My Myopic Missions Mindset

This post is a few years in the making. I started doing freelance work with an organization called Scholar Leaders a few years ago. I instantly fell in love with their work. I went full time with them in December of last year. They’ve forever changed the way I think about what is often called missions. Let me explain.

The conventional way of thinking of missions in America (at least in my experience) looks something like this. You find someone who feels called to missions. After their undergraduate degree, they go on to get a nearly 100 hour master’s degree that is called a “Master of Divinity.” They then spend several years going through an approval process, additional training, language school, and for many, a whole lot of fund raising.

After all that, they can begin learning a culture first hand and seeking to build relationships and begin their ministry work. This is indeed a noble calling and an honorable sacrifice. Young families who make this move often only stay on the mission field for a relatively short time. I recently read one statistic that over 50% of American missionaries leave within their first ten years.

So, here’s where my view of missions has been radically altered. I’ve been faced with the question of whether or not the most effective way of spreading God’s Kingdom around the world is really for more Americans to go to places like Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America (called the Majority World). Is that the best way to reach the masses?

There are far too many layers to this than I could peel back in a single post, so I’ll highlight only one. Christianity is growing thirteen times faster outside of America, and, is arguably, far healthier in many ways. Are we going to help or hinder their work by sending more American missionaries (and often a lot of baggage from American Christianity)? Are there other things we can do that would be of greater service and yield a more lasting impact?

What I’ve learned is a simple lesson the British pastor and author John Stott taught his students long ago. The greatest way Christians in the West can bless the Global Church, is by supporting leaders in places like Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America where the Church is experiencing growth that looks strangely familiar to the book of Acts. I’m thankful to be a part of an organization that is investing in leaders in the Majority World who are the helm of the expanse of God’s Kingdom.

The Majority World is where the majority of humans live. And it’s where the Church is growing the fastest. But sadly, the majority of the world’s financial wealth is outside of the Majority World. Perhaps, one of the very best ways we can serve the Global Church is to invest our resources in those already leading and reaching their own communities around the world.

If you would like to check out the work of Scholar Leaders, please visit the website and prayerfully consider how you might invest in global leaders serving on the frontlines of the advancement of God’s Kingdom.