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We in the Churches of Christ aren’t very good at missions — foreign or domestic. The biggest problem isn’t in the mission field, though. It’s in our churches. We just don’t know what we’re doing.
I don’t pretend to have any real expertise. I just have that wonderful objectivity that total ignorance sometimes brings. That is, I’ve seen it done badly at a lot of places for a lot of years. I don’t know much about how to do it right, but I’m an expert in how to do it wrong. That’s worth something, isn’t it?
So we’ve been going through a visioning process for our missions program, and this is where I am in my thinking — largely based on how not to do it. Maybe the readers can improve on what little I know.
1. Start with humility. You probably don’t know what you’re doing either. It’s okay. None of us does. Read more »
5. Be honest and forthright. Tell him exactly what you are concerned about, ask for his views, and discuss the problems man to man. Most churches are so afraid to hurt someone’s feelings and to engage in a hard conversation that they’d rather cut him off with a letter than spend an hour or two on the phone discussing their concerns.
If you think he’s not cut out for the work, say so. If you think he’s working a bad plan, say so.
6. Of course, sometimes a church needs to cut off a missionary’s support for reasons entirely independent of his success. The church’s budget may be in decline (a very common problem, nowadays) The church may need to trim costs for a building program. The church may conclude that its place in the Kingdom is medical missions or short-term missions.
In such a case, it’s my view that you have to give the man ample time to raise new support — maybe even as much as a year or two. You should prefer to delay your building program or do without a minister rather than fail to honor your commitment to the missionary.
Now, by “commitment” I don’t mean your contract. Even if you have a year-to-year formal commitment to the missionary, he’s still a brother in Christ and someone who relies on you to feed his family and serve in God’s kingdom. Be overly generous in transitioning him to other support — every single time.
Help him find additional support. Write letters. Work through the universities. It’s your responsibility, whether you like it or not. (It’s like having an adult child. Yes, you are not legally obligated to support her in hard times. No, you don’t really have a choice.) Read more »
As I said, I really don’t know what I’m talking about — except I do know something about having employees. I have a few dozen. And there are certain principles that govern how you treat people who count on you for their living.
You may well have to lay off employees when the economy forces cut backs, but you do it with compassion and with fair notice and severance. You give employees who are failing training and another chance — unless it’s clear the employee cannot succeed. Then you let the employee go, but you do it on generous terms.
You don’t retain unproductive employees indefinitely – no matter how much you like them. And you deal honestly and kindly with employees — all the time.
And executive employees get more severance, because it takes them longer to find a new job — and many moved to take the job and may have to move to take a new job.
If an employee is a bad fit — tell the employee to consider a career change — and help him or her make the transition. You might even help the employee seek career counseling. Lying to an employee to avoid hurting his feelings isn’t kind to him or his next employer. You owe him an honest evaluation.
Finally, the goal isn’t to squeeze all the labor you can from an employee for the least possible money. You treat employees fairly — and expect them to work hard and loyally. You shouldn’t expect them to be more loyal to you than you are to them.
Let’s apply these principles to missionaries and church planters. Read more »
The Churches of Christ split 100 years ago over missionary societies. As a result, we’ve found ourselves with each congregation acting as its own missionary society. A deacon gets handed the task of overseeing a missionary or two with no training, no help, and nowhere to turn. And as a result, we often fail where we could have succeeded. And sometimes we invest a lot of money in an effort that someone with experience would have known had little chance of success.
The solution is to form organizations that gather up experienced people, who keep up with the literature and the mission field, and who can help us make wiser decisions.
I know of three organizations involved in domestic church planting within the Churches of Christ: Mission Alive, Kairos, and Stadia.
Stadia began among the independent Christian Churches but now works with the a cappella Churches of Christ as well.
Mission Alive and Kairos are both indigenous to the Churches of Christ. I happen to have much more experience with Kairos and think very highly of them. Read more »
Seems obvious, doesn’t it? Why would we invest lives, energy, and money in church plant efforts that don’t have at least some of the characteristics described in the previous post? But that’s what Churches of Christ are doing all over the country.
