Something with which I’m becoming increasingly uncomfortable is the tendency of people to exalt missionaries and put us on a pedestal that to the very best of my knowledge is unmerited. I definitely don’t feel any “better” or even any closer to God than I did five years ago before I went on the mission field. If anything, I see my own foibles and weaknesses more clearly now and recognize my desperate need for Christ’s life to be pre-eminent in mine. How many times have I arrived at a service and had the pastor look at me in relief, announcing to his congregation “and now we ask our sister to bring us a word from the Lord.” It makes me uncomfortable for two reasons: first, I don’t like that they may subconsciously (or even consciously) believe white foreign missionaries to be superior to themselves. And second, I don’t like that it tempts me to believe the same. Jeremiah 17:9 – if only they knew my heart as well as I do. Beyond that, I don’t always have a “word from the Lord.”
Where is the balance between loving God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, being ready in season and out of season, and not being party to the creation of an unhealthy dependence that would seem to push the Holy Spirit aside in favor of a word from me or another missionary present?
