City Upon a Hill

Someone said to me today, “You don’t need a degree to be a missionary.” I write this as an encouragement to readers who attend seminary and to those who do not, to those who are missionaries across the world, and to those who are living the Great Commission at our back door.
I have a friend who is a sort of “self-appointed mentor” to a number of Liberian refugee children who live in government housing projects. The household of 3 or 4 male children is being raised by their refugee mother alone who barely speaks English and certainly has a different idea of parenting skills. This past weekend, my friend approached me with some questions (since I have a background in family counseling). The children had told my friend that the mother had been showing them pornographic videos at a very young age in order to prevent them from wanting to watch the videos when they were older. She had been watching the videos with the boys of various ages. He also told me about how he had taken them to church with him and when he dropped them off at their apartment later that evening, the mother was not home and did not return home for several hours. The boys were left outside without a key for several hours into the already dark evening in one of the most unsafe neighborhoods in the city.
While my friend and I discussed the legal implications of this as well as the level of inappropriateness in parenting style, the point that I wish to make here is focused elsewhere… Because my friend has his faith grounded in our Holy Father, he is able to minister to this family in need of a Savior. He offers guidance and hope to these young boys whose mother seemingly unknowingly breaks her children’s hearts and souls by burying them deep in sexual immorality and abandonment. My friend is perhaps the only reflection of Christ they see throughout their week.
Let’s look at it this way: Somewhere in a dark, rent-controlled apartment lives a family who struggles against the world and has no light of hope. Across the city lives a single, 20-something, just out of college with the Light of the World in his heart. They are just another family trying to make it in the dark. He is an ordinary person trying to figure out what’s next. But he serves a God who is not just another god. And he lives with a faith that is not just an ordinary faith. And because of this extraordinary faith, he walks in obedience with the One True God who sheds light in all the dark places.
Whether we are in seminary or working a secular job, whether we are finishing up a doctorate or completing a GED, whether we are preaching to the masses from a pulpit or from behind a counter to an audience of one, if we are children of God we are missionaries. I will let my friend admonish you to remember the extraordinary God whom you serve and to seek Him out where He is working, then join Him regardless of your present circumstances. Somewhere, on the other side of the city, someone is waiting in the dark for a light to come on. Don’t be afraid to go into the dark places because that is precisely where the Light is needed. And only those who have the Light can share it.