When Missions Becomes an Idol

A few years ago, I visited a country in Southeast Asia as part of a short-term trip. One morning, we entered a Buddhist temple. Littered throughout the temple were graven images, amulets, pictures, candles, and other objects. It was easy to identify those items in the temple as idols. They were idols that were expected to be idols. But what about idols we don’t expect? What about when the task of expelling those false idols—a crucial task of missionaries—becomes the idol itself?

Identity vs. Vocation

It may seem strange to hear, but missions can in fact become an idol. I have heard Dr. Liederbach say that an idol is “a good thing that becomes an ultimate thing.” Missions becomes an idol when it becomes the ultimate thing in a believer’s life. When that happens, missions is no longer centered on following where God is leading but instead on fulfilling a self-focused desire. The believer becomes so focused on missions that he loses sight of the ultimate mission. Missions is no longer a form of worship but instead becomes what is worshiped. Usually, the most telling sign is when a person’s identity becomes more defined by being a missionary than by being a follower of Christ.

When I reflect on my own desire to pursue international missions, I often wonder whether I have elevated missions to a position where it does not belong. More than I would like to admit, the answer to that question is a sobering yes. Instead of making Christ my identity, I have made a vocation my identity. A missionary is just like any other vocation. The same question can be asked of every job: Has my identity shifted from being, first and foremost, a disciple of Christ to being a doctor, a teacher, an athlete, or even a missionary?

In either case, the vocation has assumed the place in one’s identity that belongs to being a follower of Christ. Missions has become the first priority and has displaced Christ from His rightful place. Similarly, just as a person may change vocations from time to time, a missionary may also experience a change in vocation and leave the mission field. So what happens when the missionary’s vocational identity has been taken away? They must remember their foundational identity in Christ.

Forms of Missionary Idolatry

Missions as idolatry can take many different forms. One such form is when a missionary’s fulfillment comes from being a “successful” missionary. For example, he grows frustrated as he looks at the city over there where hundreds of lost souls are coming to Christ while, in his own city, not one person has accepted the gospel despite his fervent gospel proclamation. He begins to wonder if God has truly led him to the right place, and doubts about his calling begin to creep into his mind. Instead of celebrating that the gospel is changing lives and the Kingdom is growing, he feels that his efforts are failing, and the deep despair of jealousy takes root in his heart. Another form could be the missionary who becomes frustrated when the door closes to the country she has so desired to serve. She grows angry and begins to question her unique calling to missions. She is uninterested in considering a different destination because her heart was already set on that place and those people, and disappointment is sure to follow. One final example involves a missionary becoming angry after being passed over for a leadership position within the organization—a position he believed he deserved and was more than capable of fulfilling. Rather than supporting the person who was chosen, he begins to undermine his leadership and question his strategies. In all these examples, the role of the missionary—with all its predetermined expectations and measures of success—has risen to a level that looks down upon the role of a disciple of Christ. An idol has taken root in the missionary’s heart.

Of course, most believers do not intentionally set out to make missions an idol in their lives. I certainly did not have that intention, but two of the examples above are not far from home. Even though I reminded myself before going overseas that my success was not measured solely by the number of converts and that my satisfaction did not come from being in the “right place,” I found myself neglecting those truths within the first year of my term, particularly after I had to change countries only six months into it. My frustrations and doubts grew. My identity as a missionary—and what I thought that identity should be—had become an idol. But it did not happen overnight, nor was it a sudden descent into the idolatry of missions.

Overcoming Idols: Accountability and Scripture

Idols are not always blatantly obvious but rather subtle, unsuspecting, and rise slowly to prominence. If they were obvious, they would be easier to expel. It is why they can be so dangerous for the believer, who is often unaware that something has dethroned God from His rightful position. This is why accountability is such an important part of daily sanctification, for others can help us see our blind spots and point out when missions becomes an idol. Idolatry is not something that can be conquered alone, though most people around you are probably not looking for those signs in and of themselves. It will likely take you approaching someone you trust and asking him or her to hold you accountable, to watch for signs that missions is becoming an idol. It also takes daily abiding in Christ: a daily reminder that it is Christ whom we serve, not missions, and daily prayer that God will root out any idolatrous and misplaced desires in our hearts. As John 15:5–10 says:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

Abiding in Christ daily will reorient our identity as disciples of Christ first and then as missionaries. Abiding will keep us connected to the vine and prevent us from straying away from our primary purpose of bearing fruit. Through abiding in Christ, our God will be glorified through the work we do as missionaries and root out any place in our hearts for idols. And not to be forgotten is the role of the Holy Spirit, who was given to help and guide us through the fallibility of our humanness.