An Unusual Family

This Sunday our church is hosting a family from another country; a dad, a mom, and three children. They have been in the States for two or three years polishing their English. In a few more weeks they are heading to a third country, a land that is closed to the Gospel. The Lord willing, they plan to be there for at least five years before they have to renew their visas.

I met this family earlier this year through a missionary friend. I felt as if I had stepped back in time in the United States; I was struck by their passion for Christ, their commitment to Him, and their desire to share Christ with others – even those in “closed nations”. While it may not be uncommon in this family’s home country to encounter Christians committed to Christ and mission, it is uncommon today in the United States. Yet, I can recall there still being a passion for mission, at least in some groups, when I was a teenager in America. I can recall there still being calls for missionaries, still being calls for men and women to commit themselves to Gospel proclamation – there was still encouragement for families to devote themselves to Gospel ministry.

A friend recently requested special prayer for his daughter, a rising-junior in college; she has a summer missionary itinerary that will take her through some insecure areas in Africa. I thought, “Well, that’s rare today. Many parents would not let their daughter or son go on such a trip.”

I recall, as a pastor, once having a college student in my parish who wanted to spend her summer overseas helping people who had been affected by a tsunami; her parents said, “No”, it was too dangerous. That student is now a wife and mother, I wonder what she would say if one of her daughters should make the same request one day?

It seems as if we only want our families to be committed to Christ once we have acquired the things we think important in life, once we have established security, once we have assured our futures. Our prisons of pleasure and security are killing us spiritually and as the pressures of our society squeeze us into conformity to the world we surrender our lives…not to Christ, but to the world. We surrender our families. We abdicate our responsibility to be light and life in Jesus Christ. We have plenty of rationalizations for our surrender, but none of them are faithful to Jesus Christ.

Hosting this family on Sunday will be both a pleasure and a challenge, for I must ask myself, “How do I measure up? What is my commitment to Jesus Christ? Am I taking up my cross daily and following Jesus?”

What about you?