Toward the end of the 2002 film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Samwise Gamgee passionately declares, “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” Audience members resonate with the statement as much by Gamgee’s emotive manner of speaking as by what his words evoke. To say there are some things worth fighting for is a sentiment that has been used by politicians, authors, motivational speakers, coaches, and military commanders. The phrase serves to remind one to consider with gratitude and affection the value of people, property, family heritage, freedom, justice. It can summon perseverance and courage for those who may be called upon to engage in conflict, defending a way of life or the rights and possessions of a people. This proverbial expression can also be a clarion call for the church as believers hold to sound doctrine, serve as Christ’s ambassadors, and work together with him in the ministry of reconciliation—particularly those sent as missionaries to the nations.

The Good Warfare in Missions

Admittedly, believers frequently fight over things which are not worth fighting for (like preferential styles of music or decor) or they fight against the wrong things (like authority, other members, accountability, or orthodoxy). Is it any surprise that many churches in the United States and overseas have come into existence from splitting over conflicts, rather than from intentional evangelism and church planting strategies? And across missionary organizations, the main reason why personnel leave their fields of service is because of conflicts with other missionaries.

However, there are things worth fighting for. Indeed, the Scriptures reveal that believers face various battles. A common metaphor of the Christian life is that of spiritual warfare—the struggles believers face in fighting against the flesh, the world, and even Satan. Such battles seem to be heightened for missionaries as they deal with the added stress of living cross-culturally, learning a new language, and navigating new relationship dynamics. They must fight these battles for holiness and godliness in the power of the the Holy Spirit and submission to the Word of God in order to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called.

Notwithstanding these real fronts of warfare missionaries face, there remains another of utmost importance. Missionaries must fight for the health of the church and the truth revealed and entrusted to her. As Jude declared, “We must contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). He was not speaking only of being zealous for the faith; he was calling for an earnest struggle against false teachers: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). The Apostle Paul made clear what is at stake, noting that there is a manner in which “… one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15).

The church is incredibly valuable in the sight of God. If God places this kind of value on the local church, then missionaries must be deeply concern about his church, her health, and her capacity to fulfill the commands of Christ. The fight for the clarification and conservation of sound doctrine and practice in the church is the good fight—a battle worth fighting. This is the “good warfare” Paul called Timothy to wage “holding faith and a good conscience” because there are some who make “shipwreck of their faith” (1 Timothy 1:18-19).

False teachers and their false teachings are a destructive and deadly instrument of the enemy  and a constant threat facing the church globally. They teach “a different doctrine that does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3). Paul said, “They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (Titus 1:10-11). Missionaries engage in the fight against false teachings when they heed the words of Paul: “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you”  (2 Timothy 1:13-14). Furthermore, missionaries entrust sound doctrine to “faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). Therefore, theological education is the good warfare in missions.

Some see theological education in missions as lacking urgency or restricting rapid growth of the church. However, the failure to implement an effective theological education strategy actually decelerates the development of competent leaders and will restrict biblical growth of the kingdom across the globe. If we do not intentionally carry out theological education as part of mission strategy that aims at these stated goals, we will not effectuate healthy churches because you cannot have a healthy church without God-called, biblically-qualified, and competent leaders.

Warriors Needed in the 40/10 Window

Largely driven by population growth trends, the center of the world’s Christian population has shifted to the Global South. More specifically, one in four people who identify as “Christian” reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Pew Research Center, if current trends continue, by 2050 some 40% of Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.[1] While some observers are excited about how Sub-Saharan Africa is poised to be the axis of Christianity, even the launching pad for the next wave of missionaries to the nations, it is estimated that 90% of pastors and church leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa receive inadequate or no training. Again, in 25 years, 40% of the world’s Christians will live in a place where 90% of the elders-shepherds-overseers of churches have no theological education. Apart from significant intervention, the magnitude of this “40/10 window” of need will adversely impact the health of the majority world church and the future of missions.

It is unsurprising, then, that Christianity across that affinity is characterized as syncretized Christian Animism. This syncretism is most evident in the neo-Pentecostalism and prosperity false teaching that is making shipwreck of the faith far and wide beyond charismatic circles. Because they live in fear of the spiritual and search for power, most “Christians” and many pastors admit they continue to go to the shaman, or witchdoctor, for answers to life’s challenges. The result is a pervasive embracing of Jesus merely as a charm. And all across the affinity thousands of people have put on Christianity without putting off the old self with its beliefs and practices. The region has the facade of Christianity but with little evidence of biblical conversion. In Kenya, 85% of the population would call themselves Christian. But for many that means they are not Muslim. And the disconnect between gospelization and regeneration is most evident in the fact that corruption is pervasive in every facet of life and institution in Kenya. The lack of sound doctrinal teaching has created a vacuum of men who meet the Scriptural qualifications of elder-shepherd-overseer. Many do not know how to interpret and teach the Scriptures accurately. The evidence is surmounting with pastors sacrificing animals to God so that he would be pleased with them, pastors arrogantly decreeing and declaring things of God in prayer, pastors “prosperitizing” the Scriptures to make texts fit their desires for wealth, and pastors encouraging pagan acts to be practiced in the church.

The situation is at a crisis level. Missionaries cannot let leadership development be an afterthought in the missionary task; they must recapture theological education as a key component of the missionary task, perhaps the key component of strategy in the Global South. Missionaries have implemented various models of theological education across a wide array of contexts. Whether implementing a formal or non-formal approach to theological education, missionaries must strive to provide a diversified theological education delivery system that is Christ-centered, confessional, Church-focused, contextually-appropriate, coherent, and committed to the missionary task all to the glory of God. From the outset of the missionary task, missionaries must plan for how to raise up healthy churches with pastors, missionaries, and church leaders thoroughly equipped for every good work, rightly handling the Scriptures to make Jesus known. They must fight to ready men who are able and willing to guard God’s Word at all costs—identifying, resisting, and correcting the distorting errors and false gospels that derive from the cultures, philosophies, and cunning of man.

Try and imagine what would happen if there was no Boyce College or Southern Baptist Theological Seminary? What your envisioning in your mind is the reality in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. The negligence of the church here to send missionaries keen to implement theological education strategies will lead to further damage as more people make shipwreck of the faith. Failure to hold the line of sound teaching for the global church would be devastating to the church, its character, and its witness. Will you extend your reach and engage in this good warfare for the sake of the church among the majority world, helping believers to contend for the faith for themselves and for future generations? That is an investment with global and eternal returns. If you would like to learn about short-term and long-term pathways for engaging in theological education, please contact James Bledsoe at the Bevin Center for Missions Mobilization or at jbledsoe@imb.org.

[1]April 2, 2015 Pew Research Center, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050. Accessed 30 January 2025 at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/.