Reality-Oriented Missions
Way back in high school, I had a crush on this guy.
And when I say crush, I mean like a massive year-long thing where I couldn’t talk to him, could barely manage being in the same room without blushing. And when I was with my friends, we would constantly overanalyze what he did. “It’s our job to be delusional with you,” one of my friends said once. It was a very positive sign if he so much as looked at me. When he talked to me, we could practically see wedding bells in our future. The one time we held hands in a youth group game, we were speculating about his hidden intentions. “We made eye contact across the room” I might report, or “he was nodding at everything I said.”
Needless to say, the feelings were not returned, but that didn’t stop me from dreaming.
Fast forward a few years.
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Currently, I’m in Seattle on a missions trip. On this missions trip, with this team, we’ll finish a conversation and immediately debrief. After going over what went well and what could have improved, it always ends like, “Well, we got to share the Gospel!” “Hey, at least seeds were planted!” “At least there was a positive interaction!” “They really seemed like they were listening!” God is always doing something, even if we can’t see it. Who knows what’s going on in the target’s heart? This might be the very thing they needed to hear, even if they didn’t say it. We have to have faith that God is working.
I have to say, the similarities between those two scenarios are disturbing.
A lot of the people we talk to are probably nodding out of politeness, talking to us because we have a survey to fill out, staying for the forced Gospel presentation because leaving would be rude.
Yes, we do have a positive impact. Yes, some people do get saved and yes, God is working in some people’s hearts. But I don’t think every conversation has to be positive for our faith to be valid. In fact, I rather think it’s more valid if we can have conversations that go nowhere. Because not everyone is ready for the next steps yet. Because not every conversation is effective.
Because that’s real life.
The optimism in the missions field is larger than it has any right to be. I guess that’s all I have to say. If obedience matters more than results, then why are we creating fruits out of thin air?
