The Mission Field Starts Here

​Nearly time to start packing my bags!  We leave for Guatemala in less than 48 hours. In five days, our goal is to build two new homes for impoverish families. It will be a new, unique experience in a new and foreign land (for me) to serve others; and undoubtedly gain a greater appreciation for the many blessings we have here in our country.  I look forward to sharing this experience with my son, and 10 others from our congregation. 

Please keep us in your prayers!
 
However, one needs not travel far to do this sort of “mission” work.  At my previous church, we had a sign at the exit of the parking lot that read: You Are NOW Entering the Mission Field. Catchy, isn’t it?  It is meant to catch you on your way out of church, not your way in. A less-than-subtle reminder. The idea is simple but easy to forget: the mission field isn't a place you fly to. It's the parking lot. It’s the home you pass. It’s the diner you eat at afterwards. It’s the grocery store. It's your kitchen table. It's the cubicle next to yours…
 
I’m sure you get the point. Our mission field is much closer than we often think.  They are in the present places we already find ourselves spending most of our time—where we live, work, and play. 
 
We tend to picture missionaries with passports and prayer cards, serving in places far from home. And Scripture certainly sends people that way— the Apostle Paul crossed seas, walked mountain roads, endured shipwreck to carry the Gospel to strangers. That call is real and honorable. But it isn't the only call, and for most of us, it isn't our call.  This is worth sitting with, because it can be tempting (and perhaps a bit too comfortable and convenient) to treat "real" ministry or “mission” work as something that happens elsewhere or by other people—on a mission trip, in a foreign country, among people who look and speak differently than we do.  That kind of service matters. But it can also become a way of quietly excusing ourselves from the mission field we're standing in. Every. Single. Day. 
 
Every Christian, by virtue of our baptism and relationship with Jesus, is a missionary. No matter where we live. No matter what our professional vocation. No matter how polished or equipped we think we are.   We are all called to actively and intentionally winsome for the sake of the Gospel—sharing the love and salvation found in Jesus. This quote (source unknown) comes to mind, “We are not called to save the world; we are called to be faithful in the place God has put us."  The coworker who never mentions God but is clearly carrying something heavy. The young adult child who is still trying to figure out what they believe in a world of mixed messages. The neighbor who's lived beside you for years and whom you've never really talked to. The relative who stopped going to church and never says why.

​The list goes on…
 
You don't need a passport for that mission field. You need simply to be present.  Be attentive. Be patient. Pray for a bold willingness to show up in small, ordinary ways like a meal, a phone call, an honest conversation, a listening ear. Jesus did not just wait for people to come to Him.  He met them where they were at.  Jesus did not meet people exclusively in temples and synagogues. He met them at wells, on roadsides, in fishing boats, at dinner tables. The mission field has always been wherever people already are; and you’re in it!
 
"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." (Mother Teresa)
“The mission of the Church is not to occupy space, but to occupy the neighborhood." (unknown)