在无宗派情况下发展宣教事工（附英文原文）
我不反对宗派。我知道它对于历史和国度的价值。但是乡村教会并不是主要通过宗派来“宣教”的。因为我们相信耶稣基督是这个世界的盼望,并且地方教会就是这盼望得以显现的器皿。
我的经验就是，地方教会应当装备侍奉者，使他们传扬使人和好的福音，而宗派的制度化组织实际上挪去或者减轻了地方教会的这个责任。
对于宣教，谁起着主要责任呢？在宗派结构组织里，宣教的主要责任是自上而下的。宗派组织负责筹款，招募“宣教士”，装备他们，教授方法，差派他们，还有供应他们。他们还去找到地区或人群来支持国内或国际事工。在这当中，地方教会的责任就被弱化，仅仅是为宣教提供资源，而不是自身做宣教事工。
我们提倡一种从下往上的事工方法。这意味着乡村教会要努力参与进去，装备并差遣我们地方教会的肢体进入世界，作让人与神和好的使者。我们不是把他们引入宣教活动里，而是像以弗所书4章里命令的，我们装备他们，使他们成为福音的大使。
上帝已经把完成事工所需要的恩赐、才干、资源都给了地方教会，就像保罗告诉哥林多人的，他们“在恩赐上没有一样不及人的”（林前1：7）。你可能不是一个“宣教专家”，但神已经呼召你所在的教会去做和好的使者（林后5：13-21）。所以装备他们，让他们有能力走出去。
这显示出我们的教会如何参与到我们城市、国家乃至整个世界的宣教事工。我们称其为“教会发展”。因为我们的宣教神学，我们渴望去发展地方教会的肢体，让他们参与到我们所服侍的地方或人群中。
这意味有时候着我们去建立教会
这意味有时候我们坚固挣扎中的教会
这意味我们总是要与已经存在的教会合作
在没有宗派的时候，你如何开展事工？
首先，装备你的会众。
其次，学习如何与其他教会合作。没有一个教会可以独自承担整个世界、国家，哪怕整个社区的事工。这就有必要进行“合作项目”。我想这也曾是宗派间想去做的，但他们不再让地方教会担当宣教责任，结果就失败了。实际上，宗派性的机构已经开始表现得好像地方教会已经不再做宣教事工一样。针对于此，教会网络已经联合起来，使有相同观点的教会可以一起做宣教事工，然而又各自承担自己的责任。宗派假设地方教会不做宣教，这个联合教会网络认定他们要做宣教。透过这样的合作，宣教在我们这一代将会继续下去。
我决不是想贬低宗派或历史上的合作项目。我只是提倡改变一下我们的聚焦点。地方教会已经领受了神的大使命。如果我们减轻或放弃这个责任，我们就是在挪移我们事工的基础。
【英文原文】
Developing Missions Networks Without a Denomination
I am not opposed to denominationalism. I can see its value in history and for the kingdom. However, the Village Church does not “do mission”primarily with a denomination, since we believe that Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and that the local church is the instrument by which that hope is made manifest.
It is my experience that the institutionalized structure of denominations actually removes, or at least lessens, the biblical responsibility of a local church to equip ministers of reconciliation with the message of reconciliation.
Who has primary responsibility for the mission? In a denominational structure the primary responsibility of mission is from the top down. The denomination collects funds, finds “missionaries,” equips them, teaches methods, sends them, and provides for them. The denomination finds areas and people groups to engage nationally and internationally. In all this, the responsibility of the local church is minimized to “resourcing” mission, rather than being the mission.
We advocate a bottom out approach to the mission. This means The Village Church strives to engage, equip, and send our local church body into the world as ministers of reconciliation. We don’t lead them into mission activities, but rather, as Ephesians 4 commands, we equip them to be what God through Christ has reconciled them to be, ambassadors.
God has given your local church all of the gifts, talents, and resources needed to fulfill his mission, just as Paul told the Corinthians that they did “not lack any spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 1:7). You might not be a “missions expert,” but God has called your church to be ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14-21). So equip and empower them to lead out.
This plays out in how our church engages the mission in our city, state, country and throughout the world. We call it Church Development: because of our theology of mission, we desire to raise up and develop the local church body or bodies in every area and people group we engage.
Sometimes this means that we plant churches.
Sometimes this means that we help undergird struggling churches.
Almost always this means that we partner with existing churches.
What do you need to do missions without a denomination?
First, equip your members.
Second, learn how to partner and network with other churches. There is no one church that can effectively engage an entire community, nation, and the world. It is going to take a “cooperative program.” This, I think, was what denominations intended to do, but they failed by removing responsibility from the local church. In fact, denominational agencies have begun to function as if local churches did not do mission. To counteract this, church networks have emerged that enable churches who share values to work together yet keeps responsibility for mission with each local church. Where the denomination assumes the local church is not doing mission, the networks assume they are doing mission. It will be through such partnerships that the mission continues to be realized in our generation.
By no means do I want to discount the work of denominations or historic cooperative programs. I am simply advocating a change of focus. The local church has been given the responsibility to be on God’s mission. If we lessen or abdicate that responsibility we shift the foundation of mission.
作者 Jeremy Pace
杰里米·佩斯是德克萨斯州达拉斯基督城市教会的带领牧师。
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