What is ‘call’?

My last post reflecting on the nature of mission ended with a critique of the idea of a ‘call’ to mission. This needs further explanation since it is very seldom that mission, especially mission that crosses cultural boundaries, is discussed apart from some concept of ‘call’. Indeed when applying to join the activities of some mission agencies, answering a question about one’s ‘sense of call to mission’ is part of the application process. The usual expectation then is that someone who ‘does mission’, who ‘becomes a missionary’, will have a ‘call’ and that having this is important. However, I am increasingly concerned that this notion of ‘call’ is overemphasised by the Western Church and represents an offshoot of the individualism that pervades contemporary Western Culture generally.

The problem with variations on the concept of ‘call’ is that the concepts, as they are typically voiced, are expressed relative to variations on the theme of ‘I’: I feel called to… My calling is… God has called me to…and so on. Uncritical acceptance and use of this language has two unintended consequences. Firstly it places prior limitations on God; saying that I do or don’t feel a call to such and such can amount to stubbornly telling God “this is where you may or may not send me, thank you very much.”Secondly it risks baptising our own preferences at best and our laziness at worst: a laziness which is content with present knowledge of self, service of others, and experience of God.

The ‘call’, because it was ‘my call’, because it was self-originated, becomes self-perpetuating in its capacity for self-limitation. I will not grow in knowledge of self, others and God because it is inconceivable that I, the consumer of mission, should ever be ‘called’ to unfamiliar, uncomfortable or unconsidered possibilities that would challenge, extend or even redirect me. Ambivalence to unfamiliar, uncomfortable and unconsidered missionary possibilities is not possible when we genuinely seek to place our lives in the hands of God who will shape us and mould us and make us into the people He wants us to be.

True ‘calling’ is perhaps that which we are drawn to in spite of ourselves. Moses, Jeremiah and Paul would rightly be regarded as living lives marked by the ‘calling’ of God. It is instructive to note that Moses tries to excuse himself from this call (Ex 4:10). Jeremiah is initially reluctant (Jer 1:4-6) and Paul, the ‘Hebrew of Hebrews’ (Phil 3:5) whose heart’s desire and prayer is for his fellow Israelites, seems, humanly speaking, a very odd choice as an apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 10-11). If the lives of these ancestors of faith were not their own, how much more is this true of us? Those who are caught up in the mission of God have done and will do things that they never could have imagined and would never have described themselves as ‘called’ to in the usual sense. Indeed this is my own experience concerning emigration from Kenya to New Zealand to serve God at NZCMS!

Over and against an emphasis on ‘calling’ I would draw attention to four other marks that should characterize a potential cross-cultural missionary: Community, Character, Competence and Chemistry.

Community

Someone who wants to honour God across cultures will first put themselves within a faithful and discerning community that listens, through immersion in scripture’s narrative and through prayer, to the Holy Spirit. They will open their mind and heart to that community concerning mission and in so doing find themselves in a situation where it is finally appropriate to speak of ‘calling’. Note for example how Barnabas and Paul/Saul are called and sent. The worshiping and fasting community discerned the Spirit saying “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2). ‘Call’ divorced from community lends itself to the unimaginative reductionism of individual ‘likes’ and materially humanistic logic.

Character

A potential missionary will be a person of consistency and integrity, having a depth of faith and spirituality. They know God not merely from textbooks but from a living experience of God. Their lives, decisions and priorities will be daily shaped and transformed by a desire to fall into step with their knowledge of who God is and what God is about. They will have a relationship with the Son of God and a desire to proclaim him wherever they are because their lives have been and are being transformed by his historical and on-going work.

Competence

In the world today anyone who goes anywhere in mission will be confronted with the question “what are you bringing us?” As such they must have skills, and skills that are proven and tested. Someone straight out of university, polytech or seminary may well have a great deal of knowledge but little practical competence. I encourage people to invest a couple of years building competence in their areas of training locally before considering offering their skills to others. Of course some people may be unsure what skills to develop to best serve a particular context. Short-term exposure overseas is useful in addressing this.  But it should be noted that short-term exposure is properly understood as preparation for mission, not mission itself. Such exposure gives people a sense of what God is doing in a place and helps them, through debriefing in community, to better know themselves and what they could offer. Qualifications are another aspect of competence that is becoming increasingly important to anyone intending to serve overseas. One’s long-term presence in a country will usually require a visa. Why would a government issue a visa to a foreigner to do work for which any number of locals are equally qualified? Similarly why should a mission organisation in East Africa or India receive an expatriate to work for them when there are so many unemployed local masters and PhD graduates in these places?

Chemistry

Sometimes a person can tick all the boxes of community involvement, character and competence but simply isn’t ‘right’ for a particular placement. The potential missionary must demonstrate that they bring something positive and life-giving to the people in that place. They must leave intangible benefits in the lives of those they walk alongside, build friendships with, listen to and learn from. Such chemistry amplifies the service that can be offered making it more than the sum of community, character and competence.