Don't let your generosity cause financial dependency
TL;DR:
Financial dependency in world missions occurs when churches or leaders come to rely on a continual stream of outside funding. What begins as generous help often weakens local faith, initiative, and sustainability. Wise giving focuses on empowerment, not maintenance. External funding should “prime the pump,” not pay daily bills or salaries. Bottom line: Generosity without discernment can harm the very people it seeks to help. For further reading, four books are recommended.
Wise mission giving empowers local initiative and long-term sustainability.
Christians in wealthier parts of the world want to share in Kingdom work in less affluent areas. So, they shower money on projects and people in faraway places.
Giving money to people and projects in other cultures must be done wisely, strategically, and judiciously so that it helps rather than hurts.
Dependency on foreign money can sap spiritual vitality, stifle local initiative, and actually slow down Great Commission fulfillment.
Foreign money should be used only to “prime the pump” rather than to subsidize ongoing operations.
Mission Briefing: Ideas That Affect World Mission Outreach Today
Dependency. It is a word often associated with addiction. Sadly, dependency is also used as a label for a problem bedeviling world evangelism efforts. That problem develops when well-meaning attempts to aid a congregation or a leader in another country create a thirst for foreign funding and the belief that more foreign money will help a church fulfill God's plan for it. Sadly, such financial dependency on foreign aid often saps spiritual vitality, stifles local initiative, and actually slows down Great Commission fulfillment rather than speeding it up.
That's a tragic irony, isn't it? Christians in wealthier parts of the world want to share in Kingdom work in less affluent areas. So, they shower money on projects and people in faraway places. However, raining money down on people and projects can be comparable to trying to help baby birds get out of their eggshells or butterflies out of their cocoons. That “help” is not good for the birds or the butterflies. What was meant to be a helping hand becomes counterproductive and winds up hurting rather than helping.
Here are ten reasons why allowing financial dependency to develop is unhealthy in global missionary ministry:
Dependency on a continual stream of foreign money for churches and other projects means a system has been set up that is not sustainable locally. It means churches are not infinitely reproducible since each new church requires that even more foreign money be sent in.
Dependency lulls aid recipients into thinking that Kingdom outreach is dependent on the generosity of overseas benefactors.
Members of churches dependent on foreign benefactors miss out on the joy of giving sacrificially and of living by faith in God's provision.
Knowing that a congregation is supported by foreign money taints a church's credibility in the eyes of the local community.
Dependency creates a sense of entitlement: The more aid is given, the more it is expected and solicited. It becomes an unquenchable thirst.
Dependency sometimes leads those with access to foreign money to think of themselves as powerful rather than as servants of those they are trying to lead.
Dependency can provoke jealousy among those who do not receive assistance, weakening the sense of community that should characterize networks of local churches and believers.
Though it seems paradoxical, dependency has even caused resentment toward or disdain for foreign benefactors, who never seem to be giving enough.
Dependency allows foreign benefactors to have undue influence over vision, goal-setting, and decision-making in churches where they have only a superficial understanding of the context and cultural dynamics.
Dependency breeds temptations to “borrow” foreign funds or embezzle them outright.
For these and other reasons, depending on a pipeline of foreign money to finance local ministries often creates stagnation rather than sustaining or increasing momentum. It stunts initiative rather than stimulating it. It cripples churches rather than galvanizing them into action.
So, is giving financial help always bad? No. But it must be done wisely and with careful discernment. No one sets out to deliberately create dependency. It is, tragically, an unintended consequence. To avoid dependency, foreign money must not be used to pay everyday local expenses such as pastors' salaries, living expenses, building rent, or utilities. To use an analogy from pioneer days in the American West, foreign money should be used only to prime the pump rather than to subsidize ongoing operations.
All Christ's followers are called to give. Believers are called to help the less fortunate. However, we must do it judiciously and strategically so that we help rather than hurt.
Reflection Questions
What are some negative consequences of creating financial dependency in global missionary ministry?
What are some potential positive outcomes of supporting world missions financially with wisdom and foresight?
How can the creation of financial dependency hamper the fulfillment of the Great Commission?
What are the negative consequences of foreign benefactors having undue influence over vision, goal-setting, and decision-making in local churches?
How can churches and organizations ensure that foreign money is used wisely and strategically so that financial dependency is avoided?
This blog post on a key issue in world missions outreach is one of 12 articles in the “Mission Briefing” series published in Engage magazine.
Further Thoughts: Six Problems Financial Dependency Causes
Troublesome issues brought on by financial dependency in world missions outreach include:
Projects begun with large amounts of foreign or external funding often struggle to develop viable local sources of support. That way of operating is unsustainable in the long term. It is not an infinitely reproducible model.
Doing what will attract external money becomes the focus rather than doing what best fulfills the mission of the group.
Excessive dependency on external funding can smother local autonomy and self-sufficiency. Instead of empowering communities to respond to their own needs, the flow of foreign money creates a culture of dependency in which people become passive aid recipients rather than active participants in the mission.
Financial dependency introduces unequal power dynamics between donors and recipients and opens the door to paternalistic attitudes and behaviors. Outside donors exert undue influence over decision-making, undermining local ownership and initiative.
When substantial amounts of foreign money pour in regularly, opportunities arise for corruption and mismanagement.
Financial dependency creates a cycle in which reliance on foreign funds for ongoing expenses makes it difficult to find an exit ramp leading to locally sustainable ministry operations.
The worst of such issues can be avoided by:
Using a sustainable funding strategy
Zeroing in on local empowerment, entrepreneurship, and ownership
Holding everyone accountable
Insisting on transparency in handling finances
Acrostic: Dependency
D — Diminishes self-sufficiency as churches and ministries become reliant on outside aid. E — Erodes local economies, rendering indigenous efforts less viable. P — Promotes a cycle of aid, discouraging sustainable growth and independence. E — Exploits relationships as material dependence issues overshadow spiritual matters. N — Negates the importance of local leadership and empowerment. D — Deepens inequality as believers in wealthier nations control the purse strings. E — Entraps communities in a state of perpetual need. N — Normalizes dependency, hindering long-term progress and transformation. C — Christian mission efforts risk becoming transactional rather than transformational. Y — Yields a culture of passivity as local initiative and innovation are stifled.
Here are four great books on avoiding or overcoming dependency:
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert (Moody Publishers, 2013)
When Charity Destroys Dignity: Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement by Glenn J. Schwartz (self-published, 2007)
Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (and What to Do Instead) by Robert D. Lupton (HarperCollins, 2011)
The Crisis of Dependency: How Our Efforts to Solve Poverty Are Trapping People in It and What We Can Do to Foster Freedom Instead by James Whitford (Credo House Publishers, 2024)
