Risk Assessment: Trends Within Evangelical Missions, Part 2
This is the second in our two-part series examining some of the recent concerning shifts in evangelical missions philosophy and practice. In Part 1, we explored how liberal and Arminian influences have gradually eroded biblical foundations in missions and we examined two alarming trends: the liberalization of international theological education and what might be called hyper-contextualization. Now we continue our assessment with two additional trends and provide practical guidance for pastors and churches seeking to protect biblical integrity in their missions programs.
As we established in our previous article, the missionary enterprise in the West has been threatened by a subtle yet significant shift in philosophy over the last half-century. This shift away from Scripture-centered missions toward culturally accommodating models demands urgent attention from church leaders who desire to remain faithful to biblical principles.
Having examined how theological education has been compromised and the dangers of hyper-contextualization approaches like the Insider Movement, we now turn our attention to two additional concerning trends that have emerged from the same root causes—pragmatism that places results above biblical fidelity and a reaction against Western influence that sometimes throws out sound doctrine along with colonial baggage.
Trend #3: Rapid Church-Planting Movements
Expediency and pragmatism have led to the propagation of strategies like “rapid church planting” or the “disciple making movement.” The extravagance of its claims, such as ten thousand or more churches being planted in a single year, should make the discerning pastor doubt, and prompt him to address the problems that such approaches will cause. Discerning evangelical missionaries, who understand that the Great Commission’s emphasis is on making mature disciples and not merely converts, also understand the importance of establishing mature churches, namely churches where qualified elders are developed and pastors are accountable for accurately teaching God’s Word. After all, “teaching them to keep all that [Jesus] commanded” is a disciple-making essential (Matt 28:20), and teaching is the work of the local church and its leaders (Rom 12:4–8; Eph 4:11–12; 1 Tim 3:2; 4:13; 5:17; Titus 1:9).
Establishing churches that do not meet this biblical criteria increases the threat of doctrinal error. Congregants will be stunted in growth and unable to reproduce biblical disciples. Cautions have often been raised, even within conservative missionary efforts, themselves being highly oriented toward evangelistic programs, about follow-through with new converts. For those familiar with the threat of syncretism—where immature converts simply add Christ to an already polytheistic religious worldview, or integrate folk or animistic superstitions into Christian practices such as prayer—rapid church planting poses unacceptable terms in the name of short-term gospel advancement.
Greg Gilbert, in his review of David Garrison’s booklet Church Planting Movements,[1] makes the effort to affirm the many good qualities in the International Mission Board (IMB), which were represented at the time in Garrison’s report. But he also helpfully observes the following concern,
I am left with many unanswered questions from Garrison’s description of the IMB vision. Most of those questions have to do with the development of strong leadership in an environment where rapidity is so prized. I worry that the push for speed may be cutting the feet out from under these many churches before they are even started. It is one thing to start a huge number of churches in a short time; it is quite another for those churches to remain healthy and sound witnesses for decades to come. For that, you need solid, well-grounded leadership…. My concern is that they all be solidly instructed in the doctrines and beliefs of Christians, and be taught how to rightly divide the Word of truth. One section of the book is particularly disturbing. Garrison writes: “Church Planting Movements are driven by lay leaders. These lay leaders are typically bi-vocational and come from the general profile of the people group being reached. In other words, if the people group is primarily non-literate, then the leadership shared this characteristic.” … How is a Christian leader supposed to rightly divide the Word of truth if he is illiterate?[2]
Then, emphasizing the critical need for qualified leaders, Gilbert rightly recommends,
Let the explosion of new churches slow down for a few years because of a leadership deficit while these men are taught, at the very least, how to read. Otherwise, a decade from now, you will undoubtedly see a thousand indigenous churches with an orthodoxy-deficit. Wouldn’t it be worth the time spent to teach these leaders how to read the Bible instead of planting thousands of churches who claim to have the Bible as their authority but are utterly incapable of knowing what it says?[3]
Trend #4: Post-Colonialism
It has become popular in recent years in political, academic, and ministry contexts to embrace a critical view called “post-colonialism.” Many advocate a return to so-called “pre-Constantinian” Christianity, rejecting any concept of a Christendom. That concept came about beginning with Roman Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in AD 313, which brought a final end to the Roman persecution of Christians and began Constantine’s gradual promotion of Christianity as the state religion. State sponsored “Christianity” continued throughout the Middle Ages under other kingdoms, and even after the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, European nations maintained state churches (e.g., Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran).
The well-known era of European exploration and colonization coincided with and followed the Reformation. It saw the imposition of state churches on the “uncivilized” pagan populations newly brought under European crowns. This frequently established state churches, such as Catholicism in the Philippines or Anglicanism in Uganda; the rite of baptism making natives both converts and citizens. Injustices done by despotic viceroys of that era are being resurrected nowadays, and their memory used to throw off the global influence of the West. Such is also fueled often by strong nationalistic pride, which in some places has gained footing in the churches, who then aim to come out from under Western missionary influences. Some are rejecting Western missionaries and their teaching altogether. And in that spirit of over-emphasized nationalism and prejudice, there is an increased vulnerability to error and heresy.
