EMQ » October–December 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 4
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder, EMQLibraryInstitution”]By Ted Esler
We who have served in cross-cultural missions are unconventional. We took the road less traveled, made a difficult decision to move from the known into the unknown, and by consequence were pressed into the unknown. History suggests that missionaries are the idea factory of the church, even in the West. In the past century, it was missionaries who pioneered the church growth movement, the emerging church movement, and most recently diaspora church planting efforts. Innovation runs in our blood.
Why, then, is the caricature of the missionary traditional, frumpy, and old-fashioned? Is this just a hold-over from the days of the “missionary barrel?” Or, perhaps, the rural origin of so many missionaries of the 1900s? In this article I will unpack some built-in advantages that missionaries have in innovating ministry. I will also look at challenges that the role presents for innovation. In doing so I will draw from a dissertation that I wrote some years ago, but which remains a force in my understanding of mission innovation at the field level.
For our purposes, innovation is using something new to create solutions. It might be invention, the creation of something completely new, or it can be a mixing of existing things to create something new. Technology is one part of innovation, but innovation is far broader than technology. Ministry innovation is broadly about outcomes (who we are seeking to impact with ministry), service (how we execute the ministry), and organization (what means are used to minister).
When Ralph Winter suggested that unreached people groups were who we in global mission should reach, he was focused on outcomes. Hudson Taylor dressed in local garb, introduced what was then a new way to do ministry. Loren Cunningham created Youth with a Mission, introducing radical decentralization, and creating a new type of mission organization. Within these three (who, how, and what) there are many different types of innovation.
The Field Missionary and Innovation
Field missionaries’ ability to innovate is affected by the same innovation dynamics in industry. The Innovator’s Dilemma,[1] describes how a company, organization, or team finds something that works. They organize around this success. Over time, though, changes in the industry make the original solution less desirable. That solution, however, is embedded in how the group fulfills their mission and, in many cases, becomes the mission. This works against change and adaptation to the new reality, and the original success leads to the organization’s ultimate demise.
This applies to missionary teams and strategies as well. Corporations often innovate because of competition. As newer, smaller, and nimbler companies innovate, they leave behind legacy companies that struggle to adapt. In the ministry sphere, competition is not against other missionaries, but against culture itself. One reason why many feel the church is not innovative is because culture has shifted so quickly while the church has not adapted at the same pace.
Occupational Culture
The concept of organizational culture is well known. First popularized by Edgar Schein in the book, Organizational Culture and Leadership,[2] the theory was developed in the 1980s. Since that time, it can be argued that this has become one of the most dominant theories in organizational studies.
Organizational culture is defined by Schein as:
A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by the group as it solved its problem of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relations to those problems.[3]
Organizational culture theory has influenced how we see leadership. The theory is that leaders set the culture of the organization, and this culture drives success or failure. Popular books such as Built to Last[4] and Good to Great[5] have sold in the hundreds of thousands. A monograph for non-profits was written, Good to Great in the Social Sectors,[6] and used by ministry leaders to understand organizational culture and leadership. Jim Collins has been a speaker at Christian leadership conferences, such as the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. Organizational culture theory has been a significant influence in Christian ministries and among Christian leaders.
Underlying Schein’s overall theory is a set of basic assumptions regarding occupation. The concept of occupational culture is a key to understanding organizational culture. Unfortunately, it is rarely discussed. Occupational culture refers to common culture that exists between people who do the same job but in different companies or organizations. For example, chief executive officers (CEOs), a group that I relate to often, have a common set of assumptions about their work and role. Schein called this “The Executive Culture”[7] and it includes the following, summarized elements:
- Financial survival makes the mission possible and is therefore a high priority
- Competition drives how we relate to outsiders (in ministry, competition is often the outside culture, not necessarily other ministries)
- The CEO role requires difficult decisions and is therefore a lonely role
In a study of information technology staff, researchers identified an occupational culture that harmed the outcomes that leaders were seeking.[8] Aspects of this culture included the use of technical jargon, extreme work demands placed on them by their organizations, complaints about end-users, satisfaction about helping others when they needed it most, and other attributes. Some of these were negative, and some of these were positive.
