The following is a response we penned to an article titled Effective Giving: The Church-Parachurch Tension, posted at FaithfulPolitics.org……
“We agree with your point that alleviating poverty and other social injustices is not the primary mission of Christ’s Church, that His Church is to be His primary agent in bearing the Gospel message of reconciliation. Certainly, though, a secondary mission is the exhibition of the Kingdom, and in this mission, the parachurch has come to play a critical role — and with great effectiveness. You raise an interesting point — that is, has the Church become less active in ministering to the world’s needy because of the parachurch’s growth? For many of us, who have become concerned about the percentage of church budgets that go toward staff (65% on average) and expensive real estate and buildings, giving to parachurch ministries would seem to be a responsible exercise of our stewardship privileges — especially when we give to one of the many effective organizations that work explicitly in the name of Christ, spreading the Gospel as a integral part of their work. This combination of the Word backed up by compassionate action is sorely needed, because when our churches devote their resources on internal ministry to the near exclusion of externally focused ministries, their mission, relevance, reputation, and witness, both here at home and abroad, are diminished.
By many people’s reckoning, exemplary parachurch organizations like World Vision, Compassion Int’l, and Christ’s Hope fall under the umbrella of what we call the Church. Yet, your quote from author David Platt (Radical) deserves consideration; it would seem unwise for us to bypass God’s appointed agent, the Church proper, in our efforts to fight injustice and spread the Word. At Givers by Design, we have devoted an entire section of our site (the Advocacy tab) to arguing for exactly what you have proposed – that is, funneling our giving to parachurch ministries through our local congregations… see especially the article titled Donor-Directed Giving. The benefits to all concerned would be substantial; truly, a win-win situation. However, for this to work, our churches need to be willing to partner with the parachurch; sadly, many churches are reluctant to partner with parachurch ministries for fear of a negative impact on their own general budgets. This is most unfortunate, first and foremost because our collective witness suffers for it, but also because our churches are in a natural and ideal position to champion and support the work of the parachurch.
(For an easy to use, information packed list of organizations whose programs have proven effective in helping the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, go to Top Christian Humanitarian Organizations.)
A look through the websites of parachurch organizations large and small show them to be actively interested in partnering with our local churches. So, we have to wonder about your central point: is it really the parachurch that needs to come along side of the Church? Or is it perhaps the Church that needs to welcome the parachurch into partnership, including them within the sphere of who we are and what we do as the Body of Christ?
Readers, what do you think?
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