Friendly Fire

            When one goes to the mission field, you expect resistance and spiritual warfare. However, one does not expect it from people who claim to have the same calling/draw/desire as yourself. But, this has proven true for many people, not just me….

            Humans are petty….and territorial. There. I said it. Ever since I began a relationship with my husband, I have gotten flack, as has he. Obviously we both ignored it and moved forward as we are now married and have a baby. However, more than relationship nay-sayers, there is another form of pettiness that bothers me, particularly on the mission field.

            Here in the Dominican there are multiple missions and missionaries working (I know other countries have multiples as well, but I am just speaking from my personal experience). I think that is great! The more people working to save souls the better! However, there is a lot of turf wars and disunity among these missions and missionaries. I just want to know one thing…WHY????? Aren’t we all working towards the same goal and for the same boss??? Apparently not.

            I do not remember anywhere in Scripture where we are referred to as “men” or “adults” of God, but I distinctly remember being called the “children” of God numerous times. I am sure there are many reasons for this, but sometimes I just chuckle to myself because even “adult” and “mature” believers act like children; myself included! Adonai’s command to us is pretty simple…

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NASB

Nowhere in this scripture does it say be petty and territorial over the souls you are trying to reach….but I am no Greek or Hebrew expert. Maybe in the original language it’s there; but in the English translation, it most certainly is not. So why are people so “Mine!” “My area. My church, my lost souls, my souls needing encouragement, back off!” when obviously, there are others trying to accomplish the same thing as you? Honestly, I don’t know. But, I have a few theories from personal observation both overseas and in the States.

            Theory 1: Denomination/movement/belief differences.

            Now to some people (my own movement included), this is a biggy. “I have to teach the TRUTH! My movement/denomination/beliefs are the truth, the one true way!” If I have heard that once, I have heard it a hundred times. But is there any truth (pun intended!) in that? Yes and no. Every belief, denomination, movement (whatever you call yourself) has some truth and some falsehood, Judaism included. And it’s these differences in beliefs that cause disunity, the birth of yet another movement or denomination that again, is the one true way and we can’t have these OTHER believers in Messiah contaminating our sheaves. After all: “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” Gal. 5:9 NASB

Really? Really fellow believers and MISSIONARIES??  Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines missionaries as “One sent to propagate religion” as in create more believers/missionaries. The very definition of missionary does not leave room for other missionaries to be excluded/shunned/turned away. There is no difference of beliefs mentioned in scripture or the dictionary. If we are going to stick to the whole “TRUTH” argument, none of us should be missionaries. The disciples were the only ones trained with all of the truth, and even they had disagreements! They had Christ himself teaching them, for Pete's sake!

            Theory 2: Funding

            Seems like a pretty basic and off the wall reason to have pettiness and discord, but I honestly think it is a root cause. So many missions and missionaries are being supported by churches (as they should be) and are being held accountable (as they should be). However, how the churches go about this is not always conducive to effective missions. Not every report from the field will be (or needs to be) positive. It’s a sign of growth and success to come upon hard times. If every report is “we are growing!” I would begin to question the legitimacy of the report. There will be seasons of growth for sure, but also seasons of rebuilding and even decrease. Our jobs as missionaries is not to always have a good report, it’s too win souls for Christ and prepare them to be missionaries. We are to work ourselves out of a job. But, in order to keep the funding coming reports must be positive and encouraging or people will stop giving. I have to ask, “so what?” what if the funding stops coming? Does that make you any less of a missionary? No. It just means you have to be a tentmaker and get a job and work among the people you are trying to witness too. Believe me, funding makes full-time missions SO MUCH EASIER, but it is not a necessity to be effective. On the country, it actually might be more of a hindrance, depending on your particular niche of missions work,

            So here is what I am trying to say: we all say we have the same goal/purpose and all serve the same God. However, if we cannot get along as fellow believers and missionaries, how can we have effective ministry work on the mission field or otherwise? We need to stop this whole “don’t talk to them because_______” “don’t associate with their mission/work because one time they ____________” “those people teach false doctrine so don’t work with them” “they work for another mission so you can’t help/work with them (or you’re a traitor)” etc. crap. As long as we are all teaching the true salvation message and the fundamentals of how to study scripture for themselves, what else matters? Why do we all want to build our own fortresses and face spiritual warfare alone? Why not live together even with our differences, in unity, in one place (metaphorically speaking) to walk the walk and talk the talk? How can we teach the love of Christ if we can’t even show it to the others that are trying to achieve the same goal?

            So fellow missionaries and believers both on and off the mission field, I implore you. Let go of the hair-splitting differences and stand in unity with others. We will be more effective for the kingdom both on and off the mission field. And let’s be real for a minute. Just being a believer makes you a missionary wither or not you are in a foreign country. The love of Christ should be seen through you at all times, and that alone is ministry to the unbeliever.

Rant over. Have a wonderful and blessed week, Until next time, May Adonai bless and keep you.