The Occupational Culture of Missionaries
In 2010 I studied the occupational culture of missionaries.[9] Some of the attributes were very positive, and some were negative. A couple influence innovation at the field level.
This study was conducted among Western missionary agencies only. The subjects worked in a restricted access country and security concerns limit descriptions of the region. This was a case study and only one city was in the data set, but there were many missionaries working under different agencies. Further limitations can be found in my dissertation. Despite these limitations, in my work with literally thousands of missionaries, I have found that these attributes are mostly affirmed as true by missionaries themselves. If you are a field missionary, I think you will as well.
Missionary occupational culture may be defined with the following attributes:
- A high commitment level motivated by a sense of purpose and manifesting itself in sacrifice
- A spiritual worldview reflected by an emphasis on prayer, the authority of Scripture, and a commitment to a strong devotional life
- An insider/outsider paradigm as it relates to the specific context of the missionary team
- A view that experience matters; mature, seasoned missionaries are the ones with the greatest credibility and potential for success
- An embrace of autonomy and independence, often manifested in terminology like field led and decentralization
- A deep suspicion of institutionalization which is directed at both the local church in the culture they are reaching as well as toward their own sending structure
To illustrate, number five suggests that most missionaries see themselves driving mission locally. Even members of organizations which others may consider having strong command and control policies and structure said that their mission was decentralized. This was true in almost 100% of the interviews. It did not matter the size of the team or organization. Often, this was stated in comparison to other mission agencies or teams. We should recognize the value in missionaries who are self-directed. A fact of missionary life is that geography can force decentralization, so this should come as no surprise to us. Mission agency leadership should be aware that field missionaries see themselves as mostly autonomous from their home office.
On the other hand, missionaries should understand the impact this attribute has on accountability, collaboration, partnership, dependence, and alignment with larger strategies. There are ministries that thrive because they are decentralized. Decentralization, however, is not a universal benefit. Like other structural models, it has negative ramifications. Understanding these can assist a field team as they assess the best way forward for their ministry.
Innovation and the Field Missionary
Of the six attributes, each one has a unique impact on innovation. Innovation is seldom easy. “A high commitment level motivated by a sense of purpose and manifesting itself in sacrifice,” means that a field missionary is willing to push through the discouragements that typically come with difficult tasks.
There are two attributes that mitigate against innovation. The first is that experience matters; mature, seasoned missionaries are the ones with the greatest credibility and potential for success. The second one is an insider/outsider paradigm as it relates to the specific context of the missionary team.
Experience, of course, does matter. Having hosted visitors, I am keenly aware of the type of advice that can be given to missionaries by those from the outside. At the same time, experience carries with it some obvious roadblocks to innovation. In fact, one strategy that innovation experts employ is to look for solutions to problems well outside of the current industry. One example I am aware of is a hospital system that is seeking to innovate. They purposefully look at other industries for solutions because they have concluded that innovation for the health care industry will not come from the health care industry. Experience can be helpful for expert advice into systems and processes that are static. Herein lies the problem that field missionaries must face; they are working in a fluid, changing environment. What worked just a few years ago may no longer work.
When new ideas are introduced to missionaries, they may respond, “that won’t work in this culture.” I am sure that many times the sentiment is true. I am also sure that often a new idea is dismissed with no experimentation, testing, or discussion with the indigenous church. A good focus on contextualization has had an intended consequence. Innovation will not happen if new ideas are routinely dismissed because of an overactive sense of cultural particularization.
Similarly, “a deep suspicion of institutionalization,” can be helpful, if the sending agency is not innovative, and needs to be challenged to try new things. It can be harmful if each new initiative from the sending agency (or field leadership) is regarded as intrusive and inappropriate. Field missionaries are best served when they have a posture of learning and curiosity.
I was working in Bosnia in 1996 when the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention sent a team to our city. They were evaluating ministry and suggesting that the principles found in David Garrison’s book, Church Planting Movements,[10] be considered. I was not a part of their agency, but I listened to a presentation about these new methods.
I summarily dismissed these ideas out of hand, thinking that “they would not work here.” This was despite the fact there were only a small handful of struggling fellowship and that our success was minimal. I spoke the language and had lived in the Balkans for several years at that point. These folks had never lived here, did not understand the obstacles we faced, and certainly had no on the ground experience. I rejected these ideas out of hand. I would eventually be sympathetic to their ideas (years later) but today see my initial reaction as emanating from what I would later study and identify as missionary occupational culture.
Innovation in the Field
To combat innovation inertia, there are four prescriptions I recommend to missionaries. The first is to make sure to cross-pollinate your missionary experience. Get out of your local environment and expose yourself to other fields. Further, do not simply cross-pollinate with teams that are within your own organization. Seek broader exposure to groups that are conducting completely different approaches to similar ends.
As a board member for a foundation, I spent a decade visiting diverse mission fields in which teams were seeking to start multiplying churches, mostly among Muslims. While the goals were the same, the ways that teams were seeking to accomplish that goal varied greatly. These field visits should have happened when I was struggling to plant churches in my own context.
The second prescription I recommend is similar but can be done from the comfort of your e-reader. Understand models and methods from across the spectrum of approaches. This will combat standardized thinking. Evangelicals have a propensity to dismiss alternate ways of doing things as unbiblical. While this is true at times, we sometimes elevate our own understanding of ministry models and methods to theological levels that the Scripture does not call for. There is a reason why debate coaches have students debate both sides of argument. It creates a real understanding of the issues at hand. Similarly, missionaries can become students of a broad range of models and methods without adopting them. Innovation might be hiding within one of those models.
Third, run experiments and tests as a part of your ministry approach. Too often we are taught an approach that is considered a best practice and then we implement it with little originality. What does a ministry experiment look like? It can take many forms. Instead of choosing, for example, one Bible study curriculum, choose two and use them both in different groups. Evaluate the results and then make a longer-term choice. One ministry methodology that is particularly well suited for experimentation is digital outreach. By testing different messages, platforms, and response mechanisms you can significantly enhance its effectiveness.
Finally, open collaboration can be a boon to innovation. People from other organizations, the national church, and even collaboration with civic officials can produce great ministry ideas. Some problems will only be solved through collaboration. The scale of many ministry objectives (for example, reaching all people groups within a country) will require collaboration. Collaboration often creates innovation because it keeps us from being silo’d into our own way of thinking. Through collaborating, everybody gains the advantage of creative ideas from different perspectives.
Innovation is necessary to achieve the ministry breakthroughs that many of us pray to see happen. While there are some impediments embedded within missionary occupational culture, they can be overcome.
Ted Esler, President of Missio Nexus, worked in the computer industry before joining Pioneers in 1990. He served in Bosnia and in various leadership roles with Pioneers until 2015 when he was appointed the president of Missio Nexus. He is the author of The Innovation Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2021), and holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012).
[1] Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma, Management of Innovation and Change (Boston, MA: Harvard Business, 2016).
[2] Edgar Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition (Jossey-Bass, 2004).
[3] Schein, Organizational Culture, 17.
[4] James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last, Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business, 1994).
[5] James C. Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t (HarperCollins Publishers, 2001).
[6] Jim Collins, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great (Random House, 2006).
[7] Schein, 198.
[8] Indira R. Guzman and Jeffrey M. Stanton, “Culture Clash! The Adverse Effects of IT Occupational Subculture on Formative Work Experiences of IT Students,” AMCIS 2004 Proceedings (Association for Information Systems, 2004), https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2004/457.
[9] John Theodore Esler, “Movements and Missionary Agencies: A Case Study of Church Planting Missionary Teams” (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012).
[10] David Garrison, Church Planting Movements, How God is Redeeming a Lost World (WigTake Resources, 2007).
