MISSIONARY MEMBERSHIP IN INDIGENOUS CHURCHES

Written By Great Commission Council
 

STATEMENT

As a part of an indigenous local church, the role of a missionary is to be a faithful member. As such, they should aim to support, encourage, and strengthen the church. Furthermore, their role ought to be shaped by the indigenous local church and its leadership, and it will vary according to the needs and health of the church. While sent out as missionaries, they should take the posture of sacrificial servants and humble co-laborers whose primary goal is not their own personal ambition but building Jesus' Church.

 
Article Written by Tom Roberts

It was our first American Thanksgiving as missionaries in the city where we serve. A large group of American expats got together to enjoy a meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We enjoyed feeling "at home" again with familiar language and food. I started talking to the host, who had lived there for ten years and was a fellow member of our local indigenous church. Innocently, I asked which of the guests were also members of a church. The question surprised and embarrassed him a little. "The handful of people at our church are probably the only ones here who are members of a church," he responded in a hushed tone. Now it was my turn to be surprised. Most of the guests were missionaries. Why would they avoid churches? After all, didn’t they want to see churches planted in the area?

I've interacted with other missionaries long enough to realize this situation is the norm. Missionaries typically fall within a spectrum of five groups. They serve either as (A) independent missionaries without a connection to a church, (B) training partners primarily connected to church leaders, (C) regular attendees with limited commitment to a church, (D) those only willing to lead in a church, or (E) committed members of a church. 

We understand that there may be certain situations where flexibility is required, but it’s our conviction that missionaries should move toward the E-side of this spectrum. But how?

Missionaries Need to Be Faithful Members

When people think of going overseas as a missionary, they don't typically imagine becoming a "faithful member" of a church. Nevertheless, one of the most significant needs in indigenous local churches worldwide is simple, ordinary faithfulness. I've talked to numerous indigenous pastors in my region who are baffled by the low commitment of missionaries to their local churches. Pastors labor to encourage their people to be committed, grow in godliness, love one another, and attend church regularly. Yet often missionaries demonstrate less spiritual maturity and commitment than even the least mature members.

Indigenous pastors want missionaries to be what they desire all of their members to be: faithful members. It may not seem "strategic" to go to the same church every Sunday. It may not feel as "contextualized" as we envisioned. The church may feel too "traditional" for our taste. Or it may not be focused on "mission" as much as we want. As foreigners, we missionaries may see weaknesses in the church. But some of the best fruit will come from being a mere member of a church that preaches the gospel and is growing in biblical health. Perhaps our strengths will complement their weaknesses even as their strengths complement ours. Membership is biblical and helpful for the missionary, the indigenous local church, and the advance of the Great Commission.

Think of the effects of a missionary’s faithful membership. It's an example to non-Christians that we evangelize. It's an example to Christians we disciple. It encourages church members, many of whom will have better opportunities for making disciples than we do. It encourages pastors, helping them to persevere in shepherding the flock. It nurtures our own spiritual growth. God designed the church as a "body" of which we are members and need encouragement to keep growing (1 Corinthians 12-14). Most importantly, faithful membership glorifies God. God's "manifold wisdom" is displayed throughout creation through the simple gatherings of believers called "the church" (Ephesians 3:10).

Missionaries' first and most crucial role in indigenous local churches is to be faithful members. It may not look glamorous. But over time, simple faithfulness in a local church can leave a profound impact that will outlast our years of service.

Missionaries Need to Be Edifying Members

Faithful membership has an aim. The goal of church members is to make the church more like Jesus to build itself up in love (Ephesians 4:16). Faithful members don't come to church as consumers but as fellow workers who edify the church by supporting, encouraging, and strengthening others to live as the body of Christ (4:12).

Here's a sad statistic from a friend ministering in an Asian country. In a country where only 4% are Christians, 40% of the attendees of a local indigenous church were missionaries who were not active members. Most didn't have adequate language abilities. Most also attended an international church that met later in the day. Most were only planning on being there for a few years. This discouraged the local pastor. My friend asked him, "How can missionaries help you and your church?" The pastor laughed, then began describing basic things like evangelism and discipling. Presumably, the missionaries weren't doing anything to edify the church.

