I think missionary / evangelizing is a very egotistical line of work and most people become missionaries for entirely superficial reasons --self recognition, or to be seen as a savior of a poor struggling community, --kind of a mini-fame if u will, and basically to stroke their own ego and feel holy.
Do you agree or do you think I am FULL OF S***???
2007-05-24 21:47:14 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Well, I think it depends on the person really. For example my mom is a missionary and we are definitely NOT rich. She is a missionary purely because she cares about more than herself and can't stand doing nothing about it. Some times shes gone more than half a year, but I know her work is important so I don't mind so much.
But maybe there are some people out there who are missionary's and so on just for a little self recognition. But on the whole I think they are pretty good people.
2007-05-24 21:55:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think a lot of it is also the opportunity to travel to exotic parts of the world. The whole idea that we have to convert everybody to the same belief is retarded. What we should really be doing is combatting true immorality i.e. rape, murder, female castration, inhumane treatments in 3rd world factories, and all the other atrocities that happen in the scarier parts of the world. We are wasting so much time and resources that could be better spent on causes with so much more merit.
2007-05-24 21:52:12 · answer #2 · answered by Reject187 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You know what? I am praising God right now....WHY?
When I first started typing this there were only 2 answers to your question, and I started to tell you how you were wrong and how (I) was living and (I) did this and (I) did that.
Thank God I am a slow typer....
I had to go back to take a look at one of the answers so that I could respond with even more vigor and saw the other answers and they brought me back to the real world of Christianity.
A "True" Christian does not bragg about what they have done or how they have chosen to live or where.
So I humbly erased the response I had, prayed and replaced it with this one.
I want to say thank you to all of you Christians who responded when you did, God used you to real my humanity in and back on track.
God Bless each of you and the others We will be praying for (ALL) of you who read this.
Rev. Roy Ross
Roy & Cathy Ross Ministry
Bogo, Cebu, Philippines+
2007-05-24 22:21:30 · answer #3 · answered by Rev R 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
People become missionaries because they believe God has called them to and because they want to use their lives to make a positive difference in the lives of others. This is not an egotistical pursuit, but a self-sacrificing one. Missionary work is hard, heartbreaking work. There is nothing easy, glamorous, or comfortable about living and working in a third world country. Have you ever been to one and experienced the living conditions?
In the country we went to, there were hundreds of people living around a *mountain* of garbage. They built their shelters out of whatever scraps they could find in the garbage pile, they obviously had no electricity or running water, and they had to eat whatever spoiled, rotten food they could find in the garbage. Their children were infected with worms, and their infants slept in a dug out hole in the ground because they had no baby beds. Their makeshift "homes" were not adequate enough to provide shelter from the heat. My goodness, the heat!!! We had to drink liter bottles of water every two hours to keep from getting dehydrated while we were working, and we sweated so much that I *very rarely* even had to pee after drinking all that water.
So, at the end of each day, you're exhausted, sweaty, dirty, stinky, infected with lice, and heartbroken by all the suffering around you. You're only reward, and it's an awesome one, is that God has used you to provide these people with hope in the midst of their despair. Missionaries go not only to feed people physically but to feed them spiritually. They go not only to dig wells, build schools and churches, but to love, give hope, and encourage. They go not for self-regognition or to make themselves famous, but to make Jesus famous, to make Him known to those who need Him.
I'm grateful that there are people out there who are willing to devote their lives full-time to such service. It's not an easy job and it's certainly not monetarily rewarding. They have to raise their own funds - no one pays them to go. It's a shame that there aren't more churches willing to give more to support them.
So, while there might be some people who go for superficial reasons, those people are in for a jarring shock! And, if they choose to stick it out, to not give up and go home, I suspect they come away from the experiece a changed person... a humble, more compassionate person.
2007-05-24 23:19:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
You're full of it. I've known many missionaries personally, and they went only to help. Nothing else. It was their compassion that made them go.
2007-05-24 23:31:57 · answer #5 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I know plenty of missionaries and none of them have alterior motives, they just want to let everyone know about the wonderful Gospel.
2007-05-24 22:00:32 · answer #6 · answered by joeyfarlz 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree with you for the most part. There is always one or two in every crowd who has delusions that they can make a " difference".
Reject 18 whoever rejected you has got rocks in his head.
2007-05-24 22:00:06 · answer #7 · answered by Grendel's Father 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No more than angelina jolie or madonna or oprah
2007-05-24 21:56:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
oh well, better houses, cars, and clothes for them. i don't think they need to show that they've got the money...hell.
2007-05-24 21:49:58 · answer #9 · answered by -♦One-♦-Love♦- 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree...When you see them in their groups..they act as if they are the only ones without sins.
2007-05-24 21:57:48 · answer #10 · answered by Afi 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