Failed Missionary and Other Undefined Terms

I recently listened to the first two podcasts from a site called "Failed Missionary" in series named "Called, not Qualified." It brought up a lot of interesting thoughts and ideas about missions, and included some people I follow and respect in the missions community. I heard about it from a community called A Life Overseas, which has amazing resources. The podcasts, unfortunately, are a bit rough, and even bitter in some areas, and have received some responses that I feel balance them out well, and add to the discussion--which is one we need to have. And so I add my own thoughts.

In the podcast, they say that corrupt short term missions is a result of corrupt missionaries which is a result of corrupt churches (I summarize). Our missionary history, often based on colonialism and capitalism, and often told as an adventure book reality, is deeply flawed, just like each person who has ever said “I feel called by God to...”

Some of the issues the podcast brings up:
1. The unprofessional-ness of missions. How many people go who are untrained in, well, anything. You go, and get celebrated, because you are called- not because you have any actual skills. Unfortunately, I have seen this as we have had some “interns” sent to Brazil who we have, sadly, had to babysit rather than be assets.
2. Intentions. What is the mission? To save people? To love others? It is so unclear. Are you a missionary because it makes you a super Christians? What makes you successful as a missionary? I am still working on many of these questions!
3. Misuse of resources. Missions is a 53 billion dollar business. Where are the results? We all need more accountability- if we have chosen missions as our vocation, we need to be professional and honest about where the money is going, even if it means people will stop giving. If we are scared to share: it probably means some thing is wrong or at least unhealthy.
4. Defining our terms. What is missions? What is a missionary? The terms have so much baggage and haziness to them.
5. Short Term Mission Trips. My thoughts are already HERE.

I feel defining our terms needs to be done before this can even begin to be a discussion. How can you be a 'Failed Missionary' if we haven't defined what a Missionary is? I've already talked about changing terms from 'Short Term Mission Trips' to 'Vision Trips' or 'Long-Term Partnership trips', and from 'Furlough' to 'Home Assignment.' Here is my quick, and yes, lumped in, definitions:
* Missions: serving and sharing God cross-culturally
* Missionary: someone who has chosen missions as their (long-term) vocation. (If you are not going to another culture/location, we call it 'Ministry,' such as pastoral positions)
Since being a missionary looks vastly different in every place/person, it should be followed up with what you do in that vocation specifically: church planter, teacher, doctor, pastor, coach, translator, worship leader, resource developer, stay at home mom...the label "Missionary" does not exempt you from having a “real” job (where actual work is being done, and where you are accountable to other people). And yes, stay at home mom is a real job.
So, for example, I am a missionary in Brazil who teaches English and coordinates Living Stones, a child sponsorship program.

What makes you a missionary?
1. A degree in missions
2. A calling from God
3. A strong desire to serve God overseas
4. Being supported financially by others
5. Doing cross cultural ministry
6. Declaring yourself a missionary
7. Signing up with a missions board
8. Moving your family overseas

It could be all or one or none of these things. Most of the time, it is a weird combination of these and other things. But when it comes down down to it- you are a missionary when you say you are. When you take the title. You can be doing the work without it, or you have have the title without really being it. It is a label, and as a fellow blogger wrote, “labels are lazy.” They are to help us not have to sort through information to comprehend. Unfortunately, it often stands for things we don’t: or at least in someone else’s schema it does.

Called. Being “called” has many different looks for many different people. It can be a clearly defined moment in time, or just a general feeling. It can be specific words or circumstances or just an opportunity. But it is important to have something bigger than yourself to look back at and say, “Remember that?” Because there will be days you need it.

Not qualified. Even the most educated people who leave as missionaries are never qualified for everything they confront in missions. It is just impossible. Because you have no clue what all is going to come up. I don’t have a degree in missions. I have a degree in general studies (which means a little bit of everything). I believe this prepared me more for missions (where I am) because I have needed a whole lot of everything. My story is different because I was on the field while getting my degree. When I knew I wanted to work with people, I started my counseling degree. When I started teaching English as a second language to kids, I started my education degree. When I started writing newsletters, I took writing classes...and so on. My job changes regularly (about every semester) to best serve those around me- and I want to be the best me to serve them. So when I was 21 and started serving, was I qualified? Not really. 

God doesn’t call someone and then that is all they need. Called, Done. Wham. 

That is like faith without works: you have to work it through. Spiritually, we call this sanctification. Emotionally, we call this character development. Professionally, we call it lifelong learning. In any profession, you do not succeed unless you further your learning, your skills, and your education. Same thing with missions. If we are not doing as much as secular jobs, we are not giving our best. Not giving our best is never what God calls us to, or accepts. Missionaries who are not actively working to be qualified, professionally, are not the normal, from what I have seen, and are not the standard.

At the heart of what I believe missions is, and being a missionary, is serving God. Following God. And that doesn’t need a label. It doesn’t need everyone to understand it. It just means God knows, and I am what He wants me to be.

I hope you, who call yourself a missionary, are true to what God is asking you to do. I hope you, who are supporting people called missionaries, have gotten to know those people well enough to understand what they are doing more specifically than “missionary.”Then maybe we can start working on the rest of the issues.