As we work together around the globe to do evangelism and ministry projects, the two words that will come up most often are “partnership” and “money.” These two words take up huge amounts of time in restaurants, on long dirt road journeys and in conference rooms.
The strange thing is that for all the time spent on these two little words, they seem to create more confusion than clarity. Why is that? Well, Global Conversation participant Carlos Scott (Argentina) recently uploaded an excellent paper on these two words that was presented by Paul Davies who works with All Nations-UK.
In this paper Paul challenges us to consider what these two words mean in different cultures and contexts and then he takes us back to the Bible to see how we can understand these two concepts in a more Biblical way.
What I was struck with was the realization that my own understandings were full of assumptions. I assume that people view money the way that I do in America. I imagine that someone from Thailand would assume that I view it the way that they do.
What surprised me more was to see all the assumptions surrounding the word partnership. In the West those words are so overused that I even my small children have heard them and have some idea of what they mean. But other cultures will bring an entirely different understanding of working together in the Kingdom of God. What does that understanding look like?
The bigger question is, “What does the fact that we so often miscommunicate about partnership and money, do to the work of global evangelism?” Well, you can be sure that it slows down our efforts because we have failed to do our homework and understand these key cultural issues. It also hurts our witness as unbelievers see us fighting over relationships gone wrong and money spent. As we come together around the Lausanne Global Conversation and the Congress on Global Evangelization, we must speak openly and honestly about these issues and share our perceptions. Only in humble learning together will we overcome our different assumptions and be able to move forward as God leads.
Participation: Pick one of these words and begin exploring it with the people around you. Ask them what they understand about the concept and the assumptions they make. Discuss the different perspectives and learn together.
Engagement: Commit that next time you begin a partnership or recieve/give money related to a project that you will do the due diligence ahead of those commitments to understand how people view you and your efforts.
Ownership: Hold your fellow Christian workers accountable for how they approach partnership and money. Ask them the questions you have asked of those you work with and challenge them to broaden their thinking.