GCR, IMB, Lottie Moon, and Article IX

Suffice it to say that money is tight these days, but I suppose that’s stating the obvious. Unemployment continues to rise and is preparing to head north of 10%. Retirement plans are disappearing and foreclosures continue. Even Joe Biden had to admit that the economy is a lot worse off than the Obama Administration thought. And as Southern Baptists, we are all well aware that the IMB will have to drastically cut its support of our foreign missionaries in the future due to lack of funds. To me, this is one of the most worrisome statistics of this economic crisis: that Southern Baptists have to cut back on missionary work in the four corners of the globe. What then can be said and done about this sad news to insure that the gospel continues to be spread by Baptists throughout the world?

First, it needs to be noted that this is a very complicated issue. At one end of the issue is obviously the economic crisis: people are giving less in a time that requires belt tightening. It takes about $43,000 to fund a single missionary annually, and it’s getting much harder to do that during a recession. This, however, is representative of a much larger problem, namely, that the average evangelical Christian only tithes 2-3% of their annual income to the church, if they even tithe at all. Furthermore, SBC membership has declined again for the second year in a row, leaving us with less members to tithe. Undoubtedly, however, part of the problem with the IMB crisis has to be denominational and convention structure, to wit, the funds simply aren’t getting directed where they need to be.

This graph shows the convention funding strategy for international missions. At the bottom, the annual Lottie Moon offering goes directly to support the work of our foreign missionaries. At the top, money tithed from local churches to the CP goes to state conventions, where it is passed along to the CP, where it is equally divided between the IMB and the Exec. Committee, the seminaries, NAMB, and other institutions. The problem with this pattern is twofold. First, most churches don’t give much money to the CP, if any at all. This obviously creates issues in IMB funding. Secondly, the state conventions retain far too much of what little funds they actually get. You can see on the graph that the stingiest state convention only gives 14% of its CP income to the CP, retaining the rest for its own ministries. Let me play this out in a scenario for you.

Did you ever give your little kids a $1 to tithe as a way to teach them to give? My parents did this with me. Let’s use this $1 as an example and follow its trail through the convention. Let’s say your church is faithful and tithes 10% of its budget to the CP. Out of that dollar, only 10 cents goes to the state convention. Let’s say you are a South Carolina Baptist (which gives 42% of its income to the CP…fairly generous as state conventions go). Out of that 10 cents, 4 cents goes to the CP. Divided in half, about 2 cents goes finally to the IMB. So for every dollar given, only 2 cents actually makes it to the mission field. And that is a best case scenario. That is purely pathetic.

Article IX of the GCR calls for a restructuring of our state conventions to place funds where they need to be. I wholeheartedly agree, with the addition that we need to start seeing our local churches giving more to the CP in the first place. Article IX, if enacted correctly, can help to streamline our denominational structure and put mission priority on our fund. Until that time comes, I encourage you to look at the bottom of the chart at the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. LMCO provides the IMB with 54% of its annual operating budget. Furthermore, this offering goes 100% unhindered to the IMB and is not taxed or subsidized along the way. The SBC has set this year’s LMCO goal at $175 million, which is $25 million more than last year. I encourage you to advertise, campaign, and support the LMCO offering this year, and hopefully we can send out more missionaries and avoid cutbacks with the help of our Lord.

Finally, a few disclaimers. Missions isn’t just about giving cash to the kingdom. We are a wealthy and large denomination that has plenty of means. But if our only concern and participation with missions is how much money we can give, then we miss the point. I finished reading Hudson Taylor’s (a great English Baptist 19th century missionary to China) autobiography. While in England, he had the opportunity to go to a local church and present the grave spiritual need in China that was being met by his China Inland Mission. Before preaching, he asked the minister to not allow any solicitation of funds or offerings for his venture. Today this seems like quite an odd thing to do. Later he explained himself. Sacrificial giving to missions work should come only from a real and deep concern and compassion for the lost. We aren’t just to give money for giving’s sake. Rather, as Christians our giving should come out of a deep desire to see people meet and be filled by Jesus. As Rev. Taylor said, God always supplies the means for those who are really called to spread the gospel. What we need for a Great Commission Resurgence to occur is a Great Commission Revival which leads people to see Jesus and his mission more clearly.

Secondly and briefly, as the SBC and IMB goes, so the Kingdom does not necessarily go. The SBC, NAMB, and IMB are not essential to the evangelization of the lost. God’s kingdom will continue to progress, for He is an Isaiah 26:15 God who will always increase the borders of His nation. The question of the SBC/IMB/GCR is not fundamentally one of whether the progress of God’s kingdom will be hindered. Rather, it is a question of whether the progress of the kingdom will be diverted elsewhere, to other “Jesus-intoxicated” peoples, churches, and denominations. It is fundamentally a concern for our own sanctification: will we be obedient to the call of the Great Commission? Will our hearts, corporate and individual, cry out and long to see friends, family, and strangers meet the One living God through Jesus His Son? This is really the bottom line. We would do well to remember that.