“I could never do that.”
I have heard that phrase a lot lately in relation to our move to
Cambodia. People tell me they could never handle the heat of Cambodia, or they
could never eat Cambodian food. I might hear someone say, “I could never learn a
new language.” Maybe they say, “I could never leave my life here and go live in
a strange place.” An especially common one that I’ve heard is “I could never
raise support.”
It would require skills I don’t have. It would require sacrifices I
couldn’t survive. I could never do that.
And I’m not buying it for a second.
People tell me they could never learn a new language. I have never met
an individual who worked hard to learn a language and couldn’t get to the point
where they could hold a decent conversation. People tell me I did a pretty good
job of learning Italian, yet I still accidentally invited a guy to pee on my
bed and unwittingly spread a rumor that American ice cream is full of condoms.
My point? Learning a language is hard work no matter who you are. You will make
mistakes. If it is important to you to live among a certain people, you’ll do
it anyway.
Other people tell me they could never raise support. I think their
intention is usually to encourage me: “You’re much better at this than I am.” Surprisingly,
this statement does not affirm me. I’m intensely introverted. I’m fiercely
independent. I come from a culture in which many think money is a taboo subject.
I am not naturally good at fundraising. When someone tells me I’m better at it
than they are, it discounts how much hard work it requires. But the gospel
compels me to go, and this is the only way to get there. So I raise support.
And I get to experience the blessing of God providing support in spite of my
own shortcomings.
Be careful when you say, “I could never do what you’re doing.” Here are
three reasons why.
First, when someone says this, they turn me into a superhero that I am
not. When you say “I could never…” you imply that I’m doing this because it’s
easy for me. It’s not. It’s hard work. Almost
everybody is willing to put hard work into something that they’re not naturally
great at if it feels important to them. I’m not a superhero. I’m just a guy who
has found a pearl of great value (Matthew 13:45), and I’m willing to make some
sacrifices because of that pearl.
Second, when someone says “I could never…”, they downplay God’s power
in their lives. With God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). Those who say “I
could never” may actually be saying “God could never.”
Finally, “I could never” usually doesn’t mean that you could never do
this or that. What it usually means is that you have not yet found something so
compelling in your life that you would be willing to do this or that. In other
words, “I could never raise support” usually means “I have not yet found some
cause for which I’d be willing to do the hard work of support raising.”
Now, I’m not trying to say you should all move to Cambodia or you
should all start trying to raise millions of dollars for some cause. I’m just
asking you to be realistic. In all likelihood, you could probably do a passable
job of all these things, and if the situation presented itself, I hope you
wouldn’t decline because you thought you didn’t have it in you. To do so would
be to deny your own capabilities and, more importantly, the power of the God
who lives inside you, the same God who walked out of his own grave by his own
power.
Maybe you’re not called to raise funds or learn a language or sell your
house right now. That’s fine. Just don’t go around saying you couldn’t. You may
be shutting yourself off to some of the blessings that come from being
compelled to follow the gospel to surprising places.
