Banana plants grow in this climate wherever there is adequate water. A banana plant in Canada, however, cannot survive without special care. The fruit of paternalism, according to Hodges, is anemic mission churches that are not allowed to grow naturally in the soils in which they were planted. Missionaries, not understanding that their roles were transitory, became indispensable in running the missions movement. Thus indigenous philosophies hold that movements should ideally be self-supporting from their initiation.
Money creates dependence and establishes paternalistic patterns within mission movements.
Although sometimes ignored, this perspective became the benchmark of mature Christian movements. A second perspective about money and missions began to develop in the late twentieth century, as the world became increasingly interconnected. This interconnectedness led to heightened cooperation among international businesses and governments. By this time the Christian movement in the Southern Hemisphere had surpassed that of the Northern Hemisphere in both number of Christians and missionaries. Many Western missionaries realized that they had much to learn from their non-Western counterparts.