Why are we here?
The My Utmost For His Highest on 4 March (titled ‘Is This True of Me?’) particularly stuck out to both of us, especially how the devotional begins:
“It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.” (emphasis added)
And then how it ends:
“Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, ‘Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work’. That attitude chooses our own judgement, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use — but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.” (emphasis added)
We knew the truth of Oswald Chambers’ words, and felt particularly challenged by those parts bolded above. God has not called us to follow our common sense and try to be useful in the ways that we think of, but instead trust in what He has for us here in India and beyond. We trust Him in this way because we know we are His and He is God. This has often meant we cannot plan very far in advance and causes us to be more and more reliant on the Holy Spirit, but we have learned to enjoy and relish in this way of living dependent on Him.
However, we have often felt unsure how to define our ‘vision’ or ‘call’, especially when meeting other believers here in Kerala. When people have asked us why we are here or what we are called for, we have struggled to communicate exactly what we feel our purpose is. Ultimately, we are following God, stepping out in faithful obedience to Him, trusting the Holy Spirit will lead us step by step — and He has. But understandably, other believers want to understand what we are doing and what ‘category’ we fit into. Without wanting to slot into those categories (because the Spirit transcends such limitations), we had been trying our best to express what we felt our hearts were for the people here, but often felt that it was difficult to communicate.
Then a few days after that MUFHH entry, we read a message from some friends in Canada, in which they shared a quote from a book they had read, called Live Your Assignment: Being Christ's Ambassador in 7 Spheres of Life by Pastor Phil Wagler. He says as follows:
And perhaps you should seriously give prayer and communal discernment as to whether God is sending you or someone from your fellowship to build people up somewhere else. Not as a tourist or to chase an experience (though God can grab your heart that way). Not to escape home (because everywhere you go, there you are). Not to fix the world (because you’re not that smart). Not for your sake, but to be with and work with. To build up people because the Spirit has blown, and the love of Christ compels. This going across cultures is one of the costliest things anyone can do. Still, ambassadors of Christ should ask: Is there a stirring in me for a region beyond like Paul had for Spain? (emphasis added)
These words rang true in our hearts! Having the opportunity to ‘build up people’ is exactly what we have loved since we have been in Kerala. The times of fellowship which have delighted our hearts are when we have encouraged people to have total dependence on God and have exhorted believers here to not get distracted by religiosity, worldly success, emotions, or the number of new believers coming to Christ. To be clear, this has not all been flowing one-way, and we have been shown and taught much in our time here too, as we have shared in some of the previous ‘Adventures in Faith’ entries.
It was a lovely touch from God that at the same time we were desiring clarity to help us better communicate with people here, we received those words from Pastor Wagler’s book; and since reading them, we have loved being able to tell those whom we meet that we believe we are here to ‘build people up’.
We hope that anyone reading this will also take time to dwell on the words we have quoted above and discern whether God is calling you to take a step from where you currently are to go and build people up in another place, with no other motivation than to make yourself available for Him. In our experience, there is no better way to spend your time and resources.