This sad story is all too common. Missionaries often come to church for personal benefit rather than genuine concern for the church. The church becomes a "language class," where the primary reason for attending is to grow in the local language and culture, not to serve others or worship the Lord. Or they can see themselves as "church consultants" who speak into the church's problems and yet don't have the commitment, patience, or ability to help address those problems. Missionaries like these become a burden to local churches.

The goal of missionaries should be to edify indigenous churches rather than to gain self-fulfillment in their mission. We should see ourselves as a part of the flock, not separate from it. We should assess the flock's needs and ask how we can serve. If God obtained his flock "with his own blood," then we should carefully consider how to spend ourselves to edify his precious sheep (Acts 20:28).

Missionaries Need to Be Submissive Members

An unsubmissive missionary can wreak havoc on an indigenous local church. An indigenous pastor once told me about the ruin caused by a short-term missionary team who came to his church. Someone on the team had his own vision of what the church needed and later moved to the area against the pastor's wishes. This “missionary” began to sow seeds of doubt amongst attendees, pressing his ideals upon those easily influenced. The pastor encouraged this person to leave, but he wouldn't listen. Eventually, a church faction began to oppose the pastor and bring confusion to the church. The missionary supposedly came to partner with the church but left it in pieces for the pastor to pick up.

Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." One of the best things we can do to build up a local church is to obey and submit to its leaders in a way that brings them joy. Their leadership should shape our role in the church according to the church's needs. As missionaries, we are not above accountability. Even the apostle Paul followed the direction of the church in Antioch when they set him apart as a missionary with Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3). 

Submission can sometimes be frustrating. When we hear "submit," we can react negatively and think our freedom is constricted. Most of us know or have first-hand experience of abusive authority in a local church. Scripture never condones abuse. If a pastor abuses his authority, then they "will have to give an account" (Hebrews 13:17). Heavy-handed shepherding and false doctrine hurt the sheep. Examples of abusive authority, however, should never determine whether or not we will obey Scripture. Joyful submission to godly leadership is a beautiful, biblical command. The New Testament teaches submission as the godly response to a variety of people with God-given authority (Romans 13:1; Ephesians 5:21ff.; 1 Peter 2:13).  If a pastor is not calling us to disobey God's Word or go against our conscience, then our calling as members is to submit joyfully.

What does godly submission look like in a local church? Submissive members are followers. They trust that God has placed faithful shepherds over them for their good. Submissive members are learners. They are quick to listen to local leaders' thoughts about ministry rather than tell them how to do it better. Submissive members are accountable. They invite other members to hold them accountable in the fight against sin and growth in godliness. Submissive members are flexible. Their initial vision for missions might change because a local church has a greater understanding of the actual needs in a particular context. Submissive members are devoted. They are more interested in the growth of every member ministry than their personal ministry.

One of the main things that my indigenous pastor-friends would love for foreign missionaries to learn is submission. It is not because they are power-hungry authoritarians (though there are some pastors like that—please steer clear of them!). It’s because they really do believe that submissive missionaries are more fruitful in ministry and helpful to their churches.

Missionaries Need to Be Discerning Members 

While faithfulness in edifying and submitting to an indigenous church and its leadership is ideal, we still need discernment as foreigners coming into an indigenous church. Many missionaries have experienced the challenge of finding a local church. Some friends of mine, involved in an indigenous church for years, had to leave when it became clear that they wanted to go in a different direction than the leaders. So, what should we do if the church is not very healthy? And, if a church is growing in health, what should our ministry look like?

1. We must discern the health of an indigenous local church.

Faithfulness to edify and submit to an indigenous local church doesn't mean we can't critique it based on the Word of God. On the one hand, we must be careful with critique and avoid acting like experts. On the other hand, our final authority is the Bible, and our consciences must be bound to His Word above all. Therefore, missionaries need to discern an indigenous church's health.

