(2 Cor 8:7) But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.
MacGyver. In fighting crime, he could do anything and everything to solve a case and get out of a jam. In each TV episode the viewer would become hopeless at what he was up against. But after the commercial break MacGyver would get out his Swiss army knife, duct tape, or something else and make things work for the rescue.
Kind of sounds like a missionary, doesn’t it? We laugh at the words “professional” and “missionary” ever being found in the same reference because what you need for your calling is a chemical mix of versatility, flexibility, and a good sense of humor!
When you go to the mission field you usually have a basic job description of what you will be doing when you arrive. But when you get there, you find that there’s many things you must do for survival. The internet cuts off. A monsoon hits. Your transportation doesn’t arrive in time. Even in developed countries you still must figure things out and jump through a lot of cultural hoops you never expected to be there, even after all your extensive research and talking to a lot of experienced people.
What’s funny is we expect people to be in charge of things and who will get things done on our behalf. But after a while you begin to realize that if it’s going to get done it’s going to have to be you doing it! What…you say? Me do that? But I’ve never done it before. I’m not trained for this. That’s out of my league or I’m over-trained for that. Ha, ha, ha all the way to the funny farm because when it comes down to it you need to be a Swiss army knife for Jesus.
Paul called himself a doulos, or servant. Yes, the great intellect and mighty man of God was a slave for the Lord. That meant he was not his own but belonged to Jesus. And whatever His Lord wanted done he was to do without question. Whether he felt like it or not. Whether he felt capable or not. And to do it all without fussing!
Man, I had to learn this early on in the ministry. Here I am with a Bible college diploma on my wall and having to do a multitude of things and wear so many hats as I was involved in church planting and start-up ministries that would span my whole life of service for Christ. It was good that I was intellectually trained but now I needed to roll my sleeves up and be the one to solve problems and keep the multitude of dishes spinning inside the ministry circus tent.
Are you wearing a lot of hats in your missionary ministry? Do you wish you could get more people to help you? Well, there might be a day coming, but until then you must keep your Swiss army knife in your pocket and pull it out and use what you need at the moment to get the work done. All with a smile as you face long days of aggravations and your in-file that never sees dust. God will make sure that what is important will get done. Refuse to complain and learn to laugh at it all and watch your D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) skills improve knowing you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! (Philippians 4:13)
Louie
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