THE BIBLICAL MODEL PART 4: THE BALANCE OF FAITH AND FUNDRAISING IN MISSIONS

God’s Provision and Our Participation

(A Glance at Two Sides of the Same Coin)

Main Idea of the Article:

A biblical model for missions support requires holding two truths in tension: we must have absolute faith in God’s sovereign provision, and we have a clear responsibility to participate as God’s ordained means for that provision by making needs known. The Apostle Paul’s example shows that depending on God and communicating needs to the church are not contradictory, but are two sides of the same coin in a faithful ministry partnership.

Questions to Consider:

Before reading, what is your personal conviction on missionaries asking for financial support? Is it a sign of strong faith or weak faith?

How do you reconcile God’s absolute sovereignty and His command for His people to be the means of His provision?

What are the practical dangers of a missionary being strictly “bivocational” on the foreign field, especially in poorer communities?

The article argues that both the “faith-only” approach and the “holistic-only” approach can be imbalanced. How have you seen these imbalances play out?

What does it mean for a church’s financial giving to be a form of koinonia (partnership), not just charity?

The False Dilemma: Faith vs. Fundraising

As I’ve served in cross-cultural ministry, I’ve often been struck by the incredible generosity and support of those back home. Their prayers and financial gifts have been a lifeline, enabling me to continue sharing the Gospel and serving those in need. This experience has led me to a deeper understanding of the biblical model for missions support, a model that beautifully balances faith and action.

Anyone who has followed the work here for any length of time has probably read that, “Those who pray for and give to missions play a role just as important as the missionary on the field.” I say it often because I really believe that. The church who gives any amount faithfully over time, or the grandmother who wakes up early every morning to pray for the missionaries on her fridge, both play a crucial role in this long-term partnership in the gospel we call mission work.

When it comes to funding a missionary, some would say very simply that if it’s God’s will, He will provide, and they take the position of not seeking to share needs or raise money. They firmly believe that in this way they are truly trusting the Lord. That’s fine, if it is their conviction, and I believe that if it’s God’s will, then He will provide too. However, oversimplifying the situation could potentially overlook a crucial aspect clearly revealed in the Scriptures.

God’s Sovereignty and God’s Means

We understand and believe that God has ordained all things absolutely. But He has also ordained the means by which to reach those ends. One confession puts it well when speaking on the decree of God. It says that:

“God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity… all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby… is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established…”

It wouldn’t take long reading through the epistles before you would start to notice a couple of things: First, Paul absolutely depended on God and prayed expecting God to answer. At the same time, we see other examples of Paul making his needs known to the churches. He also expected the brethren to help him with his needs and the needs of others. Both are true, and they go together.

The Apostle Paul’s Example: Tentmaking and Partnership

Yes, at times Paul worked with his hands out of a conviction and even necessity. In Philippians he writes that at one time, “in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.” (Philippians 4:15). This is incredibly astounding! Consider the great apostle Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, the great missionary, being neglected by the very churches he had planted.

If I lost all support, and only one (fairly young) church supported the work, I would have to do the same. I too have had to do quite a bit of tentmaking at times, at least until acquiring new mission partners to help ease the burden. But that hasn´t always been the case.

The Realities of Bivocational Ministry

One realistic downside of bivocational missions is that it is easy to become overloaded and overwhelmed, leading to less effectiveness and a shorter tenure on the field. Unless a missionary has a pre-existing business or career they can maintain without sacrificing all their time, they often end up spending less time on mission work and more time just trying to make ends meet.

As the Lord expands horizons, it also brings increased expenses. For years at a time, I worked as an English teacher and even directed an orphanage to support myself. These were blessings with many opportunities to share the Gospel. But add family into that mix of a very demanding workload, both in ministry and another full-time job, and you will eventually have a recipe for burnout. This is especially true in the field where needs are often much greater when working with the poor, and where cultures are less individualistic and require much more time and resources than one might expect.

The Cost of Compassion

But why do some missionaries seem to always need money?

First, we would certainly agree that the most loving thing we can do for a person is to share the gospel with them. Yet at the same time, it would be very unloving to preach the gospel and ignore someone’s obvious urgent, basic needs. Of course we cannot help everyone, but this is no excuse for not being as generous as possible. We must remember that we were saved not just from something but also for something.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Time and again we see in Scripture the duty of the believer to be compassionate. When the apostles extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, they reminded them of something important:

“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10)

In the book “Controversies in Missions,” a chapter on Carl F. H. Henry’s model explains that a high view of Scripture gives rise to both the priority of proclamation and a robust social concern. This is not a “social gospel,” but rather biblical ministry where compassionate generosity gives evidence that the Gospel proclamation truly took place to begin with. The author offers a helpful illustration:

“I might say that I am going to go to the bank to make a deposit and then to the post office to mail some bills… the bank is my top priority because if I do not deposit my paycheck, then the bills cannot be paid. Clearly, one has here a case of priority in which both things remain necessary… It is the same with evangelism and social concern. The gospel must first be preached before converts can be discipled… Thus, the logical priority of evangelism does not render compassion optional.”

Consider this text in James:

“If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” (James 2:15-17)

The Biblical Model: God’s Provision Through God’s People

So we have the Apostle Paul, praying to the Sovereign Lord, and at the same time making his needs known to the churches and expecting them to meet those needs. Why? Because He understood that the means to reach the goal of the church IS the church.

God´s people have a mission: to go and make disciples. God´s people also have the real responsibility to be intentional in going, sending, praying for, and providing for that mission.

Whose mission is it? God´s.

Who has He commanded to fulfill the mission? God´s people.

To whom do all the resources belong? To God.

Who has He entrusted those resources to? God´s people.

Who is sovereignly providing for His people on His mission? God is, through His people.

To deny the real responsibility we have would be foolish, like saying, “God will provide for me, but I refuse to work.” For the above-mentioned reasons, we have come to the understanding that it is okay to ask for help and make needs known. We simply say, “These are the needs; pray about helping.” If the Lord puts in someone the desire to help, then praise the Lord!

Practical Application

Embrace the Tension: Reject the false dilemma that you must either “trust God” passively or “fundraise” actively. Embrace the biblical model where true faith is expressed through the responsible action of inviting others to partner in God’s work.

For Missionaries – Communicate Clearly: Don’t be afraid to make your needs known. Follow Paul’s example of sharing needs with humility and gratitude, always pointing to God as the ultimate provider and giving thanks for the partnership of the church.

For Supporters – Participate Joyfully: View your giving not as charity, but as koinonia—a vital act of partnership in the gospel. Whether through prayer or financial gifts, your participation is God’s ordained means of advancing His kingdom.

Summary

The debate between faith and fundraising in missions presents a false choice. The biblical model, exemplified by the Apostle Paul, holds both in perfect tension. It affirms God’s absolute sovereignty to provide for His mission while simultaneously affirming the church’s responsibility to be the means of that provision. We are called to pray with absolute dependence on God, and we are called to invite others into a joyful, generous partnership (koinonia) by making the needs of the ministry known. God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply—and God’s way is through the faithful partnership of His people.