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Our Perspective on Missionaries and Missions:
TCPP firmly places its loyalty with Christ and His Church and not with
TCPP as a human institution. We do not exist for the sake of
self-perpetuation, but rather to be used by God how, when and for what
period of time that He is pleased to have us.
Missionary service is a calling, not a career. In human for-profit
corporations, the applicants for a job as well as the employer often deem
it a privilege for the employee to be hired by the company. This
perspective just does not have a place in God's economy of building his
kingdom. It is a privilege for missionaries to be called by God and given
a part in his work. It is to Him they are indebted. But we do not think
it is a privilege for missionaries to be working with
TCPP.
To the contrary, we feel a great privilege to be entrusted with the care
and administrative support of missionaries whom God has called and entrusted
to be His ambassadors. We delight in the part of God's Work that he has
given us.
So our mission as an organization is merely to be a part of what God is
doing, as the Lord is willing. We are partners with the missionary, and
partners with the churches to facilitate them sending out those who are
called.
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DISCUSSION FORUM
Towards the Ideal - Rev. Joel H. Linton, Spring 2006
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I'm trying to rethink the
whole concept of missions organizations, take a step back, and reassess the
traditions and methods that have come in over the years by which current
churches operate. To do that we want to look at the
Biblical models to the extent it is provided to us in the Scriptures.
And I want to invite you to help in this.
The following is a discussion that is in essence the start
of the discussion, to work from. Do you agree or disagree with the
following statement? Why or why not? What Biblical examples can you
see that clarify the issues? How close does this statement below come
to the Biblical examples of how missions should work? Please feel free to
email and join the discussion:
p u b at t a i w a n c h u r c h
dot
org . We would like to post your ideas.
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"
Baker then asked the presbytery to dissolve his pastoral relationship
with his church and to send him to Texas as the missionary of Tuscaloosa
Presbytery, and salaried by them. This was agreed on by presbytery."
-
Douglas F. Kelly in Preachers with Powers, p. 28,
published by Banner of Truth Trust, 1992,
about the Second Great Awakening, Southern Presbyterian preacher Daniel
Baker (1791-1857).
* Note how his presbytery itself was the missionary
sending agency.
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Mission boards and organizations should ideally not be like
corporations that hire employees. Rather they should ideally be like
servants to the General Assembly of a denomination, servants who merely
facilitate local churches and presbyteries to send out missionaries.
The
missionary would not be "joining" the organization; he would already have
"joined" his presbytery and they approve his call, etc. In essence, he
would already be a member of the ranks of the denomination's Gospel
ministers. The only additional thing would be that the presbytery or
local sending church would enlist the assistance of the mission
organization (set up by the denomination for that express purpose) to
arrange the details of getting the missionary on the field and handling
all the donations, etc. and administrative details that would help
maintain that missionary on the field.
In essence, the denomination as represented by its local presbyteries and
church elders would be the source for the vision and direction of
missions, through prayer and vision and assessment of qualifications (1
Timothy 3). This would be after the pattern of how Paul and Barnabas were
sent out by the church in Antioch. And the mission agency
would be handling money, etc. like the deaconal function, to maintain the
physical needs of the missionaries. Like the widows in 1 Timothy 5,
missionaries who qualify to receive church aid would be put on a "list" by
the elders and then a separate group in a deaconal role (e.g. the mission
agency) would actually distribute the aid.
This would really free up the missions agency to focus on a most efficient
use of funds and developing the grace of generosity among the church
members for missions. The churches and presbyteries themselves would have
a closer involvement in vision and prayer and oversight of the
missionaries.
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