Mission Work is Consulting at it’s core

From the inception of Christian missionary work the proper role of the missionary has been that of a consultant. To understand this we need to first understand the function of a consultant.

In a typical business, there are people in charge and people who receive orders and optimally you will have customers. Businesses are created to meet a need in society. The people in charge (bosses, owners, managers) have the task of pushing that vision forward. Employees are hired and paid to perform specific tasks. A consultant is both and neither. A consultant is an outsider (not indigenous) who is hired (employee role) to assess the situation and then to propose improvements (managerial role). And often they are asked to implement these changes (employee role) and then to reassess the effectiveness of those changes (managerial role).

This makes it confusing as to who is in charge, not only to the consultant but to everyone else as well. Whether the consultant likes it or not they need to understand that they are not the boss. These outside experts may have years of invaluable wisdom and experience but they absolutely should not have the final say. For instance a consultant from a Western nation (missionaries) often try to impose agenda-based meetings on relationship-based societies. The input of a consultant may be well intentioned but when the contract ends and the consultant leaves then the boss and employees will be the ones left to continue the task. This is why buy-in and follow-up are the most essential and primary tools of a consultant.

One of the hardest tasks of a consultant is the art of being a  Jack-of-all-trades. The consultant must analyze the efforts of other experts who perform their roles on a daily basis. After distilling the information gathered, the consultant must put themselves into the shoes of the employee and understand the significance of their role. A consultant must change their tactics, styles, and methods to suit the audience. They must have a broad perspective of the interactivity of each component and employee. Optimally, they will have hands-on experience with each function they enhance. A person who is focused on and skilled at only one specialized area cannot hope to make it as either a consultant or as a missionary. Which obviously is the same word merely applied to different contexts.

St. Paul, the early apostles and evangelists used a consulting model for their mission efforts. They would go to a new place. They would observe a need (The people had not heard about Jesus). They would observe the system of cultural norms (systems analysis) and then they would share a solution (Jesus could make a difference in their lives.)

Various people would accept the assessment and form research groups to study the problem/solution in further detail (Bible study). Various roles and positions were assigned to create some organizational structure. When this group was properly trained (discipled) and the missionary felt that this group was ready to stand on their own, then the missionary (consultant) would leave and multiply himself somewhere else.

When missionaries have misunderstood their role as a consultant then they have caused lots of heartache, not only for themselves but for the people that they were called to serve and train up.

Suppose a factory hired and expert consultant to train all of their managers and factory workers. On the first day he comes in and gives an inspirational speech. This job is the easiest in the world. This job is here to make you happy. All you have to do is raise your hand and join our team. I shall do all the rest of the work. Then he spends his day rushing from machine to machine at every stage of processing on the factory floor pressing every button. After everyone leaves, he works all night on the budget, taxes and employee assessments. Has this man done what he was supposed to? Of course not. He would be immediately fired for failing to train anyone. To the employees, he would be an iterating joke to be pitied. A missionary should neither be doing all the preaching, nor all the humanitarian work. That is not why they were sent out. They were sent to enable and disciple the local/indigenous people to do those tasks. Everyday, I meet missionaries and pastors who have their identity wrapped up in their roles. They are afraid to turn over their pulpit for a Sunday. They are afraid to release future leaders for perhaps their pupils might surpass the master and then where would their identity be found. Might I suggest that a Christian leader should find their identity in Jesus and entrust their futures to God?

Why then is it that missionaries fail to perform the role of consultant that was modeled in the Bible. There are numerous valid reasons.

Mercy ministries activities are a great way to raise money for your ministry. Note: it is fine to perform a mercy ministry in a foreign country if your goal is to raise up others to perform this task.

If you have spent a lifetime pouring into a ministry where you are releasing people to the task then you will work yourself out of a job. This can be scary. A saint need to be prepared to sacrifice their pride and lay everything down to God’s will.

After a lifetime of being viewed as God’s representative on earth, it is easy to get filled with pride.

It is more fun to perform the task and take the credit than to empower another person who will receive the credit. (Let me ask, Would you prefer to stuff Christmas presents for orphans, or hand them out?)

The indigenous people that you are training are never as smart, Godly, wise, and competent as you view yourself to be. How can we release people who are just not ready? It’s time for a motivation check. Those disciples were probably ready long ago.

There are numerous humanitarian efforts out there (and of course they receive the lion share of the financial support). But humanitarian workers need to often ask themselves if they are just doing a good work or if they are truly multiplying themselves. It cannot be judged if multiplication is happening at any given moment. Instead, this should be viewed as the long-term goal. For instance, an orphanage is raising up well adjusted Godly people who will eventually influence society.

Humanitarians who assist the poor, handicapped, diseased, orphaned, widows, refugees, or sex slaves, may not be able to say that they are immediately duplicating themselves but overall they will definitely impact the society for the better. But realistically, if they are not obeying the Great Commission which says to disciple then perhaps the term humanitarian‚ would be more apropos to describe their role than the word ‚missionary. The term missionary primarily describes a role of coming alongside, developing leaders, empowering those who have been unjustly treated, building up the body of Christ, and eventually, they must turn it over into the hands of the people whom they have discipled. This is the model that was established in the New Testament. This is the model that has achieved success around the world. A successful missionary will perform the role of a consultant. A person who is not truly a consultant should not use the word missionary.

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