I know that in the CMA sometimes, missionaries are seen as being way over the edge, the big risk takers, the ones who are willing to try anything. Reality is often something quite different than you would think. Missionaries are inclined to carve out new hideaways for themselves, to protect themselves at an emotional level. I think that the majority of missionaries struggle with this at some level.
Others don’t. Some of my coworkers think we should live like the natives here, and they choose to do so, or at leas they think they do. But I would argue that there is a huge difference between chosen and unchosen poverty. Chosen poverty is when I chose to live like the natives. Unchosen poverty is when I am the native! And there is almost no way out of that kind of poverty. Compared to those caught in unchosen poverty I walk differently, hold my body differently, expect differently, think differently, drive differently, express differently, order my day differently.
For instance, my day today is like this:
6:30 rise and shine
6:30-7:00 devo’s
7:00 - 8:30 prayer and exercise
8:30-9:15 clean and brush
9:30-10:15 breakfast with my lovely
10:30-12:30 leadership training with part of our team
12:30-4:30, email, phone, music, planning, networking, publishing, translating, etc, etc
4:30 -5:30 slupper (lunch/dinner) with my lovely
5:30-6:30 music practice before worship team practice
7:00 - 9:00 Worship team practice/prayer
9:15-10:30 talk to my children-email my children, IM my children, hopefully connect with my children etc, etc
10:45 to bed
Now this is a pretty typical day for me, and looking back on this day, it felt far more intense than it looks on paper ☺ What I see about my schedule is that I have far more freedom and independence than do those who live in unchosen poverty. Someone said, “Because individualism is based on the first sin, independence (people craving to be independent from God, longing to be in control). This pursuit defines Western culture, the pervasive quest to manage our environment, control our world through technology, eliminate surprises and predict every eventuality.“
So is chosen poverty or unchosen poverty living like Jesus? I don’t really know, but I think the question is far more complicated than it looks at the surface. Someone said, that both wealth and poverty are impostors. I believe he meant that both require the same from us as individuals - pursuit of God is competing with everyday life no matter where you are on the poverty/wealth scale. But most of us chose the temptation of wealth over poverty. Me too, and I still am undecided if that is good or not.
Others don’t. Some of my coworkers think we should live like the natives here, and they choose to do so, or at leas they think they do. But I would argue that there is a huge difference between chosen and unchosen poverty. Chosen poverty is when I chose to live like the natives. Unchosen poverty is when I am the native! And there is almost no way out of that kind of poverty. Compared to those caught in unchosen poverty I walk differently, hold my body differently, expect differently, think differently, drive differently, express differently, order my day differently.
For instance, my day today is like this:
6:30 rise and shine
6:30-7:00 devo’s
7:00 - 8:30 prayer and exercise
8:30-9:15 clean and brush
9:30-10:15 breakfast with my lovely
10:30-12:30 leadership training with part of our team
12:30-4:30, email, phone, music, planning, networking, publishing, translating, etc, etc
4:30 -5:30 slupper (lunch/dinner) with my lovely
5:30-6:30 music practice before worship team practice
7:00 - 9:00 Worship team practice/prayer
9:15-10:30 talk to my children-email my children, IM my children, hopefully connect with my children etc, etc
10:45 to bed
Now this is a pretty typical day for me, and looking back on this day, it felt far more intense than it looks on paper ☺ What I see about my schedule is that I have far more freedom and independence than do those who live in unchosen poverty. Someone said, “Because individualism is based on the first sin, independence (people craving to be independent from God, longing to be in control). This pursuit defines Western culture, the pervasive quest to manage our environment, control our world through technology, eliminate surprises and predict every eventuality.“
So is chosen poverty or unchosen poverty living like Jesus? I don’t really know, but I think the question is far more complicated than it looks at the surface. Someone said, that both wealth and poverty are impostors. I believe he meant that both require the same from us as individuals - pursuit of God is competing with everyday life no matter where you are on the poverty/wealth scale. But most of us chose the temptation of wealth over poverty. Me too, and I still am undecided if that is good or not.
2 comments:
Very insightful. You think differently because you did have some amount of choice and control over your destiny, and the people around you don't have that, they feel no hope, and the presence or absence of hope is what traps them and frees you, rather than the absence or presence of money.
I've heard of poor people who win the lottery but lose it all and end up in deeper poverty, and I think this is because they never stopped thinking of themselves as a poor person and so their heart found a way to live that out. And you've probably heard of rich people who've lost fortunes overnight and regained them again over time. I think this is because they never stopped thinking of themselves as rich people, people with choices.
Jesus chose to become poor so we could become rich so we could give to others who are in need.
Unchosen poverty comes with unchosen hopelessness and was never God's will for any people - it's part of the curse of sin and death in a fallen world
I love what you said that in both poverty and wealth, the pursuit of God competes with everyday life, whether it's the pursuit of one's daily bread or one's daily wealth management - both are very time-consuming and can be people-consuming.
Great post, Dr. D - excellent food for thought. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's a good question to wrestle with.
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