Two men were given the task to provide water for two small villages. There was a river that was not too far from the villages from which they were to get that water. The first man began immediately to fill up his two buckets with water and to carry them back and forth from the river to his village. He worked very hard and diligently and did not let anyone else help him carry the water because the people were not yet "ready". (He was actually insecure and needed to be needed.)
The second man did not carry a single bucket. Instead he began making drawings and talking to other people who lived in the village and even in villages far, far away. The first man saw him sitting behind a desk writing and could not understand how he could be so lazy, pushing a pencil while he was working for his village. The second man went away and came back with pipes. With the help of the villagers he placed the tubes and pipes in places where the villagers could get the water themselves. He even taught them how to use a faucet so that they could get water as soon as they wanted. This second man was done with that village and was able to go on to a new village to do the same, while the first man had created a village that was dependent on him to get their water. He could never go on to another village, because the first one needed him.
This is a parable of being a missionary. We are sent to a place to help people drink living water (Jesus). We are there to make them dependent on Jesus and never on us. People can learn to hear the Holy Spirit and study scriptures for themselves. When we free people to know Christ themselves then that frees us to go on to new "villages"and for them to do the same with their friends and families.
Therefore, this is our challenge: to teach Christians to not be consumeristic, dependent believers who are waiting on "professionals" to feed them. Instead, that they can know God and make him known. That they can be disciples who make disciples.
The second man did not carry a single bucket. Instead he began making drawings and talking to other people who lived in the village and even in villages far, far away. The first man saw him sitting behind a desk writing and could not understand how he could be so lazy, pushing a pencil while he was working for his village. The second man went away and came back with pipes. With the help of the villagers he placed the tubes and pipes in places where the villagers could get the water themselves. He even taught them how to use a faucet so that they could get water as soon as they wanted. This second man was done with that village and was able to go on to a new village to do the same, while the first man had created a village that was dependent on him to get their water. He could never go on to another village, because the first one needed him.
This is a parable of being a missionary. We are sent to a place to help people drink living water (Jesus). We are there to make them dependent on Jesus and never on us. People can learn to hear the Holy Spirit and study scriptures for themselves. When we free people to know Christ themselves then that frees us to go on to new "villages"and for them to do the same with their friends and families.
Therefore, this is our challenge: to teach Christians to not be consumeristic, dependent believers who are waiting on "professionals" to feed them. Instead, that they can know God and make him known. That they can be disciples who make disciples.
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