What is Your Motivation and Aim?

Aug 25, 2020

 

With the popularity of volunteerism travel and international causes, Christian missions has gotten on a lot of people’s radar in recent years. Inspired to rid the world of its problems, drawn to save someone from their despair, passionate for culture and language – there is no shortage of motivations to venture into the world of cross-cultural ministry . Week 2 of Global Frontier Mission’s Missionary Training School attacks this idea head on and is forthright about what our posture should be. The motivation for missions is God’s glory and our own rights and desires must be placed at the feet of Jesus.

 

Some questions that may be good to ask if you are thinking about serving short or long-term in missions:

  • Am I mostly motivated to serve in missions because I think I need to change a person’s beliefs?
  • Do I think (name the country) is cool and it would be fun to live there?
  • Do I want to give back to society and make a difference?
  • Does living abroad seem like a counter-cultural goal that will look good on my resume or in the eyes of those who know me?

 

Some of these motivations are not altogether bad but when placed against the metric of God’s glory in Scripture, things begin to change a bit. 

 

Try to answer the following honestly:

  • Do I want to see God’s fame, name, and glory shine to the ends of the earth more than anything else?
  • Am I willing to give up my rights so that Christ would be remembered?
  • Am I willing to endure suffering for the sake of God’s name?
  • Is all the fun, cool, interesting cultural stuff about missions a secondary issue compared to God’s glory being made known?

As we seek to be ambassadors for Christ and consider taking the Gospel to the nations, it is critical that we die to self so that we can truly live. The picture of God’s glory is breath-taking and it is where we fix our gaze.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Revelation 7:9-12

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