A Community of Faith - part 17
Cooperating Together
Today, I would like to tell you the story of the Early Church. Much of it will be familiar territory to you, but as we look at the topic of Cooperation, I think it will be helpful for us to examine how Christians have cooperated in the past. One of the most prolific and expansive times in Christian history occurs in the first couple of centuries, though the last 200 years have also seen exponential growth. I believe one of the main reasons Christianity has seen such spectacular growth in the last couple of centuries is because Christians have relearned what it means to work together for missions.
The Beginnings
Our story begins in Acts 2.
It is the Day of Pentecost and Peter has just finished preaching to the crowds at Jerusalem. They have lamented of their sins and ask, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter tells them all to "Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
And this is their response:
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:40-47
The earliest church consisted of thousands of people who were actually from all over the region. The disciples would remain in Jerusalem for some time until a great persecution arose, but it is worth noting that many that were saved at Pentecost did not live in Jerusalem. They were joined in faith despite being geographically separated.
Now, before we get to the cooperation part, it is worth stopping here for a bit to note Acts 2:41 gives the roadmap for a healthy church. They were devoted to the apostles' teaching (in other words strong Bible study), devoted to the fellowship (being united in mind and mission), devoted to the breaking of bread (they ate together and shared life with each other), and devoted to prayers (they listened for God's instructions).
I bring this up, because cooperation between churches only works when each church is growing in their mission for God. Any time one church is slacking in their faith or passion, they will inevitably drag another church down. It is true for individual Christians, and it is true for whole churches. Thus,
The first step in cooperating with other churches is to be a healthy, growing church yourself.
This doesn't mean a church has to wait to be perfect before joining with other churches. It just means that if two churches are trying to work together, but one is not following God, it just won't work. They must be of one mind just like Christians must be of one mind to work together within the church.
Notice that as they grew they continued to share their possessions and held everything in common. Needs were met, and the people around the Christians recognized a great thing was happening. Then, at the end we read, "The Lord added to their number daily." There was a continued growth in the local congregation. Any time this kind of growth happens, logistical changes need to happen. Eventually, deacons are set aside to help with the daily distributions.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:1-7
We tend to think of deacons as a local church organization, which they are, but they are also an example of cooperation. The Twelve were overseeing a large group of people. They did not have time to be sure every single person was taken care of. So, they proposed setting aside a group of Spirit-filled men who could fulfill this duty. The Church does just that, and notice the effect in verse 7. The word of God continues to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly. Even some of the priests become followers of Jesus!
Cooperation allows for logistical challenges to be overcome and ministry to multiply.
The Baptist Faith & Message says it this way:
Christ’s people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner.
XIV. Cooperation
The goal of cooperation is to multiply the ministry of any individual church. Together Everyone Achieves More is not just a good slogan to put in a locker room. It is a truth of life and especially the life of a church.
The Church Spreads
After some time, a great persecution begins in Jerusalem. Stephen, one of the chosen deacons, is stoned, and Christians begin fleeing to outlying areas. Now, this should be a dark time for Christians, but God uses their new addresses to spread the Gospel. Rather than shying away, Christians continue to tell the Good News of Jesus.
Shortly afterward, Paul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus, and he becomes a missionary to the Gentiles. Many of the churches he plants include those who believed after Peter’s Pentecost message or those from Jerusalem who fled. Regardless, the New Testament chronicles this ever growing movement in Acts and Paul’s letters. As they grow, they begin working together to accomplish great things.
This first century reality is reflected in the BFM.
Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ’s people.
XIV. Cooperation
Take a look at Acts 13:2-3.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 13:2-3
Here, we see an example of cooperation which leads to a short-term loss in order to have a long-term gain. The church at Antioch had prophets and teachers, and God was calling some to go out of the church in order to multiply the Kingdom. It can be sad, and it certainly is a sacrifice, to send out missionaries from the local church, but it is necessary in order for more work to be accomplished.
Cooperation includes sending out those within the local church in order to accomplish God’s mission in a different area.
What if Antioch had said, “NO, we don’t want to lose Saul and Barnabas! We love those guys. We need them here”? How many other churches would not exist because Antioch held on to the missionaries that would plant those new churches?
Now, if we take the first three principles together, we can see how they work in conjunction.
Principle 1: Cooperation begins with a healthy, growing church.
Principle 2: Cooperation overcomes logistical challenges that come with growth.
Principle 3: Cooperation includes sending out missionaries to new areas.
This is how the Church (capital C) is a living organism. Local churches grow and from their abundance send out leaders to begin a new congregation. Whenever one local congregation faces logistical or spiritual challenges, the surrounding congregations can come alongside and help.
Now, this works well enough within a single denomination, but what happens when different denominations get involved?
The Church Corrects
The BFM reads:
Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.
XIV. Cooperation
Denominations can, and should, cooperate. Unfortunately, some denominations have wavered further from true Christianity than others, so it presents a bit of an issue in matters of conscience.
How much cooperation should remain between Christians of different traditions is contingent on the goal of the cooperation and the conscience of the believers.
We actually have an example in Acts of how this can work. Turn over to Acts 15. After many Gentiles had come to salvation, there remained a group of Jewish Christians who believed the Gentiles should maintain the Jewish traditions within their new faith. Essentially, they taught a Gentile had to become Jewish first, then they could be saved by Jesus. Peter stands against this teaching in verse 6.
The apostles and the elders gathered to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.”
Acts 15:6-11
Peter’s argument is simply this: why make the Gentiles do what the Jews could not even do? Salvation comes through the grace of the Lord Jesus, whether to the Jew or the Gentile.
As we reflect on cooperating with other denominations, we must always remember that we are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are not saved because we are baptist, methodist, or some other denomination. You don’t come to faith in Christ, and then become a baptist to make sure you are really saved…though obviously, I would agree you should be baptist.
The Jews who argued for the Gentiles to become Jewish first weren’t even being the best Jews, and Peter calls them out for it. We should avoid being the type of baptist who says “They have to be a good baptist before we cooperate with them” when we aren’t being the best examples of a good baptist.
At the end of this chapter, the Church at Jerusalem sends Antioch a letter which essentially tells the Gentiles to stay away from paganism. It was, and still is, more important to maintain devotion to Jesus Christ above particular interpretations and traditions. So long as the Gentiles could not be confused as another type of pagan, they were good.
Devotion to Christ supersedes all denominational lines.
And this last point brings us to the end of the story. What happened next? The Early Church continued to spread throughout Rome, into Europe and Asia, across North Africa, and eventually across oceans throughout the whole world, just like Jesus said it would. It has grown to right where you are, and now you have a decision to make.
Will you join in the Mission of God, cooperating with other Christians and other local churches in order to continue to tell lost people the Good News of Jesus Christ?
Will you allow your devotion to Christ to supersede your devotion to worldly things?
Will you support those who are called by God to head out to new frontiers?
Is God calling you to go to those frontiers?
Perhaps today, you just need to take the first step of faith in recognizing you need Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life. Do it today while there is still time.