The New Testament Preacher is to Maintain a Blameless Character, which includes the Primary Qualification of Freedom from Covetousness (1 Tim 6:6–11; 1 Pet 5:1–3; 2 Pet 2:2–3, 14–17; Jude 11, 16).
One of the most important qualifications for the preacher of the gospel is a blameless testimony concerning money. American churches should realize that receiving foreign support, especially in the Two-Thirds World, often results in a covetous desire for money and power. These wrong desires lead to number of problems in the national church:

Improper Envy of the Pastoral Position
In the Two-Thirds World, most people who are poor cannot simply “climb the ladder” through hard work and extra hours as many do in America. The “American Dream” is just that—American. Hard work can pay off and lead to more prosperity in some cases, but this is definitely not the norm. Most people do not have a steady income. Praying for one’s “daily bread” is a necessity for believers in most of the Two-Thirds World. Salaried jobs are few and much sought after, even if the pay is minimal, because with a salary comes a degree of security. In many places, the only people who have salaried jobs are government and charity organization employees. Therefore, when a foreigner provides a salary to a national pastor or evangelist, even though it appears to the foreigner as a meager sum, it is a BIG deal to the national, even if that sum only covers part of his family’s needs. Those who obtain connections to foreign money often find themselves suddenly becoming important people, able to control and influence people through their ties to money. When this happens, it creates resentment among the saints and often between believers and unbelievers as well, regardless of the national preacher’s purity of motive.

Pragmatism and “Easy-Believism”
A poor national who gains foreign sponsorship will most definitely face the temptation to do whatever is necessary to maintain this sponsorship (Prov 28:21). He is faced with the need to prove his worth to his donors abroad. What best proves to the donors that the national preacher is a good deal for their money? Large numbers of converts and churches planted prove they are a wise investment. Thus pragmatism, with its inseparable twin, “easy-believism,” often becomes a normal practice in their ministries because of the financial partnership abroad.

Deception of Foreigners
Receiving funds from abroad often leads the national preacher to deception to maintain this money. To many nationals, deception is acceptable behavior because the foreigner appears to suffer no financial loss if lied to. That is one reason why, for instance, when a foreign donor comes to visit one of his client preachers or churches, impressive crowds gather. The foreigner, who does not know the local language, culture, or maybe even the true character of the national preacher, does not realize (nor is he told) that of the 150 people in the service, only 20 are active church members. Nor does the national preacher point out that 40 of the hearers are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church across town. All the donor sees is smiling faces, rapt attention as the translator speaks on his behalf, people singing about Christ, and the obvious disparity between his life and their own. Impressed, the typical sponsor takes pictures for his presentations, gives large gifts, and promises future support. Deception also happens when national preachers move from one missionary or organization to another in order to follow the money. Many of these national pastors and evangelists lack biblical convictions concerning doctrinal and holiness issues.

Strife among National Pastors and Evangelists
Financial partnerships from abroad often cause infighting among many of the national preachers as they strive for positions within the various groups. Believers in the national churches as well as unbelievers see the hypocrisy in these leaders, thus causing great harm to the testimony of Christ. This foreign funding fuels an unhealthy competition among national leaders who desperately need fellowship and unity around God’s truth.
By pointing out the four problems above, we are not questioning the motive of every national pastor and evangelist, but we are stating a generalization that is true more often than a Western pastor or missionary might expect, especially in the Two-Thirds World. Covetousness and its effects are such a problem among ministers in Cambodia that it is a source of ridicule among the lost and many believers assume it to be a necessary evil. Much of the blame lies not with national preachers but with Western believers honestly seeking to spread the gospel around the world.

We must realize that receiving foreign support is not just a matter of obtaining resources, but also one of prestige and power in the mind of the national. Western pastors and missionaries need to realize their limitations in understanding the power and influence that sponsorship from abroad can effect among the poorer classes in a corrupt society. Financial partnerships from abroad provide great temptation for men to enter the ministry for the wrong reasons. Some men with a pure heart start receiving foreign funds and covetousness begins to take root. Many good national men have been destroyed by this practice. We must guard the gospel by helping the national preachers to guard their testimonies. Any system that breeds covetousness among preachers is fundamentally unsound and unworthy of being followed by God’s people.

