“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” 1 Timothy 3:1
There are no insignificant callings to serve the Lord. It was my privilege to serve the Lord as a pastor for more than ten years before following His leading into missions work. With that said, we understand that God has ordained that the work of the church would be led by men called to serve Him as pastors of the local church. It has been my experience that God-called pastors all have the work of the Lord at heart.
No matter what our position is in the service of our great God we all have opinions. Even pastors disagree on so many subjects. It should not surprise us that they might have various opinions concerning missions. It is pastors that direct their congregations to support our ministries around the world. We are given the opportunity to share our ministries in churches because pastors invite us to do so. We share our burdens both in our presentations and preaching. We espouse our positions on various things. Pastors will often consider the mission that we are serving with, our position on doctrinal matters, and our presentation of the work that God has led us to do.
It appears obvious to me that if we change our doctrinal position, or if the Lord leads us in a different direction than presented to the church, we should share that change with the pastor. We should not assume that the pastor or the church would want to continue to support the changes that we have settled on. Every calling of God is important, but when we are expecting the local church to support our ministries prayerfully and financially it makes us accountable to them. Furthermore, God has made us accountable to them.
The pastors that I am with week after week sincerely want to get the gospel to the world. They should not have to be concerned that they are supporting missionaries that are pulling the wool over their eyes because those missionaries feel that the church owes them something. It is the Lord that called us into the work, and it is the Lord that will sustain our ministries. If God is pleased with the changes that we decide to make, then God will raise up the support to carry that work out without us being crafty with the church and its pastors.
Pastors, evangelists, and missionaries are all accountable to the church in one way or another. It is an honor to work together with others to accomplish the great commission. Make it a practice to pray for your supporting pastors and churches. They are praying and pulling for you.
In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone