WHO IS THE MASTER AND
WHO IS THE SLAVE?
The above statement, or its sentimen,t was raised by a minister of the gospel back in the 1800s. His name was Benjamin Franklin. Early on in his work he had supported and endorsed the idea of missionary societies. He saw them as a means to spread the gospel to all creatures as per the commands of the Lord (Mark 16:15). By 1867, he realized that the societies were not doing the job they were designed to do. He then wrote against them to show brethren the danger of surrendering local control of the work of the Lord.
He wrote in 1867, by announcing the churches auxiliaries to them, passing resolutions, instructing the churches, grasping the hymn book, etc., they have demonstrated that they have no intention of remaining servants of the churches but intend to be their masters. The principle of brethren working together in evangelism is both scriptural and beneficial to the spread of the gospel of Christ (Acts 13:1). Likewise, the idea of churches working together in terms of acts of compassion is scriptural (I Corinthians 16:1,2). The principle, then, of churches working together does not conflict with scriptural teaching.
What happened with the missionary societies was their growth led to issues of control. They began to see the churches as auxiliaries to them. They were smarter than the brethren and the money being pooled together could allow them to do more for the cause of Christ. When men began to think themselves smarter than God, the end result is disaster. When the church faced its first persecution from the Jews the Christians went everywhere preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). That word would spread to Samaria and finally to the uttermost parts of the world as per the prophecy of Jesus (Acts 1:8).
Individual congregations could send out missionaries to do their bidding. Hence, we find that the minister could be sent as was Epaphroditus to help Paul (Philippians 2:25). The brethren at Philippi cared deeply for Epaproditus. This man, likewise, cared for them because he had heard that they had learned that he had been physically sick (verses 26 and 27). He worked with Paul but he was their messenger (Philippis). Other congregations could have sent money to Philippi to help with the work that Epaphroditus was doing with Paul. These principles are solid as per the revelation of Scripture.
The danger is that when a work becomes greater than the local work that controls it, it is as the old expression goes, the tail wagging the dog. May evangelistic brethren grow to such importance that they perceive that they have outgrown the current eldership that oversees what they are doing? This must be the case when works are simply moved from one eldership to another. Who is in control when works start looking for other churches to sponsor them in the same way an individual missionary seeks a different congregation to oversee him?
Let us say, for instance, here is a man in the foreign field. He returns and sees evidence of the movement of his sponsoring church getting away from the faith. He may be forced then to look for different help in order to remain on the foreign field. Most of us would be in sympathy with the plight of such a missionary. What do you do, however, when it is not movement away from God but rather a work that has grown to such size, they do not wish any longer to be under their current leadership? The elders did not change; they stand for the same thing and uphold the same truths. When do works take on a life of their own? Brotherhood journals or schools can grow to such a size that no church has any input to regulate words or behavior.
We come back then to the same point. Who is the master and who is the slave? When all men desire to serve the one Master, no problems will exist (Matthew 6:24). When men forget the Master and start serving self, then being a follower of Jesus is out the window (Matthew 16:24). Let us encourage our journals, schools, evangelistic efforts and local works as long as they remain in submission to the will of the Lord. Great things can be done or great sorrow can occur. Jesus is the Master and we are the clay