Missions and money part v - avoiding dependency

Missions and Money
Dr. Robert Patton
Missionary to Suriname,
South America

PART III –
TO GIVE OR NOT
TO GIVE
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Part III Summary from To
Give or Not to Give
 Money is amoral – but can bind the
owner
 We need to model dependence on God
and not self-reliance
 We need to show the cross

Preoccupation with money
 Focus strictly on budgets, marketing
schemes, and numbers may leave us
without spiritual power!

To work for God’s glory:
 More cooperation and less competition
 More self-denial and less self-sufficiency
 Less ambition to lead and more
willingness to serve
 More willingness to develop and less
desire to dominate

What sort of poverty?
 Absolute poverty = lacks food, safe
water, sanitation, health care, and
personal safety
 Relative poverty – denied regular
amenities of that society
 Social exclusion – denied opportunities
for education, advancement; living in
dangerous situations

Western missionaries must be
careful
 Not to use fear of dependency as an
excuse for not giving
 Instead- help impoverished people find
their true identity as humans
 Have true unity with God, with others,
the environment, and with themselves
too

We need to
 Have an approach which pleases God
 Have staying power, and not just
respond to a crisis
 Help the culture correspond to Christ

Problems with dependency
 Unhealthy reliance on Western support
limiting their vision
 Subjugation of native workers, making
them passive or at least considering
them inferior to the donors

This is NOT to discourage
western giving
 Most problems with giving is the strings
attached to the funds
 Western organizations as well as NGOs
will sometimes compete for the best
talented nationals, removing them from
the churches which are struggling to
become self-sufficient

The right attitude
 Humility, not patronizing
 Sharing is not patronizing
 No double standards of lifestyle
choice, financial support and
ministry responsibilities
 Honor each partner’s
responsibilities

The right attitude
 Allow nationals to cast a vision or initiate
ministry – this will reduce the risk of
dependency
 Foster interdependency. This is illustrated in
I Cor. 12:14-26 where we see that various
parts of the body of Christ work together [14]
For the body is not one member, but many.

The right attitude
 [15] If the foot shall say, Because I am not the
hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not
of the body?[16] And if the ear shall say,
Because I am not the eye, I am not of the
body; is it therefore not of the body?[17] If the
whole body were an eye, where were the
hearing? If the whole were hearing, where
were the smelling?

The right attitude
 [18] But now hath God set the members every
one of them in the body, as it hath pleased
him.[19] And if they were all one member,
where were the body?[20] But now are they
many members, yet but one body…. [25] That
there should be no schism in the body; but that
the members should have the same care one
for another.

The right attitude
 26] And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be
honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Interdependency
 We need to receive as well as give
 We need to be able to teach and
learn from each other, and even
reprove and offer correction to
each other
 Reciprocity is tied to responsibility

The three-self paradigm
 Self-governing, self-supporting, and
self-propagating started with Henry
Venn and John Nevius.
 Both were trying to avoid European
dominance in a time when Europeans
were feeling superior and colonial
imperialism occurred. They were not
worried about dependency

The goal of Nevius
 No outside dominance
 Outside assistance is OK
 Remember God calls us to generous
giving. In Mt. 25:31-46, Jesus tells
about how those who treat others at
the end of the tribulation will be
considered as to serving Himself

Jesus judgment after the
tribulation: Mt 25:31-46
 [34] Then shall the King say unto them
on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of
the world:[35] For I was an hungred,
and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger,
and ye took me in:

 [36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick,
and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye
came unto me.[37] Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and
gave thee drink?[38] When saw we thee a
stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and
clothed thee?[39] Or when saw we thee sick,
or in prison, and came unto thee?

 [40] And the King shall answer and say unto
them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.[41] Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…[46]
And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Some Biblical principles on
giving
 We are hypocrites if we see others in
need, and fail to help them, particularly
fellow believers:
 James 2:14-17[14] What doth it profit, my
brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works? can faith save him?[15] If a
brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food.

Don’t be a hypocrite
 16] And one of you say unto them, Depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled;
notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which are needful to the body; what doth it
profit?[17] Even so faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone.

No hypocrisy
 I Jn. 3:16-18[16] Hereby perceive we the love
of God, because he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren. [17] But whoso hath this world's
good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
[18] My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Biblical principles of giving
 Galatians 6:9-10[9] And let us not be
weary in well doing: for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not.
[10] As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, especially
unto them who are of the household of
faith.

