Not trying to be a hater here, but I dont know if you have noticed a recent trend in certain missions circles that boasts of having planted thousands of churches in India, the Philippines, Latin America, Indonesia, Africa, etc. -- all from the air conditioned western homes with a few trips to exotic lands for a few days to train Christian leaders for a few days. This phenomenon is purportedly based on the principle of disciple multiplication as articulated in 2 Tim. 2:2. Now, it is not possible for the westerners to possibly visit even TEN of these thousands of churches that they supposedly planted, but it sure looks good on the drawing board and in the fund-raising ministry newsletters. How do they know they even exist? They trust the word of the locals -- not a good move (Titus 1:12). Do these thousands of churches have leaders? No. They are simply house fellowships where people who are barely literate with 4th grade educations get together, open up the Bible, and this becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of false doctrine, as they have no shepherd. Christ is their Shepherd you say? Did not Christ say that His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, as its priests rejected knowledge (Hos. 4:6)? Did not His Holy Spirit command for elders to be appointed in every town (Titus 1:5)? Is the pastoral teaching ministry dispensable, an option we have the authority to simply dispose of at will like it is simply an accessory, a commodity, and not a vital post on which the whole of the operation hinges? Short-term missions have their place (though they far less effective than long-term missions and not consistent with the pattern of Paul and the apostles who spent years at a time in each of the cities they formed churches; Acts 20:31), but we westerners are FAR too naive, gullible and easily duped by street wise impoverished indigenous Christian leaders. Most local leaders are looking to latch on to a westerner like a leech, to suck his bank dry for the work of the Lord. Being very shrewd, they know how to use a camera, the internet, and when the westerners fly in for a week, have everything arranged just so the westerner is sold on the quality of the work. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE CHURCHES ARENT CHURCHES in the biblical sense, but are rather heresy factories and money-making schemes. They fizzle away as soon as the persecution comes. Nothing can supersede a well-trained missionary, whether domestic or expatriate, who is totally sold out for the work of the Lord and has been programmed deep in his soul to everyday sacrifice every conceivable comfort and luxury to ensure the gospel is spreading and true, solid churches are being formed. Brothers in the west -- we need totally dedicated, radically committed, full-time, long-term missionaries, disciples of Paul. May we follow him as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 08:14:57 +0000