Sunday, June 27, 2010 am
CAN CHURCHES COOPERATE
Among churches of Christ, as with most religions
today, there are divisive differences that either strain or sever
fellowship. While such is
not what God and our Lord Jesus desires (cf. John 17:20, 21), respect
for Biblical authority in all that we do is an absolute necessity and
takes precedence over man devised unity.
If we are to be pleasing to God, we need to follow the pattern we
have in the New Testament for the church Jesus built.
Today, we want to examine one issue that causes division among
so-called “churches of Christ.”
We want to discuss the subject of church cooperation.
I present this lesson, because we are often asked,
“Why are churches of Christ divided?”
Also there are many, who realizing there are differences, see
them as no big deal. In a
recent periodical published by brethren (not a work of any local
church), the following question was asked: “As much separation as the
Church of Christ has from the outside (denominational) world, does it
really make sense that we (the church) continue to be divided internally
concerning the institutional vs. non-institutional issues?” (Truth
Magazine, May 2010, pgs. 12-13)
The answer appealed to respect for authority of the pattern in
all that the church does.
Such is also my appeal and will be the foundation of this lesson.
Christians need to study ALL of God’s word to 1) Determine what
we can and cannot do and 2) to give a defense for what we do (1 Pet.
3:15).
So today we will examine one issue that is dividing
the Lord’s church. It
involves the attitude of churches toward institutions other than the
local church. We sometimes
refer to these issues as institutionalism.
Today we will discuss church cooperation.
That churches can cooperate is established by
examples in the New Testament. We find on occasions several
congregations sending relief to the church in Jerusalem and on another
occasion, relief is sent to “the churches of Judea”. We also find
as Paul preached the gospel, at times he was supported by more than one
church to do that work. In this lesson we will examine some of
these examples and notice HOW churches cooperated according to the
examples of the New Testament.
I.
What Do We Mean By
Cooperation?
a.
What is cooperation?
The word is defined as, “1 The act or practice of
cooperating. 2 The association of persons or businesses for
common, usually economic, benefit.” – American Heritage Dictionary, 2000
Cooperate means, “1 To work or act together toward a common
end or purpose. 3 To form an association for common,
usually economic benefits.” (AHD)
b.
THESE two definitions give us an idea of two
different ways that churches can cooperate – collectively and
concurrently. In this lesson we will determine what type of
cooperation we have authority for.
i.
The word collective means,
“Assembled or accumulated into a whole” (AHD)
By collective cooperation we mean that two or more
congregations centralize their efforts and/or pool their resources to
accomplish a specified work.
For example: A local church may decide that the gospel needs to
be preached in the country of Yugoslavia. So they contact other
congregations soliciting funds to begin the work. Some of these
churches respond by sending money to the sponsoring church which
in turn creates the work and sends one or many preachers to Yugoslavia
to preach and start other churches. As the work continues, they
oversee its progress while they continue to receive funds from the
various congregations who are jointly cooperating in the work.
But is there authority for such cooperation?
ii.
The word concurrent means,
“Happening at the same time as something else.”(AHD) By concurrent
cooperation we mean that various congregations may have a common
goal in mind, and may even be aware of the intents of other
congregations, but they
independently and autonomously
do their part sending directly to the source of the need.
For example: A local church decides that the gospel needs to be preached
in the country of Yugoslavia. They begin looking and notice there
is a sound preacher who wants to preach in that country. They
begin financially supporting that preacher according to the ability they
have so that he can preach in that country. However because the
local church is unable to fully support the preacher, he solicits
support from other congregations. There are two other
congregations that decide to support him as well, so they send funds
directly to him as he preaches the gospel. These congregations
have cooperated concurrently in preaching the gospel in Yugoslavia.
But is there authority for such cooperation?
II.
How Churches Cooperated
a.
Let us notice some of the
examples of cooperation found in the Bible to help us understand what
God’s pattern for the church involves.
b.
In Evangelism
i.
Paul was supported by the
church at Philippi.
1.
Philippians 1:3-5.
Paul uses the word “fellowship” which means a mutual sharing. They
shared with him. In what way?
2.
4:14-18 – While in
Thessalonica, on more than one occasion, they sent aid to him, being the
ONLY church for a while.
3.
2:25 – Epaphroditus was
their messenger sending funds to Paul
ii.
Paul was supported by
several congregations as he preached in Corinth.
1.
2 Corinthians 11:7-9 says
he “robbed other churches taking wages of them”.
2.
Paul was not a thief, but
metaphorically speaking he was telling them he received support from
multiple churches so that he would not need support from the
Corinthians.
c.
