03.23. Parachurch Organizations

Parachurch Organizations

PRO

Parachurch organizations carry on ministries that the church cannot do, or should be doing but is not, e.g., translation, publishing, radio, TV, prison work, evangelism, discipline. counseling, etc.

They reach vast segments of the population that are untouched by the churches.

Many people who are turned off by the church ("all the church wants is your money’) can be effectively reached by parachurch ministries. In missions, social services, evangelism and church planting, parachurch organizations have taken the lead.

Whereas the organized church often requires formalized training for its full-time workers, the parachurch organizations train lay persons and put them to work.

They provide ministry outlets that Christians do not find in local churches.

They provide honorable, salaried employment for some.

They are effectively bearing fruit. God is blessing them.

Churches tend to emphasize buildings more than missions.

Churches are inflexible, resistant to change. Parachurch organizations are an answer to this lack of flexibility.

CON

Parachurch organizations are unbiblical. They are nowhere found in the Acts or elsewhere in the New Testament. The church is God’s unit on earth for propagating the faith. Everywhere the apostles went they planted churches. Everywhere we go we establish parachurch organizations.

Men and women are diverted from the local church. Preachers, teachers and leaders are taken away from their primary ministry and seated behind a desk as administrators.

Money is diverted from the local church, yet these organizations depend on the churches for their support.

People serving with a parachurch organization cannot carry out the Great Commission “teaching to observe all things” because they cannot declare the full counsels of God. In trying to relate to many different churches, they tend to weaken their doctrinal position.

There are many overlapping and competing ministries, with factions, jealousies and rivalries.

They are not accountable to anyone but themselves.

Some parachurch people tend to be antichurch.

Others who have a parachurch mentality often find it difficult to adapt to the fellowship of a local church and to function with the broad mix of people found in most congregations. They consider themselves (and often are) a select group of committed people.

They usurp functions and responsibilities that belong to the churches.

Instead of feeding converts into local churches, the organization tends to take the place of the church in the lives of the people.

Arguments Against Parachurch Organizations That May Be Equally True Of Churches They do not die easily but are often perpetuated after they have outlived their usefulness.

There is a danger of focusing on a charismatic leader, and of thus establishing a personality cult.

They do not meet the total needs of the people.

They are often characterized by competitive spirit, infighting, duplication of ministries. and divisions.

They are sometimes the result of a person’s inability to work with others. In frustration he starts a work where he can be independent.

They promote professionalism, climbing up the corporate ladder, etc.