Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
Have you ever needed money for a ministry project and not had it? Maybe you’ve struggled with daily needs like food, housing, or paying for your kid’s schooling. Financial challenges drain energy and affect fruitfulness on the mission field. They are common to most of …
I am a very goal oriented person. When I don’t achieve my goals or continually hit barriers, I can feel discouraged. The temptation to give up and throw out the goal is huge. Language learning goals are some of the easiest in our lives to …
What does it mean to live an authentic, transparent life as a leader in ministry? Who do you share what with? Is it appropriate for everyone to know the deep challenges you walk through? Is it somehow false or wrong to “keep secrets” or not reveal the whole truth about a struggle you are facing? These are important questions for missionary leaders to ask.
Authenticity and transparency are important hallmarks of humble and powerful leaders in the Kingdom of God. It is out of the reality of our struggles, valleys, and the victories fought and won that we speak with authority. Our life messages to others- whether before a crowd or in a one on one mentoring time- come from this place.
As leaders, we need to develop various circles of intimacy and access. Danny Silk has excellent material on this topic. Some of the ideas below are from his teachings.
The person in the inner most circle, with the greatest intimacy and access to our heart, is Jesus. Having an authentic, open, real relationship with Him, where we feel free to tell him exactly what we think, feel and are experiencing is absolutely critical to our spiritual health. In that place, we listen to His voice, cry on His shoulder, and receive comfort… this is the place of greatest nakedness in our lives.
No one should have greater access to our hearts and our deepest “secrets” than our Lord. We meet with Him in that place of absolute honesty, naked and without shame, in our very worst and very best of times.
Only Jesus is worthy of this level of access. Only He can provide for us the level of unconditional love and acceptance needed for this kind of “exposure.”
The next circle out includes best friends or a spouse. This person knows what is happening in our lives. We chose to be real, honest and emotionally naked before them, sharing the reality of our lives and current struggles. Our sin, frustrations with God, other people, and even with ourselves, are shared with these friends.
This person has a place of great privilege, deep intimacy, trust, and openness. A
These people have greater access to us as well. They are the ones who can walk into our office without an appointment, who we take time to communicate with on a daily basis, etc.
The next circle is a place for family or your closest mentors and disciples. Again, we give greater access and information to them and we expect a high level of communication from them. There is reciprocity in the relationship, and we are willing to invest highly here. We share deeply who we are and what we are going through, as well as giving them the same opportunity to do so with us.
Family members and those you work with on a regular basis may be included in the circle mentioned above or they may not. This depends on the relationship, commitment and primarily on the level of trust and reciprocity you experience.
When trust is broken, you may need to remove someone from the inner circle. They no longer have the privilege of the same kind of access they once were given.
The circles continue outward, with lessening levels of access, intimacy,
With those in the outer circles, you are still real, honest and authentic, but you are selective in the level of exposure of yourself. You are guard more carefully what you share with them. This is part of what Jesus spoke of when He said to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. It is critical in the lives of leaders that we work hard to stay authentic, open and real and to have people in those inner circles of access and intimacy- places where we are able to share our deepest pain and struggles.
And it is essential, in our walk with God, that we reach and maintain a level of intimacy and access with Him where we can be absolutely naked and without shame before the God who loves us with a love that no human being can replicate or replace. We do not need to feel guilty, or “false”, when we deny access to information about ourselves, or do not share the details of our lives with those in the outer circles. It is as unwise to share too much with those people as it is to walk naked through the streets. You open yourself up to abuse and problems if you strip yourself before them.
It is also necessary to deny free access of your time and energy to those in outer circles. Though you love them and care about their needs and issues, if time and energy flow to the outer circles, it will be taken away from those who you need to give to. Time and energy are limited resources. Never feel bad about saying, “I don’t have time or energy right now, I ’ll check my calendar and get back to you,” with those who are not in
Even, in crisis situations, we can not let them intrude into our lives in a way that robs those who deserve our time, attention and energy from getting what they need and deserve from us. When we do so, we will pay a price and the quality of intimacy and relationship with God and those closest to us will suffer.
Source of
Be careful, be wise, be vulnerable, and pursue intimate and real relationships. Keep secrets. Share secrets. Be real. Be authentic. Be discerning. Manage and regulate your energy and time and give it most to those who have earned that place and where you know the investments you make will bring great returns. As you do this, your overall circles of influence will widen and many will be touched and changed by who you are and the impact you have.
The above blog was originally published on ywamfrontiermissions.com in October 2014.
“Do you know of any short-term teams that could come and work with us?” I was surprised by the question. It seemed to me that they were doing a great job without help from abroad. Inquiring further, it became clear. They didn’t need the team …
There are a few things I truly hate. One is when fear is used to manipulate and intimidate God’s people. Fear is such a powerful tool of oppression. We see it used by politicians to get votes from the fearful. Likewise, it is used by …
Life can
For quite a few years now, I’ve started my day asking God that question. “What is your assignment for me today, Lord?”
I find it helpful to listen to Him at the beginning of the day, to pause and hear His direction. There may be many things I feel I should do. But if I can narrow it down to one main thing, and then be faithful with that, it helps me stay focused. It helps me be faithful and fruitful.
We can not control fruitfulness. That is in God’s hands. What we do have control over is our faithfulness to the things God has asked us to do. As we obey God each day, listening to Him, and receiving His “God Assignments,” our lives will definitely bear fruit. He takes our loaves and fish. Then He multiplies them.
At the end of the day, at the end of the year, indeed at the end of my life, if I can stand before the Lord and know I’ve been obedient… that is enough for me. That doesn’t mean I’ve done everything I could have. It doesn’t mean I’ve been perfect. But I want to be faithful in the main assignments, the things that were not just good ideas, but truly God ideas. His priorities must be my priorities.
