Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 21

In ten years as a Christian school teacher I learned something: most Christian school teachers, including me, don't have a lot of ability. Most of them couldn't pastor a church if their lives depended on it. But I also saw that many of them served God diligently, and that He blessed them with success.

Occasionally, a Christian school teacher with little ability would start a successful ministry within a church. There usually was not a problem from Christians with more ability, but from Christians who THOUGHT they had more ability. A Godly and successful saint would suddenly find himself being attacked by an envious church member who demanded control of the successful ministry. Seeing the weakness of the low-ability Christian, an envious person could often rally others against him and steal the successful ministry.

Most first-time missionaries are Christians with little ability. They have rarely served in any high position in church. If they succeed on the mission field, they will have a hard time protecting themselves from envious co-workers.

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 20

Jesus explained that God gives us responsibilities according to our abilities; not necessarily according to our Godliness. In a parable, Jesus told of one servant doubling the ten talents (referring to money) he had received, while another equally faithful servant doubled the five talents he had received. That's how God wants it to work out.

But Christians with limited ability can still read the Word of God, pray, fast, work, etc., and get blessed more than Christians with more ability. And then, both groups can be struck with jealousy and envy. Conflicts between these two groups are one of the reasons that many missionaries can't get along with each other.

To be continued...

Why Missionaries Fail Part 19

A major reason for the failure of most missionaries is that the normal problems in Sunday church are packed into a seven-day week. Another problem involves jealousy and envy.

The translators of the King James version got this one right, while most modern translations got it wrong. "Jealousy" refers to a person having something, but being afraid that someone else will take it away. King Saul was jealous of David, fearing that David would steal his kingdom. Jealousy is not a big deal in the Bible, however.

"Envy" refers to a person who does not have something, but he feels that it should rightfully be his. The Bible talks a lot about the problem of envy, when a person demands a position, an honor, or leadership that someone else has. We'll see how this relates to missionaries.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 18

Kitchen Komedy 2

One Sunday, the four of us were happily preparing the church kitchen when a fifth person showed up. She immediately started scolding people for what they wee doing and began re-arranging things and giving orders that made no difference. After aggravating us for three weeks, she explained that a group of women had formed a committee and put her in charge of the kitchen.

Since the church had not authorized this committee (and we hadn't been allowed to vote) we ignored her. Soon we had a group of four women showing up every Sunday to pretend they were in charge, while the four of us did all the work. Both groups ignored the other, and no real harm was done.

But if we had to put up with people like that seven days a week, there would have been problems.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 17

Kitchen Komedy 1

My wife and I stated showing up early at the Baptist church to get things ready. This included getting the kitchen set up for the refreshments after church. A Godly older man also started showing up. And then, the Cookie Nazi appeared.

She had earned her name by slapping people's hands if they took to many cookies after church. She angrily demanded that no one but her set out the cookies. I realized that she wanted to serve God, but due to her ill health and constant pain, arranging cookies was about all that she could do. So we let her arrange the cookies, and she did a very god job.

She thought the three of us were wonderful, and she told people how nice we were. But Folks, if we had to put up with her all week, this story might not have had a happy ending.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 16

Timeout for a commercial. My friend Bob Murillo graduated from the same college as me, and he started the Independent Baptist Church of Guadalajara. Last Sunday they had 495 in attendance. Not all missionaries fail.

One reason that missionaries can't get along should be obvious. The normal stresses of life are magnified when you have to live with people seven days a week. Not all Christians obey the Biblical command to be "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." But at least you can get away from those people after church.

Which brings up two good illustrations of Church Kitchen Komedy...

Why Missionaries Fail Part 15

In 1977, Bill Gothard's Basic Youth Conflicts drew 24,000 people to hear him. He explained that less than half of all missionaries returned to the field after their first two years. He then explained that the biggest single reason they didn't return was that they couldn't get along with the other missionaries.

Gothard explained that he was going to start giving missionaries seminars on how to get along with each other. Despite his usual success, Gothard failed miserably in this endeavor. If missionaries didn't know how to get along with other Christians, how did they raise support?

So why do missionaries have so much trouble getting along with each other?