I have been bumping up against a problem among some supporters (mostly two pastors, the two congregations seem to like me enough, but the pastors want to correct my views).
They are independant baptist and when they hear that some of my labors are alongside a national denomination in the province that I work, then they get troubled. They say that I haven't got my ecclesiology right and that I should not be working with anything that smells like a denomination because I would be violating the principle of independancy.
So my questions are these:
-Can a missionary work alongside a national denomination?
-If a missionary is working in a country and does not want to work alongside a national body of Christians, is it better than to bypass the local Christians and work on your own?
-Am I violating my principle of independancy if I work with others on a hard field where 100% agreement is hard to find? Am I then a pragmatist who doesn't care about doctrine? How much does a missionary have to agree with indigenous believers or indigenous/national church bodies before I can work with them?
They are independant baptist and when they hear that some of my labors are alongside a national denomination in the province that I work, then they get troubled. They say that I haven't got my ecclesiology right and that I should not be working with anything that smells like a denomination because I would be violating the principle of independancy.
So my questions are these:
-Can a missionary work alongside a national denomination?
-If a missionary is working in a country and does not want to work alongside a national body of Christians, is it better than to bypass the local Christians and work on your own?
-Am I violating my principle of independancy if I work with others on a hard field where 100% agreement is hard to find? Am I then a pragmatist who doesn't care about doctrine? How much does a missionary have to agree with indigenous believers or indigenous/national church bodies before I can work with them?