Ouch!

I received an email today from an organization that is primarily involved in racial reconciliation (the organization is Reconciliation Ministries Network - www.rmni.org).  This particular newsletter was about missions.  More specifically it was about how Americans and American churches give (or don't give) to missions.  I have reprinted large excerpts from that newsletter.  It is worth reading.

If missions is a priority for God, how is this reflected in His local American churches? A George Barna survey of American senior Protestant pastors taken in December 2004 found that only 15% had missions as any one of their top three priorities for the coming year³. Globally, one-tenth of one percent (ten cents per hundred dollars) of all Christian income went to global foreign missions, estimates David Barrett in his annual “Status of Global Mission” report for 2005. Seven-tenths of 1% went to churches and another 1.2% went to parachurch organizations globally⁴. Fundamentally the issue is stinginess among Christians (at least nominal ones)—churches being composed of Christians—and even more fundamentally, the issue is failing to avail ourselves of the grace of God⁵. As Barrett put it, “Though Christians number only 33% of the world population, they receive 53% of the entire world’s annual income—and spend 98% of it on themselves.”⁶

In twenty-nine American denominations, benevolence giving as a part of total church income declined from 21% in 1968 to 15% in 2002⁷. Giving to “benevolences” is defined as funds given to the local church for local, national and international missions, as well as for denominational support. Benevolence giving declined from .66% of personal disposable income to .38% of disposable income in that same time span, remembering again that probably less than half of even this tiny income went to global missions. In real numbers, this means an average of $101.00 per member was designated in those denominations for all church benevolences in 2002. This does not include direct giving to missions, not going through the church, but overall, giving to missions was minimal. Of course, denominations vary considerably in the amount given per member for missions. Giving by Christian Evangelicals is considerably higher (14% of them tithe, compared to 5% of the general population⁸), but they represent only 7% of the

US

population⁹.

Eighty-five percent of giving in the twenty-nine denominations went to maintain the local church program. The situation is similar when it comes to human resources. Ninety-five percent of graduates of evangelical seminaries, Bible colleges and similar institutions stay in the

US

, which has 5% of the world’s population¹⁰. Where does local church income go? Does it reflect an ethnocentric and insular mindset, or a global and missionary mindset? Some churches give 50% and more of church income to missions. Giving is not an end in itself, but a means to glorify God. The Spirit can turn blasphemers, materialists, hedonists, sardonic post-moderns, the indifferent, the vile and the merely religious into joyful worshipers of God.

David Barrett estimated that 34.3 million die without Christ annually, and of those, 13.2 million were never evangelized. In all, sixty-five percent of those dying annually aren't Christians¹¹. This should motivate us to spread the Gospel as quickly as possible. “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter” (Prov. 24:11, NIV). Do we believe that apart from Christ a person will go to hell, and if so, do we really care, as reflected by our giving?

The Lausanne Covenant, a product of global evangelistic reflection in 1974, and ratified by 2,300 people from 150 nations says in paragraph 9:

The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism¹².

We need revival. Peruvian missiologist Samuel Escobar wrote:

Missionary vision and drive have always been connected in history to movements of spiritual revival. Missionary attitudes mark young churches where the memory of their origin is still fresh, but also old churches when they are shaken and revitalized. The spiritual vitality of people, churches and denominations in times of revival has nourished the vision and the willingness to obey Christ, and so has made possible great advances in mission. Revival has been the cradle of missionary vocations and the kind of environment in which new structures for mission have been imagined¹³.

In light of the neglect of the church’s core mission, as judged by percentage of giving to missions, it’s time to call Christian stewardship to new standards. Western Christians are the wealthy of this world. A person earning $10,000 annually is among the upper 9% on earth by income¹⁴. Rich Christians are commanded “to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Tim. 6:18-19).

Endnotes:

3.        “Church Priorities for 2005 Vary Considerably,” 2/14/05, accessed at http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx? Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=182 on 3/22/05.

4.        Barrett, David B., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. 2005. Missiometrics 2005: A global survey of world mission. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 29 (January): 29. This includes nominal Christians. Are Christians by-passing local churches because of minimal missions vision, and giving directly to missions?

5.        Note how God’s grace can make even the very poor generous in 2 Cor. 8:1-5.

6.        Barrett, David, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson, Eds. 2001. World Christian Encyclopedia. ISBN:0195079639, p. 1:656.

7.        Empty Tomb, Inc. www.emptytomb.org/research.php, accessed 1/21/05.

8.        Barna, George. “Stewardship” http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=36 accessed 3/23/05

9.        Barna, George. 2004. “Religious beliefs remain constant but subgroups are quite different” http://www.barna.org/FlexPage. aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=160 accessed 3/23/05.

10.     Guthrie, Stan. 2000. Missions in the third millennium: 21 key trends for the 21st century. ISBN: 1842270427, p. 22.

11.     Barrett and Johnson, World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2200, c. 2001, p. 59.

12.     Paragraph 9, http://www.gospelcom.net/lcwe/statements/covenant.html accessed 3/23/05.

13.     Escobar, Samuel. 2003. The new global mission: The Gospel from everywhere to everyone. ISBN: 0830833013, p. 166.

14.     Barrett, David, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson, Eds. 2001. World Christian Encyclopedia. ISBN:0195079639, p. 1:6

Comments

[Jim Burchel]

GREAT article. I was inspired a new to consider missions vocationally and just to take a fresh look at our lifestyle to determine how we might be able to give more... I enjoyed all the alarming statistics in the article... shame on us, what more can we all do? A LOT!!! God help us as an American church...