We are investing untold lives and millions of dollars in church plant efforts that will either fail or else not succeed as well as they should because we invest our people and money in programs that are poorly designed by naively not bothering to check out the research. It makes no sense.
Here are some examples of bad plans –
Foreign missions
We used to be able to find a willing preacher school graduate, put him on a plane, and expect him to plant a church all by himself just about anywhere he went. You see, shortly after World War II, the United States was the most prosperous nation on earth — by far — and the most admired. Being an American was enough to gain an audience, and people wanted to have what we had. Read more »
We need to talk some about church plants. You see, the denominations that are growing the fastest are the denominations planting churches. In fact, back when the Churches of Christ were growing rapidly, we were planting churches (sometimes on purpose; sometimes by splitting). But church planting has dramatically changed from those days, and what worked then won’t work now. We need to learn some new skills.
For the last several years, the independent Christian Churches have been the fastest growing American Protestant denomination — and they are just like the Churches of Christ except they allow instrumental music, cooperate through societies, and plant lots and lots of churches. They baptize believers by immersion, they are led by elders, and they take weekly communion.
We have to start by defining “church plant.” When I was younger, a church plant was accomplished by cleaving off about 100 members from a larger congregation to form a clone of the mother church in a part of town that needed a church because that’s where people were moving to. That’s not what is meant by the term today. Read more »
Libyan Al Qaeda terrorists, with the encouragement of the Libyan government, have issued an interpretation of the Quran at odds with Ben Laden’s Al Qaeda, according to a remarkable CNN report. You definitely want to click over there and watch the entire video (I can’t figure out how to embed it here) and read the report.
The code’s most direct challenge to al Qaeda is this: “Jihad has ethics and morals because it is for God. That means it is forbidden to kill women, children, elderly people, priests, messengers, traders and the like. Betrayal is prohibited and it is vital to keep promises and treat prisoners of war in a good way. Standing by those ethics is what distinguishes Muslims’ jihad from the wars of other nations.” …
While the code states that jihad is permissible if Muslim lands are invaded — citing the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine — the guidelines it sets down for when and how jihad should be fought, and its insistence that civilians should not be targeted are a clear rebuke to the goals and tactics of bin Laden’s terrorist network.
I don’t think I’m through with the pacifism posts, but I’m sure I’m through for now. I have some other things that are itching to get out of my fingers and onto the electronic page — and we’ve pretty much covered the high points of pacifism.
There are enough differing views and scriptures that bear on the topic that I could write a book — and many others have. But I’m ready for a change of topic. I’m sure most of the readers are as well.
So, anyway, here’s how I’ve got it figured — Read more »
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I’ve been pondering the martyrdom side of the pacifism question. Many of us have been assuming that Christians are called only to non-violent resistance when confronted with possible martyrdom. Some would argue that a Christian may use necessary force for self-defense or the defense of others — but not when he is being physically assaulted for his faith in Jesus.
The question comes to the fore in the most recent post “If you don’t have a sword … buy one.” This passage creates a problem for that theory because Jesus certainly seems to be saying to his apostles: carry some swords so you don’t get killed when I’m found to be a criminal. I mean, that’s just what the passage seems to say. And if they were attacked because of their association with Jesus — being crucified for claiming to be king of the Jews — that would surely seem to qualify as martyrdom. Read more »
(Luke 22:35-38) Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That is enough,” he replied.
Here’s another classic proof text in the pacifism debates, used by both sides. One side says, “See, Jesus told them to carry swords!” The other side says, “Yes, but he wouldn’t let Peter use his sword!” Both are true. Read more »
(Mat 5:38-42) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
“Eye for an eye” is from the Law of Moses, and was interpreted as requiring punishments to match the crime. Someone guilty of taking an eye should pay the economic value of an eye. The passage was never taken as requiring the taking of a literal eye. Indeed, the Law prohibited the taking of vengeance.
