As I prepare to go back to the field later this summer, I am finding more and more people who want to talk with me about missions. They ask about my struggles and tell me about theirs. I’ve had many of these conversations before, but I still enjoy sitting down and chatting with folks about it.
I encounter people who have experienced some sort of call, but have a litany of reasons why they can’t do it right now. They have reasons for not contacting the IMB, not filling out an application, not bothering to take even the slightest step towards fulfilling that call. I’d like to take a moment to address some of the reasons that come up most frequently. Remember: I’m painting with broad strokes here, speaking in generalities. Specific cases often require grace and flexibility.
The IMB has policies that make me uncomfortable. There are a number of policies out there that put people’s teeth on edge. Alcohol, divorced applicants, baptism rules, private prayer languages, restrictions on the size of missionaries’ homes…name a policy and I am sure it will upset someone. Tell you what: if you agree with 100% of rules and policies at your current job, you can use this excuse. However, if you manage to keep your job now despite your disagreements, then I think this particular reasoning falls apart. I’ve said it before: the IMB is an inherently flawed organization because it is, tragically, filled with people. However, it is also an organization with a noble and divine goal. If you can tolerate weird rules in your job as teacher, accountant, or IT geek, you should be able to manage the IMB’s policies as you pursue missions.
We’re waiting until the kids are a little older. If you have to firmly declare your family’s radical moving plans, to who would you rather make that declaration: a toddler or a 12-year old? If you were concerned about the difficulty of moving, who will forget about their last home most rapidly: a baby who doesn’t really have friends, or a fifth-grader who has never moved in her life? There is a reason the IMB has guidelines on sending families with older children to the field. Like any company, the IMB studies their loss patterns, and their experts have found that older children tend to struggle with the transition to the field more than younger ones. And when I say “struggle” I really mean “drag the family through the kind of turmoil that leads to marital strife and child rebellion on par with anything you’ve ever read in the Old Testament.”
I have or had diabetes/hypoglycemia/herniated disc/multiple sclerosis/neurofibromatoma/ leukemia/high cholesterol/high blood pressure/visual problems/hearing loss/erectile dysfunction/bad knees/depression, so…” In case you are wondering about my list here, yes, it is indeed a run-down of many of the medical issues that my colleagues have experienced. The IMB does try to ensure that their people are healthy so they can minister in a variety of locations without the benefit of nearby medical care, but it would be a mistake to use just any medical condition as a reason for not even trying to apply with the IMB.
I’m overweight, and the IMB has weight limits. I’m just not comfortable with that sort of thing. First off, I would suggest that for many people, the real discomfort might boil down to two things: we don’t like anyone calling us overweight, and we certainly don’t want our employers establishing a connection between weight and employability. The IMB does indeed have weight standards, but they are not etched in stone; neither are they arbitrary or outdated. They use the BMI as well as overall fitness and other health factors; I’ve been overweight for years, but I am otherwise in excellent health and I run half-marathons. You see, what they really want is for their workers to enjoy good health. Please don’t associate “weight standards” with those horror stories about companies who require all their women to be a size 2 and all their men to have 28-inch waists. No one will single you out or fire you if you gain two pounds during Christmas.
There are enough lost people in the US to fill your time. There certainly are, so why don’t I take on Malaysia and you tackle Suburbia. Sound good to you? Seriously, if my wife and I, just the two of us, go to some far-off land in order to learn the language, immerse ourselves in a culture, and share the gospel, we’re leaving behind 187 church members who can surely manage the task of evangelizing in their own language and society. Right? Or was I the one person who could reach our hometown?
I really don’t feel qualified to do this sort of work. I understand (truly!), but if this particular excuse didn’t work for Moses, a prophet unlike any other, then I doubt it is going to buy any of us a free pass.
My parents are getting older, and we really want to be here for them. This one is hard. Sooner or later, all missionaries seem to face the need to head back to the US in order to care for their parents. The reality is that we cannot use our families to put off God’s call, yet we must also find room to provide for our parents as they age. It is something that must be handled with grace and honor, yet too many use this as an excuse never to go. Didn’t Jesus say something about putting our hands to the plow while looking back over our shoulders?
We’ve got a lot of debt right now, and we’d like to settle it before we leave. This just opens the door for all kinds of monologues about American spending habits, but I’ll limit myself to this: debt happens for lots of reasons, good and bad. If you are facing a call to missions, make the sacrifices needed to pay down that debt to a reasonable level. Don’t make the mistake of acknowledging your debt and then stop short of making the sort of commitment needed to get it under control. Let me ask you this: on the field, would you buckle down and learn a language? Ride 12 hours in the back of a truck over dirt roads in order to dig wells in a village? You’d make those sacrifices? Yes? Then I think canceling the cable and eating at home here in the US are reasonable debt-canceling sacrifices.