God Himself owns all
resources
 Psalm 24:[1] The earth is the LORD's,
and the fulness thereof; the world, and
they that dwell therein.
 Haggai 2:[8] The silver is mine, and the
gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
 Thus God has ultimate control of
what happens to all resources

God Himself owns all
resources
 Psalm 24:[1] The earth is the LORD's,
and the fulness thereof; the world, and
they that dwell therein.
 Haggai 2:[8] The silver is mine, and the
gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
 Thus God has ultimate control of what
happens to all resources

God controls all resources
 I Chron. 29:11-12[11] Thine, O LORD, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven
and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O
LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.[12]
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou
reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and
might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to
give strength unto all.
 Deut. 8:17-18

God controls all resources
 Deut. 8:17-18[17] And thou say in thine heart,
My power and the might of mine hand hath
gotten me this wealth. [18] But thou shalt
remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that
giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may
establish his covenant which he sware unto thy
fathers, as it is this day

Stewards must be faithful:
 I Cor. 4:[1] Let a man so account of us,
as of the ministers of Christ, and
stewards of the mysteries of God. [2]
Moreover it is required in stewards,
that a man be found faithful.

We are dependent on God:
[6] And these things, brethren, I have in a figure
transferred to myself and to Apollos for your
sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of
men above that which is written, that no one of
you be puffed up for one against another.[7] For
who maketh thee to differ from another? and
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now
if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received it?

God wants our blessing to call
others to Himself:
 Ps. 67:[5] Let the people praise thee, O
God; let all the people praise thee.[6]
Then shall the earth yield her increase;
and God, even our own God, shall bless
us.[7] God shall bless us; and all the
ends of the earth shall fear him.

God wants us to share:
 2 Cor. 8:[13] For I mean not that other men
be eased, and ye burdened:[14] But by an
equality, that now at this time your abundance
may be a supply for their want, that their
abundance also may be a supply for your
want: that there may be equality:[15] As it is
written, He that had gathered much had
nothing over; and he that had gathered little
had no lack.

Some Biblical principles on
giving: God wants us to share
 Proverbs 11:[24] There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth; and
there is that withholdeth more than is
meet, but it tendeth to poverty.[25]
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and
he that watereth shall be watered also
himself.

God repays giving to the poor:
 Proverbs 19:[17] He that hath pity
upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD;
and that which he hath given will he
pay him again.

Fools hoard
 Luke 12:[16] And he spake a parable unto
them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully:[17] And he thought
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because
I have no room where to bestow my
fruits?[18] And he said, This will I do: I will
pull down my barns, and build greater; and
there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

Fools hoard
 Luke 12:[19] And I will say to my soul, Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be
merry.[20] But God said unto him, Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee: then whose shall those things be,
which thou hast provided?[21] So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God.

God gives extra weight to the
gifts of the poor
 Mark 12:[41] And Jesus sat over
against the treasury, and beheld how
the people cast money into the
treasury: and many that were rich cast
in much.[42] And there came a certain
poor widow, and she threw in two
mites, which make a farthing.

God gives extra weight to the
gifts of the poor
 Mark 12:[43] And he called unto him his
disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say
unto you, That this poor widow hath cast
more in, than all they which have cast into
the treasury:[44] For all they did cast in of
their abundance; but she of her want did
cast in all that she had, even all her living.

How to Give Without Dependency
Dependency
 Giving with domination
 Subjugation of nationals
 Competition via westerns
 Patronizing favorites
 Complacency re
multiplying
 Giving minimalized
 Western agenda/control
 Stagnates growth
Investing
 Model of discipleship
 Sponsorship of nationals
 Model sacrificial giving
 Promoting their fellows
 Capacity for multiplication
 Giving maximized
 National agenda/control
 Stimulates growth

God changes lives
 Zaccheus gives generously
 God changes thieves who steal to those
who work to help others: Eph. 4:28[28]
Let him that stole steal no more: but
rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he
may have to give to him that needeth.

Serving God vs. mammon
 Poor believers are prized as those rich
in faith. James 2:[5] Hearken, my beloved
brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of
this world rich in faith, and heirs of the
kingdom which he hath promised to them
that love him?[6] But ye have despised the
poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and
draw you before the judgment seats?

