Pioneers And Settlers

I’m sure you’ve heard about the “love languages,” those expressions of love to which we are most likely to respond, and to which we are most inclined to express toward others. I would imagine you are also familiar with “night owls” and “morning larks,” and that you already know about the “motivational giftings” some believe are listed in Romans 12:6-8. I’m sure you also understand the five-fold ministry giftings listed in Ephesians 4:11 and you might know about some of those “management styles” such as P-types, T-Types, and A-Types. And don’t forget about the personality types like melancholy, sanguine, etc. There is actually a long list of these categories, most of which I have found helpful. Because this website is dedicated to promoting sincere Christianity, I would like to offer you another category to add to that list.

While teaching in various denominations it appeared to me that all believers, if I were to classify them according to their call, would fall into two major groups: they would be either “Pioneers or Settlers.” This category is not a “management style” or a “personality type,” but describes the two basic calls from God into which all Christians fall. While observing these two calls, I noticed several tendencies which often characterize them and how believers tend to respond to them.

As you may have guessed, Pioneers are those with calls which seem to be more adventuresome than that of the Settler. The primary burden of the Settler is the home base and its welfare, while the passion of the Pioneer lies beyond the walls of the local assembly. The so-called five-fold “ministry giftings” listed in Ephesians 4:11, for example, provide two candidates which nicely illustrate the difference between these two calls. The local pastor is usually preoccupied with the spiritual condition of the local flock, while the evangelist, on the other hand, burns with passion for those outside the church. A wise pastor will recognize not only the importance of the evangelist, but why evangelists must be given their proper honor and room to operate among church ministries. One reason this is the case is because of the incredible spiritual health which comes to a congregation that “looks outward.” Likewise, the Pioneer will recognize the true value of the Settler and will understand why Settlers spend so much of their time, energy, and resources on the local work instead of on missions. Truly kindred Pioneers will understand that the reason this happens is because God has called Settlers to invest in a way that is completely different from the way God has called Pioneers.

A Man After God’s Own Heart

I Samuel 13:14 describes David as a “man after God’s own heart.” The phrase means David did things in a way that did not reflect just the letter of the law, or the culture of the majority, or natural human tendencies, but instead, represented “God’s heart” in matters. A “man after God’s own heart” will institute practices (like worship, for example) which properly represent and promote the heart of God. This one single quality (or lack thereof) makes a world of difference in a local church. It literally means the difference between whether a local church exhibits the aroma of life or leaves a sour taste in everybody’s mouths.

A good example of one of the statutes David instituted in Israel is found in I Samuel 30:24, which paraphrased says, “He who goes out to war and he who stays home with the baggage will share alike in the spoil.” The reason we know this statute reflects God’s heart is because it is taken directly from something God commanded Israel in Numbers 31:25-27. The reason David reconfirmed this practice after the tragedy at Ziklag was because men in the camp (whom the Bible describes as “worthless”) were complaining about risking their lives to go out to war, only to have “their spoil” shared with the cowards who “stayed home with the baggage.” Oops; so much for the heart of God being displayed by those Pioneers! For these warriors, their so-called human sensibilities conflicted with the heart of God (which happens often by the way in modern times). I am grateful, however, that the Lord raised up someone “after God’s own heart” who was willing to take the heat which usually comes from instituting God’s ways, which are higher than ours.

As a point of clarity, the “baggage” (referred to so demeaningly by the “worthless” warriors in this case) is not meant as a degrading term, even though the word is often used that way in our language. Instead, in David’s statute the “baggage” refers to the life and resources that the Lord Himself also considers valuable (otherwise He would not have commanded the practice in Numbers). What those particular Pioneers in David’s situation did not realize was the “baggage” they despised was just as valuable as the “spoil” they were risking their lives to bring back.

The conflict which sometimes exists between Pioneers and Settlers (which you won’t see in truly “kindred” environments) can fire back and forth both ways at each other. Settlers can become apathetic about the incredible risks being taken by those who have given up everything. On the other hand, if adventuresome warriors are not careful, they can grow secretly embittered at their brethren back home who do not “seem” to care about what it cost the Pioneers (and his family) to go to war in a foreign land.

These dynamics, and others like them, can make Pioneers feel like they need to “fire up” the “lukewarm” church when they get home. For immature Pioneers, this means they will be turning up the “conviction heat” whenever they share with the church what is happening on the field. The problem is if a Pioneer is not functioning “after God’s own heart,” what they share will have a different flavor and produce an unintended consequence. When that happens the home base often falls “under condemnation” (rather than true Holy Spirit “conviction”) about missions. When that occurs (and chances are many of us have seen it) the home base is actually worse off than it was before the Pioneer tried to “fire them up.” The reason the situation is worse is because the Settlers are now even less equipped to fulfill their call because they are operating under condemnation instead of true conviction from God. Condemnation will always dampen a revival and is not capable of advancing it.

