Missionaries and their coffins
The early missionaries sent to Africa packed their coffins in the ships that took them to that Continent. The mental image of a missionary packing his or her coffin for their journey speaks volumes about their commitment. They not only accepted the fear of death, they certainly knew it was going to happen to them. Our generation has not needed to send its overseas missionaries out with coffins. Nowadays they can return more easily for furlough through air travel. Maybe we have lost something of the sacrifice and the potential loss needed to serve God. We admire the missionaries so much because we believe they are losing so much for Christ. Loss aversion was first demonstrated by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, loss aversion refers to people’s tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Most studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Jesus spoke about this “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” The early missionaries show us the way to face our fear of rejection, die to self and you will gain. Invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church.
