This week, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to earth after an unexpectedly long mission. The two arrived at the International Space Station in June 2024 aboard a new Boeing spacecraft; they expected to stay at the station for about a week and return the same way they came.
But after several anomalies during their flight to the station, the spacecraft was deemed unsafe for their return. It was as though they took a weeklong work trip that was extended indefinitely, with no idea of when they would be able to return home.
Andrew Garnett
Their situation attracted considerable news coverage, with headlines often saying the two astronauts were “stranded” in space. Some articles pointed out all the quirks in this situation: as federal employees with travel orders, the astronauts were not eligible for overtime pay during this ordeal — but they did receive $5 per day for travel incidentals, such as tips for any waiters or bellhops they might meet aboard the space station. Butch and Suni spent more than nine months on the station until they could get a flight home.
Perspective
I do not want to minimize the risk in their situation, and I certainly wouldn’t want such a situation to recur. But I did notice the situation sounded less dire to the astronauts themselves. They did talk about things they missed on earth after nine months in space. But they also talked about the positives in their experience.
“Spending extra time in space wasn’t exactly the worst thing that could have happened to them.”
They went through a difficult selection process to become astronauts because they wanted to go to space, so spending extra time in space wasn’t exactly the worst thing that could have happened to them.
Furthermore, the astronauts did not sit in space twiddling their thumbs. They joined the space station’s crew, and they participated in the science experiments and the work of the station. During her nine months on the station, Williams set a record for most time spacewalking by a woman.
In one interview, Williams said it this way: “Of course, you know, we came up here thinking we’d be only here for a little while and do our test flight, but then the added time here has allowed us to do all the science experiments. We’ve gone through a lot of holidays together. We’ve learned how to make cakes up here for each other. So it’s been a lot of fun actually.”
Mission vs. method
What Butch and Sunni experienced is, in a sense, the distinction between mission and method. We could imagine mission as a person or group’s purpose in life; it is what they exist to do. Methods are the means by which a person or a group accomplishes their mission.
In the case of the two astronauts, their mission is to explore space. The method they planned to use was to explore space by testing a new spacecraft. When that didn’t work, the method they used was to live aboard the space station with its crew. Their method changed, but they still were fulfilling their mission as NASA astronauts.
“Their method changed, but they still were fulfilling their mission as NASA astronauts.”
In my congregation, we’ve spent several months exploring the difference between mission and method using the biblical book of Acts. This book recounts the origins of the church and its spread throughout the Eastern Mediterranean world. Acts is a wonderful resource for considering what is largely unchanging (mission) and what are details (methods).
In Acts, the mission of the church never really changes. Before returning to heaven, Jesus tells the first Christians they are to be witnesses through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what the church proceeds to do — over and over, in various times and places, Christians testify to the way they have experienced God at work through Jesus in the power of the Spirit.
But in Acts, the methods are constantly changing. In Acts 1, the method is to wait until the Holy Spirit comes; the method is to take no action at that time. In Acts 2, the method is apostolic street preaching; in Acts 3 and 4, the church’s method is to live peacefully together in a way that is attractive to outsiders. In Acts 5, the method is for the apostles to be out in the community to serve those who do not yet believe. In Acts 6 the method is for the apostles to delegate care of the community to seven new deacons. In Acts 8, the method is for Christians to scatter throughout the Mediterranean to share news about Jesus.
Acts continues like that for 28 chapters. The mission is always to witness to God’s love through Christ, but the method for accomplishing the mission is always changing.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla. (NASA photo)
Asking why
During Bible study one night, a thoughtful church member asked about these shifts in method. What motivated the church to change its methods so often? We took that moment to look through the stories we’d read so far and put them in different categories.
Some methods were thoughtfully and intentionally chosen. In Acts 3 and 4, church members shared their possessions and cared for one another. They wanted their lives to be marked by love and care, so they created a way to show love and care for each other. It seems to have been an orderly process with a pattern that was repeatedly followed.
Some methods were chosen, but they were opportunistic. An ideal moment presented itself, and someone had the forethought to seize it. In Acts 2, a crowd of onlookers was speculating about a display of the Holy Spirit’s power. Peter realized this was an opportunity to answer their questions, and he took that moment to deliver a very effective street sermon.
Finally, some of the methods were of the Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams variety: they were reactionary attempts to solve some problem that had suddenly appeared.
In Acts 6, the church found itself fracturing over the way the apostles were caring for church members. People complained, and the apostles responded by delegating authority to the aggrieved parties so they could solve the problem themselves. It was a good solution, but not one the apostles had planned for. It was entirely a reaction to a complaint.
Two lessons
As we reflected together about the early church’s adaptability, we discerned two lessons together.
First, we found it encouraging that the church of Acts found its methods through various circumstances. Sometimes they were proactive, and sometimes they were reactive. We sensed a danger in failing to chart an intentional course for the future and only reacting to problems that appear. But equally, we could see a danger in developing a ministry plan that is so inflexible it cannot adapt to new situations.
“We could see a danger in developing a ministry plan that is so inflexible it cannot adapt to new situations.”
Second, and most basically, we were encouraged by the church’s mindset which seemed to think in terms of mission; they did not get stuck on method. So much of life is about mindset.
If Butch and Suni had chosen to believe the headlines that they were “stranded” in space, that would have been a terrible way to spend nine months. But they chose to believe something else: that they were still astronauts on a mission to explore the cosmos. Whether they were in a Boeing spacecraft or on the International Space Station, they were still astronauts.
So many of my headaches in church have come because we are too focused on method at the expense of mission. We really wanted to be on the Boeing spacecraft, and we just can’t get over the disappointment of being on the space station. We love the method more than we love being astronauts.
I hope we can take a lesson from the early church, but if we can’t do that I hope we can at least follow the example of Butch and Suni. There’s a lot that feels uncertain in church life, and who knows how well or how poorly we’ll do in adapting our methods to new realities. But we’re still part of a church that has the same mission of testifying to the goodness of God, the new life that is found in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Andrew Garnett serves as pastor of Hampton Baptist Church in Hampton, Va. He is the author of Christians and the Roman Army: Lessons for Today.