The One Who Pays the Piper Picks the Tune

I recently spent some time with a friend who has been involved in church planting activities. His denomination financially supported his ministry. However, he recently declined such financial support because he believed some of the methodological expectations required unhealthy theological and missiological compromises. "The one who pays the piper picks the tune," he said.This brother was not cynical or belligerent. He loves his denomination and continues to remain active within that tradition. He was simply making a point: Expectations come with financial contributions. But to what extent should those expectations come?Accountability is good and right. A denomination or network would be foolish to give away Kingdom resources without certain standards. Expectations should be expected.My concern is not with accountability. When I worked for McDonald's and Burger King, I had to wear the appropriate uniforms for the appropriate places. I knew such expectations existed before I agreed to receive their paychecks.My concern is in the level of expectations. Church planting is more art than science. At McDonald's, I had to follow certain methods because the goal was a scientifically determined end result produced by per-determined methods. There was very little art involved in cooking French fries. But such is not the way of ministry.Evangelicals have come to value contextualization. However, we often place little confidence in the judgment of missionaries in the trenches. This is an incredible irony. We want the new generation to do what we did in our day. It worked for us. But what does Birmingham, Springfield, Richmond, Alpharetta, Lawrenceville, Cleveland, Anderson, Orlando, etc., know about Beijing or Baltimore? Yes, wisdom exists from headquarters representing those who have gone before us. But we should give special attention to the church planters in the trenches. They are experiencing context now, not context then.Each generation thinks the previous generation is old-school and out-of-touch. Church planters in North America in the 1990s wanted to be like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels of the 70-80s. And the Warrens and the Hybels wanted to be like the Robert Schullers of the 60-70s. A generation of church planters that followed Jack Redford's publication of Planting New Churches (1978) was ready to pick up The Purpose Driven Church with great gusto and head to the field, leaving Redford's book to collect dust.And here is more irony: Each generation wants new things to happen and is open to new methods as long as they discover those methods. Whatever preceded us needs to be overhauled; whatever comes after us needs to be looked upon with suspicion.For those of you holding this new generation of church planters accountable for the money they receive, remember your past. Give them the flexibility that you likely did not receive from the generation that preceded you. Remember your feelings.You may be called to pay the piper. Be faithful with that calling. Just don't pick the tune. Pick the genre. Don't tell everyone to play "Minuet in G."