What if I asked, “Are you a prisoner to money?” Ludicrous, you might think. Not me. I have a simple, no-frills lifestyle. Money’s not my god. Jesus is.

But wait a minute. I didn’t ask if money was your god. I asked if you were its prisoner. 

I meet a lot of people who say they want to change the world, but they can’t seem to get out of the U.S. because of this thing called money. They are imprisoned within the confines of the most-reached country because they refuse to raise financial support.

One young man, Brad, said, “I really want to go to work in the Middle East, but I don’t believe in raising support.”

Have you ever felt like Brad when it comes to missions and money? If so, you must get to the bottom of what you mean by that statement to determine where money stands in your life.

Here are three possible reasons that Brad — or even you — might not believe in support-raising.

1. It’s unbiblical.

Brad could believe that it’s wrong to receive financial support from churches and individuals for his cross-cultural work. But this perspective comes with some challenges. It means that he has a problem with his future teammates, most of whom have raised financial support themselves. And if he’s right in his conviction, he has a responsibility to challenge their model. But he better be sure of his perspective. Otherwise, he discredits the ministries of many servants of God.

Brad has a mountain of biblical evidence against him. The apostle Paul who defended, but never demanded, his right to be supported by God’s people, clearly stated to those in Corinth (who didn’t want to support his work), “The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). 

Sound like your thoughts or feelings? Let’s continue by assuming that Brad does not mean that he thinks support-raising is unbiblical. What else could he mean?

2. It’s a personal conviction.

Perhaps Brad is not saying it’s biblically wrong for others to raise support from God’s people; rather, he’s saying that he believes God will provide in a different way for him.

I think that’s legitimate. Going to the nations as a supported worker is not for everyone. And it’s not the only way — despite what we in the West have communicated for the past 250 years. 

We desperately need the whole body of Christ, in all its diversity, to go with their God-given professional skills to make disciples in the least-reached marketplaces of the world. Brad may well be one of those people who has a transportable job skill and can work for a company that has international operations. 

If Brad has solid disciple-making experience, a heart for the least-reached, a nudging from God, and a job that could get him to the nations and pay his way, then he should start moving in that direction. This is a biblical response to Christ’s mandate to make disciples of the nations.

But even if he doesn’t need to raise support, should he go it alone — just Brad and his company? Probably not. His long-term emotional health and ministry effectiveness can be greatly enhanced by associating with a cross-cultural ministry that has the expertise he will need. And his local church will be enriched by seeing him as one of their sent ones.

But there’s one more possible interpretation of Brad’s statement about raising support that might fit your thoughts and feelings.

3. He just doesn’t want to.

It’s not Brad’s lack of biblical evidence or a genuine desire to take his profession cross-culturally that drives his conviction against support-raising. The truth is that he just doesn’t want to raise support. The hard — dare I say impossible — work of obtaining God’s provision through His people scares many willing workers away. They are, in a very real sense, a prisoner to money, and it keeps them from going to the nations.

Thousands of would-be gospel workers would leave America tomorrow if someone would hire them to go, but because such paid positions are few and far between, they refuse to raise support and, by default, stay home.

I have raised ministry support from God’s people for 30 years. It is one of the most challenging, honorable, and fulfilling things I do. If God had called me to a secular profession, I would go and my company would pay my way. But that’s not how He has called me, so I raise support. Why? Because the need for the nations to know God is more important than how I feel about fundraising.

I understand as well as anyone that raising support is a daunting task. But it’s a terrible reason to leave people in spiritual darkness.

Dale Losch joined Crossworld as a disciple-maker in France in 1988, and has served as Crossworld’s president since 2009. He loves to motivate people to use their God-given passions to make disciples wherever life happens. Hear more from Dale.