Mapping Church Missions

A Compass for Ministry Strategy

Sharon R. Hoover

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780830874019
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The terrain of church missions is often bewildering.Should we prioritize evangelism or works of service? Local ministries or overseas missions? What's more important: giving our money or giving our time? Crisis relief or building sustainable, long-term ministries? And what about the often debated pros and cons of short-term missions trips?In Mapping Church Missions, Sharon Hoover brings her years of experience in local church missions to bear on these and other thorny questions. Instead of taking a hardline stance on one end of the spectrum or the other, she approaches each question with nuance, adding helpful data, presenting new perspectives, and always pressing gently past surface questions to the heart of the matter.Whether we're fully aware of it or not, our churches come up against these questions whenever we consider how best to use our resources for the mission of God. Written by an experienced guide, this book maps the terrain of church missions in careful detail, helping us plot our church's unique course as we seek to serve Christ's kingdom.

GOOD NEWS AND GOOD DEEDS

We had gathered food for weeks. Finally, the day arrived to prepare the Thanksgiving baskets. The hallway off the church lobby was busier than the New York subway as the assembly line formed to sort canned vegetables, fresh fruit, and holiday treats. We loaded cars and fanned out into the community to deliver baskets to at-risk families.

On that very day, however, one woman’s statement brought the decade-long tradition to an abrupt halt.

“Oh, I knew the president would come through for us this year,” she exclaimed as our members carried bags of food into her home. She genuinely believed the groceries had come from federal public assistance.

In a most gracious tone, yet through clenched teeth, one of our deliverers clarified that the gift was from God and not from the government. He was quick to point out elected officials were not involved in the holiday blessings.

The discussion continued into our church hallways. Questions flew but the answers were few. Why do we provide food? What about sharing faith? But then, how does the gospel message matter when a family is in need of basic sustenance? Are there other ways to address poverty in our community? What is the best use of resources when the church alone serves as the verbal witnesses for the gospel? We wrestled with these questions over and over. They not only influenced our missions strategy but also forced us to examine our personal philosophies of evangelism and outreach.

The first of seven conversations for discovering our compass bearing for missional engagement centers on the verbal expression of faith. The continuum ranges from good works with no spoken or written faith component to evangelistic outreaches whose sole purpose is the verbal presentation of the gospel. This dichotomy fuels an undercurrent of disagreement among Christ-followers. For some people the purposes are mutually exclusive.

On one end of the continuum the focus of missional engagement is deeds. Whether feeding the poor or caring for our planet, the efforts seek to alleviate suffering and to establish a hospitable world. On the other end the focus of missional engagement is sharing the good news. Through the written or spoken word, evangelists communicate the message of hope and healing through restoration of relationship with God.

Where does your missional engagement compass point—toward doing good deeds or telling the good news? To determine our compass bearing, we will examine both ends of the continuum as well as options in between. Believers are called to give voice to the message of salvation for all who have not heard. But without adequate food and water, there is no one to hear the story!

As we enter this conversation, resist the urge to place a value judgment on either end of the continuum. Recognize your leaning toward one end or the other as your personal preference rather the “right” way for everyone. The potential for good—and for harm—exists at both ends of the continuum. This conversation will be most fruitful where it helps us discover new possibilities for kingdom work. With open minds and soft hearts, let’s wade into the first conversation.

CALLED TO GOOD DEEDS

Response to the needs of others was deeply rooted in the early church. Followers of Jesus shared food, shelter, and possessions (Acts 2:44; 4:32-37). No one lacked basic sustenance. The importance of daily food distribution drove the early church to make its first organizational decision. The apostles appointed seven disciples to care for impoverished widows (Acts 6:1-4). The early believers’ care for one another was so revolutionary it caught the attention of Jews and Gentiles alike. The community of believers revealed God’s nature of love and grace in their compassionate care for one another. The church multiplied rapidly as more people wanted to be part of the Christian family of faith.

Today benevolence organizations continue to alleviate suffering for those unable to meet their own needs. Services such as English as a second language (ESL) classes, health clinics, and assistance for people with disabilities provide critical resources for at-risk people in our communities.

