为福音机构祷告
以下是关于我如何为福音机构祷告的六点反思：
1.我为地方教会祷告的方式应该有别于为福音机构祷告的方式吗？答案是应该，也是不应该。
不应该，因为在两种情况中，我都是为基督里的弟兄姊妹祷告；而且在两种情况中，我的祷告都应该专注于使徒们祷告的事项。例如：
这些弟兄姊妹的爱心在知识和各样见识上多而又多，使他们能分别是非（腓1：9-10）；
愿神看他们配得过所蒙的召，又用大能成就他们一切所羡慕的良善和一切因信心所作的工夫（帖后1：11）；
他们能以和众圣徒一同明白基督的爱是何等长阔高深，以致能够愈加成熟（弗3：17-19）；
等等
我们应该为人祷告。只要我们为聚集在一间地方教会或是在福音机构侍奉的弟兄姊妹祷告，就仍然是在为人祷告。
另一方面，应该有别。差别在于，教会是唯一经由新约圣经批准和授权的人类机构，唯一被称为基督身体的机构。我们在不同层面都能看到这一差别，正如我们应该看到的。但是，想想我可能如何为一个事工祷告。比如说，为鲍勃和萨莉·史密斯（名字有改动）祷告。在威克里夫圣经翻译协会支持下，他们在巴布亚新几内亚侍奉，将圣经翻译成几种语言。即使我知道鲍勃和萨莉由专门的地方教会差派和支持，我是在机构的背景下想到他们，他们在机构里履行专门的侍奉。我为他们事工的细节祷告，包括他们的事工运行的方式，这样的祷告几乎是不能通用的。
2.我猜想，人们可能“为各处所有真正的基督教机构”祷告，或做类似的祷告。但是现实中，这种一带而过的祷告常常是不成熟的，亦或是懒惰的，又或是两者兼有。
人更可能为自己与之有特别联系的福音机构有效地、有智慧地祷告：可能是我隶属的机构（例如福音联盟），或是我的好友参与的机构，我本人以某种方式参与到他的事工中（例如，T4G，威克里夫圣经翻译协会）。至少这些机构是神出于某种原因放在我心里的，可能是因为我已经观察到他们的服侍的战略性质，我想请求神保守和加强他们的服侍。
3.鉴于地方教会中的架构、督责及各样领袖的不同角色，圣经列出了具体细节（虽然得承认，不同的基督徒对圣经中的相关经文理解不同）。这意味着，我为教会处境下祈求特别的祝福或者后果，或是为教会纪律的祷告，取决于我对这些经文的理解。圣经没有给福音联盟或是威克里夫圣经翻译协会的架构给出具体细节。然而，就全体基督徒的道德、生命品质、正直关系、爱以及毫不保留地委身侍奉，圣经花了很多笔墨。只要基督徒在福音机构服侍，关于福音机构的架构、纪律和彼此之间的关系，就有很多要祷告的，即使圣经没有那么清楚要求架构细节。
4.目标由福音的优先性设定，全心顺服圣经中显示的君王耶稣的王权，这样的机构应该在我们的祷告中享有优先权，是其它机构不应该享有的。这就不可避免地意味着，我们必须努力鉴别机构在有价值的目标上忠心委身的程度。在教导信徒预备侍奉中，坚持不懈忠于圣经并丰盛认识福音的神学院应该得到基督徒恒久的代祷，祈求神愈加兴旺这一事工。同样，若是这一神学院开始偏离，信徒应该迫切祈求归正的行动，祈求领袖阶层必要的改变，祈求悔改。最坏的情况是，由于此机构因破坏对永生神的信心而造成巨大损害，明智的做法可能是求神拦阻这一机构。
5.为着正在经历转变，以使自身纯正和更加忠心的福音机构，有时我感到特别为它们祷告的重担。我能想起在过去三十年里，我有时为四五家神学院祷告，这些机构的领袖不遗余力地改革他们的机构，使其充满活力并回归圣经。有时这些祷告是针对人的：例如，求神阻止那些带领机构偏离正道之人的工作；求神以忠于神话语的仆人代替他们，诸如此类。当然，为地方教会祷告与此类似。
6.对于有意识地寻求建造地方教会，视自身为教会有助益的延展，领袖阶层对地方教会负责的福音机构，我乐意为之祷告。我甚是怀疑跟教会谈话时总是高人一等的福音机构，它们没有向教会彰显爱，与教会争竞，同时又敲开教会的门来筹款，以支持他们的“事工”。为着前者，我乐意祷告。实际上，我会祷告这一机构将更好地与地方教会连接，甚至融入地方教会中；就后者而言，我几乎不代祷，除了在最严重的情况下，祈求神拦阻他们。
Praying for Parachurch Ministries
Here are six reflections on how I pray for parachurch ministries:
1. Should there be any difference between the way I pray for a local church and the way I pray for a parachurch organization? No and yes.
