thoughts for missions

Looking at what "missionaries" have done in the name of Christ in the past frighten me. These missionaries thought that what they were doing, civilizing and assimilating native peoples, was right. It is one thing to share the Good News of Christ, it is another to push and force Christianity and "civilization" on people. God does not tell us to "Go and civilize the world", he tells us to "Go and make disciples of all people". When we decide that our "Western", culture, technologies, and politics are the only way to live in this world, we cross a line. This is arrogance and immaturity in the biggest form. God tells us to be a light to the nations, he doesn't tell us to "take our lights" to the nations. It is important to remember this in the mission field. We must remember that God has a plan. Remember that whatever we do in the mission field must come from God. We cannot lean on our own understanding. Dependence on our own understanding has and will lead to wrongs being done in the name of Christ. I believe the basis of missions must be in love. When love is not present in the missions field, the focus shifts from serving God's people and spreading the Good News to "how can we bring our culture to these people and make their lives better?" It cannot be this way. God is not culture, he is not wealth. God is love, mercy, salvation. He loves diversity, he did not create just one society for a reason. We cannot say that God wants the world to be streamlined when it was his hands that created it to be unique.