These selfless acts of kindness and goodness bring the Lord’s presence into a hurting world. Our actions serve as testimony to Christ within us (Galatians 5:22). When we bring a meal to a sick neighbor, or donate school supplies for refugee children, or visit those in prison, the Lord himself is there. As Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw put it, “Mercy is God’s attitude and action toward people in distress.” As the Spirit prompts and gives us strength, we respond to the needs of others with God’s mercy.

While exploring paths to serving others, one factor we might consider is religious affiliation. Both Christian and non-Christian agencies care for vulnerable populations across the globe. There are disaster response agencies that are faith-based, such as Samaritan’s Purse, and those that are not, such as the Red Cross. Both agencies are able to mobilize quickly and care for physical needs, which makes them effective first responders in crisis situations. Similarly, both Lawyers Without Borders and International Justice Mission (IJM) provide pro bono counsel to address justice issues worldwide. Both organizations are nonprofits and have received accolades for their work, but only IJM has a faith foundation.

Christ-followers give time regularly to care for needs within their own communities. Some invest in their neighborhoods as reading buddies, elder caregivers, or coaches. Although few of these opportunities are faith based, schools and youth sports benefit from the many hours given. Mentors of all ages and stages of life offer support needed to encourage personal growth and development.

Our definition of good deeds also needs to include the work of Christians advocating for increased care of our environment. The Lord formed a breathtaking planet, called it “good,” then placed its stewardship in our care. We bear the responsibility for the animals, plants, oceans, and the very air we breathe. Yet daily we hear stories of pollution, extinction, and callous disregard of natural resources. When hiking on the Appalachian Trail, my husband and I met two young men who serve on a volunteer trail crew. They had anonymously given hundreds of hours to maintain and improve the East Coast trail. This kind of valuable work allows you and me to better enjoy God’s gift of nature and to do good for God’s created world.

Some believers, however, question the hours spent on these pursuits. With the many people who do not yet know Christ, isn’t attending to social justice a distraction from the greater need to save souls? The Bible, however, does not support the separation of body and soul. God created the universe, including human beings, and called it all good. Jesus walked the earth fully divine and fully human. His bodily presence, followed by his physical resurrection, attests to the reality of our united body and soul.

Attempts to divide and rank body and soul have pervaded the church since its earliest days. Gnostic dualism asserted the insignificance of the body compared to the eternal value of the soul. We find these ideas today creeping into the church through some New Age mystical practices that encourage adherents to attain the hidden truths and deeper knowledge of God. Among the implications of this philosophy is the reduced importance of caring for the physical needs of self and others. It marginalizes the body and the world, diminishing the worth of good deeds.

We become spiritually alive in Christ through grace alone: no special knowledge required. Doing good is intimately connected with our spiritual journey. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Escaping physical existence to experience salvation is incompatible with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. Saving souls is intimately connected with social justice. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27).

Some people come to faith in Christ after first witnessing the selfless acts of his followers. Their path may be long and winding, but the general direction is toward physical and spiritual healing. Good deeds minister to heart, soul, mind, and body.

Lost in addiction and homelessness, Carl walked into the soup kitchen. It was a repurposed storefront. He carried cynicism and anger along with his ragged, overstuffed backpack. Warm food and strong coffee welcomed him that morning. And the next. And the next. As the weeks moved on, Carl formed friendships with other guests and the staff. He began attending the AA meetings and occasionally took a seat at the Wednesday afternoon Bible study.

Carl had stepped onto the path of recovery. But it had taken a safe entry place with no motive other than to meet his most basic physical needs. The breakfast casseroles and lunch sandwiches donated daily from local churches and community groups made a difference. Carl repeatedly tells of the generous and welcoming staff—paid and volunteer—who drew him up from his darkest pit. He recognized God’s presence through the benevolent care given. As the apostle John reminds us, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (1 John 3:17).

When serving to meet physical needs, moments may arise when faith enters into the narrative. Sometimes appeals for help or prayer requests arise. A public-school mentor recounted a conversation with a teacher: “Mrs. Smith asked if our church has a youth group. She is struggling with some issues with her son. We talked in the hall about parenting and church.” Another church member who coaches basketball shared, “Joe asked me to pray for his dad. He is having heart surgery next week.” Discussions begin spontaneously about the hardships of life. Serving shoulder to shoulder with not-yet-believers makes the church more approachable. As unmet needs inch toward resolution, the perseverance and compassion of Christ-followers bring glory to God and create the space for people to encounter him without pretense. Without expectation of first hearing the good news, unmerited service turns up grace-filled encounters.

