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REFORMATION IN FOREIGN MISSIONS Bob Finley Xulon Press, 2005, 264 pp. ISBN 1-59781-158-0 |
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Bob Finley served as a
missionary from 1948 to 1953 in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, and India. Returning to
the U.S. he founded International Students, Inc. to reach international
students, and Christian Aid Mission to send financial assistance to overseas
missions organizations. The purpose of the book is to
reveal “some things amiss in our thinking about the whole concept of ‘foreign
missions’. We must replace our
“antiquated, unscriptural, counter-productive methods...” (9, 213, 227)
Sending missionaries to other cultures, according to Finley, is a misguided,
counterproductive church tradition that is not supported by Scripture. (9) Finley calls for international
missions to be done exclusively in two ways: reaching internationals among us
and supporting indigenous missions abroad.
“Our role should be limited to reaching people while they are away
from home, then getting behind them with financial support when they go home
to spread the faith among their own people.” (147) He credits two organizations as
doing missions right: Christian Aid Mission and Partners International. Most of the experiences he cites are from
about 1950. Chapter 20 gives some
advice for how to support indigenous mission ministries. We shouldn’t send missionaries
to other cultures because: ·
They generally hinder rather than help the cause of
Christ (7) ·
It is simply a 19th century church
tradition. (9, 47, 161) ·
It has no basis or precedent in the New Testament.
(9) ·
The ways we conduct it often deny the most basic
principles of Biblical Christianity. (9) ·
We often run roughshod over our fellow believers
already there. (10) ·
We hire away the workers of indigenous missions and
devastate their ministries. (10) ·
Rich missionaries bring discredit and suspicion
upon poor local believers. (10) ·
Economic disparity is a hindrance to the Cause, a
stumbling block (11,38) ·
Rich western missionaries are thought to be spies
for the CIA. (11,39) ·
The gospel is identified with aliens who appear
weird and this erects artificial barriers of prejudice against the gospel and
hinders its acceptance. (11) ·
Missionaries commit cultural offenses. (11) ·
Colonial-type mission boards generally assume an
attitude of superiority. (11) ·
The rich foreigner’s presence may breed
covetousness and destroy any sense of self-sacrifice. (12, 163, 166) ·
It is a misuse of resources to spend $60,000 of
God’s money to send an American when a national can serve with the support of
$600 or less annually. (12, 114) ·
Mission Boards are guilty of carnal, sectarian,
denominational expansionism and free enterprise models of competition. (12,
40, 41, 45, 48, 166). ·
The motive for 90% of our missionary work is to
enlarge our own sphere of influence, power and control more than to further
the cause of Christ. (116) ·
The New Testament does not record “that God ever
sent a missionary to where he did not know the major language of the area or
would be looked upon as an invader from another culture.” (18, 20, 27, 28,
136) ·
In Mark 16:15, cosmos means the world around
us. (21) ·
Paul did not exhort his disciples to go work where
they did not know the language. (28) ·
The Gospel is associated with colonialism. (60) ·
We cannot survive if we try to live on the level of
the people of poorer countries. (69) ·
Colonial methods of operation create dependency.
(75, 76) ·
90% of donated money goes to overhead. (80) ·
Foreign missions do less than 10% of the work. (80,
178) ·
When we transplant our types of churches into other
cultures they are not likely to take root, grow or spread. (92) ·
We are virtually helpless unless we are fluent in
the local language. (114) Only about 1 in 10 Americans can learn a new
language well after he is 25 years old. (170) ·
“The money we spend on hotels, restaurants,
taxicabs, sight-seeing and ‘shopping’ after we get there would support
several more local missionaries for a year or two.” (115) ·
African men will not step forward in leadership as
long as the dominant foreigners are there. (134) ·
“The continued presence of foreign missionaries
tends to bend the local culture out of shape and inhibits healthy growth of
the churches.” (139) ·
White man’s diseases are introduced and take a
terrible toll. (146) ·
It demonstrates a lack of faith in the power of the
gospel and the word of the Holy Spirit. (146) ·
The spread of the faith is hindered by its
identification with foreign invaders. (147) ·
We’re squandering our resources. It’s the greatest
hindrance to supporting effective workers.
