Moving back to the states from Ireland was a difficult transition, especially because we were desperate for a car. After searching fruitlessly at the local car dealerships (too expensive) we started perusing the want ads for cars more in line with our price range (cheap) and finally stumbled across one that seemed perfect, a 2001 VW Turbo New Beetle. The car had a few minor cosmetic issues but nothing that really stood out, especially in the shadows of an outdoor garage which was where we went to look at it, at night. Common sense stepped aside for expediency on that one. Had we been thinking straight we would have taken that car to a mechanic to be examined, not purchased it with no knowledge of its history. No less than a few months after purchase we started having major issues with just about every aspect of the vehicle. Our mechanic told us time and again to sell it because we were heading for ruin and every time we shrugged and hoped that it would be fixed. Every thousand dollars we gave to him was traded for his advice to ditch the car, but we didn’t listen. Finally after a year and a half we took his advice and got rid of the demon car that nearly bankrupted us. If only we’d listened in the first place...

Living the missionary life is a lot like playing the role of life’s mechanic. Most people don’t realize that their lives, like our demon car, are really broken beyond repair. They continue to sink time, money, and emotion into something that cannot be fixed no matter how much they pour into it and yet they keep trying. Just like the mechanic, our job is to lovingly, humbly, and patiently explain that no matter what they do, they cannot repair their broken lives. At some point they need to ditch it:

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. Luke 17:33

We Christians are prime candidates for helping people because we know what its like for the brokenness to be fixed. Just like a good mechanic tells you what’s wrong with your car, we have the opportunity to help people fix what’s wrong with their lives through Jesus. This is who we are and it is what we do; it’s what makes missions “right.”

Tags: Missions, Jesus, Missionary Life