Releasing Resources To The World
"When the church ceases to evangelize, it will fossilize." Those words were written by Oswald J. Smith, one of the great world outreach thinkers of last century.
A true Christian is a person with a very big goal in life -- because Jesus told us to influence the whole world with our message! He said we would be his witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth.
Right through his ministry life, Jesus constantly talked about reaching the next town. Likewise, the great apostle Paul was always looking for new fields to reach with the good news.
Bottom line: every Christian is called to reach the world. If you're not specifically called to live in another country, to "go" to another land, you are called to help send others in your place!
One of the ways we do this is through our giving to world outreach ministries, missions, and organizations. Without financial assistance from generous local churches and individuals, most of the world's great Christian outreach works would cease to function.
But there are so many causes are crying for support. How do we invest wisely for the Kingdom?
The Bible gives us some great, practical guidelines about how to invest money in ministries and missions. Investing resources should be done with:
World-Vision
In Acts 1:8, Jesus told us that he intends us all to have influence way beyond our city limits!
Notice that he did not say: "You shall be witness for me in Jerusalem then in Judea then in Samaria etc." He said "and". In other words we are meant to be having an influence on all those levels at the same time -- our home town, the surrounding region and nation, even to the ends of the earth, all at once.
Oswald J. Smith pastored The Peoples Church in Toronto, Canada for many years. His personal passion and drive for world outreach led to this church becoming not only a powerful witness to its own city, but to many nations of the world.
''Many churches [we could add 'and Christians'] use what they need for themselves first and then if there is anything left over they give it to missions," wrote Smith. "We have reversed the order and have set aside a certain definite sum for missions each year, and then if anything is left over, we spend on ourselves. In other words, 'first things first' has been our motto, for 'The mission of the church is Missions'."
"We see to it that we give more to missions than we spend on ourselves, and there never has been a year since I have been pastor of The Peoples Church when we have kept as much for ourselves for our current expenses as we have given for missions….For many years our missionary obligation was so heavy that we felt we could not afford a paid assistant pastor. More than 76% of our total income has gone to missions - nearly 8 million dollars."
This was written years ago -- that 8 million would be worth a lot more today. The value of money changes -- but the principle of giving to mission first does not. As a good friend of mine, Pastor Jack Hanes of Australia has it, "A missions church is a first priority church!"
Discernment / Selectivity
We should invest generously in ministries and people who have:
Ministry Credibility (Past & Present). We should give to people who have a proven call of God on their lives and a tested track record or evidence of their call; people who are walking in God's favour and getting real results on an ongoing basis.
Financial Credibility. Invest in ministries that are showing by their fruit that they can manage and use their resources to maximum effect. Remember though: you must support the worker to support the work or project (ministries are people!)
Commitment to Giving Feedback. Look for ministries that provide regular descriptions of their results, as well as their need, and who are willing to provide finance reports, at least annually.
Values that Line up with those of your Church, based on the Word of God. Invest in missions that are doing the work you know to be important. They may not all have the same style or use exactly the same methods as your particular home church, but they are driven by the same passion and values.
Some form of relationship to you, if possible. Many people support mission workers largely through their local church -- on top of their tithes to that church. They do this because they know the workers they support have some form of relationship to the church. Relationship and accountability are important.
A Releasing Attitude
What is faith? Basically, it's taking on the joy of responsibility under God, without the burden of control!
It means doing all we can, sowing our very lives into the work of the Kingdom, while leaving all the control of outcomes to God! Kingdom people take responsibility while yielding control.
That's why giving is such an important discipline for a Christian -- and one that we should make a regular habit of our lives.
There are many churches and Christians who want constant feedback on what is happening in the world, without ever making a proportional investment. Or they use their supported workers as extensions of their own local staff, kind of church "travel agents". They expect the ministers they support to constantly organize ministry opportunities for themselves, their co-workers, or teams from the church.
We need to give with right motives. Our primary aim is to see people come to faith in Christ and to raise up churches that will go on proclaiming Christ with boldness and passion.
When we find a ministry or mission that is really getting results, we have no right to sidetrack the worker or to seek excessive control over the work. Or to feel threatened by the success -- after all, we are a part of it!
Patience
Many churches and individual Christians miss out on the blessing of seeing great results through their giving simply because they opt out of their supporting too soon. They're too impatient for an instant result. Most successful works take quite some time to "happen overnight"!
There are seasons in the sowing/reaping cycle. Not every ministry or mission is in the same cycle/season at the same time. The amount of sowing needed depends on preparedness of soil.
Of course, we shouldn't go on supporting something ad infinitum if it never sees a measurable result -- or if the result is way out of proportion with the amount we've sown. But we will sometimes need to exercise patience, standing in faith for the coming season of reaping.
The "go" command we call the Great Commission, is addressed not to an individual but to the body or the church together. We can't ever hope to make the impact God wants us to make on the world stage unless we work together. One person will sow, the other will water; one will sow, the other will reap. One will give that the other may go.
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