In Benevolence
i.
A need arose in Judea.
1.
Acts 11:28-30 – Agabus
foretold of a great famine that would affect the churches of Judea.
2.
Disciples in Antioch of
Syria determined to send relief each according to their ability.
3.
They sent it to the elders
of the various congregations in need. A study of the work of
elders helps us to understand their work was limited to their local work
(see 1 Peter 5:2, Acts 20:28.
4.
By the hands of Paul and
Barnabas – choosing their own messenger (e.g. 1 Corinthians 16:3)
ii.
Later, there was another
need that arose in Jerusalem larger than they could handle.
1.
Several of Paul’s letters
mention a severe need in the church at Jerusalem. Exactly when
this occurred or why we are not told – it could have been the fact that
all their resources had been consumed as they banded together at the
beginning and then the famine previously mentioned.
2.
Romans 15:25-27 describes
Paul going to Jerusalem to tend to this need. He has resources
from Macedonia and Acaia.
3.
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 – Paul
gives instructions to Corinth as he had done in other places.
NOTE: Here we find authority for a treasury as well as instructions as
to HOW we may secure funds.
2 Corinthians 8-9 deal with this in more detail as Paul encourages these
brethren to follow the examples of Macedonia and fulfill the promises
they had made earlier.
4.
Wherever funds were
received, the congregations chose their own messengers to deliver their
gift – see 2 Cor. 8:22, 1 Cor. 16:3, etc.
d.
NEVER in edification do we find cooperation.
The building up of saints was (and is) purely a local thing.
III.
Observations in Cooperation
a.
In every example we have
local churches maintained their autonomy. There is NEVER an
example of some church taking centralized control of a work or becoming
the “middleman”.
b.
Where elders are mentioned, there is NO indication
they overstepped the boundaries of their own local work.
c.
Each congregation gathered
its own funds – 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Acts 11:29
d.
No church ever solicited funds from another church
promoting a “good work”, etc.
e.
Churches chose their own
messengers. Note: Very possibly, some chose the same messenger
(i.e. Paul, Titus, etc.), but this was not creating an organization or
super-church structure – it was simply an expedient way to deliver the
need (such as the post office delivering mail from several congregations
to a man for support).
f.
Finally, no outside human
organization was created to do a work God expected the local church to
do.
IV.
What is done today?
a.
Some churches do NOT follow
the pattern mentioned above. They pool their resources and at
times create organizations other than the local church.
b.
In evangelism – churches
will sponsor a work in a given location soliciting funds from various
congregations, often advertising in great detail. (Such as
One Nation Under God is an evangelistic project under the oversight
of the elders of the Sycamore Church of Christ in Cookeville, Tennessee.
By means of direct mail, the gospel is made known to population groups
in various countries).
c.
In benevolence – churches
will again create human organizations or a church will take it upon
itself to sponsor a specific work
d.
In the name of edification
– churches will pool resources to create colleges, school, etc.
V.
Why is this important?
a.
One might ask, “What
difference does it make as long as the work is done?” The answer
is a matter of respect for the authority of God’s word and the pattern
He has set forth. Colossians 3:17 calls for authority in all we
do.
b.
Improper cooperation creates an organization
different than the NT pattern and thus it violates the Biblical patter
of autonomy and independence.
c.
There are also other
problems of collective cooperation. The biggest concern is the
surrendering of autonomy. When a church sends funds to an
organization or sponsoring church they are surrendering control of those
resources. What if the sponsoring church decides to endorse false
doctrine?
Also, because of centralized support, there is pressure to conform to
the beliefs of the organization or sponsoring church when it conflicts
with the truth. Because a failure to conform means total isolation
or being cut off immediately. When a preacher receives support
from several congregations, if he is preaching the truth and one of the
congregations disagrees with that – he only loses that amount of support
– not everything.
d.
At times there may be problems with concurrent
cooperation as well, but this is STILL the pattern we find in God’s word
as we have seen.
e.
Also, consider this: Where
will it end? The Catholic Church is a product of gradually
deviating from the NT pattern. IF we change this, what will we
change next?
Thus we can see that the only form of cooperation
that is authorized is concurrent cooperation. Because only in that
way can we maintain total autonomy and independence as a local church.
Only then can we say we answer only to our Lord who died to present her
unto Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle. I realize
that what I have said is not popular and it cast doubts on the works and
ways of many churches, but I ask you to honestly open your Bibles and
ask yourself – “Is God pleased with the way we do what we do?”
Only when we follow the New Testament pattern for all we do can we say
“Yes!” with any certainty. How closely are you willing to follow
the Lord?