I am suspicious of people who always seem to be catching a plane to this place or that, never staying in one location very long. They always seems to have the most legitimate reasons for their almost constant travel. They project to me (and most likely to others) an air of the utmost importance. After all, people who travel a lot are important people, doing important, useful things. Right? RIGHT?
I have no problem, really, with those who either have the means to travel for enjoyment and self-fulfillment or who, in the course of their work, quite understandably take in the sights and experiences of their travels (like my friend in New York). I would, too! But sometimes I wonder whether, with some, they use whatever the stated purpose of their travel is to justify their addiction to it. And here I am primarily thinking of church missions work.
It seems that the latest "big thing" in churches nowadays is to spread the Gospel message abroad by planting churches in as many countries as possible, with the expenses incurred by this being paid for by the church's membership in the form of offerings and fund drives. I know from personal experience of church leaders who seem to be in an almost continual state of travel to and from various countries scattered across the world. The churches they helped to establish have pretty much become self-sustaining, run by those countries' own people. Those who travel like this have others foot their bill, but don't have the needed accountability to justify what seems to me to be an excessive amount of plane-hopping. They will always be able to cite those in far-distant churches and communities who ask for their help, and what better God-honoring way than to deliver it to them in person? And after all, we're not talking about staying in ritzy hotels, but rather in often squalid conditions. But to me, that's just a rationalization obscuring the point. And the point is the "perpetual motion" buzz delivered by the travel.
As with any other thing, travel for travel's sake can get to be habitual, with the travel addict searching out excuses to set out again and again. Being someone who doesn't travel that much, I believe I can more readily observe this trait in others. Those who travel to excess, though, turn things around and try to paint themselves as somehow being self-sacrificial for the sake of others.
I'm not decrying the use of travel for overseas missions work; after all, the Great Commission in the book of Matthew commands missions work for believers. I just think that, as with any worthwhile endeavor, care needs to be taken to discern what constitutes reasonable travel and what constitutes travel for travel's sake. Otherwise, those in missions who are addicted to travel can always pull the wool over others' eyes through misdirection.
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Oh, I have a huge problem with the idea of missionary work, as you might guess. The idea of John going to someone else's home for the purpose of badgering them into following John's fantasy belief, rather than whatever one they had beforehand... makes me ill.
ReplyDeleteAnd calling it “saving them” doesn't help; it only makes it worse.
No, missionary work hasn't settled too well with me either. On the other hand, if the belief system that you are sincerely following dictates that nonbelievers are destined after death to eternal suffering, then I suppose it would be a great act of compassion to "spread the word" to them. So I have to put this discussion in that context. But even within that context, I still discern that some get a "free ride" from their fellow believers by exploiting this doctrine promoting missions work to serve their own personal agendas. But that's just MY opinion.
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