But Why Australia?

 "But why Australia?"

    Of all the questions we've been asked these past few months, this continues to be the most prominent. 

    

Why though? Didn't Christ command us to go into all the world and not just the best or worst parts of it? Didn't Paul demonstrate this throughout his own ministries in Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth?

    

If the Bible is so clear on this point, then why do so many people find it surprising that first world countries need missionaries just as much as those in the third?

    The answer is quite simple. 

    When I was a young girl, I thought alot like those around me. When I heard the word "missionary", I thought of poverty stricken, starving people in Africa, South America, or the Middle East. I thought of tough living conditions, unappealing food, and undrinkable water. I thought of hostility to the Gospel in countries it is known to be illegal. 

    When I was a young girl, I never heard about missionaries in first world countries- I never knew they existed. While every now and then, a missionary from a third world country would come and share his bit on how God was moving in the Amazon Jungle, no one was ever told how He was working in first world countries elsewhere.

    

Why was this so? Perhaps because the audience was far less receptive to it.

    

    There is a pre-conceived judgement which often bids us to believe, like everyone else, that missionaries are those who choose to accept tough living conditions for the sake of the Gospel. And while this may be the case for some, it is certainly not for all. 

    Australia, for example, has immense freedom of religion, next to no poverty, and oftentimes, better food and drink than we have here in America. Most people have a very high quality of life, and few concerns. However, missionaries to this country only exchange the tough living conditions of Africa and the Middle East for a very tough crowd. 

    With great freedom often comes great diversity, and Australia is no exception. As the number of immigrants continues to rise annually, so does the variety of religious practices. Currently, the country boasts of a large number of Buddhists, Islamists, Sikhists, Atheists, Christians, and more- the majority professing Catholic or Anglican Christianity with Atheism close at its heals. 

    Great freedom of diversity, then, constitutes great confusion. Many of the continents people, for example, do not believe in any absolute authority of religion. What works for one person is right for them, but not for everyone. Therefore, it is very common to not take any form of religion seriously, rather growing cold and indifferent to the possibilities they hold. 

In Australia, the Bible and Christianity are just one religion out of many. To them, it is not a relationship, but rather a means of personal gratification and learning. So, while they are rich in regards to living conditions and quality of life, they are very poor in relational proximity to God. They lack the most important thing they could ever own- eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Sitting here now, I look back and remember all the things I used to believe about missionaries. They are true, yet, just like most people today, I had a very incomplete picture of a much broader reality. 

The Lord has instructed us to go into all the world- not just to those places that lack good food and running water, but to those that have it in abundance as well. Because those that have the most, often truly have the least- and that is why we go. 

1 Corinthians 13:12

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known."