{"id":40605,"date":"2016-05-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/modern-day-missionary-at-mcdonalds\/"},"modified":"2016-05-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T00:00:00","slug":"modern-day-missionary-at-mcdonalds","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/modern-day-missionary-at-mcdonalds\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern-Day Missionary at McDonald’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global missions expert Paul Borthwick shared the following story to remind us how God's mission can be from anyone anywhere at any time:<\/p>\n\n

\n

A young man named Peter reminded me of a modern-day Philip. I stopped in to a McDonald's in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I noticed Peter working the counter. I recognized him from our young adult ministry at church, and I knew he had just graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree. I greeted him and managed to get him to break free for coffee together.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"What are you doing here?" I asked, knowing that Harvard master's degree students don't usually aspire to work the counter at McDonald's. "Well," he explained, "I graduated in May but I went four months without finding a job, so I said to myself, 'I need some income to pay bills.' So this is where I've ended up—at least for now."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"Sorry to hear that. It must be hard," I replied, but Peter cut me off.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"No. Don't be sorry. God has me here.<\/em> This place is giving me awesome opportunities to share my faith. I'm on a shift that includes a Buddhist guy from Sri Lanka, a Muslim fellow from Lebanon, a Hindu lady from India, and a fellow Christian from El Salvador. It's awesome. I get to be a global missionary to my coworkers while asking 'would you like fries with that?'"<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

He laughed and so did I. Like Philip, Peter found himself in a setting he never would have chosen as part of his long-term plan, but his mindset of living as a sent person shaped the way he looked at his circumstances and at the people around him.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3645,3683,3897,4060,4096,4220,4221,4303,4394,4470,4476,4477,4480,4567,4579,4749,4885,5025,5247,5283,5284,5294],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-40605","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-community-impact","tax_ctp_tags-contentment","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-global-missions","tax_ctp_tags-great-commission","tax_ctp_tags-immigrant","tax_ctp_tags-immigration","tax_ctp_tags-joy","tax_ctp_tags-lostness","tax_ctp_tags-ministry","tax_ctp_tags-mission","tax_ctp_tags-mission-of-church","tax_ctp_tags-missionary","tax_ctp_tags-opportunity","tax_ctp_tags-outreach","tax_ctp_tags-pursuing-sinners","tax_ctp_tags-satisfaction","tax_ctp_tags-soul-winning","tax_ctp_tags-vocation","tax_ctp_tags-witness","tax_ctp_tags-witnessing","tax_ctp_tags-work-career"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nModern-Day Missionary at McDonald's - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/modern-day-missionary-at-mcdonalds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modern-Day Missionary at McDonald's - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Global missions expert Paul Borthwick shared the following story to remind us how God's mission can be from anyone anywhere at any time: A young man named Peter reminded me of a modern-day Philip. 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