GLOBAL EVANGELIZING: DOING IT BETTER
by C. Philip Slate
Few churches of any theological persuasion doubt that God wants the good news of Jesus Christ taught throughout the world, to every person. Jesus made that clear, and the story of the early church (Acts of the Apostles) shows that the believers understood it. For those in our day who want to carry out our Lord’s desire, the question of how to do it is always present. Crossing national and cultural lines involves many variables, and those variables often change over time: languages, finances, national politics, human values, and the like. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Failure to learn some of those variables and to think and pray through them invites great disappointment.
Mistakes and Defeats: Some churches and missionary societies have labored for many years with almost nothing of permanence to show for their work, while others in the same area do well. Often, workers about the task in the wrong way. Some human groups, of course, are so resistant to new things that no method of evangelism brings a big harvest. In other cases, however, groups might be very open to wise approaches to them. It has been easy for many Protestant churches simply to pour money into a missionary society since such groups are supposed to know how to do the work effectively, but several societies are known to have made some of the biggest mistakes in missions history. The big factor is having knowledge of the processes, and that is open to any and all who will put forth the effort to learn.
Using the local church rather than a missionary society has been a matter of principle, a matter of belief, with churches of Christ in the USA since the 19th century.[1] Happily, we have a lot of good, tangible results from this approach as God has worked through his people. Worldwide, the typical (if there is such a thing) member of the churches of Christ as we know them is a person of color; he or she is not a white Euro-American. It is estimated that sixty-five to seventy-five percent of “our” members live outside of North America and Europe. Comparatively, we have enjoyed much better success than some missionary societies. Nevertheless, some big mistakes have been made that hinder the spread of the gospel. When churches fund missionaries who do not have available knowledge about the tasks they undertake, disappointments come easily. Obviously, the only kind of workers God has for use are those who are flawed, so learning all we can still makes us “vessels of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7) so the power may be seen to be God’s.
Resource Servants: Some churches have persisted in practices that have been known for two hundred years and more to be a faulty way of going about the work. For example, as a rule it is a mistake for churches in one country to put national workers in another country on direct support without appropriate arrangements. Several churches continue to engage in that practice without circumscribing it with important provisions. The point is, in a church-sponsored approach to global work—and churches of Christ are not the only ones who do that—all the decisions about selecting workers, providing emotional and financial support, and evaluations fall to the sending church. That means those churches need to become informed about the nature of the task. Perhaps the best way to achieve such understanding is to form a group of willing workers within the congregation who are willing to learn the processes and thus become a good resource of information for the shepherds of the congregation. Whether such groups are called “missions committees”, “global evangelism teams”, or “global ministry committees”, they can be a valuable resource for the elders to make final and prayerful decisions about the work the congregation supports. Of course, outside resource persons can be used as well. Smaller churches can join larger churches in the financial, prayerful, and emotional support of the work. To meet this need of information at the local church level, Missions Resource Network requested a few years ago that I write a little handbook on the subject.[2] If resource groups, global evangelism committees, will work through that booklet their decisions will be much better. MRN has a vast collection of helpful and free materials. Check the resources on their website: mrnet.org.
Globalizing evangelistic work is God’s work that he does through his servants. That is one reason Paul mentioned being “workers together with God” (2 Cor. 5:16-6:1; cf. Eph.6:10). In reference to his teaching and warning, Paul referred to his “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:29). I see no reason to believe that that kind of divine help was an exclusive apostolic power. Paul rejoiced that the church at Philippi has been used by God to minister to his needs (Phil. 4:10-20). No matter how well informed we are, how many articles and books we have read, how many classes and lectures attended, we never get beyond the need repeatedly to seek wisdom from above and strength to endure. With all the help God gives (2 Cor. 4:7), we still need, as we sing, to “give of your best to the Master.” That applies to churches as well as individuals.
[1] For a good recent statement, see Barry Baggott, “Missionary Societies: When Expediency was Allowed to Trump the Biblical Pattern,” Gospel Advocate (November 2005): 31-33.
[2] Philip Slate, Missions Handbook for Local Churches (Bedford, TX: Missions Resource Network, 2008). Contact them at mrnet.org or (517) 267-2727.
