Life in Kenya

while packing up your belongings you often come across things you have kept yet have forgotten all about.  this happened to me as i was going through an old box of service corps trinkets and notes.  and what a good reminder it was as we head out to do God's work

1 corintians 13  missionary version

i may be able to speak fluently the language of my chosen field and even understand its culture, but if i have no love, the impact of my speech is no more for Christ than that of a businessman who comes to exploit the people.

i may have the gift of contextualizing God's word when i deliver it to my hearers.  i may have all the knowledge about their customs.  i may have the faith needed to combat witchcraft, but if i have no love, i am nothing

i may give everything i have to the poor, to the hungry on the fields.  i may even give my life for them, but if i have no love this does no good.

love is thinking in thought patterns, caring enough to understand worldview, listening to questions, respecting them, feeling their burdens, identifying with them in need, belonging to them.

Love is eternal.  Culture passes away.  dynamic equivalents will change because culture changes.  patterns of worship and church administration will need revision.  languages will be altered over time.  institutions will be replaced.

since i am finite, i am able to do this only in a limited way, but i pray the spirit will use my life to show Christ to those with whom i work.

meanwhile these remain....

identification,

contextualization,

and love.

but the greatest of these is love

-jean mccracken