Missionaries: "Does one size fit all?"

Missionaries, contrary to conventional wisdom, do not come in one size fits all. The sooner that concept is thrown out the window, the better.

Once a country preacher was taking me out to lunch after a Sunday morning missionary service (and imagine my surprise) when he turned to me and said, "You know, Jim, my experience has been ..." [he paused and reflected] "that with very few exceptions, the average missionary could not cut it in the real world."

Naturally, I asked him what he meant by that. He continued to explain, "Well, they just don't have what it takes for success here in the States so they go overseas."

I thought for a moment and said, "Really?" (I have found that when someone says something really dumb it is always helpful to say, "Really?")

Obviously that poor pastor needed to expand his horizon beyond Podunk Hollow and get acquainted with the real world.

He, however, is no different than the rest of us, sometimes. We like to pigeon hole people and put them in neat little slots. Jesus, however, does just the opposite. Think, for instance, of the diversity of men that he picked as his closest ministry partners. He picked dirty, smelly fishermen. He choose a slick tax collector. A scholar like Paul. A political activist like Simon the Zealot. His own brothers. And, of course, his director of publicity was an eccentric thundering prophet who ate bugs and honey and wore a rough camel hair tunic. What a bunch!

Yet, they got the job done.

The truth is, God picks us in all shapes and sizes. The only litmus test is are we willing? If so, he takes care of the rest. After all, he does the calling. And, even if my pastor friend from Podunk Hollow were right, God knows what he is doing, for Scripture says that,

God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;. 1 Corinthians 1:25-27

And, I can safely say that even though I have seen a lot of dumb people do a lot of dumb things, however preaching the Gospel was not one of them.