The Future of Missions
Drawing from the Wells of the Past
Genesis 26 records the Lord’s command to Isaac to sojourn in the land of Gerar and His promise that He would perform the oath that He swore to Isaac’s father, Abraham, to make of him a great nation. Verse 6 tells us, “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.” As God fulfilled His promise and Isaac became “very great,” “the Philistines envied him,” so King Abimelech compelled Isaac in verses 14 and 16 to “go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.” Isaac and his household departed and settled in the valley where Abraham once lived. After Abraham’s death, out of spite, the Philistines stopped up the wells he had dug for his household. Upon settling in the valley, “Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father.” These wells again yielded water, and he called them by the same names his father gave them. Once this was accomplished, Isaac’s men dug three new wells, two of which had to be abandoned while the third was successful, and he named it Rehoboth. Isaac explained, “For now the Lord hath made room for us.”
Isaac’s first action when moving to the land of his father was not to seek out new places to dig his own wells. Instead he sought out and unearthed the same wells that had proved to be trustworthy supplies of water during Abraham’s generation. Isaac did not send for the diviners to locate new water sources. No, he returned and redug his father’s wells. Isaac valued and protected the wells of the past. They provided for him a sure platform from which he could extend his territory. He dug three new wells, but only one ultimately became useful to him. The wells of the previous generation proved to be his greatest source of water.
As I consider the future of missions, I am reminded of Isaac’s experience. Perhaps we should remember the benefits of the “old” ways of doing the work of missions as we look to the future of missions. The general outlook of the church in the mid-1900s was that the world was changing quickly and that in order for the church to stay relevant and able to reach it, the church needed innovations, fresh ideas, and new strategies. The old was passé, outdated, and broken. Men thought that the old ways did not fit their modern world. In 1959 Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a series of messages during the one-hundredth anniversary of the great 1859 revival in which he stated,
We look to the scientists, we look to philosophy. … We call for the latest knowledge and learning, we want the very last advance in science and in culture in every shape and form. The whole idea is that the world is in a very serious predicament and therefore it behooves all men of understanding to come together and pool their resources, call a congress of world faiths. … “It’s this atomic age we’re in,” they say, “we must have a message for it.”… The basic assumption is that our problems are new, that they are quite unique, and that the Church and the world have never been confronted by such problems before.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones encouraged studying the past and said, “Nothing, surely, is more important for us at this present time than to read the history of the past. … The man who experiments in the midst of a crisis is a fool.”
Going back to the “old wells” is like hitting the reset button on a computer—there are times when going forward is benefitted most by going back to an earlier setting. We may benefit from looking to what God has blessed and used in generations before us and using the light gained from former ages to guide in moving forward— such as fervent evangelism, purposeful discipleship, church establishment, leadership development, and the command to protect and extend the saving message to all people. Old methods to accomplish timeless purposes might be “wells” worth re-digging. Fresh ideas are necessary as a part of each new generation’s work of accomplishing the Great Commission in reference to the challenges they face, yet every generation needs to consider the “old wells” when venturing out to discover “new wells.”
For example, the Lord is using the multitude of short-term missionaries to fulfill a valuable role around the world. These servants are to be commended and highly honored for their service, but the promotion of short-term service must not overshadow the lifelong commitment of career missionary service. We run the risk of weakening the future effectiveness of any given field when short-term workers become the long-term strategy for our ageless commission. Language aptitude, cultural adaptation, gaining the respect and confidence of the people on a particular field, and the continuity of the work require long-term commitment. Yes, the relatively new “well” of short-term missionary service is a great addition to modern-day missions as a valuable extension of the gospel, but it shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow the crucial need for career missionaries.
Deputation is another “old well” of missions that still has merit. We often hear that deputation is “broken” and must be replace by better methods. Tentmaking is, of course, legitimate, but when promoted as a way for missionaries to avoid deputation and support themselves by employment on their fields, it can be a time-consuming distraction on the field. Another innovation in missionary support is to focus outside the local church’s involvement and accountability by going directly to individuals and businesses. Though these may have merit, they should not replace the responsibility of God’s people to corporately sustain His work through the local church.
An illustration from the business world may be helpful, however. Consider the missionary deputation model in the context of a secular business. If a person begins a new business, he will likely dedicate three or four years to acquiring clients, or “customers,” as well as some initial “investors.” Thereafter, these relationships can continue for the next twenty, thirty, forty years, or more. In the 1980s missionaries invested two to four years to raise their support. Today although support levels in some cases have tripled, the time to raise missionary support continues to be about two to four years. Deputation to raise long-term support is hard work. But it does work! Improvements can be made, but it is one of those “old wells” that still has an important role in missions.
As we chart the course for the future, we need to understand the lessons and perspectives of the past. In the storms yet to come, we can be confident when we are anchored to the basic elements of the Lord’s message and work that are founded on God’s Word. In the dry spells ahead, we can benefit from re-digging the old wells, those methods blessed and used by God throughout past generations to accomplish His work. How has God worked through mission endeavors in the past; which methods have worked over the generations; which methods were not effective over time? These questions should guide our forward vision, keeping us on track in the present as we move into the future of missions.
Dr. Mark Batory served as a missionary through Gospel Fellowship Association Mission. He has planted Hispanic churches in Mexico and in the United States. He retired recently from his post as the executive director of GFA.
(Originally published in FrontLine • March/April 2016. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)