(Lev 19:18) “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
However, It seems that some were taking the passage as justification for the taking of personal vengeance. Moreover, Lev 19:18 seems to create a loophole allowing vengeance against non-Jews. As Paul explains in Rom 12, God’s children must leave vengeance to God. Read more »
Jesus came to teach the Torah. The rabbis spoke of “fulfilling” the Torah, which to a rabbi meant to interpret it so his listeners would properly honor it.
But in Asia Minor, among the Greeks, there was no concept that religion should affect how you live. The idea that spiritual matters changed how one lives was entirely novel. They believed religion could get them to heaven, but not that it changed people for the better.
Rabbis used word pictures and concrete illustrations to teach. Rabbis worked to form a community of followers.
The Greeks taught someone to be a self-sufficient teacher, an expert in the truth. The Jewish model to was incorporate people into a community — to hold one another accountable.
Rabbis taught “faith” in the sense of a passionate commitment to action, rather than the Greek notion of faith as what you know.
Jesus took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi, known as the “gates of hell.” This is where the Greeks worshiped Pan in very degrading ceremonies. Read more »
One more other thing: I’m convinced one of the most untapped sources of evangelical theology and ministry today is the Restoration Movement, sometimes called the Stone-Campbell Movement, and known to others as the Christian Church and the Churches of Christ. My experience confirms to me time and time again that these folks are quietly at work in the USA in gospel work.
I never thought I’d live to see the day …
(McKnight is the author of The Jesus Creed and The Blue Parakeet.)
After declaring that he does not intend to abolish the Law and the Prophets, Jesus begins to show the deeper meanings of the commands given by God through the Law and the Prophets.
(Mat 5:21-26) “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca, ‘ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
If the Curse corrupted our relationships with each other, how will we overcome that in this dawning Kingdom? Well, it will take a lot more than not committing murder! We need to be reconciled to each other — and this is more important than formal worship of God. Indeed, it is worship of a higher kind, because it brings us closer to Eden, where God walks among us. Read more »
Twice the Old Testament prophets announce that a day will come when men beat their swords into plowshares –
(Isa 2:1-4) This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
(Micah 4:1-7) In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. 5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. 6 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. 7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
Consider Isa 2. This will happen “in the last days.” And it’s not just God’s people who will do this: “Nation will not take up sword against nation.” Read more »
Before we try to interpret the next part of the Sermon, we need to fit the Sermon into the larger story of the Bible (“story” does not mean fiction).
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, a special place without death or suffering. And yet they sinned, leading to the Curse on all Creation in Genesis 3 and to their being expelled from the Garden.
One aspect of the Curse was the beginning of strife in marriage (Gen 3:16). Of course, the strife between husband and wife proved also to be strife among all people. Not only was our relationship with God corrupted (leading to the Flood and Babel), so were our relationships with each other.
God set about to make things right once again. Indeed, God began his work to make things even better at the End. Read more »
Even though Jesus announces the coming Kingdom in terms of prophecy, he adds an astonishing twist –
(Mat 5:10-12) “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Prophecy, to Jesus, was not merely God’s way of proving that he knows the future. Rather, prophecy is one way in which God reveals his will for and makes promises to his people. Jesus wasn’t saying: be assured that God really is omniscient! The First Century Jews considered that entirely obvious.
No, Jesus’ point was that: God is finally keeping his promises. You see, the prophecies were covenantal, not apologetic. That is, they were promises to be kept, not proof of God’s foreknowledge. (Of course, they do prove God’s foreknowledge. That’s just not the main purpose they serve.)
And if God was about to keep his promises, the people would naturally expect life to suddenly get very easy. Read more »
Copyright (c) Jay Guin 2004-2009. All rights reserved, except permission is granted to download, distribute, and copy for non-commercial purposes. Please share with your friends!
We in the Churches of Christ aren’t very good at missions — foreign or domestic. The biggest problem isn’t in the mission field, though. It’s in our churches. We just don’t know what we’re doing.
Libyan Al Qaeda terrorists, with the encouragement of the Libyan government, have issued an interpretation of the Quran at odds with Ben Laden’s Al Qaeda, according to 
Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA
Scot McKnight, at 
Twice the Old Testament prophets announce that a day will come when men beat their swords into plowshares –
