Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”
But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”
John 1:45-46 MSG
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
On Wednesday, November 11, 2020 I was invited to speak to students interested in ministry and missions on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University, my alma mater. These are the words that I shared with them. A special thank you to Ben Langford and Herr Professor Antwine for the invitation.
Missionary biography is a unique subset of a larger tradition of hagiography – writings about the lives of saints and martyrs. There are many inspiring missionary biographies, some which motived people in this room to become missionaries. Nevertheless, I fear that the narrative of my missionary calling would not make it past the publisher. The life of St. Anthony inspired St. Augustine. St. Augustine’s autobiography has shaped my life – but the particulars of my missionary calling are not particularly noteworthy. And I think that’s good news.
But before I talk about my calling, I would like to speak a few words about the world we live in today.
We live in the era of rugged individualism. We also live in the era of bourgeoise possibilities. This lethal combination means that we must somehow, in theory, discern on our own God’s plan for our life, because alongside many non-Christians, we also suffer from the fear of missing out.
Combine our existential crisis with the possibilities made available to us living in the richest nation of the world, we feel an extreme weight, a burden which begs God to make it more than clear what is His exact will for each one of us. This might be because, somewhat innocently, we believe God’s way will be the path of least resistance, the most direct path to peace, pleasure and happiness.
Within this cultural malaise we seek to know what is the bare minimum we might do in order to be in the center of the will of God. Or we seek to discern God’s calling for our lives without moving beyond our imagined boundaries and limits. After all, God wants me to be a good middle-class Christian: university educated, married and with 2.5 children. Oh, he also wants me to be a patriot, and he also demands that I be debt free and a homeowner.
What I have learned and experienced is that God does not choose for any of His children the path of least resistance. That path is the road that leads to our total destruction. He is not so much concerned about my happiness but my holiness which can truly lay a foundation for an abundant life of love and peace. The path trod by Jesus does not always lead to earthly success – He did say blessed are the poor, the meek, the mistreated.
I came to a point in my faith in which I had to choose between my will and God’s will. I believe I could have served God faithfully as an academic in North America but for me the choice between academic theologian and missionary theologian was the distinction I needed to draw nearer to the heart of God. This choice to follow Jesus into uncharted territory has made all the difference.
Did I feel called to ministry in general and missions in particular? Yes and no. I have been involved in ministry for as long as I remember. But when I came to Oklahoma Christian, I began to meet lifelong missionaries: the Antwines, the Hartmans, the Carpenters and others. I met people who loved God; they are brilliant teachers and communicators. And what most impacted me is that I met people who loved me and showed me hospitality. In other words, they showed me Jesus.
When I was faced with the decision to enter into ministry in the US or to adventure beyond our borders into the larger world, the question was no longer “why?” but “why not?”. When I was young, I supposed that missionaries might be ministers who could not find gainful employment in churches of good repute in the States. I was falsely led to believe that somehow the center of God’s Kingdom or at least the most exciting things in the church were happening in the States.
So, what was my particular calling? I simply read and heard the words of Jesus, “come and see”, “follow me”. These passages mean much more to me knowing that many Christians left their homes and families proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God long before the Great Commission began to circulate in the Gospel according to Matthew.
What is the missionary calling?
I have been invited to participate in the life of the Trinity, la Comunidad de amor, what I like to call the Community of Love. I have been invited to participate in His divine nature. I have been called to commune with the God who is love. I have been named an heir of God and co-heir with Christ thanks to the Spirit who lives in me. I have been charged to participate in the redemption of all creation. I have been blessed with the privilege of being a signpost that points to the God of Jesus Christ who longs to heal our hearts and our world. I have been invited to witness to the God of Life who created this world so that you and I might share in His very existence. I am told to extend this same divine hospitality to others so that the people that eat at my table today may someday find themselves gathered around the Lord’s Table as we await the eschatological banquet in the new creation.
And so have you. All Christians share the same calling. So why not live your calling outside these human borders?
What were some challenges along the way?
The biggest challenge for any missionary, in my opinion, is not language learning or cultural adaption but learning what it means to walk with Jesus in their new home country.
I live in Argentina and work mainly with poor university students, immigrants and refugees. We love to read the Magnificat (Mary’s song) – all of it, not just the part we like to sing in the U.S. We are comforted by Jesus’ beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ teaching of the rich man and Lazarus hits home in a different way when most people you know struggle to make ends meet at the end of the month.
What does it mean to live like Jesus in a city of 14 million people where a loud majority claims atheism, Marxism or unbridled capitalism as their religion? What does it mean to walk like Jesus when your friends and neighbors do not know any other Christians?
What does it mean to be a foreign missionary in a place when your passport country helped overthrow a democratically elected government, disappear and torture over 30,000 innocent citizens?
What does it mean to share the Gospel with neighbors who have read the Gospels and have also read Marx, Nietzsche and Freud and have found their message more attractive than the proclamation of the Kingdom of God?
The other challenge that constantly comes to mind is what kind of Christian community can truly be a contrast community in authentic simplicity without reducing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a plan of salvation? How can God’s revealed presence in the world be Good News and at the same time a mystery to be explored, to be lived?
I don’t have any easy answers but I am a part of community of disciples seeking, by the power of the Spirit and the grace of God, to answer these questions while we honor and follow our Master Jesus.
Al que puede hacer muchísimo más que todo lo que podamos imaginarnos o pedir, por el poder que obra eficazmente en nosotros, ¡a Él sea la gloria en la iglesia y en Cristo Jesús por todas las generaciones, por los siglos de los siglos!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.