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She was blond. She was cute. And I was
a bit sweet on her. We didn't know each other real well. I had just moved to town the summer
before.
I was pushing hard for a 4.0 senior year. I was a National
Merit Scholarship finalist, somewhat of an anomaly in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Looking back now, I
wonder if the little blonde welcomed my attention because she hoped I would be able to help
improve
her grade point.
One day we were standing in the hall, leaning against some
lockers between classes. She looked at me, batted those long eyelashes and asked me what I
planned to do with my life.
"I'm going to be a missionary," I said.
A look of horror crossed her face. "Oh, Howard," she said,
"don't throw your life away."
It stunned me. We were evidently marching to the beat of
different drummers. That day our paths began to part. We were looking for different things in
life.
There's some evidence, of course, that little blonde was
right. In measuring success, the world and the church use strikingly similar yardsticks:
By such standard gauges of success I've fallen short.
Measured by these scales I've wasted some natural abilities. Some might even say that I've
thrown my life away.
Remember those charts high school counselors showed us
proving how much more we would earn over a lifetime if we finished college? They showed
even more income for a master's degree. For a doctorate it was really impressive.
Notwithstanding all that, our family's annual base salary as missionaries was $8,700. We don't
fit
the success charts.
Some church people, of course, put us up on a pedestal. I
occasionally meet some dear saint who just wants to "touch the missionary." Still, a lot of
Christians consider us missionaries dated, stodgy and out-of-touch. Perhaps with good reason.
When we show up on furlough, I only have one or two suits. The shoes I'm wearing today are
one size too large. I can't take them back to the store to exchange them because someone gave
them to me rather than taking them to Goodwill.
We're often blissfully unaware of the latest American fads
and fashions. We don't know the names of the hottest screen stars. We probably haven't read the
latest best-seller . . .at least in English. Many of the things that matter to us seem to matter little
to most monocultural, monolingual Americans. People are sometimes a little uncomfortable
around us. We've almost become foreigners in our homeland. We just don't fit in.
Thrown my life away? It might seem so. Yet, I'm here
today to tell you that I don't feel that way. If the Lord endowed me with particular talents and
abilities He did so for Kingdom reasons. He knew where He wanted me to use them in Kingdom
business. That's what I've tried to do.
Over the years I've been bewildered by the conflicting
signals and orders that can come from within an organization. I've been disturbed by injustices
befalling both other people and myself. I've been discouraged at meager results in post-Christian
Europe. When few in the homeland seemed to care I've felt very discouraged. Midst the poverty
of Haiti I've felt overwhelmed. But I've never had the feeling that I'd thrown my life away.
Never. [ e-book on Haiti ]
Instead, I've often been reassured that we're involved in the
most momentous enterprise of all time: the completion of the task of world evangelism.
Now: what about you? What are you doing with the mix of
gifts and talents God gave you? What are your priorities in the
use of your God-given talents and abilities? God has given you creative, intellectual gifts. That
you are a member of Phi Delta Lambda is evidence of that. Where are you investing those
God-given abilities? Have you put them to work almost exclusively in your own career, in
seeking that elusive thing called success? Is your involvement in global evangelism basically a
small monetary one, a kindly gesture, "give a little for a good cause"? Is world missions for you
just one more good thing that Christians ought to be doing?
I'd like to challenge you to apply some of your best to
carrying out the Great commission. Let the Holy Spirit help you begin seeing the world as God sees it.
Kingdom work demands the best and the brightest. You're one of those. The Kingdom needs
your help.
Down through the years the missionary thrust has had some
of the best minds involved in cross-cultural gospel witness. In the heyday of Jesuit missionary
outreach some of the best minds in Europe went out as missionaries, men like Matteo Ricci and Ramon Lull.
There are still about two billion people who still are outside
the gospel witness. That's an immense number. It need not, however, overwhelm us. Those two
billion are in about 10,000 people groups yet to have a church planted in their midst. To carry
out the Great Commission we've got to establish a beachhead in those 10,000 people groups.
Our own goal as Nazarene missionaries is that every person will soon be able to hear, understand,
and receive the good news from a holiness group among his own people. [ more on the unreached ]
Unfortunately, our church has hit a plateau in missions
giving and sending. By careful use of limited resources we've been able to continue entering new
countries. However, the number of active Nazarene missionaries has been stalled near the 600
level for several years. After adjustments for inflation, missions giving has not risen much in
recent years. If we are to regain momentum, carry out our divine mandate for spreading
scriptural holiness around the world, we face some momentous problems that call for the best.
Let me plead with you today to apply yourself to solving
problems of:
Please help us solve these pressing problems. Help
unleash the explosive potential in our churches. Without your creative gifts we may not be able
to carry out Christ's Great Commission. Years ago a cute little blonde thought I was throwing
my life away. I don't remember her name. I do, however, remember that Jesus once said that He who seeks to keep His life will lose it. Only
those who lose their live will keep it.
Thrown my life away? Yes, I've done that. And I found it
again.
Will you join me?
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Howard Culbertson, 5901 NW 81st, Oklahoma
City, OK 73132 | Phone: 405-740-4149 - Fax:
405-491-6658
Updated: February 17, 2019
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Article by Howard Culbertson. For more
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