Missional Churches understand that our God is a missionary God.
As such, he is working today in and through his people, the church, to give people everywhere a chance to be reconciled to Him through the gospel of the Son, Jesus Christ. Missional Churches understand this and so take seriously the command to preach the gospel and make disciples, not only in their immediate locale, but to the ends of the earth.
When missional churches consider their role in global missions, they might ask, “What is the best strategy for global engagement”? Those of us affiliated with Saturation Church Planting use the term telescoping to describe what we believe is the most effective strategy for a local church’s global engagement.
What is telescoping? It is a strategy for global engagement born out of the conviction that…
Whatever God is going to do in the world, distant from any local church’s circle of accountability, He is going to do through a joint venture with the Holy Spirit and with indigenous people in that place.
Here are a few distinctives of telescoping as a strategy:
First, there is the focus on partnership with indigenous churches and leaders. At this point in history, the church can truly be said to be global, as there are very few places left on earth in which there is not at least a small group of Christians who are indigenous to their nation. It is these Christians who are crucial in reaching their villages, cities, and nations (and even contiguous nations and unreached people groups) with the gospel.
Why?
It is because these indigenous Christians, and the churches they are a part of, understand the contours of their culture in ways that it would take years for an outsider to grasp. They share languages, culture, and proximity to their countrymen. And, understanding their own culture, they are the ones who will best understand the strategies that are necessary to best engage in God’s mission in their place. So, when a local church is working in a distant location and wants to be effective in doing so, it is essential that this is done in partnership with indigenous leaders and churches.
A second distinctive of telescoping is that it is facilitative in nature. Rather than dictating strategies and practices as outsiders, telescoping churches will highly value the insights and opinions of local leaders and seek to come alongside them in their efforts, further facilitating their work.
They will grant local leadership a stronger voice in developing local strategy, even if things aren’t done in the exact manner they are accustomed to. Telescoping churches assume these indigenous leaders know what they are doing and aim to enhance their efforts.
Telescoping doesn’t discount the value of sending people on short-term mission efforts (when done in partnership with local churches), or of providing regular financial support (without fostering unhealthy dependency). However, telescoping churches will aim to go beyond these more typical forms of partnership and seek to help indigenous churches develop their strategies for mission, and will come alongside them to make their work more effective.
Thirdly, telescoping is focused on reproducing the principles, not the practices, that are important for effective missional engagement in a place. A telescoping church is not looking to export its practices and behaviors to a culture that is often vastly different from its own. Instead, a telescoping church will seek to reproduce the missional principles, which are derived from Scripture, that lead to healthy churches and missional engagement. Local churches then contextualize these principles and might look different from place to place.
How might a church begin implementing a strategy of telescoping for global engagement?
- It will begin by praying. Churches should ask God to give them his heart for the world, and for wisdom in how they should join with Him in His mission.
- A church can begin to identify potential indigenous partners. This might come through connections that already exist in the church, or by asking trusted partners to connect them to a church in a distant place. The goal is to identify those churches and leaders who want to implement the same missional principles, rooted in the same biblical convictions, as you.
- A church can begin to support the partner church at the leadership level. A church’s leadership should make a commitment to take the leaders of the partner church through The Journey: A Coaching Manual for Leadership Teams. This will help clarify the nature and purpose of the church and establish a shared understanding of what partnership should look like. Once there is agreement on these core missional convictions, then further steps toward partnership can be taken.
- Once there is convictional alignment between the partners, the church can begin sharing resources in wise and appropriate ways. When a partnership is built upon the core convictions behind telescoping, the sharing of resources can actually be helpful, and many of the pitfalls often associated with global partnership can be avoided.
Global Engagement is a complex but crucial undertaking for missional churches. We hope that more churches will take global engagement seriously and adopt a telescoping strategy, ensuring that healthy, missional churches are present in every location.
*For further reading, read Renovation by Dwight Smith. Also, consider going through The Journey alongside a seasoned practitioner of this missional principle.
