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RowTogi 07-05-036 To Give
or Not To Give? Rethinking
Dependency, Restoring Generosity, & Redefining Sustainability John Rowell |
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John
Rowell switched from accounting to become a church planting pastor in
1984. His church in Atlanta began
ministry in Bosnia during the war. The
story of their involvement is told in his earlier book, Magnify Your Vision for the Small Church. John then founded a mission organization,
Ministry Resource Network, to continue and expand the Bosnia ministry. This book reflects his personal perspective
and is based on his doctoral research at Gordon Conwell Seminary. [A major
issue in Western missions today is how to maximize the use of western funds,
how to do ministry that is sustainable by nationals and avoids unhealthy dependency
upon westerners. Too often in the
past, an infusion of Western money has produced facilities, equipment,
projects, buildings, and salaries that were doomed to fail once the Western
funds were discontinued. Popular
thinking today is that such financial support is misguided and that
ministries should only be supported that can relatively quickly become self-funded
and self-sustained. John Rowell
challenges this conventional thinking by saying that we should work in much
closer partnership with the poor and provide much more in the way of funding. His perspective is worth considering. DLM] Many of
the spiritually unreached areas of the world are exceedingly poor. Further, many of the most effective
evangelists, church planters, and Christian leaders are extremely poor. The Bible is full of warnings to the rich
and exhortations to give generously to the poor. By contrast contemporary Western missiology
has developed a fascination with avoiding potential dependency by withholding
finances that could be constructively used to help our poorer brothers and
sisters expand the Kingdom. The book
argues that Western Christians are guilty of hoarding their enormous wealth
whereas a fresh outpouring of generosity is highly biblical, eminently
logical, extraordinarily profitable, and worthy of the risk. "One of the
most fundamental questions for Christians in the materially affluent West is
how they use their wealth in order to advance God's redemptive work in our
world of spiritual lostness and physical poverty." (Dr. Peter Kuzmic in
the International Foreword) "Few
Western missionaries engaged in taking the gospel to unreached peoples can
easily escape the discomfort of managing immensely disparate wealth while
living and working among the world's most desperately poor." (1) The World Bank
reports that 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people try to survive on just
one dollar a day!" (3) "To refuse
to share our resources with overseas brethren because there have been abuses
is like saying we should outlaw marriage because some husbands beat their
wives." (5, quoting Chuck Bennett) It is not enough
to send missionaries to unreached peoples.
We must send transformation development professionals, those who
advance the Kingdom holistically. (9) Jesus taught
that we should give with no expectation of return. Similarly gifts should be offered with no expectation
that the recipient is obligated to the donor. (22, 23) Escobar
recommends a cooperative model where rich churches add their resources to
churches in poor nations in order to reach a third area. (23) Rowell blames current
interpretation of three-self paradigm of missions for the idea that paying
clergy salaries from abroad is counterproductive to the indigenous
church. When this paradigm was
formulated, paying clergy salaries was connected with expatriate control. Henry Venn's chief concern was to end
missionary dominance. It wasn't
related to potential dependence. Under
his leadership foreign money still flowed into the National Church Fund, but
it was administer by indigenous leaders.
The mission society still provided grants that were gradually
withdrawn over time. Rowell maintains
that the original concern over domination
has been transferred to concern about dependence.
(28-35) "My concern is that today
we often misapply the self-supporting principle Venn introduced into mission
theory in a way that makes funding global ministry harder than it needs to
be." (36) "If we are
accurate in observing that the first-century Jerusalem church received
support from faraway congregations as an expression of solidarity among
Christian worldwide, why must we conclude that manifestation of the same
spirit of mutuality today is somehow harmful?" (39) "I very
strongly suspect that the three 'selfs' are really projections of our
American value systems into the idealization of the church, that they are in
their very nature Western concepts based upon Western ideas of individualism
and power." (39-40, quoting William Smalley) "The
self-supporting aspect of the guideline, in particular, is played out in a
manner that makes withholding much-needed support a principled expression of
genuine concern that is somehow supposed to be interpreted as a demonstration
of our caring for others."
(40) A syllogism from
Jonathan Bonk (Missions and Money,
p. 86) · The West is rich. · The church in the West is rich. · Missionaries sent by the Western Church are rich. · Most of the peoples to whom Western missionaries are
sent by their churches are poor. · What the Bible says about the rich and the poor has a
direct bearing on the Western church generally and on Western missionaries in
particular. (42) Chapter three is
an exposition of the scriptural admonitions regarding, wealth, poverty, and
generosity. It also includes a line of
biblical reasoning to support being generous in mission practice. (43 ff.) "I am
promoting maximum investment, for the sake of the kingdom, in a manner that
will not create unhealthy dependency." (48) God encourages
Christians to give liberally (2 Cor. 9:8-11).
"Those concerned about dependency embrace this notion in principle willingly enough, but I
believe their arguments discourage giving liberally in practice." (52) "Does it
not make sense that a model of generosity based on obedience to biblical
truths will teach a better stewardship lesson to new believers than a miserly
message of frugality based on presumably legitimate missiological principles?"
