Being Salty

I've been mulling over a thought for the past few weeks since we've been stateside.  I'm not sure if it's quite gelled yet, but I'm growing dizzy from the circles it's spinning, so I'm going to try to get it down.

Life in China is easier than life in the States.  In some respects.

Yes, we sacrifice quite a bit in order to do the Work.  We sacrifice time with family, we sacrifice favorite foods, activities, and hobbies; we sacrifice money and security, we sacrifice convenience and often safety (watch some videos of traffic in China if you don't believe me).  We do sacrifice.

But.

We seem to struggle spiritually more in America than China.  I'm not sure how to explain this, except to say that we went to China with a purpose.  That purpose was to spread the Good News, to shine and be as salty as possible, to allow God to work through us, to be what He says we should be.  It is not easy, but it is easier to do that when you go somewhere with a purpose.  When you change your life drastically, when you start fresh in a place where no one knows you, when your every day and every moment is dedicated to that.

In America, our lives are "normal".  Normal pew-sitters, letting someone else do the work.  Participants, but not leaders.  No outreach, other than as much service as possible to the family kind enough to put us up in their homes.  Maybe some encouragement to people who are interested in China.  But we aren't Working.  I strongly dislike this.


And maybe it's because we bounce around so much when we're visiting.  Maybe it's because we're spending time with friends of friends, not our own forged friendships.  Maybe it's because we're only temporarily here.  But I don't think that's all of it.  I clearly remember my relationship with God pre-China, and it's nothing like it is now, praise the Lord!  He's working in me, and I'm so thankful.  It took a move around the globe to get my butt off of a pew and into His service.

Here's what I think.  I think that we should all be living with the sole focus of "shining."  We should treat every day, whether it's in the same house you've been living in for ten years or the mold-covered apartment in China you've been in for ten minutes (and want to run screaming out of) as if our only job is to give Him glory.  Tell others how amazing He is, how real and close and present He is.  We should focus on His purpose.  It's too easy to get caught up in our "normal lives" of kids and laundry and errands.

I know this is something you know.  I know I'm not telling you anything new.  But I'm struck, every time we come back here for a visit, by the fact that doing His Work is easier when I make that my specific purpose.  I'm an English teacher, but really, I have a higher calling.  We all do, all of us who bear His name and His blood, and if we don't live up to it...  well.  We put Him to shame, don't we.

So, as this has turned into a little sermonette (sorry), here's your challenge:  Don't think of yourself as a manager/teacher/secretary/doctor/lawyer/Indian chief.  Think of yourself as a missionary first.  And then do that job.  You'll be amazed at what God will do with you.