E59: Used Teabags

Ministry work requires financial accountability and good stewardship of resources. But how far is too far?

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The disaster relief and recovery network we served with in Japan would often receive a ton of donated items for our volunteer bases to distribute to tsunami survivors along the coast. Items included everything from socks and scarves to cookies and hot cocoa mix. While non-perishables such as clothing could be stored indefinitely and given away over a period of years, food and drinks could not be distributed if they were close to their expiration dates, as that would seem disrespectful to their recipients.

So what did we do with consumable items that were near or past their expiration dates?

We, the missionaries, would take them. We didn’t want anything to go to waste, and we figured that bottles of soft drinks that were a month or two past their sell-by dates were still safe to drink. Every few months, when we’d take inventory and identify expired items, we’d jokingly declare them “missionary-grade” and divvy them up among ourselves.

Expired perishables. Missionary-grade.

I’m not complaining about eating or drinking expired goods. No one forced us to– I just didn’t want to see anything go to waste. And, at least these expired snacks and drinks were still sealed in their original packaging. A mentor once told me that when he was younger, his church would collect used tea bags to send to missionaries overseas.

Seriously? Used tea bags? Is that all a missionary deserves? Did being missionaries mean my kids could only enjoy Swiss Miss hot chocolate after it expired while my wife and I sipped weak tea brewed from other people’s trash?

The world of missions was a bit of a culture shock for me. Not only did I not grow up in the church, but my first experience working at one was in Orange County, California, home of world-famous theme parks along with megachurches that would rival them. By no means was I making much money as a pastor, but still, I lived in an area where the houses were nice, the cars were shiny, and every other church lady wore a cross pendant from the Tiffany’s at South Coast Plaza.

In Orange County, it’s typical for people to project an image of success. But overseas, Christian workers seemed to do the opposite– it sometimes felt like we were trying to project an image of hardship.

What makes this any different from the image-consciousness in Orange County?

To me, it was simply the flip side of pride, projecting an image of piety and heavenly-mindedness over one of material wealth and worldly success.

Now, I understand that good stewardship of resources is important, especially for the sake of financial accountability in ministry, but at times, it seemed like we were more concerned with looking frugal than actually being frugal. For example, when we had to buy furniture for our apartment, we went to every recycle shop (better known as “thrift stores” stateside) in town to find the cheapest dining table and chairs we could find. The problem was that this was Japan, where used items are often high-quality goods that are still in excellent condition, so the dining sets we found were still rather expensive, even though they were used.

We found that our cheapest option was a new table from IKEA and some folding chairs from Costco. So that’s what we got.

New furniture for a new apartment? What would people think?

I found myself worrying that people might think we were spending too much money. When posting on social media, I often made sure to mention that we shopped at recycle stores and 100 yen (roughly 85 cents at the time) shops lest our supporters back in the US think we were blowing through funds on Mikimoto pearls at the Ginza.

This worrying was due in part to peer pressure. Some missionaries would mention how much they worked and how little they rested, or how little they spent and how much hardship they endured for the sake of the mission. One missionary group was labeled “the real missionaries” because they survived on the lowest budget. Another missionary posted on social media that they would not eat at the new American chain restaurant in town, even though it was tempting, because a good missionary would be content with a ball of rice.

I understand where it was coming from. The abuse of finances in ministry is a serious problem, and accountability can be more challenging when donors and recipients are separated by an entire hemisphere. Good stewardship and transparency are important in any ministry or non-profit work, but boasting about how little you spent is still boasting.

It’s still the sin of pride.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matt. 6:16-18)

It was during this time that I seriously began to pray about tent-making, like the apostle Paul. He made his living outside of the church, but this didn’t make him any less of an apostle. If anything, the freedom he had may have helped him accomplish far more for God’s kingdom than the preachers who were paid by the church. Paul wrote:

If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. (1 Cor. 9:17-19)

I wanted to be free and belong to no one.

To make myself a servant to all.

To win as many as possible.

And to buy my kids hot chocolate that wasn’t past its expiration date.

(to be continued)