So What is a Missionary Wannabe Anyway?

Why, it's anyone who wants to be a missionary, of course. DUH!

Ok, seriously, this term has so many layers for me, I don't think I can put them all into one single post. (Lucky you!) I'm finding that being a missionary means different things to different people. I don't believe there is a black-and-white definition for it. I'm sure there are people out there for which there is no gray area. (Only if you do ____ can you truly call yourself a missionary.) Yikes. (You've probably guessed by now that I'm here to share my thoughts on why I think otherwise.)

So let me start with my own personal definition of a missionary:
Anyone who is selflessly on a mission to do a good work for the sake of others.


You can agree with me or you can disagree with me (and we'll just agree to disagree.) I'm NOT here to debate or win anyone over to "my side." I honestly don't think I have a "side." I'm really just here to explore what it means to be a missionary, grow from what I discover, and encourage anyone who finds themselves in a place where I've been (or currently am) by sharing what I've learned (or am learning) so far. 


Now, its really just recently I've come up with this personal definition. I used to think that in order to be a missionary, I'd have to sell all my things and leave my comfortable life for a third world country, never to return. Again, kudos to the countless people who do that on a regular basis (or have permanently made that as a life choice.) I used to want to be one of them! (Deep down I still do, but I have my own family to think about now.)

I'm sure there are plenty of people who would radically disagree with my definition. (Again, I'm not here for controversy.) There have been a lot of events over the past several years that have made me take a good look at what I thought it meant to be a missionary (more detail on those in upcoming posts.) It really has been only in the past six months I've been truly discovering what I think it really means.

There are two things I firmly believe (that are related to this post, anyway.):
1. We were ALL created for a higher purpose.
2. Because of #1, we are all missionaries at the core of our being.

Now, as I said at the beginning of this post, there are a LOT of layers to this, and I'll share my thoughts on those in future posts (so don't forget to follow my blog!) But for now, I wanted to keep it simple for now.

#1. - I don't think many of you will disagree with Number 1 above. In fact, the majority of the world, despite religion, culture, or influence believes we're here for some greater purpose. The problem is, the majority of that majority don't do anything about it.

While there are different interpretations (or, in some cases, debates) on what the actual higher purpose is, regardless of your religion, culture, or influence, the bottom line is the same. Our higher purpose has nothing to do with ourselves and everything to do with living an others-centered life.

#2. -  So, assuming you agree with #1, that we are created to live out our higher purpose by focusing on others, and assuming you agree that being a missionary can be defined as selflessly doing good works for the sake of others, then wouldn't you agree that we are all truly missionaries at the core of our being? (Yikes. I'm having high school flashbacks of mathematical proofs.)

So, if you desire to live out the higher purpose in #1, then, really, you're a missionary wannabe at heart.

Who's in?