Two Mindsets: Missions Verses Local Church
Reading again again the book, Spontaneous Expansion by Roland Allen for the 4th time is worthy. He assesses my 28 years mission field experiences.
Even at the outset of the book, he prophesies, " If the Church is to be indigenous it must spring up in the soil from the very first seeds planted...They would be obviously and without question Native Churches. But if we establish Missions rather than Churches, two evil consequences, which we now see in greater or less degree everywhere, sterility and antagonism, inevitably arise." (p.2).
1. The church will become impotent. The local church believers remain largely inactive. They are given understanding that they can do nothing of their own in the church, because, first, it is not their and second, it is too huge for them to carry over. The native belivers are castrated from the beginning to remain passive listeners to whatever the paid worker (Missionary, Evangelist (Suwartik), Pastor), though he may be a native, received instructions from his headquarters.
The church understand that without the Mission's elaborate assistance for the payment of the pastor, evangelist, and helpers, for the projects, church building, church programs, for their church polity, liturgy, ordination and appointment of elders, it cannot even survive, let alone talking about any growth. "Control" is the mantra in every move and project.
You import from door to alter glass, from mat to ceiling fan. You conduct communion service following the prayer book. Even you sing worship songs translated from your mother tongue. You cassock them up as presbyters in Westminster Abbey. You name the church as the branch to your traditional one. You decide the candidates for baptism, you appoint an elder (not elders), you select the pastor, ordain him and appoint over local churches. You transfer worker, take disciplinary action without local consensus even for courtesy sake. So it is not the local church, rather it is a branch office of your Missions for administration.
2. The church will resent bitterly and revolt. When a group believers read the Word with fresh understanding of the way of Christ and His apostles, the Holy Spirit enlightens their hearts and minds, they start questioning the extra-biblical strategies and package of the Missions. They will resent, that too, bitterly. "Why do the board of assorted directors and administrators (Executive Director, General Secretary, Finance Director, Mission Director, Promotion Director...etc) remotely make policies and decisions for us? For they do not have relationship with our community living; they have very limited and prejudiced knowledge of the ground reality; their knowing us is largely biased on sympathy (as illiterates, backward, primitive, evil practitioners, loose morality) or on hierarchy (as their object of giving to poor, sick, impotent). Can't we take care of our faith community which we did well when we were non-Christians? Why don't you believe us that we are also led of the Holy Spirit? Do you really believe the Holy Spirit that He would minister though us too? Can't we select our church elders and ordain/appoint them? Can't we pay our pastors well enough to live as one among us? Can't we gather in homes and common places that we could offered?" "Missionaries, go home" will be their natural expression of bitter resent which will never be a sweet separation.
Reading again again the book, Spontaneous Expansion by Roland Allen for the 4th time is worthy. He assesses my 28 years mission field experiences.
Even at the outset of the book, he prophesies, " If the Church is to be indigenous it must spring up in the soil from the very first seeds planted...They would be obviously and without question Native Churches. But if we establish Missions rather than Churches, two evil consequences, which we now see in greater or less degree everywhere, sterility and antagonism, inevitably arise." (p.2).
1. The church will become impotent. The local church believers remain largely inactive. They are given understanding that they can do nothing of their own in the church, because, first, it is not their and second, it is too huge for them to carry over. The native belivers are castrated from the beginning to remain passive listeners to whatever the paid worker (Missionary, Evangelist (Suwartik), Pastor), though he may be a native, received instructions from his headquarters.
The church understand that without the Mission's elaborate assistance for the payment of the pastor, evangelist, and helpers, for the projects, church building, church programs, for their church polity, liturgy, ordination and appointment of elders, it cannot even survive, let alone talking about any growth. "Control" is the mantra in every move and project.
You import from door to alter glass, from mat to ceiling fan. You conduct communion service following the prayer book. Even you sing worship songs translated from your mother tongue. You cassock them up as presbyters in Westminster Abbey. You name the church as the branch to your traditional one. You decide the candidates for baptism, you appoint an elder (not elders), you select the pastor, ordain him and appoint over local churches. You transfer worker, take disciplinary action without local consensus even for courtesy sake. So it is not the local church, rather it is a branch office of your Missions for administration.
2. The church will resent bitterly and revolt. When a group believers read the Word with fresh understanding of the way of Christ and His apostles, the Holy Spirit enlightens their hearts and minds, they start questioning the extra-biblical strategies and package of the Missions. They will resent, that too, bitterly. "Why do the board of assorted directors and administrators (Executive Director, General Secretary, Finance Director, Mission Director, Promotion Director...etc) remotely make policies and decisions for us? For they do not have relationship with our community living; they have very limited and prejudiced knowledge of the ground reality; their knowing us is largely biased on sympathy (as illiterates, backward, primitive, evil practitioners, loose morality) or on hierarchy (as their object of giving to poor, sick, impotent). Can't we take care of our faith community which we did well when we were non-Christians? Why don't you believe us that we are also led of the Holy Spirit? Do you really believe the Holy Spirit that He would minister though us too? Can't we select our church elders and ordain/appoint them? Can't we pay our pastors well enough to live as one among us? Can't we gather in homes and common places that we could offered?" "Missionaries, go home" will be their natural expression of bitter resent which will never be a sweet separation.
Do we learn anything from the history?
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