I’ve gotten this question quite a few times already this year, or some other variant like, “so the government thinks you’re there to do X, Y and Z, but that’s really just a cover-up to get you in the country so you can save people, right?”
At the beginning of the summer, I agreed with a number of people on that, but at this point, the idea has started to trouble me. Some will hear my reservation, shrug, and say, “eh, semantics,” but when you consider that most conflict arises out of misunderstanding, I’d say that the semantics are just as important as the message!
There’s something about the idea of using work as a cover to share the Gospel that grates on my heart a little. It seems to separate work out between the sacred and the secular, but I would argue that the reality of ministry work is much more fluid. Especially in the Western world, the material and the spiritual are often sequestered to opposite spectrums of reality, but in Romans 12:2 we are challenged not to conform ourselves to the ways of the world, but to let God transform our minds so we can see the things that are of Him. While I of course want to share the hope of Jesus with others, I don’t think teaching or rehabilitation can be separated from also being a part of the ministry work. Everything we do should be in the name of Jesus, so that all of our work can be seen as a testament to our ministry (Colossians 3:17).
This makes my next point that much more important: I don’t want to foster a mentality that some work of mine is superior to the other, and potentially justify lower standards of performance for that “inferior” material work. Since all of the work I do is to spread the Gospel in either word or deed, it means that every work is important, and should be performed with integrity. This is why I believe Colossians 3:23 stresses that any and all work you do should be done to the best of your abilities, with integrity, and for God rather than for men.
So as I prepare to leave next month for Asia, I am thinking about what this means for me in action. My faith will not be found solely in the sister churches. My faith will not wait outside of the classroom, or stay home when I go to the orphanage or clinic – no, my faith is going to be the driving force behind all of the work that I do, for God’s glory, and for a testimony of integrity in everything that I do.
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters”