After more than ten years on the mission field, I am often asked, “How is missions doing?”
Not well enough.
“Missionary attrition is high, and too many never remain long enough to do the work they were sent to do.”¹
The causes are complex, but one issue deserves far more attention:
“We do not want to lose the comfort of home.”
Comfort is not sinful. But when our standard of living begins setting the limits of our obedience, comfort has become an idol.
“Our attachment to quality of life may be one of Satan’s most effective tools for keeping laborers from the unreached.”²
The problem is not merely that missionaries leave.
The deeper problem may be that many Christians never seriously consider going where comfort must be surrendered in the first place.
Have we confused God’s blessings with God’s boundaries?
References
- William D. Taylor, ed., Too Valuable to Lose: Exploring the Causes and Cures of Missionary Attrition (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1997).
- Missio Nexus, “Missionary Staffing and Attrition Report,” accessed May 6, 2026.
https://youtube.com/shorts/fIc7z0rGZxk?feature=shared
Your feet to the Tiale people and the country of Vanuatu, Seth, Nicole & Selah Stokes.