CALLED TO GOOD NEWS

Just as political ambassadors represent their country’s interests and policies as the personal designates of their own heads of state, so we are God’s representatives who carry his kingdom message: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Stunning. The King entrusted his message of grace and salvation to us, his royal subjects.

In a bold and seemingly reckless decree, Jesus empowered believers to deliver his message. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-19). This mandate of evangelism, now known as the Great Commission, remains a central tenet in the faith of every Christ-follower. In every tribe and tongue we tell the message that Jesus Christ is alive, and through his sacrificial death we can stand before God the Father without sin, shame, or fear. Central to our calling is proclamation.

On this earthly journey we will be called on to bear witness to our heavenly home and the King of kings. But has our voice gone silent? Many believers have expressed concern that the church has forgotten her call to evangelism. Ed Stetzer notes that “in relating God’s mission, the message increasingly includes the hurting but less frequently includes the global lost. . . . It is ironic, though, that as many missional Christians have sought to ‘embody’ the gospel, they have chosen to forsake one member of Christ’s body: the mouth.” It is a grave error to neglect this part of the body.

Whether because of a lack of urgency or an aversion to potentially risky conversation, we shy away from the verbal expression of the gospel. Andy Crouch suggests that

meeting the physical needs of the poor wins attention and affirmation from a watching world. Naming the spiritual poverty of a world enthralled to false gods provokes defensiveness and derision from those who do not even believe there is a god. Disaster relief and economic development seem like achievable goals that bring people together; religious claims to know the one true God seem like divisive mysteries that drive people apart. . . . In short, working for justice is cool. Proclaiming the gospel is not.

Yet when we bring the life-giving words of the gospel message, we speak into the need of the lost soul. Do we lack Paul’s boldness, who declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16)? The good news of Jesus Christ heralds the arrival of a new, all-encompassing kingdom. Yet our obsession with not offending people with the gospel insults the very nature of the message. The Spirit prompts but our tongues remain silent. How many of us cower behind the facade of good deeds when good words beg to be spoken?

Physical needs do indeed exist in the world today. But as pastor and author John Rackley writes,

Christian mission should not mistake itself for a humanitarian relief agency. This is a disconcerting thought. Many Christians and churches act as if the gospel is solely about what we can do to respond to the words of Jesus in Luke 4:16-23 (“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” Luke 4:18).

The tendency to prioritize freedom for the prisoner and sight for the blind overlooks Jesus’ calling to preach the good news.

When we favor serving the physically poor over the spiritually poor, we diminish the call to restored relationship with God. Reconciliation with God emerges from the choice to follow and worship God. But “how, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14). We are vocal ambassadors of this message, not merely demonstrators.

Social responsibility does indeed call the church to awareness of physical needs. Yet when church missions and the Peace Corps become indistinguishable, the legitimacy of our approach is called into question. As the church’s salvific message becomes marginalized, we cease fulfilling the biblical mandate to spread the good news. Do community initiatives without the gospel truly demonstrate God’s love? Does a focus on ensuring today’s lunch and tonight’s bed overlook the message of eternal hope in Jesus Christ?

Recognizing the t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• FOREWORD by Paul Borthwick
• INTRODUCTION: Charting Our Course
• 1 Good News and Good Deeds
• 2 Neighbors Near and Far
• 3 Crisis Response and Sustainable Development
• 4 Time and Money
• 5 Benefits and Drawbacks of Short-Term Teams
• 6 Serving the Undiscipled and Discipling the Servant
• 7 Minimizing and Embracing Risk
• CONCLUSION: Mobilizing Our Congregations
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• APPENDIX 1: Beyond “Minute for Missions”: Connecting Congregations with Mission Partners
• APPENDIX 2: Scenarios for Further Reflection
• NOTES
• IVP PRAXIS
• PRAISE FOR MAPPING CHURCH MISSIONS
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• MORE TITLES FROM INTERVARSITY PRESS
• Copyright