Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Even WaPo Is Getting In On This Act
I was stunned when Kruse Kronicle pointed to an article in the Washington Post discussing problems with short term mission trips. You know the church has a problem when the MSM is picking up on it.
It seems that we live and practice our faith at one of two extremes. We have those that profess faith, have an intellectual understanding of their faith, might even pursue some spiritual practice, but never quite get the whole "fruits" thing. Then there are those, as illustrated here, that have a vacant, empty, but very "productive" faith. To use the language of James we seems to have faith without works, or works without faith.
Why is works WITH faith so hard to encounter?
I would like to suggest that the reason is because a true walk with Christ does not so much make us different as it makes us better. Now, of course, Christians should be easily detectable as "different" than everyone else, that is not what I am talking about.
What I am talking about is that if you are a physicist, becoming a Christian does not make you an artist, it makes you a better physicist. If you are a business man, becoming a Christian does not make you a football player, it makes you a better business man.
The mark of a Christian is not in WHAT we do, but in HOW we do it.
Of course, STMs are going to have weird results if we do not do them well. At heart what truly bothers me about them is that instead of helping people to be better people right where they are, we feel like we have to take them off to the third world. High school kids need desperately to learn how to be good high school kids. When they grow up, if they are so inclined, then they can be missionaries.
But then for us to lead people to be better people would mean that we first have to become better people, and I think that is where the ultimate rub lies. We try all sorts of things short of that mark, not because with think those to whom we minister cannot handle it, but because we cannot handle it.
So, the question becomes, is "retooling" STM's really the answer? I don't think so - I think praying -- kneeling, confessing, humbling, tearful prayer, with another to whom we can be accountable is the right response. A prayer that says "God we'll worry about the STM later, make ME better - show ME where I was wrong - teach ME to be your person."
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Critics scornfully call such trips "religious tourism" undertaken by "vacationaries." Some blunders include a wall built on the children's soccer field at an orphanage in Brazil that had to be torn down after the visitors left. In Mexico, a church was painted six times during one summer by six different groups. In Ecuador, a church was built but never used because the community said it was not needed.The "blunders" are extraordinary, but frankly, they are also the least of my concerns.
To make missionary work more meaningful, some churches are taking a different approach. In response to the criticism, a growing number of churches and agencies that put together short-term trips are revamping their programs and establishing new standards.
It seems that we live and practice our faith at one of two extremes. We have those that profess faith, have an intellectual understanding of their faith, might even pursue some spiritual practice, but never quite get the whole "fruits" thing. Then there are those, as illustrated here, that have a vacant, empty, but very "productive" faith. To use the language of James we seems to have faith without works, or works without faith.
Why is works WITH faith so hard to encounter?
I would like to suggest that the reason is because a true walk with Christ does not so much make us different as it makes us better. Now, of course, Christians should be easily detectable as "different" than everyone else, that is not what I am talking about.
What I am talking about is that if you are a physicist, becoming a Christian does not make you an artist, it makes you a better physicist. If you are a business man, becoming a Christian does not make you a football player, it makes you a better business man.
The mark of a Christian is not in WHAT we do, but in HOW we do it.
Of course, STMs are going to have weird results if we do not do them well. At heart what truly bothers me about them is that instead of helping people to be better people right where they are, we feel like we have to take them off to the third world. High school kids need desperately to learn how to be good high school kids. When they grow up, if they are so inclined, then they can be missionaries.
But then for us to lead people to be better people would mean that we first have to become better people, and I think that is where the ultimate rub lies. We try all sorts of things short of that mark, not because with think those to whom we minister cannot handle it, but because we cannot handle it.
So, the question becomes, is "retooling" STM's really the answer? I don't think so - I think praying -- kneeling, confessing, humbling, tearful prayer, with another to whom we can be accountable is the right response. A prayer that says "God we'll worry about the STM later, make ME better - show ME where I was wrong - teach ME to be your person."
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