Thursday, January 09, 2003
Short Term Mission
The short term mission meeting that I was supposed to attend last Friday afternoon was postponed because of snow to this Saturday. Sad to say I haven't given the matter a lot of thought. I've kind of assumed that I'll be going on the short term mission, but I haven't done anything to prepare my heart and mind to go.
When I got the information sheet the first thing I saw was the price, and "no way, that's too expensive" popped immediately into my mind. Then I thought that it's expensive, it's going to cut into my summer job, so it'll be hard for me to get back into things when I get back, there's softball to think about, Spain is really hot so I'm going to be SO uncomfortable (I'd rather freeze than scorch), I don't like kids and we'd likely be doing a children's ministry, &etc. All excuses. God never called us to be comfortable while we're spreading his gospel.
The more I think about it, the less I want to go on the mission trip, but the more I am convinced that I probably should go. I've been comfortable for far too long, and I know I'm supposed to be working on my result-oriented attitude, but I can't say that I've really accomplished much as a Christian so far.
Today I started reading Romans, and verse eight, right in the first chapter has Paul writing: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world". And it hit me that my faith isn't even being reported among friends or acquaintances, much less over the world. So I think I need to go on this mission trip to really push myself to be a Christian in the world, not just in my heart or at church or among Christian friends.
Another rather sad thing is that when I was thinking about the meeting on Saturday, one of the first things that jumped into my mind was: "Darn, I'm going to miss Hockey Night in Canada again!" Yup, just another knock on my head telling me just how wrong my priorities are.
The short term mission meeting that I was supposed to attend last Friday afternoon was postponed because of snow to this Saturday. Sad to say I haven't given the matter a lot of thought. I've kind of assumed that I'll be going on the short term mission, but I haven't done anything to prepare my heart and mind to go.
When I got the information sheet the first thing I saw was the price, and "no way, that's too expensive" popped immediately into my mind. Then I thought that it's expensive, it's going to cut into my summer job, so it'll be hard for me to get back into things when I get back, there's softball to think about, Spain is really hot so I'm going to be SO uncomfortable (I'd rather freeze than scorch), I don't like kids and we'd likely be doing a children's ministry, &etc. All excuses. God never called us to be comfortable while we're spreading his gospel.
The more I think about it, the less I want to go on the mission trip, but the more I am convinced that I probably should go. I've been comfortable for far too long, and I know I'm supposed to be working on my result-oriented attitude, but I can't say that I've really accomplished much as a Christian so far.
Today I started reading Romans, and verse eight, right in the first chapter has Paul writing: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world". And it hit me that my faith isn't even being reported among friends or acquaintances, much less over the world. So I think I need to go on this mission trip to really push myself to be a Christian in the world, not just in my heart or at church or among Christian friends.
Another rather sad thing is that when I was thinking about the meeting on Saturday, one of the first things that jumped into my mind was: "Darn, I'm going to miss Hockey Night in Canada again!" Yup, just another knock on my head telling me just how wrong my priorities are.
