Last week we addressed our responsibility to "put to the test those who call themselves apostles" (see Revelation 2:2), or who claim to be sent by the Lord. Certainly, some were offended by that, but they were probably the very ones that needed to be put to this test. What I am about to say will likewise offend many large churches, missionary organizations, and charities. I am not saying this to be critical or offend them, but to help them, which some will eventually understand.
We cannot be trusted with more until we properly manage what we have been entrusted with better. The time is coming when the church, with its associated charities and ministries, will take over much of what the government is now trying to do. We will have to do it much better than the government, and do much better than we are doing now.
A study of a U.S. government agency revealed that only 10 percent of the resources were going where they were intended—the very reason for the agency's existence. Ninety percent of the resources were being consumed in bureaucratic mismanagement. This should be reversed to 90 percent going to the needs of the people and with no more than 10 or 15 percent being consumed by management. Presently, many large charities, ministries, and even missionary organizations are not doing much better than the government. This must change.
Again, if we are investing in such a work, we also have the responsibility of ensuring that the Lord's resources, of which we have been made stewards and are investing, are used effectively and bearing fruit for the kingdom. There should be accountability which not only helps eliminate theft, but also mismanagement. It is easy for any organization to drift into this type of thing. The larger they are, the easier it is. Yet, we are going to need to learn to deal with even larger resources.
Those who are true will run to accountability, not away from it. These will be continually seeking ways to do what they are called to do better and more efficiently. I Corinthians 11:31-32 states,
But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.
If we would judge ourselves, the Lord would not have to do it. If we encourage examination by those who may be able to see things we cannot, then maybe it would not have to become a scandal. Likewise, as the Lord explained in the Parable of the Talents, mismanagement and inefficiency with the resources we are entrusted with is something we will be judged for. These are things which must be addressed, and where needed, corrected. The result will then be that we can be trusted with much more.
As we discussed last week, a wise investor has a checklist of items he wants to research before investing in a company. We should have the same kind of checklist before we invest the resources we have been made stewards of in individuals, missionaries, churches, missions, or charities.
If a car has 300 horsepower and is exerting all of it, but is stuck in the sand and just spinning its wheels, then it is only wasting that energy. Likewise, it can be easy for a person or an organization to be doing a lot of work, exerting and consuming a lot of energy, but not really going anywhere. We are exhorted in II Corinthians 13:5: "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?" There are simple biblical tests, which we should all occasionally take, to determine where we are in the faith. This can also be applied to churches, ministries, missionaries, or charities.
The main test that we are given is to judge the fruit. Then there is a test of fruitfulness, which is the amount of fruit produced for the effort or resources expended. I once had lunch with the head of missions for a major denomination. He shocked me by starting the meal by saying they were spending nearly $100,000 per convert, and their studies showed that other less organized groups, and even small independent churches, were only spending about $5 a convert.This was a sincere, humble, devoted man of God who wanted to be a good steward of what he had been entrusted with. I was so impressed that I have not stopped praying for him or his denomination since. Who could not appreciate an organization that would spend $100,000 for each convert! Who could ever put a price on a single soul? However, wouldn't it be better to get 20,000 converts for that investment?
Even so, we do have an issue with measuring spiritual fruitfulness that makes it dangerous to apply monetary value to spiritual fruit. The Moravians reportedly had one martyr for every convert with some of their early missionary efforts. Sometimes the seeds sown through such works do not sprout for another generation.
A story which is often told around our city is how the great evangelist Mordecai Ham came to Charlotte and preached his heart out night after night, but left considering it his greatest crusade failure because he only had one convert. His convert was a fifteen-year-old boy named Billy Graham. Mordecai Ham probably died never knowing that what he considered his greatest failure may have been his greatest success for the kingdom.
The point is that it is hard to measure spiritual fruit. It could be that a missionary who has labored in a place for years with little or no visible fruit is still in the right place and doing a great work. He could be sowing good seed into good soil, but it may not sprout for years or even decades to come. Likewise, missionaries who go into a place and immediately begin to reap a huge harvest may do so because they are entering into the labors of others or because of intercessors they will never even know about.
For this reason, apparent, measurable fruit, or even fruitfulness, cannot be the only measure of whether someone is truly sent by God or whether we should be investing in that mission. We have another big issue with the spiritual Levites, which is addressed in Hebrews 9:1-6:
Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.
For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place.
And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.
And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship.
The point here is that most of what we call ministry today is in fact outer court ministry to the people, but the main ministry of the priests, and the most important work, was the "divine worship" that no one else could even see. Today, we are seeing the raising up of many "missionaries" whose mission is to pray and worship the Lord. Ministries have sprouted up around the world seeking to intercede and worship the Lord around the clock until He returns. If it is hard to measure the fruit of evangelistic missions, how do we measure the fruit of ministries like this? This is an important issue that we will take up next week. In all things we need to be good stewards of what we have been entrusted with.
