Post-Urbana I'm finding that the call of the missionary is the call to loss one's instinct. Being removed from one's home context means losing the sense of "the gut feeling" that comes with being raised in a particular culture. There are two major implications of this.
The first is that the instinct is something we often take for granted and it must be used as a tool. The instinct about our home culture can give us vital information and help in a sticky situation. It helps us to read cultural interactions clearly. Sometimes it helps us to take smart risks, but keeps us from taking "dumb" risks.
In the loss of the instinct when one leaves one's home culture for a different one, one must become fully reliant on God and the new surroundings to develop a sense of risk and way of life. In many ways, the Christian life is not just about smart risks, but "dumb," senseless risks like pouring an expensive jar of alabastar on someone.
The mere thought of this potential loss makes me realize just how much I rely on my gut instead of God. I'm not going to argue that this is essentially wrong, but that moving out of one's culture and comfort zone costs us this comfort but will force us to strengthen our listening ears and trust muscles toward God.
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