Questions for Your Missions Budget

1. Are we supporting 1 Timothy 4:16 kind of people?

The command to keep a close watch on your life and doctrine may have been first of all for Pastor Timothy, but it is important for all of us. We are all called to be examples of godliness. We are all called to believe what accords with sound doctrine. This is true for our missionaries as well. No one gets a free pass on life and doctrine, no matter what they are doing or how difficult their surroundings. Each church will need to decide how much doctrinal uniformity is necessary, but surely every evangelical congregation will want to support missionaries that believe in the full trustworthiness of the Bible, glory in Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice, feel the weight of heaven and hell, and affirm justification by faith alone, just to name a few of the most important doctrines.

Likewise, though our missionaries don’t have to be perfect (and we shouldn’t expect them to be), they must be growing in godliness and live lives above reproach. We certainly don’t want to create an adversarial relationship with our missionaries by constantly checking their life and doctrine, but by some mechanism (e.g., through an annual report, through personal contact, through denominational oversight) we want to make sure we are sending out the sort of people we would be happy to have serving in our own churches.

2. Are we supporting ministry in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth?

It would be pressing Acts 1:8 too far to think that we need to have our missions budget divided up exactly 25% into four different areas. But it makes sense that the priorities Jesus gave the disciples would be our priorities. We should be engaged in all four areas of missions. Jerusalem: ministry to those like us nearby. Judea: ministry to those like us away from us. Samaria: cross-cultural ministry that may be close to home. Ends of the earth: cross-cultural ministry that is far away. So for example, church planting in a different suburb of the same city would probably be Jerusalem ministry. But starting a vacation Bible school in a trailer park would probably be Samaria ministry. Supporting other college ministries in the U.S. is for us Judea ministry. And obviously, supporting missionaries in Asia and Africa usually counts as ends of the earth.

The idea is not to be slavishly tied to some quarter-quarter-quarter-quarter system, but to make sure that we are not too lopsided. Some churches invest almost everything in local church planting. They should think about doing more cross-culturally. I’ve known strong missions churches that gut all their overseas funding because they feel like they aren’t doing to evangelize their neighbors. Well, no one is against evangelizing our neighbors, but just stay in Jerusalem with your mission priorities. Others send all their money overseas and never consider the work to be done around them. You get the picture. Take a look at your missions budget. You might be surprised what you find.

3. Are we striking the right balance of word and deed in the ministries we support?

Very few people are against wholistic missions in principle. Most agree that there is a place for social ministries (education, medicine, disaster relief, agricultural development). And hopefully every evangelical acknowledges that we must share the gospel. The tricky part is how to get the balance. Personally, I think word ministry should be the priority (not the exclusive ministry a church supports, but the priority). It is telling that we are told to obey the Great Commandment, but we are told to go and fulfill the Great Commission. This isn’t to say that loving our neighbors is not important. Please hear me: it is. We should not make apologies for supporting missionaries who care for others in the name of Christ. But it is easy to lose sight of the goal–teaching the nations to obey everything Jesus has commanded. As I recently heard one missions executive say, “We believe in doing wholistic missions. But wholisitic is not a euphemism for not sharing the gospel.” So make sure that “word” missionaries know how to love people. Make sure your “deed” missionaries are looking for ways to tell others about Jesus Christ. And make sure you have room for both in your missions budget.

4. Are we giving priority to long-term missionaries?

It’s no secret that we’ve seen an explosion of short-term missions in the past generation. Almost every church sends out teams to build homes or do street evangelism or teach in the Bible school for a couple weeks. Thank God for the interest more and more Christians have in serving God in different places. But it’s easy for churches to spend too many resources on short-term missions. People like helping people, they like visiting new places, and they like hearing the stories on the other end. So some churches spend tons of money sending their adults to Russia every year and their teens to Belize every summer and the college students to Uganda. Short term missions are good for some things: creating interest in missions, planting the seed for missions, exposing people to different cultures and needs, and doing some kinds of support ministries.

But there are lots of things short-termers usually can’t do. They can’t speak the language. They can’t follow up with discipleship. They can’t really become a part of the culture. They can’t earn the trust of the people. They can’t translate the Scriptures. They don’t have time to learn from the people already there. In other words, the Great Commission will not be completed through short-term missions. The church needs more people committed to cross-cultural missions for 5, 10, 25, or 50 years, especially in the places where the church is smallest or non-existent. Make sure your budget reflects this priority. It’s not always as sexy as the youth trip to Kentucky, but it is the only way to win the world for Christ.