Missionaries in Itineration
Despite my many fears and misconceptions, I followed my call to its purposed end, applied with a mission agency, and received a field assignment. I also received a budget and some excellent information about the Biblical roots of raising support and how to go about it. The Biblical study took me back to the formation of the tribes of Israel and the separation of the tribe of Levy to service as priests. All the tribes of Israel were allocated portions of land, save the Levites. The eleven tribes were to tithe from the produce of their lands to God for the support of the Livites in His service. (Deut. 18:1-3) So begins the Divine tradition of God separating people unto Himself for full-time service and providing support for them through the people they serve.
The New Testament offers many examples that support the concept of the Church supporting the work of its laborers�this includes missionaries. We read about Paul, asking for support to make his travels possible (1 Cor. 16:6, 2 Cor. 1:16). In Philippians 4:10-20 Paul tells the Philippians that it is good for them to share in his troubles and acknowledges the aid they have given him.
More pointed still are Christ's own words, saying that the worker is worthy of his wages (Mat. 10:10). Jesus also counseled His disciples to offer their peace, meaning the Gospel and their service to the community or church, and if it was not accepted, they were simply to move on (Mat. 10:2-12). In Matthew 10:16, Jesus concludes somewhat bluntly, "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
Once I completed the study of these and other scriptures, I felt at complete peace with the whole concept of support-raising. I realized that I wasn't asking people to give me money � I was inviting followers of Jesus Christ to commit to His work by giving to Him. As in the case of the Israelites, the eleven tribes tithed to God, not to the Levites. God then allocated the tithes to those who served Him. So it is not a horizontal relationship, but more of a triangle � believers give their tithes and offerings up to God and God then distributes those tithes down according to His purpose. Those of us who receive these offerings are then accountable to God for their proper use.
Faith Promise
The next question that comes up is, "what do you mean by faith promise?" Here we can refer back to the Israelites and their tithes. God first gave the Israelites land and blessed that land and their labors so that they would receive produce from His gift. In return for that gift, He asked them to promise to return one tenth of their produce to Him. We can call that a faith promise offering. We promise, based on our faith in God that He will bless our labor, to return to Him one tenth of the fruits of that labor. We also trust God to apportion those tithes according to His purpose and, in faith, accept that apportionment as being His will.
So far, all we've really said is that we are to tithe. But we already know that much. So what is the difference between our regular tithes and a faith promise offering? After all, we give our tithes to our church when the offering plate is passed around each Sunday. Those collected tithes are then used by our denomination for the various ministries and administrative systems that support the church � that includes missions, doesn't it?
