Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Vulnerable Mission—A Normalisation of Christian Mission Practices in Anticipation of a Post-colonial Situation

By Jim Harries
December 2008

Scholars and laypeople alike often accuse Christian missions of being a child of colonialism. The Alliance for Vulnerable Mission (AVM) proposes a bold strategy to counter neocolonialism in mission by advocating that some Western missionaries to the Majority World follow two simple principles to “de-power” themselves:

  1. using the language of the people being reached in ministry and
  2. conducting ministry using only locally available resources.

1. Using the Language of the People Being Reached in Ministry
Language learning (ideally done in community) is a humbling experience. It includes being laughed at and corrected, even by children. It forces the foreign missionary to reconsider his or her message in a new linguistic/cultural context. It forces a healthy delay between entry to the field and serious ministry engagement. Engaging in ministry using the language of the people being reached also places the foreign missionary on a lifelong learning curve, builds appreciation and trust with locals, and leads to contextually appropriate ways of sharing the gospel. Furthermore, it boosts the pride and self-respect of the people being reached. Through avoiding translation gaffes and fine tuning with the local context, the missionary engaging in ministry can put down deep local roots.

2. Conducting Ministry Using Only Locally Available Resources
 Enormous present-day, interregional, global, economic imbalance, combined with the communications and technological revolution, greatly empower Western people. Many of these are the traditionally Christian people of the world.

Should such economic domination embarrass westerners into apologising for the gospel that contributed to who they are today? The association of white skin or a Western accent with wealth and ignorance of local conditions certainly troubles many westerners working in the Majority World. As Christians, do we presume to use all the earthly power we have in our service to God, or is there a place for choosing to de-power in order to reach people? Can God use the weak? Is there a case for becoming vulnerable to be more useful to God?

The AVM believes there is such a case and finds support in the Bible. Again and again, God chooses to use that which is weak to confound the strong:

  • Moses was an outcast for forty years before being used to redeem Israel (Exodus 2:11-3:10).
  • Gideon reduced his army to a fraction of its original size before overcoming the Midianites (Judges 7:1-8).
  • David, a young man armed only with a slingshot, beat the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17).
  • Old Testament prophets were beaten and killed (Matthew 23:31).
  • At the time of his temptations in the desert, Jesus chose to reject the way of power—either to win followers by always amazing them with miracles or by using force to dominate them (Matthew 4:1-11). He emptied himself (Philippians 2:7).
  • In my weakness is strength, shared Paul (2 Corinthians 12:10).

When ministers are vulnerable, the glory goes to God. Because it is hard to be vulnerable when one is controlling the funds, vulnerable missionaries opt out of this role in their ministry. That is not to say, necessarily, that their ministry is not subsidised from the West, but that they are not controlling that subsidy. They may be dependent upon outside support for their livelihood; however, they may see this as a problem that reduces their legitimacy for working in the local community, rather than a means to get a head-start over locals. They lead by example and not by paying people to follow. Instead of expanding their ministry by winning over foreign donors (thus putting them out of the reach of most locals where they are working and creating donor dependency and an orientation that links success with pleasing the westerner), they choose to confine themselves to what is available to other local people. Thus, by default as well as design, their ministry comes to be sustainable under indigenous economic conditions.

Dr. Jim Harries is chair of the Alliance for Vulnerable Mission, which seeks to encourage mission using the language of people being reached through non-subsidised ministries. He is also a missionary to the Luo people of Western Kenya.