Staff Blog

I think I finally figured out why I get an uncomfortable feeling whenever someone refers to me as a missionary. In our frequent meetings with new people, the subject inevitably arises of what we do for a living and during these times, I often find myself explaining and clarifying what our roles at Overland Missions involve. I haven't been able to put my finger on it for a while but I think I've finally nailed what my problem is! Let me explain...

This may sound silly but since I came to know Jesus in my early twenties, the term missionary has always confused me. It's not that I don't understand the meaning of the word, or have any disagreement with it. More that I have never been able to see a Christian believer's primary role as anything other than a 'missionary'. You see, to my wonderfully naive interpretation of the great commission, I understood that only two things mattered to God when it came to what we do with our lives. They're pretty clearly outlined in Matthew 22, "Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ " (37-39). Honestly, I am yet to find a way to truly love another person that doesn't include sharing my faith with them.

So you see my dilemma. Yes, my business card says I'm a missionary, and yes, we receive a paycheck from a missions organization as our commitment to our roles is a full time one, but the truth is I didn't become a missionary eighteen months ago when I joined Overland Missions. My acceptance of my role as a full time missionary occurred way back on July 31st, 2005, the day I gave my life to God.

It is a dangerous thing to compartmentalize our lives to the degree that we see only some parts as spiritual and others as secular. Doing so prevents us from being able to see those around us as the lost for whom Christ died. I am fully convinced that every one of us has been given a mission field to personally take care of, regardless of our employment status. Long before I joined a missions organization I was a missionary in the college I lectured in, I was a missionary in the retail outlets I served in and in the university I studied at, to name but a few. If we wait to receive the title 'missionary' surely we will never truly be one. It's not a job title, an occupation, or the responsibility of a minority of the church, it's a desire that comes from the heart that can only be acted on in faith and out of a knowledge of God and His Love for us.