Keepers At Home

I believe some women who are called as homemakers in God’s Kingdom encounter a similar prejudice from society at large. In fact, sometimes the “baggage” to which these holy women are called is so demeaned by other Christian women who have been influenced by their culture (and/or by their warrior husbands) that the next generation never considers becoming “keepers at home” (Titus2:4-5); that is because the value of the Settler is being diminished. Feminists in the world, for example, often give tacit appreciation to homemakers, but inwardly they usually despise such women as “wasting their resources” because they have “settled” for the bottom of the barrel. Mature believers “after God’s own heart” recognize (like King David) the incredible value and indispensible function of Settlers and the so-called baggage. They realize how important maternal care is in developing a healthy society. These, of course, are homes where couples are in covenant with God and each other. Someone I respect has said what we do not honor, we mark for extinction, intentionally or unintentionally. If we are not honoring something God is passionate about, we usually are not aware that we are dooming it to our own detriment. Nobody wants to grow up becoming what everyone despises, yet much of society will pay nearly any price to become what everyone is celebrating as heroic.

It is therefore important for churches who desire to raise up mature believers “after God’s own heart” to recognize and verbalize that the “baggage” is not something demeaning; instead, it is the very thing those who go to war are risking their lives to protect and promote.

Caught In The Cross-fire

A pastor friend I know sometimes relates a humorous incident in which he was blindsided from both directions by his own congregation in successive weeks. One week he met with a group of church members who were upset because the church was sending out so much money to missions. I can picture many such groups across America ending their complaint by claiming their pastor had no heart for the local work. The very next week that same pastor then met with a different group of people who were upset because their pastor did not seem to have any burden at all for missions or missionaries, even though the pastor himself was a former missionary who had paid a great price on the field!

Dear saints, please understand that anyone who has a genuine call from God can become so passionate about what they are sensing from the Lord (which is a genuine call) that they might start firing rounds at everyone (even the pastor) who does not share the same passion they do for the call they have. Sincere believers, on the other hand, recognize everyone must be given freedom to operate in whatever they are called to do without condemnation, and that the local church should always be a place where their call (and every genuine call) must be honored and appreciated. A sincere and humble Pioneer “after God’s own heart,” for example, can share their burden about what is happening in the field without leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. When a sincere Pioneer shares, the hearts of the Settlers will be genuinely aroused for God’s purpose because the Lord is the One convicting. When immature warriors share, some folks might head home “feeling guilty” they are not on the “true mission field.” Sometimes a carnal Pioneer will mistake apathy as the problem in the home church, only because their church is not sending all its members to the mission field. Sincere believers realize the real reason for apathy in the home base is because the Settlers are not responding properly to the true call God has given them to build the local work. It grieves God when folks with a call (whether it is as a Pioneer or a Settler) brow-beat others for not getting gung-ho about a call they never had in the first place.

Righteousness And Praise Springing Up (Isaiah 61:11b)

The local church must grow with sufficient maturity that allows every gift, ministry, and function to receive the place and honor it needs to flourish. In order for what God intends His church to fulfill, all of us must recognize the value of every other part in it. Each kind of call and every sort of ministry must be functioning with folks who have a kindredness that is operating in a manner that is “after God’s own heart.” Calling is not enough and gifting is not enough. Gifts and fruits must both operate in believers and kiss each other in local churches. Everyone must promote kindred unity with every other call and ministry that God wants functioning there. Anything less in local churches is the Body of Christ turning on itself and cannibalizing. When that occurs, innocent bystanders get caught in the wrong kind of “cross-fire!”

But even that is not the worst of it. The real tragedy is when humility of this caliber diminishes in churches (regardless of the reason), it grieves and angers our Heavenly Father to no end. Psalm 95:10 says it well, “For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, they are a people who err in their heart . . .” That, my dear friends, should be enough to motivate each of us to work kindredly with others for the sake of the purpose. If we really are a people “after God’s own heart,” then grieving God should be motivation enough to get us to play well with others. We are supposed to be an example of God’s ways to the world. If that is true, we need to learn to honor and unify the Pioneer and the Settler in a kindred way that issues the aroma of life.

The rest of that Isaiah 61:11b verse in the paragraph title says, “So the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” What’s interesting about that verse is the context is the famous passage Jesus read to His local congregation. It begins with, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted . . .” (Isaiah 61:1). May the Lord truly raise up unified congregations of believers who are a people “after God’s own heart.” May sincere and kindred Christians spring up in every church in sufficient numbers to take their place as those who establish statutes of kindredness and understanding which are pleasing to the Lord.