Darren Carlson offers a good reminder to us all. In my opinion, he describes a problem that affects both missionaries as well as those who still live in their home countries (e.g. America, England, etc.).
Darren leads a great organization called Training Leaders International. In his post “Don’t Glamorize Christians ‘Over There’”
“The grass is always greener on the other side. Or so we think.
How many times have you heard the purity of the global church (especially the persecuted church) extolled in contrast to the vile American church? I’ve lost count. There is usually a formula to how it is said: “X Christians in X country risk X in order to share the gospel. X Christians have undivided and passionate devotion to Christ. They are way more committed to the gospel than the American Church.
If it were so simple…
We tend to glamorize things we know little about.”
I suspect this influences missionaries in China more than people realize. In their admiration for Chinese pastors, missionaries can overlook or not pay close attention to certain weaknesses or sinful tendencies (like pastors who cheat).
What do you think?
Photo Credit: CC 2.0/commons.wikimedia
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