Navigating Mission Field Relationships

October 20, 2009 – 10:01 pm

As many of you know, the theme of this year’s Mid-America Conference on Preaching was “Gospel-Driven Separation.” I would encourage all of you to take some time to think about this vital principal by listening to the sessions.

I did a workshop in which I sought to share from our experience and application of the principles of separation which Dr. Doran was speaking about. Listen to this session and follow along with the outline. It was my purpose in that session to provide more questions than answers, and not in some emergent/personal discovery sort of way. I am not afraid to give my answers to the questions. I believe that as churches and missionaries interact with one another and with the unique and varied fields on which they serve, each party must think through the issues of separation in a careful way, and questions help us do that.

At its foundation, churches and missionaries alike need to know what they believe and be committed to the purity of the gospel. On this foundation, a relationship of trust can be established between missionaries and churches.

On the field, however, Fundamental missions has often been marked by two extremes: isolation or abandonment. It seems many missionaries unnecessarily isolate themselves from other evangelical brothers whom they can learn from. Sometimes this isolation is a result of pressure or mistrust from sending or supporting churches. Sometimes it is just a “play it safe” approach. I don’t think this kind of approach is necessary to preserve the vital principles of separatist Fundamentalism.

The other extreme is abandonment. Some missionaries see the success of non-separatists, enjoy fellowship with them and fail to see the trajectory of ministries which do not practice separation. As a result, they abandon separatist principles for one reason or another. This course is not wise for the long-term health of indigenous church planting movements.

I think that by knowing what one believes and how the gospel should be protected through applying separatist principles, a missionary can boldly identify who he is, confidently interact with other believers, and best glorify God.