner among all those foreigners? And if you do ever marry, what about your kids schooling? Do you want them to fall behind the standards of education back at home and not be able to compete in today’s world?
Now can you let that missionary thing go for good? Man, am I glad that I was there to catch you before you made a big mistake. Now we both can settle down and get back to reality!
Lou C. Pher (Mat 19:29; Jer 29:11; Phil 4:19; Isa 41:10; 1 Joh 4:18)
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