A family member once told me that I shouldn't even begin to compare myself with a 'real missionary' such as the ones who have been doing the work for decades...and I shouldn't call myself a missionary. I thought that was quite a rude statement, but part of me believed it because it was told to me in such authority.
But I just had a thought... when students graduate school and enter the career field, are they allowed to call themselves the position which they're learning? Are amateur lawyers not allowed to call themselves lawyers, even though they're not anywhere as near as good as the veterans? Are doctors in their residency not allowed to call to call themselves doctors even though they've only been doing it for a few years?
Hmmm.
5 comments:
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Eli said...
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You ARE a real missionary, Ande! I don't think any of the "real missionaries" would even consider themselves to be in such a lofty category. Even though you may not be a 50 year missionary veteran, you still qualify under that term! Some of my most humbling moments in regard to that is when talking about missions, one of my 1st grade Sunday School kids will pipe up with, "You're a missionary!" It sounds like such a big role to fill, but even the "real ones" had to start somewhere!
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Craig Sowder said...
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Is there a such thing as a fake missionary? What would a fake missionary even look like?
You are a real missionary, dear. -
Ande Truman said...
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Heidi, thanks for the comment! Seriously. I'll remember that.
Craig, I guess a fake missionary is someone who is a single young woman, who doesn't have a seminary degree or no formal theological education, and who doesn't wear long print dresses, sandals and wool socks, and bonnets. :D (Sense the sarcasm?) That's a question that maybe I'd like to ask that particular family member. She/he wants me to call it a "mission trip" and that's all. Anyway! I think that's kinda downplaying what's going on, to be honest, so I'm not gonna do what he/she wants.
Thanks for the encouragement y'all. :) -
brynne said...
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ande, just remember, you don't have to go overseas to be a missionary. sharing God's love with those who don't know him makes you a missionary!
(i'd love to hear what your family member thinks about that little nugget! :) ) -
Ande Truman said...
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I clearly see how that conversation would go... as soon as I'd tell her that she'd give a little laugh with a puff of exhaled air and say, "Well that's just ridiculous to say that. You don't know what you're talking about." I may say it someday, just for you Brynne, but their ideal missionaries are...hmmm, I'm going to stop there before Big Brother reads my blog crimes. :)
Thanks for the encouragement!
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