I am needed at my church. If you, in obedience, take off for the mission field, then I am sure the other 187 church members can, in obedience, manage the house of God in your absence.
We just bought a house/got a new job/got the kids in school/paid off the car. Please.
I’m determined to be stubborn and disobedient to God in this particular case. I’ll just pray for forgiveness. OK, so no one has ever said that to me… at least not in those exact words.
I think the overweight thing might get me!
I seriously did have a fine young man in our church whose heart was in Africa, and whose wife was there, too, But she wanted to be a missionary and not just a missionary’s wife. That posed some sort of problem with IMB>
They became CBF missionaries.
They now have their own mission board, after a dozen or so years.
Given the IMB’s policy about husbands and wives both expressing a divine calling, and expectation of her active participation in the ministry engagement, that story surprises me.
WhileI do not know your friends, I wonder if there is a little more to the issue. The IMB does, as Stuart has already noted, expect both husbands and wives to sense a call to international missions. As well, the orientation process for new missionaries points out that missionary wives are expected to work in some fashion and cannot simply maintain the house while the men go out and work. I wonder if perhaps the issue of a woman serving as pastor came up. I know that has historically been a dividing line between the SBC and CBF, and the… Read more »
I was thinking the same thing. Or ordination. Or BFM2K. Or something more than “didn’t want just to be a missionary wife”.
Oh yes. In my case, I had a different excuse. God never called me to that as a career. And I’ve been on specific trips to Haiti (1970 & 1974), Nassau (1991), Russia & Latvia (1997 & 1999) and Jamaica (1992 & maybe 10 or 11 times since). He just never said pick up & go.
Excellent.
Correct me if I am wrong- I thought the IMB doesnt allow you to go overseas until your debt is totally paid off- right or wrong?
I was told that they wont send anyone who has any student loan debts.
The IMB allows people to go if they have monthly payments that are below a certain dollar limit. The last I heard the limit was about $250/month. As well, they are more understanding about some forms of debt (student loans, medical bills) than they are for others (credit cards). The policy does change at times, so I could be wrong on this but for now this is the guideline as far as I know. My point was not financial perfection, just that too many people recognize that their debt is holding them back but decline to take the necessary steps… Read more »
The Baptism policy is not some minor difference that one must put up with, but is a major issue based on faulty theology. It reasons falsely that Arminians believe in a works-based theology and warps the meaning of believer’s Baptism. Further, it requires candidates to submit to re-baptism based on the false premise that somehow baptism is only valid if it is done in a Baptist church. I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss the policy as just a weird rule that we should tolerate.
Excellent point. We all have a line we just can’t cross, and I respect the fact that this is one for you. If the issue is comfort (“I just can’t wrap my brain around this…”) then I think my reasoning holds. However, for you it would seem that the baptism issue goes beyond comfort and into the realm of theology and doctrine. In that case, I would affirm your need to do what is theologically acceptable without compromising a call to missions. I know others who have left the organization and found other ways to pursue God’s calling to missions;… Read more »
For the record, I still support the IMB and lead my church to give generously to support missions. I just think this policy is one that desperately needs changing.
Thanks for this good post. What I tell people is that I am too stupid to quit. The smart person has a thousand good reasons to quit- or, per your article never attempt- but the stupid person ignores all those good reasons and obeys anyway. It is time for us to sell all and follow Jesus at any costs. Everyone needs to get on board with what God is doing in the world. The King is coming and the world is changing faster than ever before. We must never let ‘good’ reasons- no matter how good- keep us from obedience.
Does the IMB have education requirements? I’m an autodidact who jumped schools and majors a few times. I typically would become bored being taught things that I already learned on my own and pick up another subject in my spare time. It’s an unnecessary expenditure of time and money just for me to have a piece of paper. There are probably a couple of classes I would need, but I can usually teach myself faster than attending a class – and these classes would likely have prerequisites that I don’t need. As it is, I don’t have the credentials to… Read more »
The IMB does have educational requirements. Most applicants need at least a bachelor’s degree. If you wish to remain with the organization long-term, you’ll need about 20 or 30 seminary hours, but not a full degree simply to serve.
Does that help?
I don’t even have a BA. I have exceedingly more than enough hours. They’re just spread across music, physics, and Bible – entirely different departments in any university. I’ve continued to study these and added computer programming and philosophy on my own. What I haven’t buckled down and gotten under my belt is a more advanced understanding of Greek and Hebrew.
Our WOM group will be featuring you and your ministry in a special way on that day.
Could you send us specific things you would like for us to bring before the Lord?
We have tried to contact you via e-mail but have failed.
Your contributions to SBC Voices are most interesting!!!
I just saw this today (June 14). I am not sure where the mix-up was in terms of contacting me. I’d rather not post my address in a public forum, but I do want to get in touch. Mr. Moderator, is it possible for you to connect us in private since you can send emails to those who comments?