Why Missions Can’t Fix Your Relationship with God

Mike Bowden • Sep 24, 2018

I listened as a seasoned missionary , more educated than myself, shared from his heart. He leaned forward and asked a question I wasn’t expecting: “Mike, what does it really mean to be loved by God?”

I fumbled for a moment under the inner pressure to respond with just the right theological answer. Thankfully, I hesitated and replied honestly: “I’m not totally sure. I am still learning that myself.”

The missionary leaned back with a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you. I was so afraid you were going to give me a formula.”

Since then, I’ve met with many successful and highly-educated missionaries and pastors. When allowed to share in a safe place, the two most common heartfelt questions that I hear are:

  • What is prayer, really? Beyond praying for ministry, interceding for others, or having a list of prayer requests, what does it mean to just sit with God?
  • What does it really mean to be loved by God? This is a hard question to face because we’ve helped others understand God’s love. And yet the question persists: How do I learn to experience and rest in God’s love?

Without real answers to these questions, many missionaries slowly give up on having an intimate relationship with God. Instead, they try to stay busy, focus on organizational structures, produce results in ministry or hide behind their area of strength.

Feeding an Addiction to Performance

In a paper titled “Spiritual Formation in Christ,” Dallas Willard addressed the sudden explosion of material in the area of spiritual formation.

Whereas spiritual formation for the Christian leaders historically went deeply into the inner spiritual life, the modern Protestant counterpart often focuses on “the outward behavior of the successful minister, pastor, leader, or full-time Christian worker. Spiritual formation (in this sense) can be thought of as the training that makes individuals successful in the aforementioned roles.

“Although it is recognized that the heart must be right, if one is successful enough in certain outward terms, very likely no further inquiry will be made. And, if something is known to be lacking on the inside or in the private life of the worker, as is often the case among those on a Christian staff, it may well be overlooked or justified for the sake of the ministry.”

With this focus on outward behavior, it’s no wonder many missionaries feel addicted to performance and productivity. Without help in transformational growth in prayer, resting in grace and being loved by God, outward success becomes the main measure for one’s self-worth and closeness to God.

So, how do we learn to rest in God’s love? We begin by remembering that spiritual practices involve the whole person. Done right, they will always move us toward love, as opposed to works-based, “one-size-fits-all” methods. Here are five ways to get started on your journey:

1. Remember that your ministry belongs to Jesus.

Missionaries very often feel pressure from supporters, teammates and themselves to get “their” ministry flourishing. These expectations can lead to justifying drivenness and over-commitment to reach the end goal. Is this Jesus’ way?

Jesus calls us to sacrifice and surrender but these are different than drivenness and over-commitment. Drivenness produces good things, but it’s often driven by an ego that is not surrendered.

Learning to do Jesus’ ministry instead of our own ministry is hard for many of us. The drive to produce and the adrenaline of ministry can be mistaken for the Holy Spirit. Positive results are often used as indicators that God is pleased. Our prayer life and ministry life can revolve around success, and we may not even know it.

But we must ask, “Is this really the ministry Jesus would have us do? And if so, are we doing it His way?”

2. Let doing flow out of being.

Grace is counter-intuitive. It’s much easier to repent of outward sins than to face what’s happening inside ourselves. We each create a false self that we present to others. But a godly person is one who has been transformed by grace, not one who knows all the right ways to behave.

Facing oneself is the hardest yet most crucial part of the formation process. God uses pain and struggle to wean us from the attachments to our false self. This inner transformation happens most readily in a loving, grace-filled community. Spiritual friendship and Christian counseling offer safe relationships where we can drop our guards and honestly look at who we are in context of God’s grace.

As we’re transformed, what we do for Christ will begin to flow out of being in and with Christ.

3. Develop true community.

Christian community is one of the greatest treasures of the Christian life. Yet, very few of us have experienced this in our churches or Christian groups.

Larry Crabb describes the counterfeit of spiritual community as congenial relationships. These relationships hold together because of a common goal. As long as the goal is shared and worked on, the relationships “work.” Conversation tends to be about the goal. Prayer is about the goal, and the enemy is anyone or anything that gets in the way of the goal.

What is often missing in congenial relationships is a sense of grace, vulnerability, trust and relationship that goes deeper than the goal itself. And without that depth, it’s easy to keep our focus on outward appearances, not the heart.

4. Live grace, don’t just proclaim it.

A sense of grace is often the first thing that diminishes in any movement or ministry. Paul writes to the Galatians about this: “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” The context is that they started out in grace but returned to law.

Grace allows for expression of healthy emotions, sharing one’s deepest thoughts and concerns without fear of being judged. Grace gives the courage to face our deepest sin. Grace allows for differences in ministry styles.

What if missionaries first and foremost saw it as their goal to establish grace-based communities? This can’t be evaluated through cognitive-based questions but will reveal itself in such things as trust, vulnerability, forgiveness and encouragement. Such a community would be made of individuals who have been formed by Christ, working as a team to do Christ’s work, Christ’s way.

5. Measure success in terms of grace.

In simplest terms, a spiritually healthy ministry is a ministry saturated by grace. A spiritually healthy ministry won’t make decision based on expediency, but on how the decision will affect the ethos of grace. Success will be looked at as those who demonstrate lives of grace.

This can’t be expected or assumed. Many of us need to be retrained in order to operate in grace-based systems.

With grace as the operating system, the other indicator is spiritual depth. A healthy ministry is one that helps cultivate a healthy Christian spirituality. What does it mean to cultivate spiritual depth? The foundation for this must come from a commitment to be Christ-centered, biblically-based and Spirit-led.

Taking the Next Steps

As you reflect on these five points, ask yourself which points have caused tension, stirred a heart-level desire or reminded you of something about yourself. Follow up each section with personal nonjudgmental comments, using words like “ I feel …,” “ I desire …,” “ I’m sad about …,” and “ I’m encouraged by ….”

You may uncover some hard questions. You may find that you’ve been resting on your performance far more than you realized. But don’t take that as a failure. Take it as an opportunity to be transformed by God’s grace and trust that He loves us, even when we don’t understand how.

By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
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