Week 3: Mission-centric or Christ-centered?
Dear Loved Ones,
I went to the Boise temple today for the first time. The motif on the benches, ceiling, and stained glass is the Idaho state flower, the syringa. I think the temple procedures are much the same, only more efficient.
My companion and I made little origami hearts with a bible verse, 1 John 4:11, which is about love, on them so we can hand those out to people. We handed one to a lady on the street who said she is from Iraq and her religion is Azadi, or something like that. That's a faith I've never heard of. I also met with a Sikh family this week and learned many fascinating things about that religion. Their version of a baptism is not being immersed or sprinkled in water, but drinking a bowl of it mixed with sugar. They also have "articles of faith" that are not written articles, but articles of clothing or accessories, such as a comb or dagger. I wonder if the shared term "article" is a coincidence of language ambiguity since article can mean an object or a written text, or if one group borrowed from the other, or if this Sikh man was explaining it in terms he had heard church members use.
I have been thinking a lot about mission-centric culture. People are kind to us, feeding us, giving us rides, and sometimes even handing us cash. My companion told me that people in Idaho are so kind, but I know that it's not Idaho but the fact that we are missionaries. I had an aunt who died this Christmas. She was an alcoholic for many years and lost her driver's license and ability to work because of it. She was dependent on the government for food and family for rides. I'm grateful for every kindness we receive, that when I heard people in the temple pray for "the missionaries" they were praying for me, but I also wonder if these same people would have given my aunt a lift if they saw her walking down the side of the road.
I went to Deseret Book a few weeks back for missionary books and saw something that disgusted me: a small statuette of a little boy in an over-sized suit. The caption on the base read, "I hope they call me on a mission." Actually, no, he doesn't hope for that. Boys think they are entitled to missions, as do most girls. Aside from the children's song "I hope they call me on a mission," missions are only, ever, always discussed in terms of acceptance, not hope. Having been barred from going on a mission for nearly three years through no sin of my own made me intimately aware of how mission-centric our church culture is. Even now that I am a missionary, I cringe a lot when a parent describes their family as "I have three kids. Billy is sixteen, Susan twenty-three, and Tyler is on a mission in France", with mission status taking precedence over age. If you want to raise your son to be a fine, upstanding man, why not buy a statuette of Christ with the base caption "I'm trying to be like Jesus"? Missionary is not more important than disciple.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and take none of it for granted. Thank you for your emails prayers. I wish you all well.
I went to the Boise temple today for the first time. The motif on the benches, ceiling, and stained glass is the Idaho state flower, the syringa. I think the temple procedures are much the same, only more efficient.
My companion and I made little origami hearts with a bible verse, 1 John 4:11, which is about love, on them so we can hand those out to people. We handed one to a lady on the street who said she is from Iraq and her religion is Azadi, or something like that. That's a faith I've never heard of. I also met with a Sikh family this week and learned many fascinating things about that religion. Their version of a baptism is not being immersed or sprinkled in water, but drinking a bowl of it mixed with sugar. They also have "articles of faith" that are not written articles, but articles of clothing or accessories, such as a comb or dagger. I wonder if the shared term "article" is a coincidence of language ambiguity since article can mean an object or a written text, or if one group borrowed from the other, or if this Sikh man was explaining it in terms he had heard church members use.
I have been thinking a lot about mission-centric culture. People are kind to us, feeding us, giving us rides, and sometimes even handing us cash. My companion told me that people in Idaho are so kind, but I know that it's not Idaho but the fact that we are missionaries. I had an aunt who died this Christmas. She was an alcoholic for many years and lost her driver's license and ability to work because of it. She was dependent on the government for food and family for rides. I'm grateful for every kindness we receive, that when I heard people in the temple pray for "the missionaries" they were praying for me, but I also wonder if these same people would have given my aunt a lift if they saw her walking down the side of the road.
I went to Deseret Book a few weeks back for missionary books and saw something that disgusted me: a small statuette of a little boy in an over-sized suit. The caption on the base read, "I hope they call me on a mission." Actually, no, he doesn't hope for that. Boys think they are entitled to missions, as do most girls. Aside from the children's song "I hope they call me on a mission," missions are only, ever, always discussed in terms of acceptance, not hope. Having been barred from going on a mission for nearly three years through no sin of my own made me intimately aware of how mission-centric our church culture is. Even now that I am a missionary, I cringe a lot when a parent describes their family as "I have three kids. Billy is sixteen, Susan twenty-three, and Tyler is on a mission in France", with mission status taking precedence over age. If you want to raise your son to be a fine, upstanding man, why not buy a statuette of Christ with the base caption "I'm trying to be like Jesus"? Missionary is not more important than disciple.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and take none of it for granted. Thank you for your emails prayers. I wish you all well.
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