Babelling out from the centre of the world

New word,

to Babel: verb, meaning to build up one's own Empire and seek self-actualization. To grasp at whatever is necessary to make a name for oneself.

Is it possible to Babel about ministry? I think so. It's so subtle and insidious. Imagine making plans to build up the kingdom of God, to do this and that for God, go here and there for God, while all along God is no where to be found in the whole equation. How difficult that must be to catch.

Perhaps I see that in myself and my zeal to be a missionary. "Missions, the final frontier. These are the voyages of Dennis Oh. His continuing mission to seek out new tribes and languages ... to boldy go where no one has gone before!!"

I am such a nerd.

Am I doing nothing more than grasping at means to become significant in my own eyes and the eyes of others? Am I truly driven by love for God? and how could I know for sure, if the heart is truly deceptive and wicked above all things? The only upshot is that the Apostle Paul is not too concerned with our inferior motives when it comes to preaching the gospel; to him the mission is more important than our lousy reasons for getting there.

but I think I'm entitled to ask, nonetheless.

See, it's all too easy to love the world or the things of the world. It's easy for ministry and missions to fall into that nasty 3rd category: the pride of life. Ministry can become our identity, our price tag that determines our market value in the world. It can become our source of security, status or income.

But where's God? We've displaced Him with the very things of His own kingdom, like worshipping the creation and not the Creator. That's a scary thought.

May Christ Himself be my life mission, the goal, the very point of existence. He's not the thing we settle for or the means to an end. He is the end, just as He was the beginning.

O Christ,
Be the Centre of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the Centre of our lives