Parachurch ministries are everywhere and most of the time, they just assume the role of the church, forgetting the primacy of the church, the divinely chosen body for the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Mack Stiles, an elder of Redeemer Church of Dubai has written an excellent article enlisting and explaining the 9 marks of a healthy parachurch ministry. Stiles, a longtime parachurch veteran lays out nine things that should keep a parachurch ministry faithful to the gospel. Stiles explains his concern as, The standard cliché for parachurch is that it’s not the church, but an arm of the church. Yet historically, that arm has shown a tendency to develop a mind of its own and crawl away from the body, which creates a mess. Given the grand scope and size of many parachurch ministries, those which go wayward can propagate error for years: missionary organizations become gyms, heretical seminaries pump out heretical pastors, and service organizations produce long-term confusion between the gospel and social action.
The 9marks of a healthy parachurch are :
1: A healthy parachurch ministry knows that it exists primarily to protect the church.
2: A healthy parachurch ministry makes a clear distinction between church and parachurch.
3: A healthy parachurch ministry avoids acting like the church.
4: A healthy parachurch ministry does not pressure the church to act like a parachurch.
5: A healthy parachurch ministry humbly heeds the history of parachurch movements.
6: A healthy parachurch ministry understands the difference between the pragmatic and the principled.
7: The healthy parachurch has a counter-cultural understanding of management and money.
8: The healthy parachurch maintains a strong commitment to, and understanding of, the gospel.
9: A healthy parachurch ministry seeks accountability relationships with the church.
Stiles summarizes his points beautifully in his conclusion as follows:
Parachurch ministries are bigger and more influential than ever. And within the vast majority of them, God is at work for his kingdom in powerful ways. But we should never forget that his chosen method for the expansion of the kingdom is his church. So a healthy parachurch ministry keeps the primacy of the church front and center. It makes clear distinctions between church and parachurch, both avoiding the temptation to act like the church and refusing to pressure the church to act like the parachurch. A healthy parachurch ministry humbly heeds the history of parachurch ministries, takes hold of the principles of the ministry over the pragmatism of the world, maintains its commitment to the gospel, and seeks accountability relationships with the church.
Nine Marks of a Healthy Parachurch Ministry Read
