The Sustainability and Repeatability of Western Evangelism

EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Chadwick Brewer | South Chesterfield, Virginia

It was a hot and sunny Tuesday morning when we climbed into the back of the bakkie (pickup truck) to finish our trip to Chikuku. My traveling companion and I had been traveling since Sunday afternoon to get to this rural village in Zimbabwe, and we were excited to meet brethren that we had never met before. We had a day of lectures arranged for Chikuku and four days of lectures planned for Mashindi. While we had been to South Africa several times, and we were traveling with our good friends from South Africa, this was our first time in Zim, and we were looking forward to the work.

We had a good turn out of about 85 people at Chikuku, at the end of the day, but we noticed that there was some discussions were happening after the day’s lectures. Upon inquiring, we learned that of the large number of men who had committed to coming to the preacher training classes at Mashindi the next day, about half of them had backed out. We asked why, concerned that we had done something to turn men off from the classes. We were informed that when the men found out that we were not providing transportation money, they decided not to come to the classes. We didn’t know that transportation money was expected, so we asked if we had made a blunder. We were told that the men have been accustomed to Americans paying for their transportation, food, and sometimes lodging. But they also told us that the practice was not really a good thing from their perspective. They pointed out that if the preachers needed to travel the same distance for something they wanted, they would make that happen. It would take some effort and maybe a sacrifice, but they could make it happen. They didn’t make it happen because they were used to the Americans doing it for them, they didn’t really value the classes we were presenting, or a combination of both.

As we discussed it further with our African brethren over the next several days, they made several more points to us. They pointed out that we had made many sacrifices to come to Zimbabwe and teach them, and it was reasonable to allow the brethren there to make the effort to come and learn. They pointed out that with our budgets being limited, it was unsustainable for us to pay for everything for everyone. We discussed the problems that are created when brethren are not encouraged to save and give to do their own work, where people wait for westerners to do it for them or not do it at all. Throughout the week we heard African preachers instruct the other preachers to stop relying on westerners for money and to encourage the local Christians to do their own work. All of this adds to many other conversations and events that have happened in many places the gospel is being taught, and it should cause us to pause and consider the wisdom of our methods.

In Tanzania, I learned about how some westerners had chosen to take some preachers to training classes out of town and pay for their transport, food, and lodging, while other preachers were left out. This created rifts between some preachers and caused some to think more highly concerning themselves than was right, or less about themselves. I also told stories about westerners who would take selected people to western styled resorts for classes, leading the locals to believe that the westerners did not want to be around them or experience their culture but only wanted to spread their western culture. While these effects are undoubtedly unintended, they are nevertheless a reality.

There are other unintended side effects that commonly occur in many places because of how the work is patterned by westerners. What I mean by that is we have a tendency to do things on a large scale. The intentions are good, and the reasoning seems sound. It takes a lot of money and effort to travel partway around the world. We have limited time, and traveling is taxing on our bodies and chips away at our valuable time. It is convenient to have many brethren travel from many locations to meet at a central point. Once there they will need food, lodging, and possibly materials. While we are there, it might be a convenient time to distribute benevolence, relief, and/or some other goods. When this pattern is established, it is often what they want to replicate. On our part, working in this way makes sense. On their side, it was uplifting, encouraging, and rejuvenating, and replicating that would be wonderful. However, works on this scale are often outside of their means. This leaves them with just a few options. They may still plan similar works and expect westerners to fund it. Or they may just wait for westerners to show up, run it, and fund it. Or they may become discouraged that they cannot replicate it, feeling like they cannot effectively do the work that is expected of saints.

I want to be perfectly clear: we are not discussing matters of sin, issues of fellowship, or areas of doctrine. Rather, we are looking at areas of wisdom, and we should  conduct a close examination of how the gospel was spread in the first century through a diverse economic, social, political, and cultural world.

As Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark when out to spread the gospel, the manner in which they worked is worth considering. Later in the New Testament, we also see Timothy, Titus, Luke, Peter, and others do their own work in evangelism, and their examples are also worth examining.

