God Doesn’t Forget

I wrote the following passage a little over four years ago. I sent it by email to my mentor and a couple friends, but didn’t publish it until 1 year ago. It’s the last piece from the old blog that I’m pulling over here. It’s as true today as it was 4 years ago.

I enjoy writing. I communicate effectively through the written word. Yet, I do not think I am a writer. At least, “writer” is not the primary label. I expect (and hope!) writing will be a big piece of what I do, but writing is subservient to a higher master. It’s the same with pastoring and teaching. I enjoy both, but these too are secondary labels. They are skills/resources to be put to use by the primary label.

I am a missionary. This is the primary label. My great desire is to introduce people to this Jesus guy knocking at their doors. I want to help them see God is already working in and through them, that they are already known by God. While my heart aches for a particular cultural group in my area and I am connecting within this community, I think a big part of my ministry will be helping other followers/ churches learn to reclaim this missional perspective and relearn what it means to be Christ-followers in this world.

Some of this will be done through face-to-face networking and relationships, but much will be communicated through writing, whether that’s blogging, writing articles for other sites, publishing in magazines, or eventually writing books. I will write, but for the sake of mission, not for the sake of writing.

As I imagine what the dream might look like as we move from dreaming to doing, I see a two-faceted personal ministry. Two sides to the same ministry, feeding one another. The first side is roll up the sleeves, put a little elbow grease into it, urban missions. It’s connecting, learning, sharing, and growing in Christ and community. It’s feeding the hungry and teaching them to feed themselves with their native crops. Indigenous church planting. The second side is writing. Sharing what we have learned in our context.

I am already a full-time missionary, earning my living from the ministry. I can imagine a time and place where writing pays the bills, but right now, it doesn’t. Today, I work a job in a retail establishment, where I get to meet a lot of people in the community. I drive right through the heart of the community twice a day. It gives me an excuse to stop at my favorite grocery store, a central hive. It gets me out of my cozy little studio and into the mission field.

My mentor’s new job title is “Urban Missionary.” I like it. I know I’m not supposed to think too much about titles, but they do come in handy and this one fits my heart as well as any other I’ve heard. Yes, I’m a writer. Yes, I like to take pictures. Yes, I like to preach and teach and lead others in worship. But those are things I do; they are not the vocation, the call.