And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”Mark 12:41-44
When you open up and present yourself to fellow believers as a missionary, one of those crazy “going to live somewhere without a Starbucks” kind of Christian, the dialogue changes. It’s a natural, organic transition. Here I am, standing in the lobby of your church beside a Nepali flag and a computer running a continuous loop of robed men turning prayer wheels and children setting bits of food in front of golden idols. The first obvious topic of conversation is not what my camping plans are for the summer or whether or not I prefer Coke or Pepsi. It’s all about the mission field. And that’s fine.
The curious thing is that a startlingly large percentage of the population feels compelled, in those brief encounters, to offer their reasons for not supporting missionaries. They’re varied and individual, as you’d expect, but to be honest they all fall into the same theme. Today, I’d like to offer an overview of the reasons Christians don’t participate in the Great Commission from right where they are. Next, we’ll talk about reconciling these thoughts with the Word itself, as well as practical ways you can defeat this thinking in your own life and answer the call to be a part of bringing light into the darkness.
Our church gives a portion of our weekly offerings to missionaries, so I don’t have to give. I love to hear this. A good number of church-goers have no idea where their leadership stands in terms of giving, so being able to say with confidence that your community supports efforts to bring the Name of Jesus to those who have yet to hear is a good thing.
I don’t know anyone serving overseas. Or, I don’t have time to find out who has needs. This is often a subset of the first reason; folks who fall back on their church’s financial support of missionaries can sometimes feel that the church (or mission board, or elders, or whomever) is more connected, more qualified, or more able to discern good giving targets.
Not all believers are required to be a part of spreading the Gospel. These are the believers who feel that Paul’s illustration of Jesus’ followers as a body clearly assign roles to each of us that are distinct and separate. To them, you can either have a call to lead worship or disciple youth, to have a heart for the lost in India or to exhort with the Word. You get one main area … but not two or three.
I’m not financially able to support a missionary. Funding for missions is above and beyond, right? It’s what you do at the end of the year, when you want to sneak in a tax break, or when your bonus has cushioned the budget just that little bit extra.
We don’t really need missions any more. A subset of Christians believe that the need for telling others about Jesus has expired. This is usually either because they feel that the Gospel already penetrated most of the world, or because they feel that the cultural insensitivities of generations past make missions untenable.
It takes big money to make a difference. Plane tickets to foreign lands have hefty price tags. Building a church costs thousands. A couple of bucks a month isn’t worth the administrative costs when it comes down to it.
Missionaries are just living the high life in other countries on the church’s dime. Looking at the average monthly support most missionary families need to stay in the field, some believers are persuaded that this is less calling and more cop-out in terms of living.
Missions aren’t effective. In this age of data tracking and instant results, living among other cultures for decades seems like an old-fashioned answer that doesn’t fit the instant gratification models of today.
You’ve probably heard other concerns– maybe you even follow some of these lines of thinking yourself. What are some other reasons for not being a part of the global reach for Christ?
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My own cop-outs:
1. We’re not financially stable (like, um, that woman and her two tiny coins)(which: also, this is about to change, probably, with the addition of an actual *salary* to our family)
2. We don’t know where to best support and it’s overwhelming (so far, since our finances haven’t really been stable and hence a monthly/annual “guaranteed” gift hasn’t seemed to be a good idea, we’ve tended to chuck one-time gifts as we’ve “felt” we should [how much of each case is emotion and how much is guilt and how much is knowing that we have that money “extra” and how much is the Spirit, I am not entirely clear]; but we personally know so. many. missionaries, and know about some really good organizations, and we haven’t yet figured out what to do in terms of distribution – figure out how much to give to missions per year, then divide equally? divide according to cost of living/missions in their countries [Japan: more expensive than Bangladesh – but wait, the person in Bangladesh is doing work-training projects for locals that are really important but that mean they have additional expenses…]? divide according to how much we personally like the missionaries as awesome people? divide according to how much of an effect they seem to be having [and then: humanitarian effect or evangelism effect?]? divide according to apparent need? [aka, if giving some extra to someone will allow them to *not* have to haul back to the US to go on a fundraising round] OR continue with one-time gifts instead of steady support [which, if I were a missionary, one-time-gifts-only would drive me bonkers, budget-wise] OR do something completely different?)
Some of it’s definitely interesting. We had friends who felt called to missions, but fundraising went awry and deployment options went very awry and hence they didn’t go. Does that mean they were wrong? Or not? Are all our friends who are out there “supposed to be” out there? Is that our business? How closely are we supposed to examine where we’re sending our money, and on what basis do we choose? Sometimes seed-planters aren’t going to be generating photo-worthy harvests yet – but we need seed planters – but how can we tell the difference between seed planters and people who are just hanging out, from all the way over here? And is media generation really a good use of missionary time/energy, and if not, why are we depending on their media output [blogs; photos; well-crafted newsletters] for our choices?