The New Testament Preacher Must Guard the Purity of the Gospel Through His Testimony and Message (Matt 6:24; 10:32–39; Luke 14:25–33).
Jesus spoke clearly that believing on Him would require taking up one’s cross, loving God more than people and things, being willing to lose all, even being willing to die for Him. He summarized false religion as serving the god of money as opposed to the one True God. The prosperity gospel, on the other hand, promises physical health and material prosperity to those who believe on Christ. This extremely dangerous heresy runs rampant in many Two-Thirds World countries. Its message basically makes Christianity appear to be no different from the other religions of the world, which keep followers by promising the “faithful” what they desire most—prosperity and good luck. Knowing the thirst of the unbelieving world for material prosperity, national preachers are often tempted to promise physical blessings (health and wealth) to those who believe. We have even heard national preachers use their foreign support as a proof of God’s blessing on those that believe!

When national preachers and churches are perceived as benefiting financially from their decision to follow Christ, unbelievers question their motives. In Cambodia, national believers are frequently asked, “How much are the foreigners paying you to do this?” Unbelievers assume that the reason why the believers have professed Christ and are witnessing is material gain, the very opposite of Christ’s teachings. This distorts the message of the gospel by encouraging the prosperity gospel heresy.

National Believers Need the Opportunity to Show the Sincerity of their Faith before the Unsaved (2 Cor 8–9; 1 John 3:16–18; 3 John 5–11; Titus 3:13–14).
Before conversion, the nationals willingly gave to their pagan gods and religious systems. Now that they have converted to the One True and Living God, they ought to give to God’s work as a demonstration of the sincerity of their faith in Christ. In the early church, giving financially to their pastors and evangelists was a test of the reality of their faith.

When foreigners come and work on the assumption that the poor nationals are unable to obey God apart from outside aid, these saints are hindered from experiencing their full calling in Christ. By supporting national preachers, we unknowingly limit the potential of the churches to fully experience the grace of God. Dependence upon foreign sponsorship results in the national believer’s loss of joy in learning to give biblically in obedience to the Word of God. Shall we rob them of their joy and dull the brightness of the light of their testimony in their communities?

Both the National Pastor and the National Church Must Have the Freedom to Follow their Conscience before the Lord (Acts 24:16; 2 Cor 1:12; 1 Tim 3:9; 1 Pet 3:16).
The apostle Paul clearly esteemed the national believers as equals, not as inferior to himself. He did not see them as spiritual weaklings but rather expected great things from them, knowing that they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit and gifted for service (Rom 15:14; 1 Cor 1:4-8). The same Holy Spirit who empowers Western churches for ministry will empower the national churches for ministry as well. They are fully able to obey the Great Commission where God has put them and with the resources He has provided.

Effective and enduring ministry partnerships between foreigners and national believers occur when people are treated as equals. When the foreigner is the patron and the national the client, then an employer-employee relationship is always present. The national pastor’s moral sense is bound to the foreigners who are his patrons. He must be loyal to him, even if he disagrees with his patron or senses that his patron is in error. He is restrained from following his conscience before the Lord, violating the priesthood of the believer. Local church autonomy is further violated as foreign sponsorship invariably involves foreign control. Will we, by supporting national preachers, withhold from the national church two very important doctrines of Scripture—the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church?

Concluding Thoughts
Since this practice of supporting national pastors and evangelists is becoming increasingly accepted in our fundamental, separatist circles, this matter calls for serious discussion. Short-term successes often hinder long-term progress in fulfilling the Great Commission. While trying to have an effective influence for the gospel globally, many of our churches are hindering the influence of the gospel locally on the foreign field.

To be fair, many believers who support nationals are properly motivated to be good stewards of their resources. Filled with the love of Christ toward the lost and also toward their Christian brothers abroad, they are right in seeking ways to give, but we must consider this issue biblically rather than simply following others. It is possible to have proper motives but an inappropriate and debilitating methodology. American business principles and pragmatism often guide well-meaning people into the practice of financial partnerships with national leaders.