A case in point is the recent surge in the publication of “vernacular theologies,” authored by national church leaders. The anti-Western reactions in most of these works, while employing a weak hermeneutic, also result in the distribution of syncretistic and liberal positions. Such “nationalistic hermeneutics” can be seen throughout the developing world. For instance, David Adamo recently advocated for “African Biblical Hermeneutics,” defining it like so,
This is a methodology that reappraises ancient biblical tradition and African world-views, cultures and life experiences, with the purpose of correcting the effect of the cultural, ideological conditioning to which Africa and Africans have been subjected in the business of biblical interpretation. It is the rereading of the Christin scripture from a premeditatedly African perspective…. Specifically, it means the analysis of the biblical text is done from the perspective of an African world-view and culture.[4]
Where biblical discernment is undeveloped and spiritual resources are limited, such works find a trusting audience. But the untethering of a church from historically sound creeds and biblically exegeted positions, simply because of the latter’s adoption by or popularity within colonial powers, is a dangerous trend. The reverse is also dangerous; no one should be encouraged to write, simply because they are nationals in a given context, as if their nationality were a doctrinal, spiritual qualification. Doctrine is never culturally or ethnically bound. Rather, given the liberal influences behind the authors arguing that it is, their works are doubly dangerous to the unaware.
It is indeed essential for national church leaders to publish sound doctrine for the benefit of their countrymen. This affirms the sufficiency and authority of Scripture for all peoples. The Church is not only American or Dutch or German; it is Nigerian and Indian and Brazilian. The universal Church is a single body of Christ, and she must share in all good things, each member supplying what it is able (Rom 12:4–5; 1 Cor 12:12–27; Eph 3:6). Of course, western missionaries must ensure that they in no way convey a sense of cultural superiority. But they must lend biblically sound convictions and resources to their colleagues wherever they are and from wherever those resources come. Every effort must be made to equip leaders in every country to serve their churches. Plus, whether or not they are called “vernacular” or “global theologies” by liberal critics, the authoring of sound theological resources by national church leaders is indeed a strong and growing work in missions.
Recommendations for Guarding against Unhealthy Trends
In light of the foregoing factors and trends, some recommendations are needed for pastors and missions committees to navigate the missions landscape. First and foremost would be to conduct training for elders and lay leaders in the biblical theology of missions. Missionaries must go to their target country with a firm conviction in the authority and sufficiency of Scripture for their task, as well as a thorough knowledge of how to proclaim the contents of Scripture cross-culturally. Moreover, pastoral missionaries need to be able to train national leaders towards biblical competency in at least the following areas: church planting, discipleship, evangelism, bible translation, and pastoral training.
Second, elders looking to send out a missionary have a plan to train that missionary. They ought to define a set of critical questions that prospective missionaries can ask potential agencies. Committees should investigate and establish a list of missions agencies with whom they could partner as a church. Elders should also evaluate seminaries and universities for biblical fidelity and missions focus, and they should work with their missionary candidate on choosing the best one for them. Besides these more formal routes of training, elders and missions committee members should regularly update their understanding of the current trends in missions, as well as hold annual training sessions on biblical missiology for members of their church.
Ultimately, the best way to guard against the dangerous trends happening in missions is for the local church to invest in their missionary candidates and ensure they are rooted in Scripture before they even reach the seminary or the mission field. Then, the missionary will pass on what they have learned in their own local body and ensure that national believers and pastors are protected against unhealthy trends in missiology. May pastors rise up, lay hold of their role as shepherds, and shepherd their missionary flock.
[1] Originally a 57-page booklet (David Garrison, Church Planting Movements [Richmond, VA: International Mission Board, 1999]), still available at Church Planting Movements, accessed May 22, 2023, https://churchplantingmovements.com/free-booklets; the same title was used for the more substantial book published by the same author (David Garrison, Church Planting Movements: How God Is Redeeming a Lost World [Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2004]).
[2] Greg Gilbert, “Book Review: Church Planting Movements,” 9Marks, formerly at https://www.9marks.org/review/church-planting-movements-david-garrison/, but no longer available on the 9Marks website. For more contemporary expressions of Church Planting Movements, see Steve Addison, The Rise and Fall of Movements: A Roadmap For Leaders (Albany, OR: 100 Movements, 2019) and an insightful review by Caleb Morell, “Book Review: The Rise and Fall of Movements, by Steve Addison,” 9Marks, accessed April 17, 2025, at https://www.9marks.org/review/book-review-the-rise-and-fall-of-movements-by-steve-addison/.
[3] Gilbert, “Book Review: Church Planting Movements.”
[4] David Tuesday Adamo, “What is African Biblical Hermeneutics?” Black Theology: An International Journal 13, no. 1 (April 30, 2015): 59.