The Benefits of Independence Debunked

Twelve years ago, my wife and I were house shopping when I found myself with a recurring demand of our realtor — I didn’t want to live in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association (HOA). My Appalachian desire for independence and frugality coupled with the horror stories I had heard of nonsensical rules and business meetings made it a nonstarter. We found the perfect lot in a neighborhood that didn’t have this requirement and built the home we live in today.

Since then, our family has grown from three to five, the once newly paved street has faded, and many new families have come and gone. As neighborhood needs have arisen, and my own family has changed, I have at times found myself — much to my surprise — wishing we had some sort of association after all. 

Why?

For starters, my kids would love a pool. We had it priced to build one but quickly realized it isn’t in our budget. On top of that, our neighborhood is very dark at night. I wish we had streetlamps like many other neighborhoods do so that it was safer for my kids to be out at night. Finally, the entrance to our neighborhood is technically owned by the first house. Any repairs or landscaping falls on them alone and, therefore, often goes undone. I wish I could do it, but — again — the cost to do it alone is prohibitive. 

Each of these examples, and many others like them, are on a growing list of examples of something I’ve learned again and again as I get older — there are simply some things I won’t ever be able to do on my own, but could be accomplished if I was working with and sharing the load with others.

I can’t build a pool, but if our neighborhood came together, we could build a pool and share it. I can’t afford streetlamps for the safety of my neighborhood, nor can I afford the upkeep of our entrance on my own. But if we worked together and shared the cost, we would all benefit.

With a new year fully underway, I was reflecting recently on how I have also had this experience being part of this family of churches, the Missionary Church. But I didn’t always understand this. I remember going into the year 2020 as a lead pastor after our church had experienced a significant growth surge. As we planned the budget for the new year, our budgeted giving to our region combined with our two percent to the national office for Investment in Shared Ministry would total close to $60,000 that year. I began to ask the question that seemed natural, “What benefit does our church get from this denomination for giving that much money away?!”

Selfishly, my thoughts went to the staff member or multiple part-time staff members we could hire with that money. I thought of the maintenance needs of our buildings, the ministry initiatives we dreamed of, and the future expansion that seemed imminent. I even found other pastors who shared my complaints and criticisms. 

Somewhere along the way, though, I began to realize I was asking the wrong question — a question that looked nothing like Jesus.

In fact, when Jesus was presented a question of similar sorts, he responded, “…the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28). With this as the foundation, Paul gave a command to the first church in Phillipi when clearly stating, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…” (Philippians 2:3).

I was asking a question out of selfish ambition that valued my ministry above all others. I was asking, “What’s in it for me and us?” rather than asking “What can I and we do together that we can’t do on our own?” I was losing sight of how much so many churches had given and sacrificed to make it possible for our church to even exist, and the opportunity I and we now had to do the same.

Since then, I have seen for myself and heard the stories of how our partnership with 500 churches across the nation allowed my one church to accomplish and be part of things we would have never done on our own. My one local church on its own would never be able to fund a university to train up the next generation of leaders, support missionaries on dozens of international fields, plant churches all across the country where no Missionary Churches currently exist, train emerging pastors and leaders with the theological foundation to lead and minister, resource churches in need of revitalization, or provide legal assistance to immigrant leaders coming to the US as missionaries to diaspora groups in our own back yard, just to name a few. The conversation at our church shifted from, “Why do we have to do this? What’s in it for me?” to “We are making a much bigger difference than we could ever make on our own.”

Since being in this role of president for the past two years and getting to know several other denominations’ leaders, I’ve learned that every denomination battles this cost-benefit dilemma. It has led me to pray fervently that the Missionary Church will be different. Rather than expecting the denomination to exist for the sake of serving the individual, it is my prayer that every individual and every church will see the much larger impact that we make together than any one of us could ever make on our own.

It is for that reason I offer my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Missionary Church family for another record year of financial support in 2025 for our national ministry, topping $1,434,000 for the first time in our history. Yet there were still 150 churches that didn’t share in the ministry and others that shared less than the two percent commitment. Can you imagine the impact that we could make if we all come together to share the load?

Just after one month in 2026, I have heard about the potential for our first church in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, and Maine. New networks are immerging for African American pastors, Latino leaders, and the next generation. Leaders from all 11 of our regions have been identified to be trained in church health and revitalization, and new resources will be rolled out soon in this regard for every congregation in the Missionary Church. New scholarships for Missionary Churches at Bethel University will be funded and announced very soon. Just today I learned about a new missionary that will be deploying to Latin America later this month and another young prospective missionary that is interviewing today. All of this, and more, is a result of us all being able to accomplish more together than we can on our own.

This is also another reason that the annual reports for ministers and churches are so vital to our work. They help us to see where movement is building, where resources are needed, and where we can support the work God is doing. Please help us and your regions to do this by completing those reports by February 15 so renewed credential cards can be sent.

Finally, and if nothing else, learn from my Appalachian pride that thought I would rather be independent than work together with my neighbors for the benefit of others. Furthermore, the work we are doing and are called to do is far more important than a neighborhood pool, streetlamps, or building codes. Join me and join us in making a huge impact — an even greater impact than possible on our own — as we work together all across our country to empower everyday people to love like Jesus and live like missionaries.