Which is it - Settler or Pioneer?

We are settlers in the west, and have long forgotten what it means to be, think, and act like a pioneer.

I think that the biblical concept of being Aliens, Strangers, Sojourners, is more in line with mission pioneer thinking than with a settlers thinking. Then again, what about all the emphasis on "the land" in the OT? However, I‘m still afraid that I may have allowed to much of a settler mindset and not enough of a pioneer mindset to develop in me these days.

Some of you knew the missionary mentor I had in West Africa, Lew Cass. Lew died of cancer a few years after my arrival in Ivory Coast. With him went over 47 years of Pioneer missions experience. No exaggeration, not more than 1% of the worlds missionaries did what Lew and Vida did. It was an honour listening and learning from Lew & Vida. Every piece of information from Lew was a blessing. Wish I had 2% of his wisdom today.

Over 4:30 am coffee(the Mosque would wake us up then anyway) we would sit in the dark on the terrace talking. Lew warned “Do not loose your Mobility. Mobility is essential because mobility is linked to Flexibility and Adaptability, the two greatest qualities needed in a missionary.” Lew felt it was essential as a pioneer to have the freedom to flex and move with the needs of the Kingdom where ever that takes us. Lew Cass was into being able to respond quickly to the ever changing motif of mission. Lew was a real Pioneer with new church works- I really miss our early morning talks. They will resume in heaven.

I think we need more pioneers today. Having become a flock of settlers, we have forgotten how to think like pioneers for the kingdom. Freedom to move with a light load as the needs of the kingdom require is not even a consideration for the average believer. Settlement is just assumed.

With all my newly gained possessions, I fear I may have shifted from being a pioneer to being a settler too. This thought does not sit very well with me. In fact, there are times the thought breaks my heart. Why? Because despite what many missions are saying and churches think, I know in my mind and in the very pit of my heart that the day of the pioneer is not over. It's not over for the unreached people groups of the world, and what is more, it's not over for the west either. We are coming back into a time in the west when we need pioneers, courageous pioneers, again.

My concern is that our settler (Or should I say, settled?) churches are not ready for pioneers. Church settlers see no need for pioneers among us. Settlers are even suspicious of pioneers. Settlers rarely understand pioneer mindsets, nor are they at ease with the presence of pioneers.
Settlers can't even fathom what it is that drives pioneers doggedly forward. Settlers almost seem to think, hint, that maybe, just maybe, some of those pioneer tendencies may not be very "Christian". That is how settled we have become, distanced from our pioneer roots so severely we have forgotten how to think like a pioneer, alien, or stranger. What is more, because of this "distance" , settlers don't even know how disparately we need pioneers right now overseas, and at home.

No! The Day of the pioneer is still not over - It's just begun. I think Jesus is going to raise up one more great wave of pioneers.

There have always been settlers and pioneers, and the truth is, we need them both. However, I wonder if I have lost to much of my mobility, flexibility, and adaptability, on Jesus? Am I traveling light enough? Have I shifted from being a pioneer to a settler? For myself, I will be praying that it is not so. "Please Lord let it not be so!"