The Problem
Jesus’ Prayer in John 17:22-23:
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”
I’ve been in the church all my life, and I’ve attended more than 100 churches. I’ve also spent some time in the liberal world. One thing I found that really surprised me about the world was how much they liked and respected Jesus and how much they despised the Church. That attitude seemed in conflict to me until I thought about this passage and realized how little we the Church support each other or even spend quality time together. It seems the only time we are united is over some political issue, and the only time we spend together is trying to destroy the other church’s softball team. Instead, we are little islands building our island up. That doesn’t at all feel like being one like the Godhead.
The Idea
Aren’t we the Church all the Kingdom of God? Isn’t it true that if one church grows, the Kingdom of God grows? Isn’t that what really matters? What if we supported those other churches like we wanted to be supported? Are we going to be so selfish as to spend our time and money supporting our church, our missionaries, and the things we believe in?
What if we could attack Satan twice for the same amount of effort? It’s a win-win.
I believe that if we spent time and energy building up other churches, that we would not only add to the body of Christ, but we would connect our church with other churches more closely and better resemble what that body should look like and better reflect Jesus’ prayer.
Not only that, but what if this spread throughout all the churches of the area? Perhaps we the Church could actually be a true church community in our area. We should endeavor to cross the racial barriers that exist to break down those walls as well.
The Implementation
Like all radical ideas, this must start somewhere. I expect to start with churches about the size of our church or smaller. I propose going to other pastors to ask them what they might want done for their church. One question I’d like to ask is “If you could ask for anything for your church, what would it be?” This isn’t something where we are doing work for another church all by ourselves but instead we are partnering with the people of that church to help them do something they have a desire to do. We want to act as strengtheners and encouragers.
There will likely be resistance from other churches. They will view our request as an indictment on their church or they will not see a reason for it. They’ll also be suspicious of us as they could see us trying to grab members, converts, or community attention for ourselves. They probably will have some different doctrines from our own and not want us to be that involved (or involved at all) in what their church does because of those different doctrines. Also, if we are out with them on the street promoting their church, it will be difficult to talk about their church since we don’t go there. However, this is why it must be a partnership so they can provide people who can talk about their church if needed. Indeed, we can even say that we believe in their church so much that we are willing to promote it even though we attend somewhere else. Don’t you think that would catch someone’s attention?
And of course, if we are spending all this time and energy on other churches, what’s going to happen to us? We’re already struggling financially. We’re a church of college students who aren’t known for their commitment. Can this really work? The answer is that I don’t know. But I believe it can work, and I believe God is calling us to do this, and I believe we are perfectly suited to do this due to our diverse backgrounds. We must trust God in spite of what we see.
Specific Thoughts
My initial ideas are along these lines:
- There is a black Baptist Church just outside of town that burned to the ground a couple years ago. The people appear to be meeting in a building 1/5 the size. I don’t know what we can do, but I feel like we ought to connect with them somehow to encourage them. I intend to contact the pastor as a concerned fellow Christian to have a conversation with him about that church.
- There is a small Pentecostal church that is really struggling and has almost closed their church several times. They may have a pastor now and be doing better, but I suspect they are still struggling even if they have a pastor.
- There is a church that seems like interesting and progressive. From the outside, they seem to be doing well. If we would rather start with a church more similar to our own, this could be one that we could surprise with community and partner with.
- There is a Methodist church near the university that is a middling church and somewhat stagnant. I have an acquaintance relationship with the pastor, and it seems like they might receive us.
- Our pastor has mentioned that there are some inter-church pastoral prayer meetings going on. Perhaps he has some friendships that would provide a good bridge for a first attempt since that friendship could help us skip past the distrust against us joining with them.
Summary
Let’s be The Church, not just a church. Let’s take a risk and put ourselves out there. We often talk about “building the Kingdom of God” but our actions limit that definition to us … let’s truly do it and grow in community as well. We’ve been islands for long enough. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