It is our conclusion that supporting national pastors and evangelists on the foreign mission field is an unwise practice, being both biblically flawed as well as harmful to the national church. Thus financial partnerships with national leaders are not good stewardship.

Forrest McPhail and Chris Seawright are missionaries to Cambodia with Gospel Fellowship Association Missions. They can be contacted by e-mail at cseawright@gfamissions.org.

July 2007

Are these examples really a good stewardship of missions money? There is increasing momentum in our fundamental churches towards financial partnerships with national pastors and evangelists. Fundamentalists need to think through this issue biblically, especially with regard to the doctrine of the local church. Care must be taken to avoid unbiblical pragmatism.

We propose that supporting national pastors and evangelists on the foreign mission field is an unwise practice, being both biblically flawed as well as harmful to the national church.

Our Perspective
We are a missionary team ministering in Cambodia, a poor Two-Thirds World4 country in Southeast Asia, where we must regularly address this issue. Though ravaged by the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge, and a Vietnamese/Cambodian Communist regime through the early 1990s, Cambodia is beginning to show some signs of economic recovery. Yet the reality of poverty surrounds us daily. Charitable organizations and social workers fill the capital city of Phnom Penh. In rural Pursat, where we minister, there are more than forty aid organization offices. Foreign money funds most of professed Christianity in Cambodia (less than one percent of the population). It is the rare pastor or evangelist who is not on the payroll of some missionary or organization and many of those who are not on someone’s payroll are trying to be.

We have seen the impact that unbiblical pragmatism has on the ministry of the gospel in Cambodia regarding this matter of stewardship. Many of our missionary friends in Cambodia and elsewhere could attest to the importance of this issue in worldwide missions. We realize that some of the illustrations and specific applications may not apply precisely in every country due to differences in culture and economics. However, we believe that the principles we offer below are biblical, and thus timeless and universal. Therefore they should be normative in any cross-cultural missionary work.

It should not be assumed that we perceive nationals as inferior to foreign missionaries because we are against their sponsorship. On the contrary, we believe very strongly that national men are far superior to foreign missionaries in ministering to their own people, for both linguistic and cultural reasons. Our fervent desire is to pour our hearts into these God-called, gifted men. Our understanding, as borne out in the principles that follow, is that their own people should send and support them.

There are a number of scriptural principles that demonstrate how financially partnering with national pastors and evangelists is both biblically flawed as well as harmful to the national church.

National Churches Have a Biblical Requirement to Care Financially for their own Pastors and Evangelists (1 Cor 9:6–14; 1 Tim 5:17–18; 3 John 5–8).
It is clear from the above Scriptures that local churches must actively support their own pastors and evangelists who minister in their churches. Those who are ministered to spiritually are commanded to return the favor in a material way (Gal 6:6), thus forming a reciprocal relationship between pastor/teacher and the people. It is important to realize that some of these commands were given to the poorest of churches during New Testament times. Whenever a church, individual, or missions organization from abroad supports a national leader in another country, they create a situation where the national believers find it difficult to obey clear commands of Scripture regarding the support of their own leaders. Once this pattern of foreign support is established, it is exceedingly difficult for the national church to recover and assume its biblical responsibility. By funding the national pastor, the foreigner robs the national church of the joy of obedience that comes from giving to their pastor materially for having received from their pastor spiritually. God intended that there be a close relationship between the pastor and his people where both are giving and receiving from each other. Foreign support breaks down this reciprocal relationship that God intended.

Christianity Must Be Seen by the Unsaved as a Spiritual Movement Built by Christ and Driven by the National People Who have Responded to Its Message, Not as Something Driven and Sustained by Foreign Interests (Matt 16:18; Acts 1:8).
The early church began—and remained for a long time—a simple church-planting movement begun in the homes of believers. No “start-up capital,” foreign sponsors, or travel abroad to solicit funds was involved. This raises a question: when we support national preachers with foreign money, what are we communicating to the unsaved about the essence of Christianity? Do they see it as something driven by foreign interests or as a spiritual movement?

