This is the third of four entries
Parachurch: One Size Does Not fit All?
As we learned from the plethora of scripture we examined, the church is God’s primary plan for this age. God’s glory is reflected through the Body of Christ, the Church. It is Church that Christ is returning for at the end of this Age. The Church is unique to God. God has specifically defined what the Church is. How do we define the Church?
“The Church is a group of born again believers…
….commit to each other in a specific location (members)….
…. purposed to fulfill the Great Commission (mission)….
….devoted to the word, worship, prayer, fellowship, and service (maturity)….
…. being lead by a Biblically qualified group of male elders (ministers)….
….with the intent to birth and establish new churches (multiplication)….
….all for the glory of Christ (magnification).”
With that as a definition, a ministry organization is either a church or its not. A group of Christians can meet in a home and have a Bible study but without the other aspects it is NOT a church. A handful of young believing zealots can aggressively witness on their college campus, but with no elders or desire to birth or plant a church, its not a church.
But does that mean all parachurch ministries are wrong, sinful or unbiblical and should be disbanded? Absolutely not. I am just pointing out a theological issue that needs to be considered. And certainly not all parachurch ministries are the same. Some are truly “coming along side” of the church and others are overstepping their bounds and attempting to replace the practical and spiritual authority of the church. How can you discern the difference? Over the years I have thought about the parachurch in three categories of ministries:
INTER – PARA – This would be the organizations that were started or function as a cooperative effort of a number of churches working on ministry together. This ministry has happened because of the inter-relative effort of a number of churches. In the late 80’s the church I was serving joined up with five other churches and started a crisis pregnancy center. The pastors served as board members and gave oversight. It had its own staff and later a board of directors assumed the leadership with the pastors serving as an advisory board. It was separate from all of the churches, but doing a function that NO ONE CHURCH could have done. Inter-parachurch organizations could be a camp, schools, missions consortium, a youth event alliance or a even a counseling ministry. It is a separate organization formed by a collection of churches to serve all the churches. The key is that it got its birth, life, sustenance and direction from the church.
INTRA – PARA – This is an organization that is separate from any churches, but could not operate unless it worked inside or through the church. Publishing companies, Group, Gospel Light and Scripture Press create curriculum but the material must have a church using it resources for it to have life. Organizations like Pioneer Clubs, AWANA, Walk thru the Bible and other parachurch ministries can’t operate its programs without churches hosting them. The intra-parachurch is truly there to support the church and make it more effective.
EXTRA – PARA – These types of parachurch ministries are “stand alone.” What I mean by that, is they can do evangelism and discipleship without the church. They have their own leadership structure and in no way looks for the church for direction. They don’t even defer to the Church when the Church should be making the call. Mission Boards are the most well known. They operate with nearly no church input; they make decisions that the Church should be making; and even when the Church would not move forward with, lets say a potential missionary, most mission boards will. Campus Crusade, Youth for Christ, Navigators and others are famous for taking the place of the Church and having no plan to transfer it back to the Church. Even college and seminaries are extras in that they will do the equipping and training that a church should do and develop a philosophy of ministry that may be different than the Church. However, there is a movement afoot to bring ministry training back into the context of the local church. We will see how much opposition the Church will get. Probably of the three types of parachurch ministries, the “extra-para” is the most concerning and the most likely to try to supplant the Church’s primary place for ministry.
If the parachurch is truly “coming along side” of the Church to help the Church fulfill its task of evangelizing and discipling the world – then the way a parachurch operates and functions should reflect that purpose. Next time I will share what we can do to try to get the church back on top of the ministry food ladder.