by Carrie Vaughn, Local & Global Outreach Director at Redemption Church (Tempe, AZ)
The book of James references two types of wisdom. The first is wisdom from Heaven, which is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere (James 3:17). The second is wisdom that is earthly and unspiritual; it looks like bitter envy and selfish ambition (James 3:14-16).
Here, James has given us a “cheat code” for how to engage in partnerships well. Wisdom from Heaven will pull others in with humility and consideration. The attributes he lists are always in relation to others. When we partner well, heavenly wisdom will lead us to “deeds done in humility,” (James 3:13).
In contrast, earthly wisdom will push others away. It will stiff-arm partnerships for the sake of turf protection or leader hoarding. This view of global partnerships will lead us into the “disorder” James mentions. If you’ve been serving overseas for any amount of time, no doubt you have seen this firsthand: missionaries and organizations treating their ministries like the game of Risk; moving pieces and strategizing territories, but all the while leaving partnerships on the sideline.
My hope is always to enter into partnerships with humility and also a little assessment. If we spend more time getting to know one another, it helps partnerships outlast the initial stages of excitement. As a church, we ask four questions when we’re getting started:
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Abilities: What are we good at?
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Affections: What do we care about?
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Aches: Where have we encountered the brokenness of the world?
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Anchors: What are the realistic circumstances of our lives?
In my community, our assessment looks like this:
Our church trends younger. We have a large population of refugees as neighbors. We see affordable housing issues all around our city. Realistically, people can only take about 10 days off from work at a time.
Now that we’ve answered those questions, we can enter conversations with global friends more informed about what we can do in a partnership. While this can feel a bit mechanical at first, I would say that it actually adds clarity to the conversation. My family and I served in China as missionaries for 15 years. While there, we were working with an excited church from the US who wanted to engage with UUPGs (Unreached and Unengaged People Groups), and we were planning a short-term trip for them to come visit us. The team would have been older, and most of the participants had little to no cross-cultural experience. While we loved their heart, trekking through the mountains surveying villages and searching for a particular UUPG simply didn’t make sense. But, they would do a fantastic job with us in the city, running English camps, parenting classes, and Christmas parties.
Let’s not be scared to go through a “dating process” when we’re looking to partner globally. The hope is that once we get to know each other better, the relationship can continue to grow and remain healthy for years to come. Let’s lean into James’ wisdom—pulling one another in as we look to partner in ministry—praying for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven.
Learn more about our Frontier Fellowship’s partners and their work among least-reached peoples at frontierfellowship.com/partners