(53-4) "Among
God's people, genuine caring is
expressed by generous sharing."
(59) "We can't teach new converts
in unreached cultures to accept the concept of generous giving if we essentially model selfish living…." (66) "I believe
it is time for churches in the West to stop worrying about dependency among indigenous believers
and to start thinking about complacency
among ourselves as affluent believers." (66) "I would rather show nationals that we
care by fighting bankruptcy in
their lives through investing resources in those we know we can trust rather
than fighting dependency by
refusing to share from our considerable surplus." (67) Biblical
principles informing Christian stewardship may look considerably different
when interpreted by the poor. (72) Uniquely
Western views may not prevail long term. (73)
Rowell suggests
that American apathy towards giving to the world's poor is largely shaped by
our resistance to a dysfunctional welfare system in the U.S. that rewards the
responsible and the irresponsible without discrimination. In this system is unblessed to give and to receive. (99) "I think it
is time we Westerners determined that we must pay together, pray together, and stay in the fray together with
our brothers and sisters coming to Christ in unreached cultures."
(110) "We are acting as 'warfare
allies,' not 'welfare agents.'" (111) The U.S.
helped its allies with all the resources it could muster to help win World
War II. It was our part of the greater
effort. This was not considered charity
or benevolence. Neither was it a
system of debits and credits, but a mutual war supply. Rowell argues that world missions should be
funded on a similar basis. (p. 111
ff.) "Every
effort should be made by believers allied in spiritual warfare to see that
kingdom forces on every front are equipped to fight, that they are sustained
in battle, and that they are supported as completely as possible." (116) The
Marshall Plan to help rebuild Europe following World War II offers a model
for Western generosity in funding world missions. After the War, the U.S. committed enormous
amounts of funds to help responsible and willing countries. This plan sought a cure rather than a palliative. It promised to help any government willing
to assist in the task of recovery. It
refused to help countries that sought to perpetuate human misery or block the
recovery of other countries. And it
invited the European nations to draft their own economic recovery
program. The U.S. agreed to assist in
developing and supporting the program "so far as it may be practical for
us to do so." The Plan offered
several parameters to help define the scope of wise giving and avoid
indiscriminate giving to irresponsible nations. (pp. 141 ff.) Examples
from the ministry in Bosnia: 1.
Begin with a joint agreement on a common goal: advancing the Kingdom
worldwide. 2.
The commitment eventually moves the two partners beyond Bosnia to a
new context. 3.
Paternalism has no place. 4.
We are committed to extravagant generosity on behalf of all
parties. Money is not the primary
measure of worth. 5.
The most contextually relevant parties take the lead. 6.
All churches are accountable.
Indigenous does not equal independence. 7.
Initiative fore developing new workings, new projects, and new
facilities originates with national leaders. 8.
Western investments will be approved only after careful evaluation of
the national church's capacity to maintain, manage, and operate the
ministries created. 9.
Biblical stewardship and financial management are taught to all
members associated with national churches.
(156-162) Speaking
of the small church that started the Bosnia work, "I believe our
capacity to give has been increased because we keep seeking ways to be more
generous." (164) Rowell provides
principles to maximize Western investment while promoting sustainability and
minimizing dependency concerns. Here
are some. ·
"Mission
ministry is the primary responsibility of the local church and only
secondarily the purview of professionals serving in mission agencies."
(173) "Until churches accept the primary responsibility for world
mission and the corollary duty of mobilizing a maximum supply of human and
financial resources for that purpose, global evangelism will remain a secondary
priority…." (174) ·
Look
for new doors that have been sovereignly opened for new ministry efforts,
"providential provocation."
"Too many churches aim nowhere and end up doing nothing
exceptional in global outreach.
Others…aim everywhere and consequently do little of substance
anywhere." (175) ·
Mobilize
sufficient resources to effect a cure rather than merely trifle with
symptoms. ·
Sometimes
the risk of "prophetic investment" may be irrational, but not
necessarily irresponsible or unfruitful. ·
Go
for the marathon, not a sprint. Commit
to being present and personally connected.
Develop a covental relationship as opposed to a commercial or
contractual one. ·
Promote
nationals. Allow indigenous leaders to
lead. Defer rather than dominate. ·
All
parties cooperate in joint outreach efforts with resolve for each to maximize
their contributions to the common objective. "The
world's problem of extreme poverty will not be solved without an exponential
expansion of generosity." (214) Three guiding
lights for Giving: · Simplify your life versus the Western
"passionate pursuit of consumption." · Be ready to share.
"God's gifts aim at making us into generous givers, not just
fortunate receivers." (110, quoting Miroslav Volf) "Part of growing
up is learning the art of giving." (221) · Focus on desired nonfiscal outputs. Do not make sustainability mean only that
projects must become locally supported.
Look at it more like medical missions, where the non-financial results
make the ongoing outside investment worthwhile. Take a faith approach more than a fiscal
approach. "I believe
that insisting on biblical support for the proper use of money in mission
will force us to change our direction dramatically." (233)
"If we err in the matter of our giving, we should choose to err on
the side of generosity."
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