Our Mission is Possible Wherever We Are
When you hear “mission”, maybe you think about Tom Cruise and his exploits in the Mission Impossible spy film series. Or, when you hear “mission”, you may think about missionaries in a third world country, dedicated to bringing lost souls to Christ. The truth is we are all called to a mission – right here or over there. God doesn’t value a far-off there more than an ordinary right here. Every there for us is someone else’s here.
Yes, some are called to go but most are called to stay and this is no lesser of a story to be living. If God is everywhere, and He tells us that He is, then He loves all the earth and we can serve Him in any corner of it — including the one at the end of our own street. We are all missionaries because none of us are “home.” We are all in a foreign place, in a culture where we are not true citizens but wanderers. “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20)
The good news is we can honor God in what is familiar to us. We can seek Him in the everyday sameness of our lives. We don’t have to go anywhere but TO HIM in order for us to be useful in His Kingdom. For those called to step on a plane or boat, you go with the blessing of God. For those called to stay in a kitchen or a check-out line at a store or a conference room or a a desk in a class, you stay right where you are — with the blessing of God.
“Missionary” simply means someone who has or is on a mission. If that’s the case, then we all bear that name. I’m by no means taking away the special care and honor that should be given to those for whom it is also an occupation. I’m just saying “Let’s not diminish the privilege we all have of being part of a great mission, too.” You have been sent. I have been sent. We were sent the second the first spark of life flickered in our mother’s womb. To this earth. And now to wherever we are today.
Let’s not believe that there is a more “spiritual” location to be. Let’s never let our hearts be convinced God is not as fully here as He is on some distant continent. Instead let’s take off our shoes and declare that right here where we stand is holy ground, too. Because God is here — in this moment. Perhaps even more miraculous, He is in us. God Himself is Who He wants us to bring wherever we are, wherever we go.
Do you want to know where God is asking you to serve and bless right now? You only need to look down at the one-foot square of humble, sacred earth beneath your feet. The only place on this spinning globe where both you and God are present in this moment. That’s where we can always make a difference.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5