One of the key elements that we see in their evangelism is sustainability. While the evangelist were sent out to the work by established congregations, wherever the new congregation was established, it was expected to be self sufficient and self supporting. We see this on the isle of Crete, the rich merchant city of Corinth, and also in the extremely poor area of Macedonia. It would not have been sustainable for Antioch or Jerusalem to be financially responsible to prop up the work in all the places that Paul, Barnabas, Luke, Timothy, Titus, etc., traveled and worked. Even if it were sustainable for a time, it was needful for the brethren to be invested in their local work, supporting their local workers, and being generous to their own needy (Acts 20:35, 1 Cor. 9:11, 2 Cor. 8:1-5, James 1:27, Galatians 6:6). Would we not be robbing our fellow brethren of the  blessings (Philippians 4:17; Acts 20:35) that come along with them learning to give and make their own work thrive?

In Galatians 2:10, Paul says that when he was sent out, he was asked to remember the poor, a thing that he was eager to do. We also see that when there was times of disaster or urgent need (1 Corinthians 16:1-4) churches send relief to the church in need. By these examples, we see the example of helping the poor and the needy and for our local congregations to help congregations in times of disaster and urgent need. However, we should once again point out that this does not give us the example of one congregation propping up and doing the financial work for another congregation in normal circumstances. It is not sustainable for western congregations to be responsible for paying for so many preachers’ salaries, church buildings, evangelistic efforts, etc.. Even if it were sustainable, would it be the wise or right thing?

This leads us to our next point: repeatability. The simple and critical fact is, we as foreigners will never be as effective in the work as the locals will be. They live there full-time, giving them more opportunities. More than that, they know the language intimately, understand the culture as only a native can, and have built relationships that would take us years or decades to establish, if we could ever establish them in the same way. While we can offer help, encouragement, instruction, and correction, we must recognize that we will never be as effective as they will be in their own fields. For the gospel to work and spread as it should, we should want them to do their own work there, and then take the gospel further in their own right.

Paul, for instance, seemed to move on rather quickly from most places. He expected them to step up, do their work, contribute to their own needs, and then in turn take the gospel further. The church at Colossae seems to be a great example of this. It was the natural product of the churches in Asia Minor repeating what was modeled for them. Should we not want this and work towards this in our efforts as well?

To that end, it might serve us well to model evangelism in a way that is repeatable by those to whom we minister. Let me be clear: this is not a matter of right or wrong. This is not a matter of sin or not sin. Rather, this is an area for us to pause and consider the wisdom of our ways. Would it serve them best to model the work of the church with methods that would be repeatable and sustainable for them? What would it be like if we taught them to fish, and not just provided fish for them? Could we spend more time and effort helping them to see how they can do the work for themselves and empower them to do it sustainably?

There is a good and faithful brother who has written a book warning Christians about the dangers of marrying a Muslim (a major problem in his area), and he wants to print 200 copies of this book to distribute. This mass publication of materials is something he has seen modeled for him but is not repeatable in his budget. While this want might be easily handled by a couple of saints from the West, would it be prudent to help him come up with alternative ways of getting his material into people’s hands? Could we suggest that he ask some parents to purchase the books for their children? Or perhaps suggest that some Christians in the area commit to purchasing a couple of books for the youth in their congregations? Could he print small leaflets or bookmarks, outlining his seven main points, to generate local interest, so that they would be motivated to buy a printing for their child? It is true that helping them come up with alternative methods takes more work than writing a check, but what a blessing for them to seek and find ways to do their work sustainably!

I am not discrediting the good work that has been done by so many, in reverence and awe, nor am I saying that I have it all figured out or that I have not made many blunders in these regards. God knows that I so often fall short! My hope, my aim, and prayer is that we will do our work with the utmost wisdom, with the ultimate good of the brethren in mind, and in a way that is sustainable and repeatable. We need to go into all the world to preach the gospel. We as westerners cannot do that. We need to bring the gospel as far as we can and allow and expect the saints in that area to take it further. We need to empower them to do that work, allowing them to work through the growing pains to get there.

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April 2024 | GROW magazine