Principles 4-6

4. We involve all of God's people in mission appropriately.

5. We do field-driven ministry, rather than meeting our own needs.

6. We cooperate with other partners. We are not lone rangers.

4. We involve all of God's people in mission appropriately.

Question: Who should be included in planning and doing mission work?

Our role is not to come in like self-sufficient, spiritual Rambos and do ministry to people. Rather, the sending church should do all it can to involve nationals, missionaries, and partner churches in its mission activities. We are all partners in the gospel (Phil. 1:5).

Question: Could you give some examples of failure to do this?

1. It us detrimental to send a group of short-term volunteers down to Mexico to do work which the Mexicans themselves can do (and probably much better). The national church could easily view such practice as an insult.

2. One doesn't have to go to a foreign country to make this mistake. A suburban church decided to send their musical team to an inner-city Asian congregation to put on a concert. They planned out the whole program but totally forgot to ask the Asian Christians if any of them wished to participate. There were several trained musicians and singers among them. The error of the suburban church was to view themselves as the performers, the need-meeters, and the Asians as the audience, the passive recipients. Although no offense was intended, this mistake caused hurt feelings.

Question: Isn't it harder to include nationals and missionaries?

If you think short term, it does appear more complicated to involve nationals and missionaries. Building relationships with these people takes time. From our North American viewpoint, the nationals and missionaries often seem to make decisions slowly. They are not in a hurry. They are on a different time table than we are. Also, they may appear disorganized. To work with them as partners, and not criticize how they do things differently, requires patience and humility.

However, if you think long term, all the advantages are on the side of involving the local people in your mission work. If you patiently invest time to build relationships with missionaries and nationals, you will discover them to be trusted friends. And in the end, the ministry you do in that place will be more effective, because the local people taught you the best ways to carry out your work. You couldn't succeed without them.

Question: What other benefits result from involving all of God's people?

The greatest benefit is a sense of solidarity with believers from other cultures. You know the joy of working smoothly with brothers and sisters in Christ in spite of your cultural differences. The Lord speaks of this blessing in Zephaniah 3:9: "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder." The phrase "shoulder to shoulder" implies intimacy, equality, partnership, and united effort. These blessings are ours when we involve all people in God's mission appropriately.

5. We do field-driven ministry, rather than meeting our own needs.

Question: Who are the two acting partners in most mission activities?

1. The mission agency which desires to assist with needs in the local field.
2. The church and missionaries in the local field who receive and/or manage the assistance.

The exchange of serving and being served should be mutually affirming and fulfilling. But such is not always the case.

Question: What is field-driven ministry? What is mission agency-driven ministry?

Field-driven ministry matches the priorities and strategy of the local field. It allows the field leadership to determine their needs and to receive assistance consistent with their needs.

Mission agency-driven ministry gives a higher priority to the sender's needs than those of the receiving field.

Question: What causes mission agency-driven projects and activities?

1. Often the mission agency simply forgets to seek the opinion of their brothers and sisters in Christ who are closer to the situation than they are. We should do projects or open new ministries only when they are requested by the field itself. In other words, we should avoid thinking we know better than the folks on the spot, who may shake their heads when they hear of our wonderful project and say, "Why didn't they stop to ask us before they did this?" Such mistakes usually occur, not due to conscious arrogance, but due to naive ignorance. It simply never occurred to the mission agency to ask.

2. Sometimes stateside partners are motivated by a driving desire to meet their own needs. In such cases inappropriate mission projects occur, because American needs take precedence over the needs of the field.

For example, a North American college was approached by a wealthy donor who offered funds to establish a branch college in a former communist nation. No one in that country had ever asked for such assistance, and the college never consulted with the field the way they should have. The result? The college constructed a large, gorgeous building which now sits empty most of the time. It is a facility which the local church can neither staff nor maintain. If the college had asked the field's opinion, they might have rented a less pretentious building or invested in some form of distance education, which would have met that country's leadership training needs more effectively.

Why did the donor and the college do this? It appears they were too busy meeting their own needs. The college wanted a significant and easily publicized mission involvement for the sake of their public image. Publishing full-color photos of a building is easy. The distance education alternative would have been harder to photograph and to raise money for. Then, too, the donor can see what he got for his money, so it is easier to please him and receive further funds from him. So whose needs are met by this particular mission project?

Question: What New Testament counsel applies here?

1. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each if you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" Phil. 2:3-4).

2. "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves" (Rom. 12:10).

In our mission work may we seek to be motivated as Paul exhorts us here, not motivated by our own interior desires which can be self-serving, but by the needs of our brothers in the faith.

