• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In

MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission Matters
          • Members Only Feed
          • Missions Podcast DirectoryNew
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
          • UkraineNew
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Bible Certificate
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Missions DataNew
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Evangelical Views on Women in Ministry & Marriage: Differences in Interpretation, Not Inspiration
            Fri May 20, 2022, 04:00 PM PDT
          • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
            Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
          • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
            Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missions DataNew
          • Missiographics
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Evangelical Views on Women in Ministry & Marriage: Differences in Interpretation, Not Inspiration
    Fri May 20, 2022, 04:00 PM PDT
  • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
    Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
  • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
    Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
    Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Women's Development Weeks
    Thu Sep 8 2022

View all events »

Topics

author interview CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Disciple Making Discipleship Focus Future Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Member Care Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Podcast Presenter Pursuing Partnerships Series Research Risk Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women Women in Leadership

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Editor’s Analysis

Posted on April 1, 1984 by Ted EslerApril 1, 1984

by H. M. Dard

Are tentmakers copouts from being real missionaries? According to some critics, yes. Are tentmakers God’s secret weapon to evangelize the world? According to some backers, yes.

Are tentmakers copouts from being real missionaries? According to some critics, yes. Are tentmakers God’s secret weapon to evangelize the world? According to some backers, yes.

Our answer to both questions is no. Full-time professional missionaries ought not to assume that tentmakers are taking the easy way out. Tentmakers ought not to see themselves as conquering the bastions of unbelief that professional missionaries can’t reach.

It’s conceivable, of course, that when a young adult looks at career options, he or she may be more attracted to becoming an engineer for an American oil company, or a government teacher, than to becoming a missionary, especially if there’s a bonus: you can also be a tentmaker missionary.

The reasons for such a choice aren’t hard to find. At the top of the list you would certainly put the desire to be a Christian witness in an unfriendly or even hostile culture. But there are other reasons as well. You don’t necessarily have to be a Bible college or seminary graduate, you won’t have to raise support, you won’t have to sweat through a pile of mission board application papers, pass a doctrinal exam, and complete a missionary orientation course.

When those reasons surface, it’s easy to think that the young adult is dodging the bullet of missionary service rather than biting it. But few of us have absolutely pure motives. In lieu of hard data to the contrary, why not assume that many people honestly see the tentmaker as the Western church’s Trojan horse? It certainly isn’t a violation of any biblical command to want to be a tentmaker.

But the other question remains, Is there enough evidence of success to warrant the Trojan horse theory? Can we honestly expect evangelism to be done this way, in countries where missionaries are unwelcome?

The answer is yes, if we take a broad view of evangelism as a process that includes seed-sowing by the godly life and occasional verbal witness of the engineer, teacher, doctor, or whatever. The answer is no, if we expect to see conversions right and left, and churches springing up in Arab capitals.

We must also recognize tentmakers who don’t fit the Trojan horse illustration. They work in countries packed with welcome missionaries. (See Daniel Snyder’s story of his teaching job in Nigeria in this issue.) But they believe they can both witness and nurture believers in certain settings, or levels of society, where professional missionaries do not usually find regular opportunities.

Snyder makes several succinct observations that will pay careful pondering. The most obvious is that in his case at least he can’t produce startling victories to write home about. To his credit, this doesn’t bother him, but it might bother some who see tentmakers as somehow being more effective in their role than the traditional missionary is in his.

Prospective tentmakers must be content to do their full-time job well, and not constantly look over their shoulder at their witnessing records. They are paid to work at a profession, or job skill, and this must be their prime commitment. They cannot get antsy and wish they had as much time for church work and evangelism as the missionaries do.

Snyder demolishes the idea that you can be a good tentmaker without Bible and missionary training. He sees both as essential. He himself has affiliate missionary status with his denomination. He also appeals for tentmakers to tie in with the local missionary force. If the missionary sees the tentmaker as a wedge, or as a supplement to his or her usual ministries, and if the tentmaker sees the missionary, not as an ineffective relic, but as a stable standard-bearer of the gospel in his or her own right, then both tentmakers and missionaries can link arms and hearts for a more full-orbed penetration of society than either would accomplish alone.

Copyright © 1984 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsArticlesEMQSectionVolume 20 - Issue 2

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.
As an Amazon Associate Missio Nexus earns from qualifying purchases.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Subscribe to our Mailing List

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks