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Short-Term Ministries, Not Short-Term Missions · Reformed Thinking

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Let us say your local congregation has, you know,
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$45,000 sitting in the bank right now, OK?
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Yeah, and you have a choice. You could fully fund a faithful,
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theologically sound indigenous pastor in South America for the
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next 15 years. Wow, 15 years.
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That is a massive return. Right.
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It allows him to preach the word and shepherd a flock without
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without worrying about putting food on this table.
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So that is option one. Very clear.
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But then you have option 2. You could spend that exact same
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$45,000 to send fifteen teenagers from your youth group
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to that same country. Oh man.
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Yeah, you sent them for a 14 day summer camp where they, I do not
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know, paint offense, run a few games and take photos for social
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media. Which is incredibly common.
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It is. So to you, the listener, which
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of those two options is the better return on investment for
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the Kingdom of God? Welcome to Reformed thinking.
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I am really glad we are tackling this today.
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Me too. Today we are taking a highly
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critical theological evaluation of short term ministries.
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Our mission here is to help you evaluate whether sending church
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members overseas for a few weeks is an act of biblical
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stewardship. Or if it is, you know, just
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spiritual tourism wrapped up in Christian vocabulary.
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Precisely. We are running this entire
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discussion through the lens of Scripture and Reformed
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ecclesiology, and we are drawing on the rigorous analysis of Mark
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Tatlock, Christ Burnett, and David E Bosworth today.
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Yeah, those guys bring some heavy theological weight to this
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topic. They really do because you know,
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we see it every summer. The car washes, the bake sales,
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the support letters going out to family members, all to fund a
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two week trip. Yeah, the classic youth group
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fundraising machine. Yeah, and it is treated as the
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absolute pinnacle of Christian discipleship.
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But we have to subject this practice to the scrutiny of
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Scripture to ensure it actually honors God's design for the
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local church. That financial juxtaposition you
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started with is the perfect place to kick this off because
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it forces us to immediately confront the reality of our
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practices, you know? It really exposes where our
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priorities are right? When we evaluate our actions
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through the lens of the Westminster Confession, we are
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recognizing God's absolute sovereignty over all resources.
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Yeah, and the authority of the local church.
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For that, we have strict requirements of biblical
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stewardship. We are accountable to God for
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how we allocate the funds entrusted to the congregation.
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So to conduct this evaluation properly, I think we have to
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begin by correcting our. Vocabulary.
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Oh for sure, the semantics matter a lot here.
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They really do. We need to start calling these
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expeditions short term ministries rather than short
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term missions. Yes, calling a 15 year old on a
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10 day trip a missionary is not just a semantic shortcut, I mean
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it is a theological error. It really degrades the term.
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It does. A biblical missionary is someone
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sent out, typically ordained and commissioned by the laying on of
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hands by the elders for the long term work of planting churches.
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Right men like Adoniram Judson or William Carey.
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Precisely. These are men who spend years
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learning a highly difficult language, they assimilate into a
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completely foreign culture, and they endorse severe hardship to
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preach the gospel where Christ is not known.
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So when we apply that weighty biblical title to a teenager on
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a brief summer trip, we dilute the office of the missionary.
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Yeah, and we give the participant a highly inflated
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sense of what they're actually accomplishing.
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I really appreciate that distinction because it sets a
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realistic, honest expectation right out of the gate for you,
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the listener. It grounds the whole
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conversation, yeah. I mean, if I fly to Mexico for
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10 days to mix concrete and hand out tracks, I am participating
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in a short term ministry. I am absolutely not stepping
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into the same historical category as someone who buried
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family members on foreign soil and spent decades translating
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the scriptures. No, you are simply a helper on a
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brief trip. Right.
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So once we correct the semantics, we have to look at
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the very real dangers of these trips and the financial cost we
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mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg.
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It really is. The hidden costs are staggering.
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Think about the time cost alone. You have a full time career
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missionary on the field. Their daily life consists of
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intense language study, pastoral counseling, preaching, and
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establishing a local congregation.
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Yeah, they are doing the actual grinding work of ministry.
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And then suddenly, a team of 15 Americans arrives.
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That career missionary has to stop all their actual pastoral
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duties. They have to act as a tour
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guide, a translator, a bus driver and a logistics
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coordinator. Which is incredibly disruptive.
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It is. They're trying to plant a
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church, and instead they are forced to figure out where to
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find purified water for a group of teenagers.
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The disruption to the career missionary is a massive burden
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that many sending churches never even consider.
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But the dangers extend far beyond logistics, too.
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Oh, absolutely, the spiritual dangers are worse.
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Right. We must examine the actual
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effectiveness of the Ministry of Being conducted.
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Evangelism on these trips is often incredibly haphazard.
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Because of the language barriers mostly.
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Yeah, you are dealing with massive communication hurdles.
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Even if you have a translator, approaching individuals randomly
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in a village square yields minimal fruit.
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It rarely leads to meaningful gospel conversations.
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And then you have the physical labor aspect.
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Many building projects completed by short term teams are poorly
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constructed simply because the team lacks the necessary trade
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skills. Right.
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A bunch of account mountains and high schoolers trying to pour a
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concrete foundation. Yeah.
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It does not end well. In many documented cases, those
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buildings are entirely abandoned or even torn down later.
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Because the local community never actually needed them in
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the first place. Or they lacked the ongoing
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resources to maintain them. And you know those relationships
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that team members feel so intensely during the trip?
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Are the ones they cry about at the airport.
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Yes, those. They evaporate the moment the
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airplane takes off, and that leaves the locals with a massive
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sense of abandonment. But wait, I can hear a youth
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pastor listening to this right now saying, well, if one
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teenager goes on this trip, or if one local person in that
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village hears the gospel and their heart has changed for
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Christ, isn't that worth the $45,000?
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I have heard that exact argument so many times.
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Yeah, people ask how do you put a price tag on a soul?
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If even one person makes a decision for Christ, does that
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not justify the entire operation?
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That is the most common defense of these trips, and it requires
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a very careful theological response from us.
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Because it is rooted in a highly flawed premise.
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Yes, that defense is rooted in a concept called decisionism, and
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that is perhaps the most devastating spiritual danger
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associated with short term ministries.
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Can you breakdown what decisionism is for the listener?
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Sure, decisionism is the practice of utilizing highly
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emotional, pressure filled presentations to get locals to
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make an immediate decision for Christ.
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Usually indicated by raising a hand or repeating a prayer.
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Right, right. The team counts the raised
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hands. They report those numbers back
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to their home church as conversions, and then they
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leave. With zero follow up.
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None. There is no disciple.
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There is no integration into a local church to verify if there
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is any actual spiritual fruit confirming their salvation.
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And from a reformed perspective, this is disastrous.
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It is. It violates our entire
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understanding of regeneration and the effectual call of the
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Holy Spirit. Because it treats salvation like
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a psychological transaction rather than a sovereign act of
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God raising a dead heart to life.
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Precisely. Decisionism relies on the
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manipulation of the human will. It assumes that if you create
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the right emotional atmosphere, you can manufacture a
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conversion. But the Westminster Confession
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is incredibly clear on this point.
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It is the visible Church, is the ordinary place where salvation,
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discipleship and the ongoing means of grace occur.
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Right. You cannot just bypass the local
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church to rack up a high number of supposed conversions.
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Doing so actively harms the Indigenous church.
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Think about the aftermath once the team leaves.
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Yeah, the individual who repeated the prayer is less
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stranded. Exactly.
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They have no new affections for Christ, no conviction of sin,
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and no local body to instruct them.
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They are left with a false assurance of salvation.
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Which is the most dangerous spiritual state a person can be?
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In it is years later when the actual long term missionary
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tries to share the genuine gospel with that same person,
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the response is often very tragic.
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They probably say something like I already tried that Jesus thing
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with the Americans and it did not work.
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That is spot on. The short term team, in their
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zeal to count numbers, has actually inoculated that person
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against the true gospel. And that is tough to hear.
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It is the spiritual equivalent of helicopter voluntourism.
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That is a great phrase for it. You fly in, drop some resources,
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create a massive emotional stir, take some photos for the church
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bulletin back home to prove your youth group is active, and then
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you fly out. Leaving chaos behind.
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Yeah, you remain completely oblivious to the massive
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disruption you just caused in the local spiritual ecosystem.
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The indigenous pastor is the one left to clean up the confusion.
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Which is so unfair to that local pastor.
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It really forces a complete reevaluation of why churches
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send youth groups in the first place.
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Are we organizing these trips for the actual benefit of the
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global bride of Christ? Or is this just an entertainment
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mechanism for the youth group? Right.