Question: Are there ever times when a field-driven request should be politely refused?

Yes. For example, a church in Latin America might ask for dollars to support their pastors' salaries. This would be field-driven in the sense that it is the national church itself, and not someone north of the Rio Grande, making the request. However, in spite of the financial need of the local pastors, it would be unwise to send them the money. Why? Remember, one of our major priorities is to plant self-sustaining churches, not dependent ones. By acceding to this particular field-driven request, we would actually be undermining the healthy priorities and strategies that we already established after long and careful thought.

Sometimes the most valuable gift we can give our brothers is independent self-reliance.

6. We cooperate with other partners. We are not lone rangers.

Question: How is participation in mission like joining an extended family?

The visible, social units of God's kingdom are individual churches, denominations, national churches, and mission agencies. One should not enter into a field without communicating and cooperating with these existing units.

Picture it this way. To enter into mission work is similar to marrying into an extended, multi-generational family. As the family grows through marriages and births, each individual needs to establish healthy, working relationships with the rest. The same is true of churches, and mission agencies serving in a particular field. As much as is possible, they need to be like a large family which seeks to live together in harmony.

Question: How does this play itself out in practical terms?

We must strive to avoid a lone ranger attitude. Mission work is not a one-person or one-organization show. According to the Lone Ranger legend, he wasn't alone at all; he always had his partner, Tonto. Also, he was only called "lone" because the other Texas Rangers had been killed. Your denominational mission board, other mission agencies, and partner churches are alive and well. So be sure to contact them as soon as possible about your intentions. Communicate with them regularly. Learn their histories. Understand their ministries. Respect their policies and guidelines. Recognize how they communicate and work together. Share your plans and strategies with them. Learn from their expertise. Search for ways to work with them, not at cross purposes.

Question: What if there is already division between some groups on the mission field? Must all their controversies be remedied, before my agency can participate in mission in that place?

No, but seek to be an agent of reconciliation as you interact with the churches and mission agencies already serving there. Try to understand them all, and their concerns. If there is little controversy between them, praise God. You are "marrying" into a mission family blessed with healthy relationships. However, if there is controversy between them, avoid taking sides. Communicate openly and honestly with all parties. Encourage them to be reconciled, because that is how you intend to deal with them. If the parties refuse to accept your participation without you taking sides, perhaps you need to reconsider serving in that place.

Question: What might result if we fail to cooperate with partners?

1. When a congregation or mission agency simply rushes ahead to do something without proper communication and cooperation, the results can be embarrassing. More than once two LCMS groups have shown up at a place at the same time, and neither knew the other group was coming.

2. When groups refuse to communicate and cooperate, it often results in mission agencies working at cross purposes with each other. When national believers see the hassles and disagreements mounting, they ask, "Aren't you all from the same church, or what?" The answer, "Yes, we are, but we don't get along," is not pleasant news to report.

3. When groups enter a field without proper communication, it can lead to a divided national church. This occurred in Haiti, where five LCMS agencies all began work independently of the others. Before long, sparks were flying between them, because they each believed their policies and strategies were superior to those of the others. As a result, their dedicated work resulted in a severely splintered Lutheran church in Haiti. That church is finally united (though scarred) today, but only at the expense of years of intervention and counsel from concerned, mature, mission mediators. And to think, that all the anguish and division could have been avoided at the outset by the simple act of communication and cooperation among the mission agencies.

Question: But our mission agency doesn't want anyone looking over our shoulders.

Sorry, but no one has the luxury of independent mission work. When Philip planted a church in Samaria, the Apostles sent Peter and John to investigate (Acts 8:14-17). Philip didn't tell them, "Hands off, guys, this is my work!" When unnamed men from Cyprus and Cyrene started a Gentile church in Antioch, the Apostles sent Barnabas (Acts 11:20-23). The believers there did not shun Barnabas as an outsider; they accepted him as their pastor.

To be accountable to no one, may feel comfortable for a time. But in the long run, it is lonely and it leads to foolish errors. Every mission agency and every missionary makes mistakes. They come with the job, simply because mission work is the most difficult task on earth. To deny oneself the advice, counsel, and prayers of others is like setting off to climb Mount Everest alone.

Paul the Missionary modeled the proper attitude. Even though no person of his generation was more qualified for the task, Paul preferred to work with others, rather than alone (2 Cor. 2:12-13). He was always willing to have his ministry evaluated by qualified authorities (Acts 15; Gal. 2:1-10), nor was he afraid to offer fraternal counsel to those whose mission strategies he considered inadequate (Gal. 2:11-16).

No wonder Jesus prays for his church in mission, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me..." (Jn. 17:23).

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.