5 Spiritual Dangers of Mission Trips

Put on kitchen gloves, seatbelts and closed-foot shoes

Stay off roofs, away from animals and in groups of three.

Drink water, wear sunscreen and wash your hands.

 

It’s a good idea to take safety precautions, but none of the precautions above will save you from certain dangers you might encounter on a mission trip. Despite your every intention to serve, love and do good, it’s possible to hurt yourself and others in the process. These spiritual dangers can undermine the meaningful service and learning your mission trip was meant for.

 

Know these dangers so you can avoid them on your mission trip!

 

 

1. Seeing everyone’s brokenness but missing your own.

Maybe during your mission trip you will…

…serve the homeless at a soup kitchen.

…help work on a broken down house.

…give piggy back rides to a bunch of unruly kids.

…dab hot pink onto the fingernails of a quiet, elderly woman.

 

And as you serve, you will probably see brokenness – places where people are hurting because of the reality of sin in the world. But if you enter into a relationship only seeing their brokenness, you will be in danger of replacing love with judgment.

 

To combat this danger of your mission trip, take some time right now to acknowledge your own brokenness. The truth is that sin is part of all our stories: not only the people you meet on your mission trip but yours and mine too. And none of us can fix that brokenness on our own. That’s why we need a Savior to save us – all of us.

 

Read #2 for one more way to avoid the danger of only seeing others’ brokenness.

 

2. Overlooking the beauty of others.

Imagine meeting someone new. They introduce themselves then immediately ask, “What are you most ashamed of?” And then, “What are you really bad at?” And then, “Who have you hurt lately?”

 

Chances are, you have answers for each of these questions. You sometimes experience shame. You are really bad at something. You’ve probably hurt someone’s feelings recently. But that’s not your whole story. There are things you are incredibly good at. There are moments of brilliance. There are people who you really love and value. Your weaknesses are not your whole story. Far from it!

 

And the same is true for the people you will meet on your mission trip. The danger is stepping into relationships with eyes watching for brokenness but completely missing the beauty in people’s lives. You probably won’t literally ask people, “What’s wrong with you?” but, if you’re not careful, it might be all you see.

 

Instead, be watchful for the beautiful gifts and abilities God has given each person. Focus on those things in both your interactions and the stories you tell after. You will be amazed at what you see when you look for beauty first.

 

 

3. Seeking people who deserve your service.

On this trip you’ll hopefully get to serve…

…a cute little girl who, despite having a difficult home life, always listens to your direction and hugs you a lot.

…an elderly widow who is physically and financially unable to paint her own home but will  bring you lemonade and make you feel comfortable with her charming personality.
…a homeless man who used to have an addiction but has found Jesus and is working hard to get his life back on track.

 

Wouldn’t it be great to help people like that?! People who will express authentic gratitude for your sacrifice of time, money and energy. People who truly deserve your love and service.

 

Except that sometimes these are not the people you meet on a mission trip. You might meet a child who refuses to listen and sometimes calls you names, a homeowner who doesn’t seem nearly thankful enough for the work you are doing, and a guy at the shelter who tells you he is angry at God. Suddenly service might seem less attractive, and you might start asking yourself if these people really deserve yours.

 

Deserve: To have a claim to because of actions.

 

Is that what service is about? Showing up like a boss who is there to pay people for performing a certain way?! And if they keep acting humble or needy or grateful, do they get paid with better service? Of course not!

 

The danger is that sometimes we expect people to act a certain way, and we start believing that service is only for those who have earned and deserve it. Rather, authentic service is born from love – a free gift that doesn’t depend on the person receiving it. And when we serve well, we are imitating what God did for us:

 

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)

 

We didn’t deserve Jesus’ ultimate act of service. When we serve others, we can take joy in the opportunity to be like Jesus, regardless of the response.

 

 

4. Thinking the mission trip fulfills your service requirement.

Maybe you can’t wait to go on your mission trip and get your serve on. Perhaps it’s that time of year when you can really focus on loving others. Possibly your annual mission trip is the golden box on your service checklist.

 

I’ve got some news for you: Loving and serving others is not…

…a place we visit.

…an event on our calendar.

…a checklist item.

 

Instead, it’s more like…

…the house we live in.

…an everyday practice.

…the pen with which we write our stories.

 

After serving his disciples, Jesus told them, “I have given you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). Jesus wasn’t suggesting once-in-a-while service; he was telling them about how to live their life. The danger of mission trips is that they become your island of service, where you vacation to once a year. Instead, mission trips are meant to be a catalyst that will propel you forward – a drawing back of the bow, a wind up for the pitch, a launch pad experience. Your mission trip is not a grand finale to a year of going to church, but a beautiful beginning to deepened service and love for others.

 

 

5. Making your mission trip story about you instead of God.

There is a pretty funny story in The Onion (a satirical news source) that boasts this headline:

6-Day Visit To Rural African Village Completely Changes Woman’s Facebook Profile Picture

 

This made-up story is funny because it’s based on something that is, sadly, frequently true. Too often when we step out in selfless service, our first inclination is to make sure everybody knows about it – not so selfless after all! In Matthew 6, Jesus tells his disciples to give without expecting anything in return, even the approval of others. The Message paraphrases it like this:

 

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure – ‘playactors’ I call them – treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it – quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.” (Matthew 6:1–4)

 

So should you go home and never tell a soul about your mission trip? No way! Share your story! Tell the world! The danger is that you will share the wrong story – a story about what you did instead of a story about what God did in and through you. So whether you post a picture, write a story, share in church or tell someone one-on-one, make yourself merely a character in the far grander story of what God is doing in the world.

 

 

What spiritual dangers would you add to this list? Share them in the comments below.

 

 

Click here to read about the 3 Spiritual Dangers of Youth Ministry.

 

This post was partially inspired by Peter Greer’s new book, The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good. This book is written especially for those working in fulltime ministry. It includes 14 dangers that threaten to uproot authentic ministry and hurt those who set out to do good.

 

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Sam Townsend helps write training, programming and marketing materials for YouthWorks mission trips. When he isn’t hanging around teenagers at church or digging into seminary homework, he is generally looking for a good conversation and a hole-in-the-wall restaurant to have it in. Sam still considers his first couple summers working for YouthWorks in Virginia and Pennsylvania communities some of the most transformative times of his life.