Sometimes, God surprises me when I ask the question, “What is your assignment for me today, Lord?”
One day when I asked that, I heard His still small voice respond, “Go to the pool. You need rest.”
“Really God? There is so much to do!” I said this back to Him but I obeyed. I went to the pool.
Another day when I asked, He told me to spend time with my neighbors, to do a Bible study with one who is a new believer. Other days, His ONE THING for me has been creating blogs, videos, working on my book, or serving the poor around me. Some days it has been spending time in prayer. Or sharing my testimony with the lady at the coffee shop.
Not only do I practice this in daily life, but also as I plan for each year. I ask God what His top priority is for me that year. He is faithful to speak to me as I ask.
When I know that top priority, then though I am involved in many other things as well, I am able to focus. I am able to obey.
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
1 Sam. 15:22 NIV.
Have you asked Him yet? What His assignment is for you?
If you’d like to, let me know in the comments below or share on the Missionary Life page. May God give us all grace to be faithful and obedient today.
“One more kilometer to go, oh God, please help me do this.” My stomach was cramping from a recent bout with food poisoning. I was weaker than normal, but my heart was set on completing the race. My husband, running alongside me said, “Run through …
Let’s face it. Not everyone is a gifted language learner. It’s frustrating when your peers seem to race ahead toward fluency. They leave you behind, battling to get a normal sentence out without stuttering. Many very real factors affect our language learning abilities. Things like …
I was surprised (and a bit embarrassed) by the exercise. A seminar leader asked me to write down the names of 15-20 people I knew who were not believers. They were supposed to be people I interacted with in the course of my normal life. I was shocked that I couldn’t even list five names! This exposed the sad reality that I had very shallow relationships with the lost people around me. We can easily isolate ourselves in a “missionary bubble” full of ministry colleagues. We slip into lifestyles that invest little time in friendships with the
My goal is not to condemn. I do want to challenge us to change. Without a guilt trip, I want to exhort us to
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Matt 5:13-14 NIV.
This year I will be spending a few months in my home country, the United States. We’re doing our normal deputation as we reconnect with ministry partners. This has me thinking about mobilization. What I can do to raise the banner for unreached peoples and the cause of the Great Commission this year?
There is a troubling question on my mind though. What about mobilizing missionaries? What about us? Those of us who live on the mission field and in countries that are full of unreached people groups. Are we being light and salt in those places?
The exercise mentioned above is called creating a Lost and Saved List. Read more about it on my blog Pursuing Disciple Making Movements Among the Unreached. The simple activity of committing to pray regularly and specifically for lost people shifted my behavior in this area of life. Now my actions match my beliefs and values better.
I have a significant list of specific people in my neighborhood who are not yet believers. They are in my prayers and thoughts on a daily basis. Because I pray for them, I’m more interested in their lives. I stop to talk to them when I see them in the market. I ask questions about their children and engage with them in a different way. My “antenna” is always up, and I am looking for an opportunity to share my testimony with them. It’s much more likely I will stop what I am doing and pray for them when they tell me they are sick or in pain.
Sharing the gospel is more natural than it used to be. It happens in the course of my everyday life, not only when it is “evangelism” time.
I now enjoy deep and real friendships with neighbors who don’t know Christ. Some of them have become His followers! There is a much greater sense of fulfillment and fruitfulness, not only in “ministry time” but in my everyday life.
Again, I am not wanting to condemn but to challenge us. How many missionaries are busy with ministry activities but have few genuine friendships with lost people? We spend our days speaking, teaching, and attending meetings. There is much rushing around doing good things, but we don’t even know that our neighbor’s father is in the hospital.
It is so easy to say “Evangelism isn’t my gifting. My ministry is (fill in the blank).” Only a handful of missionaries find evangelism something that flows out of them naturally. We allow ourselves to think this is a valid reason to say we have no active responsibility in this area. You know that isn’t true!
We go there in our minds, perhaps because we lack confidence to do evangelism. Or maybe we have not felt successful in past efforts.
“Other’s will share the gospel with them,” we say. “I will be part of discipling, training, providing member care, organizing crusades…” the list goes on.
We as missionaries, like all Christians are first disciples, no matter what our ministry jobs are. Disciples must obey Jesus’ command to be His witness. All disciples must be light and salt.
Here are some hard questions, but ones we need to ask ourselves.
This is a mindset shift. It doesn’t actually take a lot more time. When you buy vegetables, pause for 30 seconds to talk with the seller. Ask their name. Put them on your list and begin to pray for them. Next time, ask them how their children are.
Be friendly. Give some of your time and energy to interacting with those around you who don’t know the Lord. Are you really too busy? What if you made time for just a 30-minute cup of tea with someone who doesn’t yet know the Lord? Determine to give
It isn’t all about sharing the gospel, though as we build relationships, that’s something we also want to be intentional about.
Be a curious learner. How do they perceive and interpret current events? What is important to them? As you dialogue and learn from those of other faiths, your life will be greatly enriched.
So much of evangelical Christianity is in an “us or them” posture. This doesn’t lend toward the kinds of real relationships with non-believers where we are light and salt.
What can we learn from their viewpoints and perspectives? Are we willing to listen and try to understand their perspective, even if at the end we don’t agree?
Why not start today? Take a piece of paper out. List the names of people who don’t yet know Jesus. Start praying for them every day this week.
Let me know in the comments, on Facebook, or by email if you did this. I’d also love to hear any questions or challenges you have with living a lifestyle that is “salty.”
Are you an intentional learner? Your answer is likely yes, or you wouldn’t be reading this! Here is my next question. How will you take your learning to the next level in 2019? One way is to commit to consistently reading books that enrich and …