Partnership is not an option

Why should we partner in global mission? What if our partnership costs us more than we obtain? And when partnerships are multicultural, how do we navigate them well, ensuring equity?

Partnership brings with it a lot of questions. And there are often more questions than answers.

Even the concept of partnership is a bit squishy and has been used in so many contexts to the point that it is often difficult to define. From collaboration between influencers to significant business mergers, the concept of partnership can become diluted and virtually meaningless.

At TEAM, our mission statement begins with we “partner with the global Church.” Some have suggested that the word partner is soft. I disagree. I am not one for abandoning terms, especially ones that are rich in theological meaning. For those of us engaged in God’s mission, partnership isn’t a buzzword or a convenient strategy, it is a sacred reality woven into the very fabric of Scripture and God’s design. I suggest that partnership is not an option for followers of Jesus on mission. Partnership is embedded into the very nature of who God is and what God does, and thus into what He expects of us.

Allow me to elaborate.

1. Partnership is in God’s nature

From the very beginning, God Himself works in partnership. The Trinity is a model of mutual love and interdependence. Co-laborers together in shared purpose, the persons of the Trinity operate as partners in the deepest, richest sense of the term.

It should not surprise us then that, being made in the image of God, Adam and Eve were created not as isolated individuals but as partners. They were partners with one another and with God in stewarding creation.

Partnership is not a human invention, it is a divine pattern.

2. Partnership is God’s design for His people

One beauty of the body of Christ lies in its interdependence. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, there are different kinds of gifts, services, and workings, but one Spirit, one Lord, one God. The effectiveness of one part of the body depends on the whole and all of its diversity. We cannot operate as God’s people outside of partnership. To do so is to cease to be the body. And to be the body includes a recognition of the diversity of gifts, abilities, resources, and perspectives. By God’s grace He has not created His body to be and look the same, but rather has integrated a richness of diversity that we need to be enriched by one another.

John Stott said it well:

“The unity of the church is enriched, not threatened, by diversity. A body in which every member has the same function is not a body; it is a monstrosity.”

God’s global Church is filled with different cultures, voices, and strengths, all vital to the mission. True partnership doesn’t erase our differences, it celebrates them under the lordship of Christ.

3. Partnership is God’s pattern for mission

Partnership exists in many places, but when we look specifically at mission, it clearly shares the partnership pattern. In the early church, mission was never a solo venture. Paul frequently refers to his fellow laborers as co-workers in Christ: Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3), Urbanus (Rom. 16:9), Timothy (Rom. 16:21), Titus (2 Cor. 8:23), and many others. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul reminds us that “we are co-workers in God’s service.”

Mission has always been a team effort, a body in motion—diverse parts working in unity for the cause of Christ.

4. Partnership with God’s people is partnership with God

When Saul was persecuting the first Christians, Jesus stopped him and asked, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). In that moment, Saul (later Paul) discovered the inseparable link between Christ and His Church. To hurt the Church is to hurt Christ. Conversely, to partner with the Church is to partner with Christ. As Paul wrote, “You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9).

When we partner together as God’s people there is an intricate and mystical union that is bound together in Christ. It is through Christ that we are brought together. Partnership is not about mere pragmatism. Rather, partnership displays our collective union to one another through Christ Himself.

5. Partnership is one of God’s means of conforming us to Christ

Partnership inevitably includes a death to self, which is likely the most challenging dimension of partnership. Mutual submission – putting others before ourselves – is countercultural. Ephesians 5:21 urges us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Philippians 2 calls us to humility, valuing others above ourselves.

As Soong-Chan Rah writes:

“To submit to one another is not to lose ourselves but to reflect Christ, who emptied himself for us. In the beauty of diversity, we learn that our surrender is for the flourishing of the whole body.”

And Richard Foster reminds us:

“In submission, we are at last free to value other people…we have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom—the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others.”

Living into the joy and cost of partnership

Partnership in mission is not easy. It costs us our egos, our preferences, our pace. But it also brings deep joy: the shared experience of God’s work across cultures, the friendships formed in Christ, and the mutual transformation that occurs when we walk humbly together.

We are reminded by Jesus in His high-priestly prayer that our unity does more than we can imagine. In John 17:21 Jesus reminds us that there is an apologetic to our unity and partnership. As we publicly demonstrate our unity amidst our diversity, the world is able to testify that the Father has indeed sent the Son. Our partnership is not an option, rather it serves as powerful evidence of the Gospel.