1990 and 2000
"Barnabas was desirous ... Paul kept insisting"
(Acts 15:37-38)
The easiest thing would be to omit any mention of certain events. It is especially tempting to do so when reducing things to a summary. However, I feel I must describe briefly certain things which actually happened rather than produce an account which would omit unpleasant memories. I sense that I would be falsifying the story otherwise. My purpose, thus, is simply to warn readers and leaders away from an unrealistic view of Christian mission organizations.
There are differences, both subtle and radical, between any secular or Christian organization that has employees and a pay scale compared to the typical mission society which has members — not employees, no pay scale, and in effect no payroll (families are supplied with the funds they need, according to family size, with no reference to actual services rendered).
A key difference is the fact that people don't join mission societies because of the amount of money they receive and don't expect to have to do things they would not choose.
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They join in order to fulfill a God-given urge to make a difference. It is an unfortunate truism in mission circles that high-paying professionals are rarely members of mission societies. Somehow the very possibility of high income as an attorney, a medical doctor, or an accountant, for example, steers people away from joining a mission society. They may feel that they can give more money to missions from their high income than they could contribute if they gave their time.
Meanwhile, those who do join a mission society often assume they are going into a marvelous spiritual environment in which there should not be any disagreements among those who are "sold out" to the Lord's work. Yet, ironically, missionaries (even board members who are giving their time to serve) are extensively characterized by individual determination and strong convictions — the very ingredients of disagreement. Yes, nice people can and do disagree. And, when you are giving your life for something, you are all the more likely not to want to be doing very much which you think ought to be done some other way. When you are straining to follow God it may not appear that that often requires yielding to team decisions. Add to this the many grounds for disagreement readily derived from diverse backgrounds of upbringing, patterns of discerning the Lord's will, theological traditions, ways of worship, etc.
In actual fact, however, the genuine, marvelous presence of the grace of God is the only way we can explain that, all things considered, we have had very, very few serious disagreements. And, the reassuring fact throughout our most difficult breakdowns of unity is that all the players are fine and admirable people!
Having said all that, we have had our share of difficult times. One of them I described in chapter 50 in regard to the difference of opinion with certain board members about how and when to declare the end of the "Last $1000 Campaign."
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As mentioned, God rescued us from that crisis by raising up a dear couple who stepped forward the last minute to guarantee our total.
Then, however, almost expectedly, once the property was paid off, questions were raised about what to do and who should run things. During the years when there was little human chance of owning the property outright, questions of control were much less likely to surface. Once a substantial asset was in view, free and clear, it was much easier for various elements to offer to run things. Without going into all the heartbreaking details, in 1990, after all pledges had finally come in, two board members and two staff members who were on the board became an undigestable lump in decision after decision of the twelve-person board. This dragged out for months. At one point we had six board meetings in four weeks, or something like that.
Finally, at the end of the year someone on the board suggested that the entire board should resign and a new board be formulated. This highly unusual proposal was intended to avoid asking the four specifically to step down. Part of the proposal was that I be asked to reconstitute the board. I did so. I deliberately included the entire original, founding board (of five) plus a number of those resigning who simply continued to serve on the board. The indigestible lump was not reappointed. This rather drastic procedure enabled us to move forward without basic disagreements about who should run things, but I was one of two who did not vote for the mass resignation simply because I felt it could be interpreted as more than it was (since really only four held a greatly different perspective). Sure enough, Christianity Today was persuaded by the position of these four that the mass resignation was in opposition to me rather in favor of my continuing to lead. The printed story included a good deal of misinformation.
Actually, earlier in 1990 I had already turned over leadership of the U.S. Center for World Mission, and was then
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merely heading the university. But I was still the General Director of the basic corporation, the Frontier Mission Fellowship (the FMF), which was the mission society supplying workers for the U.S. Center for World Mission and the university and our regional offices, etc.
Following that upheaval things went smoothly for a number of years. In 1996, however, I also turned over the administration of the university and from 1996 to the year 2000 I had no function apart from the FMF office. By 2000 I accidentally discovered some serious problems in the financial area which apparently had not been noticed. I mentioned them to the right people. I mentioned them to the board. Accounting principles are not clear to everyone. Disagreement loomed. I was accused by some as "reasserting himself alarmingly," no doubt in part because my age would have implied, in view of widespread retirement patterns, that I had little further to offer, and should not have raised any issues. Slanted stories were imagined and circulated which gave the impression that I was no longer competent to influence things (even though at this point I no longer had any administrative function). For some it seemed perfectly proper for me to bow out completely.
One suggestion was that I "retire and do the things I do best, speaking and writing." Roberta was so incensed by this thought that she struggled for weeks in her few moments of freedom from pain and sickness related to her cancer, to write up a forty-page document attempting to make clear that I was neither a good speaker nor a good writer but that my main strength was in the areas of vision and new ideas. She knew that writing and speaking were very difficult for me! I was sorry, however, that all this unrest and unpleasantness added to her already heavy burdens. Few will ever know how much she suffered because of this. It is hard for me to type these lines.
But in all this there were no bad guys. Every single individual participating in this tug-of-war was, in my opinion,
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a fine, respectable, earnest believer in Jesus Christ. So much misinformation circulated that some families never did see the entire picture, and we lost a few members as a result. It was helpful when Bill Bright called and reminded me of the time in his organization when seven out of ten of his top leaders withdrew and took half of the Campus Crusade staff with them. But they emerged stronger than ever, and so have we. The point is that very earnest people can come to very different opinions, and once rumors and half-truths spread you can never set the issues straight with everyone who has heard the rumors.
That is the way things are. This is what we would expect so long as "the accuser of the brethren" is loose and around and especially focuses on those things that are making a difference. We recall that William Carey was undermined by newer, younger missionaries that disagreed. We recall that Hudson Taylor, after the China Inland Mission was twenty years old, very nearly resigned during a five-year-long tension over the issue of field vs. home control. More than once Cameron Townsend of Wycliffe Bible Translators was about to resign. Why should it be different for us? Maybe we are doing some things right. I know that is true. I also know that our nucleus of long-term staff members have grown a great deal in maturity and leadership skills precisely because of these difficulties and that they themselves would be the first to admit that we all have a lot more growing to do.
Of all the things Roberta and I have ever "done" in our lifetimes, I do not hesitate to believe that the most valuable single accomplishment is the formation of a living, breathing, human community that is dedicated to pursue the most significant frontiers of the cause of global missions. This team will endure beyond our passing. I feel very good about this. Others far younger than I are dropping out of jobs with nowhere near the confidence I have that things I have been involved with will go forward without either Roberta or me, and without missing a beat.
To God be the glory.
