How Much Money Should A Church Spend On Missions?

May 10, 2006

From time to time we get the question here at NewSpring as to how much money we spend on missions. I believe that is an incredibly fair question; after all, we are charged with going and telling the good news all across the world.

However, since the beginning of NewSpring, our philosophy on missions has been a little different (imagine that). Every church has a different way they tackle missions—and here is our philosophy.

(Disclaimer: To those who e-mail desiring debate on this subject—it’s not going to happen my friend. I am not saying that every church needs to adopt this approach…but I am saying it is our approach and we feel that this is the direction that God has called our church to take. So…if you want to write in and tell us how stupid we are—that’s awesome! You will not receive a response because…well…to be honest—we don’t have time for it!)

Now, on to missions… :-)

In Acts chapter one Jesus tells His apostles that they will need to reach Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and then the ends of the earth. And…if you go through Scripture you will see a clear picture of this taking place—Jerusalem in chapter two, Judea and Samaria in chapter eight, and then finally the Gentiles in chapter ten.

So…that is the way we desired to do missions when we began NewSpring…we wanted to reach Anderson first, then the upstate, and then on to the United States and the world.

You see, I have a serious problem with a church that will organize a mission trip overseas, stay in five star hotels, pass out Bible’s for a half a day…and then celebrate that event for the next ten years.

I have a serious problem with a church that will get focused on so many things but forget the needs that exist in their own community. You see, we have homeless people in Anderson, we have hungry people in Anderson, we have single moms in Anderson…and it is our desire to make sure we do all we can to minister to these people AND THEN begin to go outside of this area.

So how much money do we spend on missions? Answer—every dime that is given every week. Anderson is our mission. You see, I am not content with the fact that we have teenagers in this community that do not know Christ…and so we need the proper staff and resources to reach them—that is missions.

I am not content with the fact that there are children in this community who do not know Jesus! So…it is our desire to provide a creative and exciting atmosphere for kids to come and worship…AND to reach their mother and father with the Gospel and see lives changed—that is missions.

I am not content that 48% of our county is unchurched—folks—48%, and it’s not because they can’t find one—it is because they have walked away and want nothing to do with them. In reading the New Testament it is so obvious that church is necessary—and so it is necessary to do all we can to reach them—that is why we built a facility…so we could reach more people—that is missions. (And it is working—our average attendance is up over 1,200 people in the past six months.)

Not only that—we have handyman teams here at our church that go out and build handicap ramps in the community—we are doing a single mom’s oil change soon—we partner with Anderson Interfaith Ministries and Crisis Pregnancy Center financially. We are a church that is all about this community.

(Mark your calendars NOW for Friday, June 30—the NewSpring band will be doing a concert and having a fireworks show at the ampi-theatre here in Anderson…and every dime we take in will go to Anderson Interfaith Ministries and Crisis Pregnancy Center.)

BUT—not only are we all about Anderson—we are taking steps to do some work outside of this community as well…

Over the past several months we have sent teams of people to New Orleans and have partnered with a church down there…the stories we are hearing are amazing and…well…yes, that is missions.

AND…we have a meeting scheduled in two weeks with an organization that we are considering partnering with to do missions work in India. You see, I don’t want our church to take up an offering once a year and feel that we have done our part—I want us to be involved. So…we are going to adopt villages—build schools, churches….our church will take mission trips every year to the same places—we will know these people by name…and they will know us…and we will see entire regions of that country reached for Christ—that is missions.

We are all about missions—BUT—we consider EVERYTHING we do to be a mission. People DO matter all over the world—BUT they matter right here in Anderson as well! AND—we are going to do all we can with all we’ve got to make sure as many people as possible hear about Jesus!

How much money should a church spend on missions? EVERY dime they take in!