(167, 190) The best thing we can do for
“mission field” countries is get behind the indigenous ministries by
providing the financial support they need.
·
Then they will finish the job. (30) ·
Nationals are more effective. 100-fold (59), 10 times (147, 149, 164,
178), many fold (166) ·
Explosive advances of faith in China and India
occurred because the Christian faith is no longer associated with
colonialism. (60) ·
Indigenous missionaries can cope with the
environment. (69) ·
Dependency is not a problem when we give to indigenous,
rather than colonial missions. (75) ·
90% of stewardship teaching in the New Testament
deals with believers in more prosperous areas sharing with fellow saints in
areas of poverty. (77) ·
Indigenous churches generally have missionary
vision and motivation while colonial branch churches tend not to. (149) ·
They are not brain washed by rationalistic
Scripture twisters.... (153) ·
“Growth of indigenous churches in Nepal has been
almost entirely the result of witness from native missionaries and individual
local believers.” (158) ·
Financial support strengthens and multiplies their
effectiveness. (159) ·
Gifts will accomplish 50 to 100 times more for the
Kingdom. (160) ·
90% of effective pioneer missionary work is done by
indigenous missionaries. (178) In 2004 more than 6000
indigenous missions have more than 300,000 missionaries. (30) “I am convinced that it would be
better for the cause of Christ if foreign missionaries were withdrawn from
all other areas of the world as well, ....” (57, 59 Assist indigenous mission
organizations rather than individual local churches. (77, 78) “In all my 60 years of serving
our Saviour I have never seen anything more ridiculous than the way we
botched our opportunity to help God’s servants in Russia.... May He forgive us for squandering His
resources on the frightfully expensive process of sending Americans over
there, when He had already prepared tens of thousands of laborers who could
do the job ten times better at one percent of the cost. We know not what we do.” (114) “Only 10% of missionary
contributions are made available to the servants of our Saviour who do 90% of
the work.” (178) 99% of the truly
fruitful work is accomplished with one percent of all funds given to advance
the Kingdom. (178) “What some Christian kids spend
on recorded music, videos, computer games and related hardware is probably
equal to the entire foreign missionary enterprise of their respective
churches.” (181) “Shouldn’t Christian youth be
challenged to pray about someday ‘going to the mission field?’ Definitely not.” (183) Every Christian can advance the Kingdom
now by supporting an indigenous missionary.
(184) We may have needed foreign
missions 100 years ago but not now, because 300,000 indigenous missionaries
are serving. Get a productive career;
live simply; and support them. Don’t
drain billions for foreign missions.
(185-86) “Reach the foreign visitors in
our midst and send them back as missionaries among their own people, as the
original apostles did.” (197) “I am reluctant to discuss
exceptions regarding things I have said in this book lest someone use them as
a basis for perpetuating colonialism.” (214) “If those who go seldom if ever
participate in missionary evangelism among strangers while at home, how do
they expect to suddenly blossom into pioneer apostles when they go to a
foreign country?” (218) “Those who claim to be going for
‘short term mission ministry’ would do well to stay at home.” (218) “Individuals and churches in America should avoid direct
involvement with specific churches or individual workers in poorer
countries. Help should be sent rather
to established indigenous mission agencies which are engaged in planting new
churches in pioneer areas. Local
churches should be self supporting, not subsidized. All missionary ministries being helped should provide financial
accountability to make sure that individual workers are serving under the
oversight an discipline of apostles and elders.” (230) Have an agency such as Christian
Aid or Partners International evaluate a ministry before sending funds to
it.” (231) Stay away from making decisions
for our fellow believers in poorer countries. (233) Avoid personal financial
involvement with individuals. (233) |
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