(I wrote this some months ago, and never posted it because I felt I maybe overstepped the mark a little, but I have recently heard of another missionary who has been affected by this phenomenon, and so I am posting it now.)
Missionaries: how dare you treat them like
that!
An exclamation mark, not a question mark.
I don’t want you to answer – I want you to
feel rebuked.
For many Pastors and churches out there you
will not feel any sting in what I have to say, for you are not the cause of my
anger. Unfortunately those who should feel the sting will most likely put my
name in their box marked “Do not touch with a barge pole”.
Yes, I am angry, and unfortunately while I think my
anger is justified, I don’t feel my anger is in line with the Paul’s words in:
Eph_4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let
not the sun go down upon your wrath:
I am angry you see, and whilst it is
justified in my mind, I am sure that my anger also has some sin in it. I will
try to keep that sin away from this article, but what I have to say, I must
say.
Missionaries are the ones who are actively
living out the great commission in their daily lives. Yes, Pastors should be
too. In fact every Christian should. Most of us don’t, at least not as well as
we should, and I am sure there are some missionaries that also do not work for
the Lord as well as they should.
But most missionaries have put everything
on the line and given up their comfy lives back at home to take the Gospel to
lost souls who need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ died for them, so that
they might have a way of salvation.
Many of them rely on the financial support
that is promised from “home churches”, but they would rather not have to go
begging for that support, and in fact, most of them would rather not have to
even care about it. But it is necessary. To live in this life costs money.
I can honestly say that I do not remember
having a missionary ask me anything about how much we could support them or how
much we would give them as a gift if they came to speak for us. The ones I know
would be embarrassed if they heard of a missionary doing so.
But we all know these things. What has any
of this got to do with me being angry?
Because I have spoken to several
missionaries of late who have been threatened by churches. Yes, threatened by
churches and Pastors.
And it has been associated not with
doctrinal matters to do with the missionary themselves, but with matters to do
with their sending churches.
And to make it worse, these “Matters” are
not doctrinal matters at all.
But the final straw is that in neither case
of my personal experience, nor of those that I have been told about, has the
matter had anything to do with the missionary themselves. In fact, to the best
of my knowledge, the “matters” have not been discussed with the sending church
in any way, but simply accused and passed around.
Now don’t misunderstand me about this – I
am not saying the “matters” are unimportant, or that they should not be
discussed. But this is NOT doctrine we are talking about, and it is NOT THE
MISSIONARY we are talking about.
Make no mistake, if there is a serious
doctrinal issue with a sending church then no good missionary would continue
involvement with that church, and would of course find another sending church.
But what we are talking about is not
doctrinal – it is stylistic and it is preference. And I will also say that in certain cases it is not a style that I
would care to follow. But it is NOT DOCTRINAL matters that are at issue.
And we are independent – let these guys answer to God for their choices, and
get on with your own choices.
I know now of several missionaries from
different sending churches – good, strong, faithful, doctrinal, missionaries,
who have been threatened with removed support unless they separate from their
sending church.
Whoever you are – and I don’t know because
the missionaries are far too gracious to tell tales about you – you ought to be
ashamed of yourselves.
How dare you attempt to blackmail a servant
of the Lord into complying with your preferences?
Do you honestly think these men are your
hirelings?
Joh 10:12 But he that is an
hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth,
because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
That is not an apt description of any
missionary I know.
These men (and their wives and families)
care about the flock that God has given them the oversight of.
But you think that because someone else has
offended your preferences, that you have the right to control these servants of
the Lord.
How dare you treat a man who is surrendered
to the service of the living God, whose life goal is to see souls saved for the
glory of the Lord, as though he were a hireling to be bought and sold, to be
commanded and controlled?
You already know that they will not be so,
for they have refused to heed your calls of extortion, and have sacrificed the
monetary support of such as you, for the integrity of faithfulness and serving
the Lord.
If you have a beef with a supporting
church, then be man enough to contact the Pastor directly and talk it out with
him.
How about this for some direction on the
matter?
Gal 6:1
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted.
Be spiritual and go to him – if you have a
strong BIBLICAL argument then you may have a chance to bring that man back on
the right track.
But how dare you try to punish a Pastor who
disagrees with your preferences by attacking a missionary who most likely does
not even follow the preference of his sending church – if indeed there is
anything wrong with that church.
One final reminder – I am not talking about
Doctrinal issues, but matters of preference, method, and style.
I am probably amongst the more conservative
among us in fact – not right at the outside edge, but I certainly lean heavily
that way. I have heard certain things about certain churches, but they are
nowhere near me, and they do not directly affect me, and they are NOT DOCTRINAL
issues, so I leave them to themselves. If they were to ask me, I would advise
them to tread carefully on the path they seem to be going, for I see danger
nearby. But they haven’t asked me (probably because I am pretty much a nobody),
and in any case they will have to answer to the Lord for their choice, not me.
Heb_13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and
submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Leave the missionaries alone to serve the
Lord. If a missionary falls into Doctrinal error, then revise his support by
all means. None of us wants to be paying for a man to lead the lost into a
ditch. But if you have an issue with his sending church, then take it up with
that church: don’t you dare threaten the missionary.
It is probably a misapplication of the
Scripture, but I can’t help thinking of:
2Ki 2:23
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the
way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said
unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and
looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth
two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
These kids were torn to pieces because they
made fun of the man of God: I wonder what sort of punishment awaits the man who
blackmails and threatens a man of God?
And you will note that I have not mentioned
any names at all. This is partly because the missionaries would not divulge
those names (not that I asked), and I do not care to divulge the names of
sending churches involved either. I can’t see that naming names like that is
any way to restore such an one in a spirit of meekness.
But then again, I am well aware that this
has not been very meek either. At least I have not set out to personally
embarrass or attack anyone. If you feel attacked or embarrassed, maybe you
should ask yourself why? I haven’t mentioned any names at all.
And to end, I in no way endorse any church that might be straying from the "traditional ways" of Independent Baptist Churches - I am just angry at those who would punish an innocent missionary for the faults (real or perceived) of their sending church.