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Are we utilizing the poverty or the spiritual need of another
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nation as a cinematic backdrop to purchase a sanctification
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experience for our own teenagers?
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If the answer leans toward the latter, we are operating far
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outside of biblical parameters. Absolutely.
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When we view these trips primarily as a tool for the
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personal development of the sender, we are commodifying the
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global. This harsh reality naturally
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leads us to question the scriptural precedent, I think.
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We definitely need to look at the biblical text.
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Right. If the financial burden is this
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high and the potential for spiritual damage through
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decisionism is this severe, we have to open the text and ask
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some hard questions. Did God actually give us a
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blueprint for short term trips? Or did modern evangelicalism
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invent this concept out of thin air to satisfy a desire for
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cross cultural experiences? That is the core issue here,
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because if we are going to spend the church's money on this, we
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need biblical authorization. We do.
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The historical record shows that the Great Commission was
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executed through the planting of local churches by qualified long
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term leaders like the apostles and their delegates.
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But the New Testament does record instances of what we
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would classify as short term ministries.
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Yes, the scriptural record requires careful hermeneutics
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here. It does.
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We see Paul and Barnabas or Paul and Silas taking trips
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specifically to strengthen the churches they had previously
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planted. You see that detailed in Acts 14
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and 15. Right from the perspective of
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those fledgling localized congregations, the visits from
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the apostles were short term ministries.
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We also see delegations from various churches bringing famine
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relief funds to the church in Jerusalem.
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And perhaps the most detailed example is Apophoridus in
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Philippians chapter 2. Oh, that is a fantastic example
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to look at. He was sent by the church in
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Philippi specifically to minister to Paul's physical
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needs while Paul was imprisoned in Rome.
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And he delivered financial support from the congregation as
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well. Yes, these are clear biblical
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examples of believers traveling for a short duration to
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accomplish a specific ministry goal.
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So let us break down how we interpret those accounts for
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you, the listener, because there's a massive distinction
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between descriptive and prescriptive texts.
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A distinction that gets ignored way too often.
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It really does. A descriptive text simply
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records what happened historically.
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A prescriptive text is a universal command for all
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believers across all time. So the accounts in Acts and the
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epistles describing these trips are purely descriptive.
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Right. They show us how the early
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church supported the gospel, but they are not prescriptive
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commands, obligating every modern church in suburban
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America to send a team of lay people across the ocean every
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single summer. That distinction is a vital
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principle of Reformed theology we hold to the sufficiency of
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Scripture. Meaning the Bible gives us
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everything we need for faith and practice.
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Yes. So while there is no explicit
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prescriptive command that says that shall send a short term
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team every July, the underlying principle governing these
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descriptive accounts is crystal clear.
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And what is that principle? Every single legitimate short
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term ministry in the New Testament was directly tethered
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to supporting an existing local church.
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We're supporting a long term established missionary.
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They were never rogue, standalone evangelistic
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experiments. Never.
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They were intimately connected to the established Ecclesia
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theatrical structure. Epiphroditus did not travel to
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Rome to start his own independent St.
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Preaching ministry. No, he went to support the
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ordained minister Paul, who was already doing the work.
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I find it really helpful to look at this through the analogy of
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military supply lines. Oh, that is a great way to frame
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it. Yeah, if you think about the
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advancement of the gospel like a military campaign, the short
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term ministry team is not the frontline infantry.
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They are definitely not the infantry.
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Right. They are not the elite forces
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conquering new territory, the career missionary, the church
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planter who has spent years bleeding and sweating to learn
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the language in the culture that is your frontline infantry.
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So the short term team is the logistical supply line.
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Yes, they are the convoy bringing up the rations, the
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medical supplies, the funds, and the letters from home.
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Their entire existence is meant to support the actual soldiers
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holding the line. And if a supply convoy suddenly
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decides they want to bypass the infantry and charge the enemy
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lines themselves, it results in absolute chaos and friendly
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fire. That analogy perfectly captures
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the biblical dynamic, I think. It really does consider the
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details of Epiphytus mission in Philippians 2 again.
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OK, let us look at that. The text tells us he nearly died
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completing his task. He fell severely.
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I'll risking his life to supply what was lacking in the
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Philippians support of Paul. His mission was highly focused,
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incredibly dangerous, and entirely selfless.
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He was not in Rome to take a sightseeing tour of the Coliseum
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or to find himself spiritually. Right.
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He was there to sustain the man who is actively preaching the
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gospel in chains. This contrasts so sharply with
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the highly publicized, experience driven trips we see
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today. It is night and day app
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Aphroditus was an emissary of a local church operating under the
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authority of his elders, executing a highly specific task
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for the benefit of the broader Kingdom.
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So if we recognize that Scripture permits the support
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missions, but places incredibly strict localized parameters on
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them, how do we weigh the actual benefits?
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That is the $1,000,000 question. How do we ensure that a modern
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trip aligns with this biblical model of supporting the local
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church? This requires us to look at the
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calculus of beneficiaries. And this is where the standard
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youth group model gets completely flipped upside down.
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It really does. When we look at who actually
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matters on these trips, there are 5 distinct beneficiaries and
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the order of this list is strictly nonnegotiable.
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The hierarchy of beneficiaries dictates the entire philosophy
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of the trip. You know it drives everything.
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The first supreme beneficiary must always be the history
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itself. Meaning the direct advancement
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of the gospel in strict partnership with the local
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church on the field. Yes, every single activity,
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whether it is construction, medical aid or teaching, must
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undergird the long term propagation of the gospel by the
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local believers. OK, So what is the second one?
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The second beneficiary is the missionary.
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The fellowship, the pastoral counsel, the prayer, and the
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sheer encouragement of seeing believers from their home
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country can pull a weary, isolated missionary back from
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the brink of burnout. That emotional support is
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massive, and there is also a highly pragmatic benefit here
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too, right? Absolutely.
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Team members who witnessed the grueling work first hand are far
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more likely to become long term faithful financial supporters of
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that specific missionary when they return home.
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Which sustains the work for decades.
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So the third beneficiary on the list is the Church Abroad.
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Yes, local believers in a foreign country often feel
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isolated or marginalized in their own culture.
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When they see lay people, you know regular folks with secular
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jobs sacrifice their vacation time, their hard earned money
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just to come and labor alongside them, it provides a massive shot
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in the arm. It breaks down walls of cultural
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superiority and demonstrates the UN dosal nature of the body of
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Christ. That is beautiful.
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Then fourth, you have descending church.
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Right. The team returns home and their
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enthusiasm for a global evangelism spreads through the
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congregation. It elevates the entire church's
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vision for the nations and stimulates more fervent prayer
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for the global bride. And finally, coming in at #5 the
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absolute bottom of the priority list is the short term Ministry
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member. The individual participant.
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Yes, while the participant will undoubtedly gain a global
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perspective and experience spiritual growth, their personal
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spiritual growth must never be the primary purpose of the trip.
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The progress of the gospel and the strengthening of the local
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church are paramount. The participant gains the most
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genuine spiritual benefit precisely when they recognize
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that their personal enrichment is completely secondary to the
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glory of God and the advancement of His church.
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I mean, this totally dismantles the way these trips have been
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marketed in America for the last 40 years.
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It ruins the whole marketing pitch honestly.
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These trips have been pitched to congregations as a
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sanctification tool. Parents will gladly write a
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check for thousands of dollars, hoping the trip will fix a
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rebellious teenager's heart. Or give a lethargic college
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student a fresh perspective on their American privilege.
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We have treated the developing world like a spiritual boot camp
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for our kids. Which is incredibly arrogant
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when you really think about. It it is utilizing the global
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church as an instrument for our own self actualization is
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fundamentally backwards. A short term trip should be
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presented to the congregation as a severe joyful sacrifice for
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the global bride of Christ, not a self help retreat.
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This reveals a much deeper theological issue regarding how
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we view the means of grace. Yes, let us talk about the means
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of grace. In Reformed theology, we believe
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God has ordained specific, ordinary means for the
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sanctification of his people. The faithful preaching of the
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Word. The administration of the
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sacraments and prayer. Right, all functioning within
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the regular rhythms of the local church.
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When we begin to believe that a teenager needs a radical cross
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cultural experience in a developing nation to truly
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encounter God, we are subtly undermining the sufficiency of
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the local church. We are implicitly telling our
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congregations that the weekly preaching of the Word in their
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hometown is insufficient and they need an extreme
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manufactured experience to generate spiritual affection.
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That is a devastating critique of the modern youth ministry
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complex, honestly. But when you get the order
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right, when the participant realizes they are the lowest
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priority and the Indigenous church is the highest priority,
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the long term benefits are incredible.
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They really are. Think about the hidden decades
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long impact of doing this correctly.
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Yeah, picture this. A young man goes on an elderly,
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approved, highly focused trip. He realizes he is absolutely not
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called to be a career missionary.
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He recognizes he does not have the gifting for it.
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Right, so he comes home, gets a secular job as an accountant or
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a mechanical engineer, joins a faithful local church, and
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proceeds to dedicate a massive portion of his income to that
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specific career missionary he met overseas.
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And he funds that work faithfully for the next 40
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years. That is a breathtakingly
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beautiful biblical success story that is logistical supply lining
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at its finest. That is the exact vision we must
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cultivate, and recognizing that vision leads us into the anatomy
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of a faithful short term ministry.
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Because if the goal is strictly to support the career missionary
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rather than entertain the sender.
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The entire planning and execution process of the local
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church has to radically change. We rely heavily here on the
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insights from David E Bosworth regarding how a trip moves from
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a mere idea to a completed execution.
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Let us walk through his steps for the listener.
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The very first step, the creation or vision phase,
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requires a complete surrender of control by the sending church.
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This part is so countercultural for American churches used to
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calling the shots. It really requires taking a
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backseat. The career missionary must drive
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the decision. The elders approach the
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missionary they support and ask, do you need a team this year?
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And if the missionary says no, the church does not go, full
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stop. The Church does not force A-Team
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onto the field just because they have money sitting in the youth
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budget that needs to be spent before the fiscal year ends.
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You let the long term, theologically trained, elder
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qualified missionary dictate the actual needs of the field.
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It requires immense humility from the sending church,
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especially if they are the primary financial backers of
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that missionary. You are submitting your
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resources and your schedule to the wisdom of the man on the
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ground. So once that hurdle is cleared
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and a team is explicitly requested, we move to team
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selection. This cannot be an open sign up
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sheet pinned to the bulletin board in the church FOIA.
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Definitely not. The process demands elder,
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qualified leaders for these trips.
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The participants must have proven character.
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You do not send someone who is struggling with unrepentant sin
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or someone who is spiritually lethargic, hoping the trip will
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act as a defibrillator to jumpstart their faith.
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Sending a spiritually struggling teenager on an overseas trip to
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fix them is like sending a sick patient into an operating room
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and asking them to act as the lead surgeon.
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That is a perfect way to put it. You need healthy, equipped,
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robust believers to do the heavy lifting of ministry.
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You do not place the burden of a struggling, disobedient church
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member onto the shoulders of a career missionary who is already
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fighting a spiritual war on the front lines.
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That is incredibly unfair to the missionary.
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It is unfair and it connects directly to the Westminster
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Confessions view of church discipline and order.
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Yes, the elders are charged by God with the spiritual oversight
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of the flock. Sending an unrepentant or
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lethargic church member overseas to represent the local
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congregation and more significantly, to represent
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Christ, is a gross failure of elder oversight.
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It jeopardizes the testimony of the gospel in that foreign
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context. The selection process must be
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rigorous, pastoral and fiercely protective of the missionaries
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ongoing work. So once you have vetted the
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right team, you have to look at funding and logistics.
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We are instructed to maintain biblical integrity in soliciting
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funds, pointing to the principles laid out in Second
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Corinthians chapter 8 regarding transparency and honest
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administration of the church's gifts.
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But the text also highlights the need for spiritual dependence in
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transportation too. Bosworth points to the example
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of Paul in Acts 16 for this. Right where the Holy Spirit
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explicitly forbade Paul from speaking the Word in Asia and
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the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to enter Bethenia.
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There is a deep reliance on the sovereignty of God in the actual
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logistics of travel. We also have to perform rigorous
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risk assessment, understanding the legal and political
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implications of what we are doing.
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Much like Paul utilizing his Roman citizenship when it was
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necessary for the preservation of his life and the advancement
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of his work. OK, so then we get to the
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preparation phase, which is where the theological rubber
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meets the road for the individual team members.
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If the missionary asks the team to prepare 2 sermons, the team
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should prepare four. They need to be ready for any
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sudden changes in the schedule. But the most critical aspect of
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preparation is the crafting of salvation testimonies.
