Mary vs. Martha

     If you asked anyone what would be one quality or attribute of a missionary, chances are you will get something along the lines of “serving” or “humility”. At least that’s what I would say. It is a very good thing to serve, to be doing the work of the Lord and be zealous for His kingdom.

     However, I believe that the idea of serving can become twisted when we forget the people or the person (God) we are doing this for. I know this because I have seen it in my own life, and it has become more apparent this summer as I have been engaged in full-time ministry.

     I am a task-oriented person as opposed to a people-oriented person, so I naturally place more importance on tasks rather than relationships. You could say I am a Martha, easily distracted by the work that needs to be done. What I have realized lately is that the church contains a lot of Marthas. There are always people serving, working hard – sometimes so much so that I feel as though there is no room for extra helping hands. When there are so many people helping clean up after an event that there is nothing for me to do, I feel at unease and a little insecure. Why? Because I don’t want to be a Mary.

     A Mary could be classified in one sense as a people-oriented person, but in a more deeper sense it is someone who realizes what truly matters and seeks after it. Luke 10:42 describes Mary as having chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. She went after the spiritual things which last forever, while Martha was preoccupied with fading physical cares. The Marys of the church are the ones who engage newcomers in conversation, who asks how people are doing like they really mean it, whose minds are set on souls rather than bodies. Marys will invite everyone they know to the table for the marriage feast of the Lamb, while Marthas will worry about how everyone will fit.

     We need more Marys in the church. We need people to engage non-Christians and to build relationships and spur one another on in the faith. We need people who don’t have to rush off right after the service ends to go do one thing or another. Churches will blossom when Marys are present, for their minds are ever on heaven and they will cultivate the seeds that are being sown.

     Now back to the idea of serving. I am not at all saying it is a bad thing to be a servant and to fill a position in a church. That is necessary for a church to survive as well. But the number of Marthas I have seen far outweighs the number of Marys in many of the churches I have been in. Why? We are busy. We try to be the “better Christian” as far as who is most humble and most willing to serve. We forget the gospel and we still think we can earn or add to our salvation through our works. If we don’t have some reason to rush out the door after church, we try to be working behind the scenes so no one will notice how we’re not doing so hot spiritually. Sometimes our service can be the mask we hide behind, and the distraction we entertain for the sake of security.

     I would challenge you to examine your heart and see where you stand. Are you a Martha? Or a Mary? Is your mind set on the things above, or worldly cares? What is your motivation behind your service? C.S. Lewis said, “If you read in history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” Mary was commended by Jesus for choosing the good portion. Which will you choose?

Simplicity

     Being in missions can be overwhelming. There are so many things to learn and do. It seems really complicated to be diving into a new culture and trying to help out the missionaries and churches there.

     But what I've learned since being in Tokyo is that being in missions actually helps you enjoy the simple and more basic things in life. That would make sense if you were somewhere like Africa where you only had the "bare necessities" in a physical sense, but it applies to Japan as well.

     Being an American in the United States is easy. People are similar to you and it's easy to get along. But at the same time people are similar and we try to distinguish ourselves through the things that don't really matter. There become cliques and groups of people we decide not to associate with. As Christians, it's easy to only associate with Christians because there are enough to go around in the States.

     But in a place like Japan, there aren't that many Christians. 0.22% are professing believers. And coming into a country not knowing anyone previously, you don't know whether the person you are talking to is a Christian or not. Even in the churches, many are not Christians either. Therefore you are forced to treat everyone equally. There are no classes or ranks, no sects or divisions, and everyone needs the gospel.

     That's what is so amazing about missionaries - they have the power to overcome social boundaries and reach all people for Christ.

     It is so refreshing to talk to the people here because you have no biases or preconceived notions about a person or group of people. You come to realize that you all have humanity in common and that becomes enough for you to be friends. For the believers, you have Christ in common and that creates an even tighter bond.

     The message of the gospel is for everyone, and it is much more simple than we think. Being here in Tokyo has helped me see that God's good news and His love has no boundaries, and we get to be the gateways of it.

