Missionary Question #2

Benjamin Disraeli:      “The secret of success is constancy to purpose.” 

How Will I Know I am successful?

This is not an easy question to answer.  There are many who feel they know just what the answer should be.  They are the ones who make up the questionnaires that have such quantitative answers.  They ask everything from questions about your devotional life to the number of tracts you passed out last month.

The hard part is that there is nothing quantitative that will tell that you have been a successful missionary.  The only thing that answering those questions will do is make you feel that you have failed.  We never spend enough time in devotions.  We never pass out enough tracts.  We never preach enough sermons.  We never talk to enough people about Jesus.  The only answer we can give to every question demanding that kind of an answer is; “I have not done enough.”  It doesn’t matter how much you have done. 

Does this mean that people should not expect an accounting of what the missionary has done?  Of course it doesn’t mean that.  It is the missionary’s responsibility to keep the supporters informed as to what is being done.  It is the supporter’s responsibility to support missionaries who engender confidence that no one needs to ask them what they are doing.  They know that the missionary is accountable to God and the supporters should be sure that they support those missionaries who take that accountability seriously.

The question being asked is: “How will I know I am successful?” 

The answer starts with a call.  The missionary must know that he/she is answering the call of God when going to the mission field.  No one finishes right who does not either start here or at some point become convinced that the work being done is the work God has called him/her to do at this time.

It is important to understand that it is worthwhile to become the very best missionary you can be.  This means that you will give all you have to learning the language well, understanding the people to the very best of your ability, and being committed to loving the culture in which you live and never putting down those with whom you are living.

It looks like being successful depends on how you begin.  It certainly is important.  It is also important to finish well. Too many have started their course with commitment, confidence, and purpose only to end in failure and sorrow.  There is always the danger that the successful worker will start to ride along on the success and forget what it is that made for it.

I have had dear friends who had the greatest potentials, but a woman or man, a position or power, or some money diverted him or her from that successful conclusion of the course.  It is a reminder that it is a day by day fight we are in.  Yesterday’s victories can provide for today’s defeat. 

If that is where you are today, I have good news for you.  God is the God of the second chance.  There is no such thing as permanent defeat until the course is done.  Think of where David would have been if he had died in Bathsheba’s arms.  What would have happened to Moses if he had collapsed and died while striking the rock?

There needs to be that assurance that we are where God wants us today.  We knew it at the beginning, but today we must do what He wants us to do. The same thing is true for tomorrow–and the next day–etc.