Together

Today I met with pastors from three other churches – all within 5 miles of Cross Road Baptist Church. We talked about working together to make sure every household in our communities received a gospel message. I have not seen any demographical data, but I’m guessing that could be 10,000 people or more. That’s three times as many people as lived in my hometown when I was in high school.

An undertaking of this size requires cooperation. Southern Baptists are known for cooperation. We claim to be cooperative. We named our missions funding mechanism the Cooperative Program. We are all autonomous, independently organized churches, but we do best when we work together.

Our rural area is home to folks who grew up here and have lived here all their lives or have returned here after some years away. The area is also home to former city-dwellers who have built our bought homes as an escape or retreat from the city hassles. A wide diversity lives here. Not so much ethnic diversity as socio-economic diversity. Our churches are charged (by the Lord) to minister to all of them and reach them all with the gospel.

Cross Road may need to re-tool. The church was started in the early ‘70s but this is 40 years later. The gospel is the same but the people who need it are different. How can we take the same gospel to people in ways that are relevant to them. Don’t misunderstand: the gospel is always relevant but the method of delivery can become outdated. Just like milk is still milk, but the horse-drawn wagon has been replaced with the diesel tractor-trailer.

Even with the most relevant method of delivery, CRBC can’t reach everyone without working together with sister churches. I imagine those 10,000+ people who receive a gospel message from our churches will either reject the message or accept it and find meaningful worship and opportunities to grow and serve in one of our churches.

God will get the glory when we live out our Christianity in effective cooperation with one another.