Compete or Complete?

By MIKE MORRIS

Mike Morris is a native of Galax and is the pastor of Cornerstone Community Church.

Mike Morris is a native of Galax and is the pastor of Cornerstone Community Church (www.mycornerstone.org) in downtown Galax. He is an active blogger at faithengineer.com.

Let's do a little dreaming together. Imagine an organization that has multiple locations in almost every city in the country. And at each location, leadership is already in place to teach, train and mobilize volunteers to advance the cause.
For most non-profit organizations that sounds like a dream, but for the local church it is a reality.
We live in an area where there are churches on almost every corner. They should all have the same mission because they proclaim the same Lord and Savior in Jesus Christ. But it doesn't take long to see that most churches would rather compete with each other instead of complete each other.
I can never understand why so many Christians spend time criticizing other churches. Unfortunately, I think too many times it starts with a competitive attitude from the pastor.
I will even let you in on a little secret about pastors. Whenever two pastors run into each other, one of the first questions that is always asked is "How many are you running now?" In other words, whose church is bigger.
Maybe I'm naive, but I think the better question is "How can we help each other?"
Truthfully, no two churches are alike. They may have different interpretations of some secondary doctrinal issues, and they will certainly have different styles of worship and ministry, but they each have a role to play in our community. Different types are churches are a good thing, because each church will be able to reach and minister to people that the others can't.
But too often, churches are only concerned with what they can do on their own and they just view other churches as competition instead of teammates.
By joining together, we can make a powerful impact on this community and this world we live in.
Over the past few years, we have seen churches and individuals come together to serve this community in powerful ways. From events like the Hallelujah Luau and Praisin' in the Park, to ministries like the Free Medical Clinic, the Pregnancy Resource Center and the Backpack Buddies food distribution program in our schools, Christians from different churches have cooperated and shown the love of Christ to this community. Let's continue to look for ways to serve together and fulfill the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-21.
There are so many physical and spiritual needs in our community that only churches can meet.
Let me give you two questions to think about:
1. What percentage of your church activities are geared toward serving the community versus just serving the members of your church?
2. Would the community even notice if you closed your doors?
These are tough questions, but I believe we can truly make a difference when we join together. But we need more than dreaming, we need action.
Let's put our faith into practice and be more like Christ.