Title: Five Blessings of a Missionary Life
John 21 (25) Five Blessings of Missionary Life
(John 21:18-19)
1. Give people
The reason God gives missions is to give blessings. Abandoning a mission is the same as giving up a blessing. If you live by your mission, people will follow you. Who gets good friends? A person who cares for others. 'Dalla Man!', which says, “Do different for yourself, know about it, serve you, think about it!” has no friends, but the ‘Jura Man!’ who gives, knows, serves, and thinks for others has many friends.
Church members who do not have friends are usually ‘Dallas members’. They have nowhere to go to call. Conversely, those who have many friends are usually ‘Juras’. They have plenty of places to call wherever they go. When you call, they come to serve you immediately, and even if you don't call, they come and serve you before you know it.
If you live with a giving heart, you will make many good friends. Those friends will be of great help later in life's crisis moments. If you live like Jarin Gobi, you will get wealth but not friends. You have to know how to share to make friends. A life that is as precious as a life of sharing is a life that follows the mission. If you live according to your mission, God will give you a good friend who can fulfill your mission. If you look at a person who has integrity, it is usually a person who is faithful to their mission.
2. You give me material
If we live according to our mission, God will give us not only people but also material things. If you live after material things, you will not get material things, and if you live after people, you will not get people. However, if you live according to your mission, you will gain material things and also people. If you work hard on your mission, you will also be given material things. If you look at the history of Christianity, individuals and peoples who are used for missions have always been blessed. When we practice a life of sharing with a missionary mindset, we also gain material ability to share.
I returned home with the mission of a ‘rear missionary’ after studying at a seminary affiliated with The Christian & Missionary Alliance, where mission is the denomination’s greatest value and purpose. And I planted a church that values missionary work. When I first started planting a church, I was at a loss. There were no co-workers and no financial resources. Still, he never lost his dream and mission of always helping front missionaries as a rear missionary and producing many missionary candidates.
Since 2000, we have been focusing on preaching the Word using the Internet. First of all, I was convinced that if I receive grace through the Word, I will have missionary co-workers who have received grace and will give me the ability to do missions. The idea was not wrong. Although not a large number, God has sent hidden co-workers who participate in the mission. If you are faithful to the mission you have been entrusted with, God will give you people as well as material things.
3. He gives you good character
Longevity, wealth, power, health, and many children have been called the five major blessings since ancient times. But the real blessing is the abundance of spiritual aspects such as a sense of justice, a sense of duty, and a sense of responsibility. If the mind is not healthy, the five blessings will not last long. It's nice to have five clothes, but more importantly, your mental assets.
There are few inns, pubs, and arcades near universities in the United States, but in our country, college villages are rather Sodom and Gomorrah. When I go to college, I have to study more, but I stay away from studying more. Such appearance challenges the importance of spiritual assets. Without a mission, the mind is destroyed, but if there is a mission, the best gosi villages are created in Sodom and Gomorrah around Seoul National University through the missionary person.
If you have a mission, you will become mentally healthy, you will live an active life with confidence in everything, and your heart will be plentiful even when there are difficulties. It is because we believe that even suffering is accomplished through God's good providence. Without a mission, wounds and misfortunes are felt large, and with a mission, wounds and misfortunes feel small. If you live with such a sense of duty, you will become mentally healthy, broaden your horizons, and improve your personality.
4. Gives you health
Physical health is closely related to mental health. Mental health comes from a sense of duty to feel the meaning of one's existence. “I am what this family needs! I am what this church needs! When I live my mission diligently while thinking, “I am necessary for God’s work!”, the boredom of life disappears, and physical health follows along with mental health.
One day, in the United States, a TV actor named Harold Walters was sentenced to death for cancer. Without realizing it, the Bloomington Theater Society in Illinois asked him to take on the role of Jesus in the Passion play. He was worried and appeared on stage with the determination to die. In the final scene of the play, as he performed the scene of the crucifixion, sweat dripped down his face, as if his whole body had gone into a furnace. Then, miraculously, the cancer was cured.
When the mission is immersed, health is also given. Numbers 20:26 records the scene of Aaron's death as soon as he took off his high priest's robe. If you throw away your mission, you will be in the valley of the shadow of death, but if you hold on to your mission, you will also be given health to work.
5. It brings happiness
In order to live a happy life, you basically need a job. A study published in Reader's Digest found that of the 139 millionaires who won the lottery, about 60% returned to work after a year. Not to make money, but to be happy. People feel happiness only when they have a job and a mission.
The most precious mission is to save souls. If you have received grace, you have to work hard to receive grace from more people in order to receive real grace. All life should be focused on saving souls. It is important to play hard in football, but the most important thing is to score goals. As important as scoring goals in the life of faith is the salvation of souls. Do your best to save souls no matter what the circumstances. Don't live by circumstances, live by your mission.
In the past, seniors in the faith could not bear the burden if they did not preach the gospel. For Martyr Ryu Gwan-sun, the train's "chic-pop" sound is "Long live the independence!" sound was heard. Hear the sighs of others like that: “Save my soul!” There is no greater mission and no greater love than the salvation of souls. Also, there is nothing that prepares for God's reward greater than the salvation of souls, and there is nothing that brings happiness on this earth. Now, do your best to save souls, and become a strong supporter that pushes those who do their best with an invisible hand.