Sometimes we are tempted to think when it comes to being a missionary that it means we have to go to another country to spread the Gospel. This is simply not the case. Though there are millions who are lost overseas, you do not have to cross the ocean to be a missionary. Sometimes the place that needs you and your message the most is right where you are.
God puts us where we are for a reason. That reason could be to share His light in your hometown. If God is calling you somewhere else, you should follow that call. It is wonderful to be called to a foreign country to be the working hands and feet of Christ. But you need to make sure that is your calling, not just assume it is.
Everyone thinks that all the lost people are in a country that is not their own. I encourage you to take a look around. There are lost everywhere you turn; even where you live. Maybe God is calling you to work in your own community (Matthew 28: 19-20; Mark 16: 15-18).
The word missionary means a person sent on a religious mission, especially one promoting Christianity. In the Bible, it speaks of a missionary as one who witnesses across cultures (Matthew 28: 19-20; Mark 16: 15-18). This meaning can easily be applied to ministering in your own country. As an American, it is hard to walk around and not see all the hurting and lost. There are so many diverse cultures and religions spread all across the nation. With this diversity comes many competing ways of thinking and belief.
Naturally, we are curious about how others think and what they believe. Curiosity is good, for the most part. As Albert Einstein once said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious”. However, for the unprepared Christian, sometimes this curiosity can cause confusion and even the possibility of straying from the truth. We need to be wary of this and hold fast to what the Word of God teaches even as we navigate the difficult waters of our culture. As it says in I Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”.
We were built on Christian principles, but we have strayed greatly from that in the past few decades. The more cultures that come, the more we stray. What is being said is that we do not need to stop accepting people and their way of life into our home. Everyone needs a chance at freedom, no matter where they have come from.
Unbelievers don’t have the same foundation of truth to stand on as Christians do. They do not have a relationship with God. They do not know exactly what to believe. And they are just as curious as everyone else. This makes them more susceptible to the devil's traps.
As Christians, we should be the ones leading these lost souls to the heavenly Father. So you do not have to travel miles and miles to be a disciple. You just simply have to look around and go from there. This country of a million beliefs and no foundation in truth is fertile ground for the Gospel.
