"delivery system" mentality - The Western need for results

Us westerners carry a "delivery system" mentality according to Muriel and Duane Elmer. We are simply task-driven period, end of discussion. Our eyes are fixed on results, programs and systems; and external pressures reinforce these needs.

We talk about "outcomes" and "indicators" and we plan and strategize our lives away. I wonder how Jesus managed 12 disciples without a Palm pilot or a laptop? I wonder how often He stopped and had an FLT (Field Leadership Team) meeting to defend the budget? This result-orientation from the West works in direct opposition to dialogue and genuine cooperation with national workers and other mission groups. The fact is that a "delivery system" mentality has none of the patience required for dialogue - for dialogue takes time - and the results are often "foreign" looking. Missions is no longer about delivering somthing, it is about dialoguing and engaging together to achieve an objective together. The delivery system reeks of typical Western superiority attitudes.

Were we able to take the "West" out of our mission and denominational leaders, I think that ultimately they would all agree that changed lives is the overriding hope of missions and evangelism. Frankly all development requires change, a change in thinking, a change in habits, a change in lifestyle. Sustainable changes starts within. And outside of the West (and I would venture ALSO in the West) this never occurs without dialogue.

Dialogue allows people to speak of their world, dream about how to change it. It is a reciprocal address and response mechanism that permits people to think their thoughts and make connections between realities and dreams -- which leads directly to change. Dialogue helps people wrestle with their realities, to search for solutions and develop some confidence.

And that is why we are here. So you young missionary bucks . . . as you come to the mission field . . . leave your Westernism behind, and frankly that will be incredibly difficult to do since you have been training for so many years to get here. But please remember what Daniel Fountain said, "Our propensity to pass out information is almost useless in bringing about change." (Fountain, Christian Health and Healing into the 21st Century, page 4) Instead hone your dialogue skills and remember that Dialoguing is an art that takes a lifetime to refine. That is Dr. D's Diagnosis of the day.