Geometry in Missions

    I believe Geometry was my least favorite math to take in high school. I still learned things from it, but not a lot of it made much sense to me. Therefore, the Geometry used in this post will be very simple, I promise. :)

    I used to think of missions in terms of a line. A missionary would be sent from one country to another, bringing the good news. The mathematical definition of a line is an extent of length, straight or curved, without breadth or thickness. Therefore, unless something was placed along the path of the line (in between the start and end points), then it would not intersect or come into contact with the line. In the case of my mission this summer, I was thinking: I am going to Tokyo, Japan to minister to the Japanese people there and be a light and bring the gospel to them. I was thinking almost entirely about being a missionary to the Japanese there in Tokyo. That line (heh heh) of thinking was not entirely wrong, just limited.

    I thought about home missions in this way as well. You decide what people you are going to minister in your life and what organizations (church, volunteer, school, etc.) you are going to be a part of, and that is where you will be a witness. Whoever is not a part of those specific areas will not come into contact with your line of missions. Again, I don't think it's wrong to be a part of specific ministry organizations and such, it's just limited.

   It's limited because the gospel is so much more organic, big, and all-encompassing to be treated as a line. Continuing to use that word organic, the definition of an organic shape (Most any shapes found in the natural world) is: having free-form, unpredictable and flowing in appearance. The gospel doesn't have definite shape because it's supposed to go everywhere! It shouldn't be confined to a man-made shape or line, because it should move and grow wherever you, the believer, are.

    What I have learned about this mission internship so far (and I haven't even officially started it yet!), is that it's about a whole lot more than bringing the Japanese people to Christ (though that is an excellent goal). There are so many people I have the ability to influence along the way. There are over 100 people who are receiving my newsletter (some of whom are not believers), over 30 people supported me financially, I am working with several staff and missionaries from Mission to the World, and in three days I will be living and growing with 60+ other interns who are doing something similar to me all around the world. All of this is happening even before I get to Japan, and most of these connections will continue while I am there.

    Missions isn't about going for two months to a foreign country to help with a gospel music ministry. Missions isn't about getting out for a day to go door-to-door, and then afterwards retreating back into your comfort zone.

    Missions is about blooming and shining brightly where God has placed you, and letting His love and good news blast out of you, reaching to ALL you come into contact with and treating everyone equally because we ALL equally need the gospel.

Unqualified

     Unqualified: not officially recognized as a practitioner of a particular profession or activity through having satisfied the relevant conditions or requirements.

Over the past year, the Lord has thrown quite a few things that I have felt "unqualified" for. This internship in Tokyo is one of them. I have struggled tremendously on whether or not I should even go on this trip because of how unprepared I feel for it. I think only the fact that I do not know what to expect settles my emotions and my requirements of myself.

     As with anything in life, there can always be someone more "qualified" for a position or opportunity, according to man's standards. Someone that speaks more than a few phrases of Japanese would be better qualified than me. Someone who has their doctorate in music would be better qualified than me. On and on the list goes, of people who could better fill the shoes I was given.

In conjunction with the life changes that the Lord has thrown at me, He has uncovered a large amount of my sin before my eyes. This is another area where I feel unqualified. If I cannot do the daily spiritual tasks, how will I ever be faithful to minister to unbelievers everyday? If I waver in my faith and struggle with unbelief, how will I ever be able to lead someone to faith in Christ? This is the larger part that concerns me.

     These questions and thoughts have been rolling around in my head for some time, causing stress and worry. I have felt trapped and confused.

     I was listening to a sermon today which was talking about four promises that the Lord wants to give in our lives. This sermon was specifically talking about the second cup, which is deliverance from the power and guilt of sin (which can only happen after the first cup: salvation). The pastor explained that this is something that will continue throughout our entire Christian lives, but we still have to progress on to the third and fourth cups, which are discovering God's purpose in our life and our place in the body of believers, respectively. The pastor stated that if you are already a Christian, the devil tries to keep you stuck at the second cup. He tries to keep you from ever fulfilling God's plan for your life.

     I now have discovered that those questions and thoughts I have been struggling with are simply lies. Untruths told to keep me trapped.

     Moses didn't feel qualified to speak to Pharaoh or to lead God's people, but the Lord chose Him. God tends to choose some of the most unlikely people to carry out His will.

     Our theme verse for all of the interns this summer is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

     I understand this verse on a deeper level and I pray that the Lord will continue to permeate it through my heart this summer, and that I would trust His will! Praise Him for His truth which uncovers lies, His light which dispels the darkness!