Re: Where Is Mother Teresa Now?
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Father Kolodiejchuk's book is especially handy for juxtaposing Teresa's missionary beliefs and practices with those of the apostle Paul's. In doing so, it becomes readily apparent that there was something very wrong in her methods and in her association with Christianity.
Teresa's perpetual darkness, her spiritual dryness, her feelings of abandonment, the absence of even the faintest glimmer of the Lord's presence, her lack of faith, and her pretense, are especially inconsistent with Paul's life-- whom I believe to be a far more reliable role model for missionaries than Teresa was even on her best day.
Were I a seminary professor, I would make Teresa a mandatory subject for aspiring missionaries; but not as a role model; rather, as an example of going about a right thing in a wrong way: primarily to emphasize that the one thing you do not want to do is go out on the mission field before being very certain that Christ has not only called you, but will also partnership with you.
There was a point in Paul's missionary journeys when he wanted to go to a region called Bithynia; but God stopped him (Acts 16:7). Had Paul pressed on independently, without God's approval, he would have been grossly insubordinate in spite of the fact that it is Christ's wishes that his message be spread abroad throughout the whole world in accordance with Matt 28:18-20.
There was nothing intrinsically wrong with Teresa's ambition to be a missionary. Her wrong was in going it alone after once she realized that Christ was not in it with her. Bottom line is: What Teresa did in India, she did not do in faith; rather, she did it independently by sheer force of will.
If you've done any background on her, then I don't have to tell you that Teresa was a little bulldog. Once she set her mind to a task, Teresa was a D-9 Caterpillar tractor and not easily deterred once she put things in gear.
Teresa's personality is neither rare nor unusual. All the really great achievers are just like her; and known for persisting in the face of adversity, ill health, and overwhelming personal problems. Nobody ever got rich by a half-hearted effort, nobody ever got to the moon by a half-hearted effort, and nobody ever climbed Mt. Everest by a half-hearted effort. The old saying; No Pain-No Gain, is still true whether you're struggling with your weight, your career, your finances, the 100 meter backstroke, investing, or organizing a neighborhood watch.
An outstanding example of the "Mother Teresa" attitude is found in US Navy SEALS. They are a breed of men who absolutely refuse to be beaten . . at anything. I once heard an ex-SEAL say, that if a group of SEALs were playing hop-scotch, it would soon turn violent because they don't like to lose.
At first, Teresa was confident that Christ wanted her in India; but it wasn't long before she began to realize that he was not in it with her. However, she stuck it out anyway because Teresa was tough, and she was determined to fulfill her dream. But it is not God's wishes that Christ's missionaries serve him in the strength of a Navy SEAL; rather, in the weakness, and the meekness, of a slave's mentality.
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