Short-Term Missions, the Savior Complex and Dealing with our own Stuff (Part 2)

I think it’s about time that I write the follow up post to my Short-Term Missions blog back in March. In the first blog, I talked primarily about the Savior Complex. The Savior Complex is the idea that we as Americans/Westerners are the ones who are to “save” those in poverty, as if we have all the answers. As much as we might have good ideas and the know how to help those in poverty, the Savior Complex creates an “Us” and “Them” mentality, which, in my mind, is heretical according to the overall teaching in Scripture. Simply put, this teaching in Scripture is we’re all created in the image of God and everyone (regardless of income, education and culture) is need of a Savior, which should cause us to embody a radical sense of equality in cross-cultural Christian work.

Christians are called to humbleness because, at the very core of our faith is the reality, Christ did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. Humanity was in an unrecoverable mess without the intervention of God. There’s no need for the Savior Complex in the Christian life, especially when dealing with those who are different from us. I concluded this first blog post on Short-term missions in this way: Christian mission or humanitarian work should be focused on working with others in humbleness rather than doing for others as “saviors”. Finally, I commented, referring to a comment by Bryant Meyers (NOT the rapper!) that recognizing the Savior Complex in ourselves is probably the best thing we can do when working to help those in poverty. If we can recognize it, we can deal with it and work to eradicate it in our mission activities.  

This week I want to talk about something a little different. It’s a constant critique of Short-Term missions. Are you ready for it? You’ve probably heard this one before:

SHORT-TERM MISSION TRIPS ARE EXPENSIVE!

Often the cost of a short-term mission trip is criticized with this type of reasoning: Wouldn’t the world be better off if we just sent the money of the cost of the trip rather than spending it on flights, hotels, etc.? Surely that amount of money can accomplish more than the people going. I mean, c’mon, they don’t even speak the local language!

I’ve thought about this before, and I agree if the goal is to end poverty. In a way, it’s true. Sending money can accomplish much. All economies, in theory, respond positively to the buyer’s demand. The problem in many impoverished countries is that their economies are stifled by aid. Ouch. The truth is, aid organizations often give items and not cash. Because cash is never granted to local people in developing countries, markets don’t grow, employment stays low and poverty prevails. Afterall, as I’ve discussed much on my blog, I don’t think people in developing places need Westerners to “fix” their problems or call the shots. People in developing countries know what they need, and they know how to meet the need in a way that’s sensitive to their cultural norms. Sometimes the only thing that’s lacking in the equation is financial resources. If we’re completely unaware of this reality, we do more harm than good. There are even books about this: Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo, The Crisis Caravan by Linda Polman and When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert. There are even organizations like GiveDirectly that focus on giving cash with no strings attached to people who are in need and they’ve had amazing success. They’re work, I think, is going to change aid work in the long run. Here’s a really great video highlighting their work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DCadVAVsZo

So, how do we justify paying for a short-term mission trip given these facts? Well, again, it depends on the goal of the trip. Typically, a short-term mission trip isn’t targeted toward ending poverty. I mean, that’s not a realistic goal for a two-week trip to a country that, at times, no one on the trip has been to before.

So, what’s the goal of most short-term mission trips? Often participants on short-term mission trips want to break away from the normal and take a step of faith. The truth is being in a foreign context where people speak a different language and follow different cultural customs can be an intimidating task. It’s not easy and it takes either faith or naivety to do it! Often people go on a short-term mission trip to re-awaken their hearts and spiritual lives and be exposed to the, at times, difficult realities in some places. Short-term mission trips can help some grow in their faith and trust God more. Of course, we don’t have to go to another country or even on a trip to learn to trust God more, but in the US it’s a common reason why many go on mission trips.

Sometimes short-term mission trips have a focus. Like Peace, Homelessness, Food Security, etc. This is more of a topic intensive trip primarily aimed at educating. I prefer this model, but it doesn’t attract large groups, which is why we don’t see them that often. I once helped lead an intensive trip in Denver, CO. with CSM on Homelessness and the group and I slept at a homeless shelter. It was an amazing experience and we learned so much. These trips aren’t aimed at educating in an abstract way, but to educate so that the participants can be more aware of the problems and invite them to think of creative ways to accomplish something great in the long-term.

Sometimes short-term mission trips are project based, like what Habitat for Humanity does. These are great for action-oriented groups. I’ve never been on one, but I’ve heard that they’re great, too. These trips make us feel more like we’re truly helping. It’s more on the practical side and less on the theoretical, which can still be very educational. At times these trips can be easily fund raised for because people often donate to trips that have clear goals and objectives.

The last type of short-term mission trip I’d like to highlight is focused on relationships or partnerships. These are the types of trips when churches, or groups of Christians, attempt to share their faith journey and ministry together. For example, the church I grew up in had a partnership with a Presbyterian church in Lusaka, Zambia. We would send teams there every couple of years and sponsor a group from the church in Zambia to come to Colorado and visit at times, too. It was nice to have that exchange both ways so that both groups could experience each other’s context. Often these partnerships are relationally focused, but project ideas come up, too. The goal here is Christian fellowship and to connect as the diverse family of God.

As you can see, there’s different types of short-term mission trips. Some of the characteristics aren’t individually exclusive either. For example, the more intensive, topic-based trip might involve aspects of the stepping out in faith and learning to trust God more. I think a good trip encompasses a little of everything because it helps have a more well-rounded experience. They are all part of our personal discipleship and help us to greater understand the beauty and complexity of God’s people and world.

So, are short-term missions worth the money? It’s an interesting question because it invites us to ask: what is education? Here in the US I think we undermine the educational validity of cross-cultural exchance and mission trips and stress going to educational institutions instead. It’s not the same type of education to be sure, but it’s a very educational experience to interact with people different from us and to experience other people’s realities. When we have experience in different cultures it gives us a glimpse of how things are done in other parts of the world. It’s easy to get set in “the way” things are done here in the US, but when we have cross-cultural experiences -even within the US- we can sometimes see better fitting alternatives. It helps us think more out of the box, at least in my experience. Also, due to the growth in communication technology around the globe there’s starting to be a single global culture, the process of globalization. This means that business and other work is going to become more and more international in the future so, any chance to interact with those from different cultures might benefit us later down the road in our professional lives.

I don’t think we can put a price on the impact of short-term mission trips. Again, as Christians we should balance our rationality and stewardship with growing our character, our ability to love others and sympathize with different perspectives. We should ask, “who I am becoming?”. Short-term mission trips can help us in the process of becoming more like Christ. Afterall, Christ is the perfect missionary who made the most important cross-cultural journey of all.

Now, what if someone never has the ability or resources to go on short-term mission trips? I don’t think they’re in anyway necessary. God works with us no matter our context. He moves toward us in radical ways right where we are. We’re always on mission as God’s people. In the NT, Christians are often called “aliens”, which is a fascinating title! It means that Christian identity should first be in God and not in our nationality and culture. God has called us His own to be on His mission. That’s amazing, if you ask me.