Why Churches Must Fund Their Mission Again
Why Churches Must Fund Their Mission Again
Churches often speak boldly about sharing the Gospel. Yet many congregations struggle to invest in the mission they proclaim. Scripture offers a clear reminder of what passionate witness once looked like. When Jesus raised Lazarus, the crowd could not keep silent. They spread the news with such conviction that the Pharisees admitted they were losing control as “the whole world” seemed to turn to Him.
Their spontaneous witness remains a challenge to today’s churches that claim to obey Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The need is urgent. Research from Pew shows that since the 1990s millions of Americans have left Christianity and now identify as atheists, agnostics or nothing in particular. In the public square, Christian influence has faded. Writer Jack Butler observes that the faith’s once-strong cultural pillars in the United States have weakened.
The mission field beyond American borders remains vast. The International Mission Board reports that nearly sixty percent of the world is still unreached. More than four billion people have little or no access to the message of Jesus. The mandate is clear, yet something continues to hold churches back.
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A significant factor is budget priority. Many churches support ministries that meet internal needs but invest little in missions. As someone once noted, all missions are ministry but not all ministries are missions. A church may be active yet fail to bear witness to the world. If people in every nation are to echo the confession in Acts that they hear the mighty works of God in their own language, then churches must decide what they truly value.
A useful comparison comes from the corporate world. When a company changes its highest priority, it immediately adjusts its budget. Money moves to the new focus. Staffing changes. Investments shift. Expenditures follow the new direction. Businesses understand that priorities without funding are empty talk.
Churches face the same reality. A congregation cannot claim to be missional while keeping missions on the margins of its budget. Financial commitment signals genuine intent. Without it, a church’s mission can become little more than a slogan.
Several pastors have weighed in on the proposal that churches dedicate half of their annual budget to missions. One pastor embraced the idea and noted that members might even give more if they knew half of their contributions would support mission work. Others admitted that such a shift feels difficult. Yet history shows that change often begins with the confession that the current way is hard to leave behind.
The mission remains before us. The question is whether churches will invest in it with the same seriousness they give to everything else they value.
Content Credit : Boluwatife Abiola
Image Credit : Google. Com
