Establishing Indigenous Ministries (Part 3)

Review: In Part 1 we looked at the definitions of self-support, self-governing, & self-propagating. The main point was that self-support is the key element on which the other two function and exist and, therefore, ought to be the primary objective on the road to establishing an indigenous ministry.

In Part 2, we looked at some reasons for stagnation in a ministry and some perspectives from several missiologist.
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Hindrances to Self-Support

1. The blindness of the missionary to the national's ability, with God's help, to supply every need of the ministry.

-He only visualizes a western standard and style of ministry.
-He does not view the national as able vehicles through which God can effectively support the work.
-His desire for instant "success".
-What the nationals can't afford is his personal tastes.

2. The blindness of American pastors and church members to the importance of self-support.

3. The blindness of the nationals themselves to the need of self-support.

Teaching about Self-Support

1. Christ's giving was selective and He resisted producing dependency.

2. God uses primarily the instrumentality of His people to supply the needs of His work. Under ordinary circumstances even the poorest group of people can support a pastor according to their own standard of living. All it would take is ten or more faithful giving families in the congregation. Some missionaries object on the ground that the people are too poor to support their pastor and, therefore, do not stress tithing.

3. The general rule in the New Testament is for every church to support itself. There are few recorded examples in the N.T. of established churches being supported financially by other churches. The overwhelming example seems to be that the new churches soon after their establishment were able to support themselves. They did not stay "mission fields"; they became missionaries

The Practical Application of Self-Support

1. The missionary needs to lead the way but starting from day one.
2. Give the nationals a purpose for their giving.
3. Bring the nationals into the financial decision process as soon as possible.
4. Set wise financial goals.
5. Establish a budget.
6. Turn the accounting of funds over to the nationals as soon as an able, responsible member is available.
7. Give them ample opportunity to experience that God can and will provide through them for the work of the local church.
8. Establish guidelines for church funds.

Conclusion: Deprive the nationals of the privilege of giving and the responsibility of sacrificing to support the work and weak Christians will result. They will likely be inactive also in evangelism and fail to assume the responsibility of church discipline. They will be willing to allow the missionary to do everything. On the other hand, they will cherish a work which has cost them sacrifice and effort.
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This series has drawn to a close, but please continue to pray for our family to be effective in establishing indigenous churches in Chile.

We would also like to hear from you about your thoughts about this topic.