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The team leader is tasked with instructing the team on how to
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present the gospel clearly through their personal
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testimonies. And the focus must be entirely
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on the objective work of Christ. His substitutionary atonement,
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his perfect obedience, his resurrection, it cannot just
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rely on the subjective emotional feelings of the individual.
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That is such a necessary correction.
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If you ask a typical youth group student for their testimony, it
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often sounds like, well, I was really sad.
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I felt lonely and then I asked Jesus into my heart at a summer
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camp and now I feel happy and I have a lot of peace.
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Which is just not the gospel. No, that is a description of a
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mood change. The gospel is that I was a law
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breaker, dead in my trespasses, residing under the just wrath of
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a holy God, and Christ bore that wrath in my place on the cross.
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If a short term team member cannot articulate the objective
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truths of justification by faith alone, they have no business
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getting on an airplane. They need to stay home and be
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catechized by their own elders until they understand the faith
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they claim to profess. That is spot on, and that
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rigorous theological preparation is what sustains the team during
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the performance phase of the trip.
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Because James chapter one verse 2 commands us.
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Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter
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various trials. It says when, not if trials on
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these trips are guaranteed. Flights will be canceled,
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luggage will be lost, people will get severely sick from the
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food or the water. The living conditions will be
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hot, crowded and uncomfortable. A secular tourist reacts to
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these disruptions with complaining, anger and
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frustration because they feel entitled to a smooth, relaxing
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vacation they paid for. But a believer operating under a
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Reform understanding of God's exhaustive Providence reacts
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entirely differently. Because we know that the
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cancelled flight is not a random accident, the lost luggage is
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not outside of God's sovereign decree.
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God ordained that specific trial for the sanctification of the
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team and the good of the ministry.
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The team leader has to model that joy and that absolute
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submission to God's Providence. If the leader complaints about
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the heat or the food, the whole team will complain.
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They have to constantly look to Christ who sacrificed heavenly
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riches to become a servant as outlined in Mark 10, 2nd
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Corinthians 8. And finally, the process
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absolutely does not end when the airplane touches down back home.
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The evaluation phase is mandatory.
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There must be a thorough debriefing with the team members
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while the experience is still fresh in their minds.
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More importantly, there must be a private, honest, unvarnished
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debriefing between the sending church elders and the missionary
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host. The missionary needs a safe,
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confidential space to say this aspect of the team's work was
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helpful. Or please never send that
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specific individual to my field ever again.
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They were a distraction. There has to be strict
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accountability. Then the team reports back to
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the congregation, echoing Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14.
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They declare what God has done, focusing entirely on His glory
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and the ongoing work in that country.
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While expressing deep gratitude to the congregation who
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financially sacrificed to make the logistical supply line a
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reality. So what does this all mean for
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you, the listener sitting in the Pew?
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We have unpacked a massive amount of theological and
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practical instruction regarding how we view these trips.
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To summarize everything we have gathered from Tatlock, Burnett
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and Bosworth, short term ministries are absolutely not
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replacements for career missionaries who are planting
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churches. They are supplementary
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logistical and spiritual support systems.
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And because they are support systems, they require massive
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exhaustive preparation, strict elder oversight, and a posture
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of complete selflessness from everyone involved.
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They demand a high view of the local church and a high view of
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God's ordained means of carrying out the Great Commission.
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When conducted with these strict biblical parameters, short term
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ministries cease to be spiritual tourism and become a beautiful
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integrated function of global church support.
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I want to leave you with a final provocative thought to Mull
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over. We established at the very
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beginning that the true biblical measure of a short term ministry
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success is the long term health and vitality of the receiving
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church, not the emotional experience of the center.
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That is the standard. If that is the standard, how
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should that alter the missions budget of your own local
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congregation? That is a challenging question.
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If your church has $45,000 earmarked to send teenagers
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overseas this summer, could the most radical, faithful, short
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term ministry decision your elders make this year be the
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decision not to go? Could true biblical stewardship
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look like canceling the trip entirely, handing that entire
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sum of money over to a faithful, theologically sound indigenous
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pastor, and telling him to plant a church while your teenagers
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stay home and learn how to minister to the people in their
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own neighborhoods? That is the kind of rigorous,
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uncomfortable evaluation the Scripture demands of us.
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Thank you for joining us for this intense discussion on
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biblical ecclesiology and stewardship.
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We will catch you on the next edition of Reformed Thinking.