Mission Trips are Weird
The Bible calls for us to turn away from ourselves and turn our focus to God and other people. The Bible says we should find people that are not believers and convert them to Christianity. So believers go on mission trips to save the unsaved. It’s called Evangelism.
Here are my issues :
- Protestants believe that God is sovereign. God has elected or predetermined those humans that will follow Jesus and God. Human free will is minimized.
- Notwithstanding the sovereignty of God, Protestants often fall into easy believe-ism, where the unconverted person simply says the sinner’s prayer and then is told that he or she is saved, regardless of any evidence of behavioral or spiritual change. Can you say cheap grace?
- Many churches send youth and adults on “mission trips” with the goal of interacting with the unbeleivers and bringing them to God/Jesus.
- Often these mission trips involve short-term international travel or long-distance domestic travel. All the “unsaved” people down the block or ten minutes away are ignored.
- Why do Christain churches spend so much money sending adults and your on “mission trips” far away, when there is a huge mission just down the road?
- Perhaps its because it feels magical to travel a long distance, and thee is also comfort in knowing the souls that are “saved” are far away and won’t be close enough to suck up the time of the converters.