Anyway, we’ve got a lot of budget-crunching and praying to do, once we know a few more of the upcoming salary numbers. 🙂 But any input from your side of the screen would be helpful!
Interesting post and fun. Fun because I’m standing there right next to you, listening to the same comments. The difference is that my mission field is in Ecuador.
I personally think that if a person gives what he/she feels God is asking them to donate to the church, there is no need to give it to a specific mission. Or maybe God will call them to give to a mission. The important thing is to pray and seek what God says.
Sadly most of the time behind these reasons is the tight grip on the purse, the incapacity to give and let go of your money, to accept that it is not yours to give but it is God’s and He must choose where it goes.
Living as a missionary can be tough but I know that God has my back. Like a fellow missionary of mine said when she came here. She almost didn’t get all the money she needed to come and then finally, at the last moment, every fell into its place. After that she visited a church and a business man came to talk with her. He told her that God had asked him to give to her mission but he hadn’t wanted to do it. But God had been more insistent and demanded he to give. My friend told him that she already had everything she needed and he should look into some other mission. She felt that it was God’s way of showing her that He will provide, no matter what people will do.
I hope that the man learned the same lesson. God will provide, no matter what. My friend has the blessing but he will not have it. I hope he will find the other mission where to give and be able to enjoy God’s blessing in giving.
The two main things I’ve struggled with — and am still working through — are:
1. What is the best use of the money God has entrusted to me? This oozes into every area of finances for me, so it’s not just missions/missionaries but also relates to Starbucks and Netflix. Prime example: Do I encourage kids to go on short-term mission trips that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars? Is $3k for a teen to go overseas for a week the proper use of funds when that same amount of money could, I don’t know, feed a hundred kids for a month? The more I learn about indigenous ministry, the harder it is for me to be super excited about sending cross-cultural workers. I’ve actually been dealing with the whole money question since film school: If I ever made a big budget movie, is there something else God could have done with that money? My mom wisely reminded me that we need to be faithful where God has put us and use the resources He entrusts to us as He directs. …even if that is making movies. So I’ve come a long way, but I’ve still got a long ways to go.
2. I really like the idea of “tent makers.” We are all called to ministry. Having a job in a culture gives us many opportunities to naturally interact with our neighbors. We are in the community, not some outside force there merely to proselytize. And there are Scriptural examples of working to support the ministry you do. …on the other hand, Christ himself was funded by people (including women) and some jobs are needed but the end user won’t/can’t pay for it. As one of my missionary friends answered me, “There isn’t much money in learning a new language, Luke.” And in his case, he was going to an unreached part of the world so outside influence was needed. So I’m torn. Really torn.
And this is just a small, little, personal thing, but I don’t like the idea of being someone’s paycheck. I far prefer helping fund a project. I want to help get things done, but the idea that someone is relying on my money to stay alive makes me itch metaphorically. I need to get over that and remember that it’s God who is our provider. But, still, money freaks me out enough as it is. I don’t even like looking at my own budget…
Okay, one more small thing, related to #1 above: Money and gifts are too often abused. I really don’t want to help fund corruption. So that makes it hard to just send money to this or that. I know this isn’t missions related directly — and is far more common in relief efforts — but still, it’s out there.
Despite everything I’ve said above, I am very grateful that I grew up in a family that modeled giving so I would naturally take part in that blessing. I am thankful that God continues to nudge me and my wife to keep giving just a bit more. It’s a wonderful thing to give; we do it gladly and freely. But that doesn’t make it easy.
~Luke
We believe supporting missionaries is tremendously important! We do the maiximum that we can and pray for the rest we know about. What you are doing is vital in spreading the Gospel. Our twins just got home from iDisciple in Kansas City. They are interested in the mission field and planting wherever they can. Our daughter just returned for India and may return before her visa runs out. Our son, her twin, would like to go visit a young couple he met last week in KC who are headed to China via Hong Kong! The kingdom of God continues to advance and the Gates of hell will not prevail against it! Praise God! I am now praying for you and your work in Nepal, too. May the Lord bless you mightily as you go. Have you read There’s A Sheep in My Bathtub by Brian Hogan? http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Sheep-Bathtub-Mongolian-Planting/dp/0979905605 Your area is similar to the Hogans, maybe?
Blessings in the Lord!