A VHS Kind of Life

As much as I love movies, being a missionary is nothing like watching a story unfold in a well cut cinematic. There is a massive lack of seamless edits, sepia filters, and one liners that leave you feeling a lot less like the latest Christopher Nolan film and a lot more like a 1992 home video.

Although, both missionary work and ministry are portrayed in this fashion today. We hear stories of ministers that have stood against a violent crowd yet, in the face of danger, fearlessly heralded the Gospel leading hundreds to Christ. Missionaries that have entered leper colonies to lay hands on the untouchable, becoming an angel in their midst. An outsider accepted as their very own. We love these stories. Stories that make your mouth drop. Things worth tweeting.

As amazing as these moments in ministry are, we shouldn’t take descriptive moments and create prescriptive ministry with them. Because an event happened in one person’s life doesn’t mean God is going to do the exact same in yours. In the world of Social Media, we simply share when we see something we like or agree with. Though this works seamlessly in technology, using the same application to your spiritual life is not only unhealthy it’s discouraging as you develop your own walk with Christ.

God is writing His story through your life today. What is true for one person may not be true for you. If a young twenty something aspires to be an actor in Hollywood because of the success of Robert Downy Jr. there’s no guarantee that the same will supervene in his/her own life. Rather we are left with possibilities and ambiguity. We don’t know how daily events nor the whole of our lives will unfold.

I like what Eugene Peterson says about daily living from his book “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” :

“And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily–open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride.”

Walking with Jesus is a methodical yes to every stir in the Spirit and command in Scripture. Whatever that appears to be makes no difference. When we set aside what we think our walk with Christ should look like and embrace the love of God in the moment, we find ourselves more in love with the person of God and less infatuated with a 21st century ideal.