It seems to be a rite of passage for every teen who grew up in the church. No, not attending youth camps, although that brings its own experience in of itself. I mean the spring/summer break mission trips. The object of our attention usually involved serving the poor - by that - I mean the impoverished. Either because the homeless was our aim, or going to a rough area that was plagued by trauma, death, addiction, low-income families were the pursuit. And many times, the lesson that was brought back from the experience was the amazing gracious hearts of those served. How they were so generous with the little they had. Wait. Wasn’t the trip supposed to be about serving them? Oh, don’t worry. There was that component, as well. So often, there is a highlighted note that the poor are receiving so much of what we, as Americans can give. And yes, we should be generous with the gifts that we have, as one of the wealthiest countries in the world. However, in my observations, I have found a subtle lofty idea of giving what we have, but only receiving the tangible gifts of those we minister. I am grateful that my youth pastor challenged my peers to bring back the lessons we learned from our mission trips. Otherwise, I think we would have come out of these experiences thinking too highly of ourselves. “Look how much we helped them! See how they blessed us!” Uh, wasn’t this supposed to be about Jesus? Frankly, sometimes though we look to alleviate their circumstances of the poor, we still think of ourselves as superior. We are guilty of pitying them. Pity has a different connotation than empathy or sympathy. The latter two communicate a willingness to sit in with a person’s sorrow and really understand them. Pity, adversely, sees the sorrow, but can lack compassion. And maybe there is a level of compassion in mission work - after all - why else travel to these unfortunate places if not to help better them? The mistake I see, nevertheless, is that often (short-term) missionaries see that they are bringing something for the people but leave no room to actually learn from those whom they are serving. This is where - even in the most evangelistic ways of showing Jesus, negative stereotypes can be perpetuated. The truth is that every group of people is broken. Every group of people is littered with sin. But more so, every group of people has been made in the image of God. And with their languages, cultures and perspectives, each group of people has an understanding of Jesus that we can learn from one another. We create a grave mistake when visiting the poor and commenting on how they are so willing to bless out of their lack, then move on to the next subject. Why not learn from them? As an American, are you willing to bless others even out of your lack? Oh wait, but God surely wouldn’t ask you to do that…But peoples’ lack may differ. And are we willing to trust Jesus, nonetheless? That is the lesson. When we choose to pity the impoverished, we only see where they are suffering. We forget to see the gift in them that God innately created within them. We fail to see our needs and deny our own brokenness - and the truth is - there is something in my brothers and sisters in third world countries that we, as Americans, so desperately require. Are we willing to invite them into our lives and share with us what Jesus has given them? Furthermore, are we willing to open our hearts to see things from a different perspective, so that we may grow in ways that we never would have, if they were never a part of our lives? I learned so much from living with Natives what grace actually looks like. I learned how to mourn with others in sorrow, rather than alone. I learned how to laugh and joke even in the face of hardship. These are lessons that I missed in the Western culture. When I was visiting Jordan, it was there that I learned about the “new life” that baptism represents, not just dying to my sins…which, understanding the power of the gospel, it is crucial to have both components. (Could you imagine if the Gospel was only including the death to our sins? It would mean having to wait until heaven to have fruit from our sanctification!) We miss so much when we are only aiming to serve the poor, as if they have no gift of eternal value. Honestly, I think it’s a crime in the eyes of God. I wonder if so much of the racism that has perpetuated over centuries is due to the nonsense that we have something to give, but the ones we serve have nothing to give (unless it benefits monetarily…hint, hint, imperialism). The body is of many parts. And we function best, when we have every component bringing what they have to build the kingdom of heaven. So, when we go on mission, let us remember the words of a British friend of mine who has served in South Africa: “Wherever you are called, you will receive from the nations, and you will deposit to the nations.” Nations, together, bring Jesus to the world.
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