Prosperity is spiritually
dangerous
 Brings pride and self-reliance
 Often the poor are despised
 See the poor as spiritual assets and not
as financial liabilities
 Give them dignity

What we should do
 We should serve God and use money
 We must not use God and serve money
 The church at present time is only 0.02% of
giving to reach the lost. The rest is for
Christians

Principles of giving
 Manna – in the wilderness, everyone was
equal economically. We should be generous
and share.
 The example was the Macedonian church in 2
Cor. 8:[12] For if there be first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to that a man
hath, and not according to that he hath not.

Principles of giving
 [13] For I mean not that other men be
eased, and ye burdened: [14] But by an
equality, that now at this time your
abundance may be a supply for their want,
that their abundance also may be a supply for
your want: that there may be equality: [15]
As it is written, He that had gathered much
had nothing over; and he that had gathered
little had no lack.

Remember
 We cannot serve two masters – both
God and mammon
 2 Cor. 9:[8] And God is able to make all
grace abound toward you; that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all
things, may abound to every good
work:

Initial principles of helping in
the United States
 God intervenes in human troubles; man
who is created in His image should do
so and help also
 Charity is best experienced in close
personal relationships
 Man’s greatest needs are spiritual

Principles of help…
 Sharing comes in the framework of
church, family and neighborhood
 Mostly help was in kind
 Distinction between worthy poor
(situations are difficult) and wayward
poor – they make their own problems

Principles of help
 Avoid public statutory relief – which
promotes indulgent lifestyle
 Personal involvement in the spiritual
aspects of life
 Over time, repentance and change in
life show true change

Problems in the USA
 Social darwinism – ignored the poor
and favored the rich – bad
 Social universalism – better, but asked
the government to care for the poor –
their power, money, and size. They
substituted tax for tithe, and material
aid was separated from spiritual
considerations

USA and welfare
 Johnson’s administration was worse –
bureaucracy without productivity.
People wanted their entitlements.
 there was a redistribution of wealth but
no moral transformation

Warfare, not welfare
 During World War II and afterwards,
the USA put full effort into the war
without requiring paybacks. There was
a commitment to thrift and generosity.
 We need the same warfare mentality in
the war against satan now

Christians in the USA do not
want to give
 They keep 98.4% of their weath
 6% of evangelicals tithe
 USA holds 80% of evangelical wealth
 Only 0.2% go for reaching others
 The USA government budget – true
foreign aid is only 0.14% of the federal
budget

In the world today
 The wealthiest 20% consume 80% of
goods
 The poorest 20% consume 1.4% of
goods
 Be careful that affluence does not spoil
your influence

Problems in USA lifestyle
 Insulation from the culture you wish to
impact
 Isolation from neighbors in our passion
for privacy
 Pace of life which is too hectic
 Illusions of superiority
 Good may lead to hostility and envy

Rules to help: Affiliation
 Interpersonal networks to support
indigent people
 Social nets of family and friends
 Rebuild families and put orphans in a
family
 Support system for material assistance

Rules for help: Bonding
 Material support must combine with
persistent ongoing commitment
 We suffer with others in need
 Personal involvement is key

Rules for help: Categorize
 Distinguish between the worthy poor
and the wayward poor.
 Help the worthy poor
 The wayward poor need jobs
 Test the willingness to work
 Train – social and employment skills
 Accountability

Rules to help: discern
 Gifts of the Spirit – so we are not
relying on human worldly wisdom
 Remember that people are lost
 Employment – top priority
 Freedom to choose work and a career
with a fair day’s pay
 Receive God’s grace

Principles of sending groups
 The primary group responsible for
missions is the church, not the mission
agencies
 Providential provocation – consider
going where the need is greatest, with
doors open to new ministry
opportunities. But commit for the long
haul

Principles for sending groups
 Romans 5:20 Where sin abounds,
grace abounds much more.
 We must be willing to go and even
suffer to experience this grace
 Prophetic view – sometimes it is
prudent to get property in perilous
times if God wills it (Jeremiah buying
land occupied by the Babylonians)

Principles for those who go
 The poor need our friendship as much
as our finances
 We need a long term covenantal
relationship – not a commercial or
contractural one

 Promote the nationals: teach them to
see with spiritual eyes and speak for
themselves
 The kingdom of God is populated by the
meek, the poor and the persecuted

 Stand at the side of nationals as a
committed ally and encourage them
 Proportional sacrifice: Money,
manpower, language acumen, cultural
knowledge, disciplined austerity
 Peacemaking prayer including others
 Personal covenants with close personal
relationships

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