It’s a rhythm through all of Scripture.
It’s what keeps our foundation solid.
It’s what produces a crop exponentially greater than what was sewn.
It’s what keeps us from fooling ourselves.
It’s the steady sway of Hear and Do. Understand and practice. Know and keep. It’s why summer missions experiences are life changing.
Jesus, in wrapping up His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, said of the words He’d just preached, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” In explaining the message of His kingdom in Matthew 13, Jesus said the good soil represents the one who “hears the word and understands it.” In John 14 Jesus said that He will “show” Himself to anyone who “has my commands and keeps them.” James drives this point home in James 1 by noting that we deceive ourselves if we listen to the word but “do not do what it says.”
Which brings us to summer missions, often the pinnacle in the youth ministry season of our best “doing” and “hearing.” It happens somewhere in the mix of our missions excursion: we experience a manifestation of Jesus’ words in John 14—Jesus shows Himself to us. Naturally, this ALWAYS leaves us wanting more.
Short-term missions trips, by their definition, represent a ramp up in “doing” Jesus’ words, whether it’s going into all the world to share the gospel, or taking care of the “least” who are in prison or sick or needing shelter, or taking a cup of cold water to a thirsty child. This “doing,” which is extended over a period of days, weeks or even months, is almost always accompanied by a more intense personal devotional life through quiet times and group sharing. This is the hearing, the understanding, the having of Jesus’ words.
Missions experiences provide an opportunity for a balance of hearing and doing the Word of God. In the normal routine of our lives we are usually heavier in one than the other. Missions experiences give hearing and doing a chance to be experienced in fluid motion. It’s in this sweet spot of hearing and doing that we see Jesus—and we see Him in myriad ways. Ask 100 teens, or adults for that matter, how they saw Jesus in their missions experience and you’ll get 100 different, enthusiastic answers.
This is what brings us back. But why does it have to be a “bring us back” situation? Can we strive to achieve the rhythm of hear and do in the routine of our lives? The Bible seems to tell us so. Missions experiences weren’t yet invented in Bible times. Missions was a state of mind and a state of heart. We are called to a lifestyle and mindset of hearing and doing, not simply a week of hearing and doing. It’s what keeps our foundation locked on the rock. It’s what produces the bumper crop in our lives. It’s what guarantees regular “showings” from Jesus.
And that’s a nice rhythm to achieve.