The Western church has some work to do to redeem her legacy of missions and transform it from transactional to relational. Transactional says, “I have something you want, but you can only have it if you give me what I want.” Relational acknowledges, “I need you in my life, and I’m here when you need me.” The former is a performance-based, loveless relationship that objectifies one group of people for the satisfaction of the other. The latter takes the performance pressure off and centers the humanity of both parties.
Most of our problems would be solved if we could focus on building a relational legacy in our churches and with our mission partners. We would celebrate being our brother’s keeper and truly live life as Christ did. A relational approach is the path to building mul