In my region, there are more unhealthy churches than healthy churches. Nominalism, the prosperity gospel, and false teachings are rampant. Even amongst churches that believe the gospel, there’s a wide range of health. Generally speaking, missionaries should join churches that are growing in health. If a church's leadership does not agree with primary doctrines (i.e., the gospel, the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, the inerrancy of Scripture, etc.) and in many secondary church doctrines (i.e., baptism, church membership, leadership, etc.), then it is often not wise to join that church. 

At the same time, a church's leadership may humbly believe God's Word and need discipleship in matters of biblical church health. In that case, we need to seek discernment and godly counsel to consider our level of partnership. Finally, though membership in an indigenous local church is often ideal, in some cases, it is not possible or prudent for missionaries. There may be no gospel-preaching church to join. Or the area in which may only have gospel-preaching churches that cannot have foreigners participate because of the safety concerns. For these reasons and more, it will take great discernment, persistent prayer, wisdom, humility, love, and godly counsel to navigate issues that a missionary may face in joining an indigenous church. 

2. We must discern our ministry role in discussion with the indigenous church.

The roles of missionaries vary from context to context and church to church. The starting place for all members of indigenous local churches is faithful church membership. But that doesn't mean every missionary will work on the church staff. Some missionaries work in ministries outside an indigenous local church. They have tasks indirectly tied to the local church they join (e.g., teaching in a seminary, working a business-as-mission job, Bible translation, etc.). Others work inside an indigenous church under its direct oversight for ministry throughout the week. 

Missionaries need discernment as they consider their missionary role as those sent for a particular purpose and their membership role as committed members of their indigenous local church. Every context is different. It is wise to clarify our ministry roles with local leadership as early as possible so that we all know what to expect. We should seek the wisdom of the church's leadership to see how they think we would be most helpful before assuming how we believe we can serve best.

Missionaries Need to Be Humble Members

The posture of every Christian should be humble. In Philippians 2:6-11, Paul describes Jesus' humility in becoming a man and dying on the cross (6-8), and then his exaltation at the right hand of God (9-11). It is a beautiful passage on the deity, humanity, suffering, and exaltation of Jesus Christ. But Paul doesn't write his words for a theological debate. He writes them so Christians would likewise have a humble mindset in how they treat one another in the local church (Phil 2:1-5).

Missionaries need to be humble church members. They need to avoid becoming patriarchal experts. Perhaps they come to "train" a church while not being involved in it. As a result, members are often frustrated that the "expert" doesn't understand their culture and seems more interested in their mission than in real people. Sometimes, it’s the locals who view the missionaries as experts. They see the foreigner as the most knowledgeable of the Bible and the best in ministry. Even indigenous pastors can begin to depend on them like "patriarchs" and become passive. This over-exalted view of the missionary ultimately fails to serve indigenous churches by creating an over-dependence on the missionary. Instead, our goal should be to serve churches so that their leaders take the lead in their own cultures for the gospel's sake.

Missionaries also need to avoid becoming unaccountable pioneers. Whether consciously or unconsciously, good-hearted missionaries can have a heart for reaching the lost while leaving the church behind. They don't show humility as foreigners in a culture where faithful local pastors have lived since birth. Or they have a church growth strategy that the locals aren't using, so they do their own thing. We must be humble enough to listen to local pastors and Christians. Part of good contextualization is listening to Spirit-filled indigenous believers. At times, local believers may get things wrong, but in all likelihood, locals will know more about the culture than we do!

Ultimately, a Christ-like mindset is the key to faithful partnership and membership in indigenous local churches. We must have a humble view of ourselves that, in turn, leads to sacrificial service to others. Missionaries should see themselves as expendable servants of the church's mission rather than indispensable pioneers of their own vision. 

Recommendations

Missions and membership go hand-in-hand. Missionaries should consider how they can become better members of indigenous local churches. We recommend that sending churches, missionaries, and mission agencies prioritize and encourage faithful membership in indigenous local churches that are growing in biblical health. Our goal is ordinary faithfulness for the extraordinary task of spreading the good news to the nations—in, through, and with indigenous local churches.

Recommended Resources

Great Commission Council
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