When unbelievers, particularly foreign governments, see that the propagation of Christianity is linked to foreign monies, the conclusion is often made that Christianity is not merely a foreign religion, but also a foreign tool. In cultures that define national identity by its religion, especially among Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, the propagation of a new religion backed by foreigners becomes an issue of nationalism. It appears to be a foreign attempt to change their culture. Although nationalism will always be a difficult factor in missions, it is increasingly so if national preachers are funded with foreign money. Many preachers around the world have been persecuted, not for the offense of the gospel, but for the obvious foreign patronage of their ministries. We must avoid adding this stumbling block to the preaching of the gospel.

National Believers Must Understand that the Fulfillment of the Great Commission Depends on the Power of God, Not Foreign Resources (Luke 24:48–49; Acts 1:8).
The Word of the Lord can run and be glorified among any people at any time under any circumstances. The national church does not need money from other peoples in order to obey the Great Commission or to see God bless their ministries. Consider the missionary churches in the Book of Acts: Antioch, Berea, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth , Rome, Galatia, etc. These were all born of God’s Spirit apart from foreign funding. They did not wait for foreign partnerships to fulfill God’s command but depended only on God’s Spirit to empower them.

In contrast to the New Testament example, many national leaders in Two-Thirds World countries are convinced that God cannot work through them unless they are supported by foreign gifts of money, land, or buildings. Did they arrive at this way of thinking by meditating on the Word of God or through foreigners seeking to fund them? It is the latter, as borne out by the number of national men within our Fundamental circles who travel back and forth between their countries and the States soliciting funds for preachers of the gospel as well as other things such as church buildings, camps, seminaries, etc. Cambodians, both believers and unbelievers, have told us that churches cannot be started, much less sustained, apart from financial assistance from abroad! We are told that unless we provide material benefits, such as medical services, English tutoring, computer skills, etc., we will be unsuccessful in gaining and keeping converts.

What do these statements imply about a national’s faith in God or the power of the gospel? The current impetus to financially partner with national pastors and evangelists undermines the national believer’s faith in the power of God and His ability to use them to fulfill the Great Commission. It also contributes to a weak view of the Holy Spirit. An embarrassing reality is that many of the churches on some of the oldest mission fields such as India, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines, still require foreign support. Why? They believe they cannot fulfill God’s commands with their own resources.

The Role of a New Testament Preacher is a Spiritual Relationship with His Flock, Not a Material One (1 Tim 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Pet 5:1–3).
Financial partnerships with national leaders commonly shift the national pastor’s spiritual authority in the local church to a material/financial authority or an unbiblical mixture of the two. The national pastor with foreign funds often becomes the patron of his church members as the people become his clients, raising him to an unbiblical position of power. Instead of church members giving to him, he gives to them. Many are loyal to him because of his ties to money abroad, tempting both the pastor and people to cover sin to maintain this partnership abroad. One of the biggest problems of all is the distortion this brings to the role of a pastor as a spiritual leader. He is unable to effectively do the spiritual ministry that he is called by God to do for his flock.

As foreign missionaries, we must guard this spiritual relationship with the national believers at all costs. Once we start providing jobs, giving salaries, or using money carelessly, we will be seen as patrons and not spiritual leaders. If this were to happen, it would become impossible to gauge the success of the work or to know the true spiritual state of the people. On the contrary, what a joy it is to teach the Word of God and see people respond to the gospel, knowing that the only reason they did so was the power of God! National believers must obey God and follow the leadership of their pastors because of their commitment to Christ alone. Neither the missionary nor the national preacher must be put in a position where his hearers are pressured to profess Christ or be loyal to him because of material benefits that could come from having connections with him.

Continued in the Next Issue

Forrest McPhail and Chris Seawright are missionaries to Cambodia with Gospel Fellowship Association Missions. They can be contacted by e-mail at cseawright@gfamissions.org.

June 2007