No, because in both cases I am praying for brothers and sisters in Christ, and in both cases the focus of my praying ought to be for the kinds of things that the apostles prayed for. For example,
that the love of these brothers and sisters might abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight and that they might be able to discern what is best (Phil. 1:9-10);
that God might make them worthy of his calling and that by his power he might bring to fruition every desire for goodness and every deed prompted by faith (2 Thess. 1:11);
that they might have power, together with all of God’s people, to grasp the limitless dimensions of Christ’s love for them so that they might become mature (Eph. 3:17-19);
and so forth.
We ought to pray for people, and insofar as we are praying for brothers and sisters in Christ gathered in the local church or working in the context of a parachurch organization, one is still praying for people.
On the other hand, yes, there will be a difference, in that the church is the only human organization sanctioned and mandated by the new covenant Scriptures, the only organization that is said to be the body of Christ. At some level or other, the distinction catches up with us, as we shall see. But consider how I might pray for the ministry of, say, Bob and Sally Smith (the names have been altered), who are working to translate the Bible into several languages in Papua New Guinea under the auspices of Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL. Even though I know that Bob and Sally have been sent out and are supported by specific local churches, I think of them in the context of the organization in which they are discharging their specific ministry, and I pray for the specifics of their ministry, including the way their mission functions, in ways that scarcely apply universally.
2. I suppose it is possible to pray “for all truly Christian organizations everywhere” or something of that order, but in reality this sort of sweeping general prayer is usually immature or lazy or both.
One is far more likely to pray usefully and intelligently for parachurch organizations with which one has special connections: it may be an organization with which I am affiliated (e.g., The Gospel Coalition) or in which I have close friends in whose ministry I am personally invested in some way (e.g., Together for the Gospel, Wycliffe/SIL). At very least they will be organizations God has laid on my heart for some reason—perhaps because I have observed the strategic nature of their work, and I want to petition God to preserve and deepen that work.
3. The Bible lays out specifics regarding the organization, accountability, and distinctive roles of various leaders in the local church (though admittedly the relevant passages in the Bible are variously understood by different Christians). That means my prayers for particular blessings or outcomes or discipline in the context of the church will be shaped by my understanding of those passages. The Bible does not lay out specifics regarding the organization of TGC or Wycliffe/SIL. Nevertheless, the Bible says plenty about the morality, quality of life, integrity of relationships, love, and unreserved commitment to service of all Christians. Insofar as Christians serve in parachurch organizations there is therefore plenty to pray about with respect to the structures, discipline, and relationships within parachurch organizations, even though the specifics of organization are less clearly mandated.
4. Organizations whose aims are shaped by the priorities of the gospel and in whole-hearted submission to the Lordship of King Jesus as disclosed in Scripture should take a priority in our praying that other organizations should not have. Inevitably that means there must be some effort on our part to evaluate the faithfulness of the organization’s commitments to worthy goals. A seminary that constantly strives to be faithful to Scripture and to be rich in gospel understanding as it trains people for service ought to call forth intercessory prayer from Christians to the end that God would prosper this ministry more and more. Correspondingly, if that seminary begins to drift, believers should feel impelled to pray for corrective action, for necessary changes in leadership, for repentance. In the worst cases, it may be the part of wisdom to pray against the institution, precisely because it is doing great damage by undermining faith in the living God.
5. I have sometimes felt a special burden to pray for parachurch organizations that are going through transitions that will purify them and make them more faithful. I can think of four or five seminaries or theological colleges for which I have sometimes prayed during the last three decades, institutions that were being rejuvenated and brought back into line with Scripture by leaders who were struggling to reform their organizations. Sometimes the prayers are people-specific: for example, that God would stifle the efforts of those who are leading the organization astray; that God would replace them with faithful servants of the Word; and the like. Of course, there are analogies in the way one prays for local churches.
6. I am drawn to pray for parachurch organizations that self-consciously seek to strengthen local churches, that see themselves as useful extensions of churches and whose leaders are responsible to local churches. I am far more suspicious of parachurch organizations that are constantly talking down to churches, display no love for the church, and run competition with churches—all the while knocking on the doors of churches to ask for money to support their “ministries.” For the one I am happy to pray—indeed, I may pray that the organization will become better related to, even integrated with, local churches; for the other I rarely pray, except, in the worst cases, to pray against them.
作者D. A. Carson
D. A. Carson (卡森) 是伊利诺伊州迪尔菲尔德县三一福音神学院的新约研究教授，也是福音联盟（The Gospel Coalition）的联合创始人。
翻译肢体：王悦
用圣经视野和实用资源装备教会领袖
进而通过健康的教会向世界彰显神的荣耀
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