Mission Trips

I guess I am a glutton for punishment, because I just can't seem to avoid expressing my opinion of controversial topics on here. I keep thinking someday I'll post something that everyone feels happy about. But, yeah....that's probably never going to happen. Sorry about that, I guess. You can always stop reading.

Anyway, let's get to the topic: mission trips.

A few months back I came across an article via Seth's Barne's blog Radical Living in a Comfortable World called "Time to Declare a Mission Trip Moratorium". It was written by Troy Jackson from Sojourner's Magazine (a magazine I have come to resent a bit because my English college professor made us write journal responses to articles in it...but that's neither here nor there).

I don't think he presents the most solid case for what he is trying to say, but I think the idea behind it is crucial for us as American Christians to think about and wrestle with. Basically he says that the amount of money raised for mission trips by Americans each year is astronomical. And many overseas mission trips fail to accomplish lasting change in the places these Americans visit. So for a year, let's say, we should still raise the money, but use it to support economic development by the indigenous people themselves and skip on the formal mission trip.

He points to many American's stance on illegal immigration. We seem to be quite driven to go "over there" or "somewhere else" to help people on missions trips, but the people who are right under our nose are ignored or even actively rejected. That's not exactly how he says it, but he has to be nice since he's writing for a magazine and not his own personal blog *cough, soap box, cough* like me. :)

If you want to see a list of potential weaknesses of the article (and I'm sure you do, if you've been on a mission trip before), here's Seth Barnes' reaction to it: Is It Time to Declare a Mission Trip Moratorium?

Now, I like to talk a lot about things I know nothing about, and this topic is no exception. So it's only fair to tell you that I have never been on a mission trip. There. I said it. Judge me if you will.

No really. I obviously do see this as a weakness in my opinion, but it also has its strengths I think. From my (admittedly limited) experience, people who come back from mission trips seem to have some biases in their thinking. My general observation (let's be clear about the fact that I am not talking about anyone in particular) is that people come back from mission trips, and they experience a temporary high. They talk about how their faith has been strengthened, their bonds to other Christians have been strengthened, and that they are forever changed. And to some degree I believe them. I don't think you can witness abject poverty without being changed. But what I see (more general observations here) is that the people are changed only marginally. They basically go back to their regular life and their regular level of faith and the world keeps spinning unchanged (except hopefully not for the people they went to help). I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying what I have observed from the outside. (Can you tell I'm trying to tiptoe around this subject because I know this post will personally offend many of my dear, closest friends?...if that's you, please just talk to me about this face-t0-face so I can admit I'm wrong in a more personal way....)

My general belief which comes from my observation is that we are spending a TON of money on mission trips. We raise money for a trip halfway around the world so that we can have an "experience" of helping the poor and sharing the Gospel. The amount we spend on an overseas mission trip could probably finance a long term missionary for months--and I'm betting those people need the money more than we do.

And when people are trying to recruit others to come on the mission trip, all they seem to say is that "You'll get more out of it than the people you are helping." I hear this SO OFTEN. And if that's true, maybe we shouldn't be doing it? Doesn't that seem selfish? I mean, I'm assuming that people in other countries are also being helped, but doesn't it set the wrong tone of the trip to say that you'll get more out of it than them? Maybe instead we should say "This mission trip will be hard, but it's the right thing to do because Jesus called us to do it, and there are people in this world who need help and the Gospel." Instead we just focus on your experience and how the trip will profoundly effect you. It shouldn't be about that at all (sure it's a side benefit, but it shouldn't the motivating factor in your decision.) To me, this focus on what you will get out of the trip is just another symptom of our American individualism and self-centeredness. Are we willing to help someone if we get nothing out of it? If it actually hurts us?

Instead, I see mission trips as a sort of status symbol in church. A necklace you can wear and you get to add a bead each time you leave the country. (Maybe I just have sour grapes for not having my own status symbol or necklace to wear? ;)) Something just doesn't feel right about the whole thing. It's too easy to go on a mission trip, feel like you are "okay" with God, and then go back to your regularly scheduled life. It's easy to tell yourself you're evangelizing or helping the poor because you did it that one time a couple years ago. But are you helping the poor and evangelizing in your own neighborhood? Workplace? Bar? Is it hard? (hint: it should be) Are you making changes in your lifestyle and habits that reflect a response to God's love? Or are you just allowing yourself to check off "evangelizing" and "helping the poor" from your cosmic to-do list?

I hope I haven't gravely offended anyone. If I did, I'm sorry. I'm trying to call us (me and you) to a more Gospel-centered lifestyle. I don't always do it well because I'm a sinner too, and I have my own issues and failings. But what I'm ultimately trying to say is this: Are we doing mission trips for the right reasons? Are we actually helping people or are we just feeling better about ourselves? Is our money being used in the most effective manner? Is our time being used in the most effective manner?

I would love to see short term mission trips set up so that people can test-run long term missions. So that the purpose of the trip would be to see if it's something you'd like to do long term. Right now in the Church I think you can make a lifestyle out of short term trips, which just doesn't seem to be the most effective use of resources, nor the best way to make lasting, profound change in the lives of people--both here and abroad.