Missionaries have always been on the hearts of church leaders. Calling a church to walk alongside our cross-cultural workers is not a new development. In fact, we have biblical evidence that presses us to give of our finances for the sake of sending the gospel to the nations.
I sat in my office this morning and read from 3 John. 3 John is one of those letters that are so short that you don't reference chapter numbers when navigating through them. All you need are verse numbers and you can find your way around this great letter.
It seems like the main issue that John was addressing when he penned this letter was the fact that there were some in the church, one for sure, who were trying to stop the church from financially supporting missionaries.
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 3 John 5-9
Behind the resistance against missionary support was a man named Diotrephes. John says he liked to put himself first and did not acknowledge the Apostle's authority. The solution was to bring this man before the church and allow the church to make a decision about what to do with him.
In the context of this letter, I see a few important truths for us as we consider how we can care well for missionaries.
1) Financially giving to missionaries is a good thing.
John says, "You will do well to send [the missionaries] on their journey." This is a pretty straight forward instruction. As a church we will do well to offer continued support of our missionaries around the world.
2) There is a good way to do a good thing.
John adds that modifier, "in a manner worthy of God." This detail clues us in to the fact that there is a way to send out missionaries that is not in a manner worthy of God. We can probably discuss the details at length, but I think at its most basic level sending well means that we send missionaries out with sufficient finances, quality training, and meaningful relationships.
I do not want our missionaries to be hamstrung financially. Life is hard enough when you are living as a cross-cultural worker. We should do all we can to enable our workers to focus on their main tasks; taking the gospel to the nations and not trying to raise money to do so.
I also want our missionaries to receive quality training. I don't think every missionary needs to have an advanced degree, but I do think they all need to be equipped to do what God has called them to do. While this certainly includes theological training, it also includes anthropological perspectives, development of mission strategies, language learning, and maybe even small engine repair, medical clinic development, or computer networking. Whenever a person is called to go overseas for the sake of the gospel, the church must seek to invest in training that person so that he is in the best position possible to fulfill his calling.
Missionaries are sent out in a manner worthy of God when we send them with meaningful relationships. We cannot afford to be a church that only writes a check. Now, we must write checks and give financially, but our investments will fail to return what they should if we are not personally connected to our missionaries. And this means more than just the church as an entity connecting to the missionary. Individuals within that church must take on the responsibility to pray for, love, and encourage our missionary partners.
3) It is our responsibility to financially support missionaries.
John noted that the workers sent out by the church did not receive support from the Gentiles. In other words, it is the church's job to send out laborers into the harvest. Friends, the bottom-line truth is that if we don't do it, the Kiwanis Club isn't going to stand in the gap. The church is the only disciple-making, missionary-sending, gospel-proclaiming entity in the world.
4) When we offer financial support to others, we are included in their labors.
This is where the simplicity and frankness of God's mysteries is experienced by the church. Simply giving money to our missionaries makes us fellow workers along with them. That is pretty straight forward. But there is mystery to it. When we give so that a couple can open a sewing center in the Middle East in order to offer life-skills to women as well as to offer Christ to them, we are, in a way, there with them. When a man has the opportunity to take money we have given and pay for transportation to a remote village in Chad, we are there with him as shares the gospel with people who have never heard. There is a beautiful partnership forged when we give to those who are sent.
As I think about this text from 3 John, I am thankful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions and for our Cooperative Program as a whole. Through these efforts we can fully fund our missionaries and offer them the best training possible. We come up a little short, however, in personally connecting with our missionaries. We must become creative and intentional in making personal partnerships flourish.
We will meet several missionary families this Christmas season as we seek to support them in a manner worthy of God. Each Sunday in December, we will interact with folks from around the world and seek ways to continue to love and support them well. I hope you will prayerfully consider what God would have you give above and beyond your normal giving to our Lottie Moon offering this month.
