This is such a precious message by David Johnson. I pray that Church’s in America will work together instead of against each other. Here in Albuquerque the top three attended Churches never work together. This is such a sad deal. Together they garner around 30,000 a week. Why do they not work together for the GLORY OF GOD?
Too many Churches are in competition with each other! UGH! Too many walls, kingdoms and egos!
The last two days I have spent time attempting to help a Church that is down to six members with no Pastor. It is hard to get Churches to merge, even in cases like this. There are too many pews empty all around America. Why have denominations? Just think of the power if all denominations would come together for JESUS!!!!
Baptist Press
By David Johnson, posted February 21, 2025 in Cooperating for the Gospel, Cooperative Program
Editor’s note: David Johnson is executive director of the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists.
Members of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Rowing team depicted in the movie “The Boys in the Boat” were able to accomplish far more than anyone expected because they discovered what can happen when you work together in perfect unity. There is something that happens when rowers are in perfect rhythm and sync with one another. It is called “swing.”
We might call what happened with the boys in the boat “synergy.” The word synergy points to a phenomenon that occurs when two things come together resulting in greater power and results than the sum of the individual parts. The word synergy comes from the Greek word sunergos.
The apostle Paul uses that word to describe those who were working together with him in the ministry of the Gospel. He uses the verb form of that word to describe the mission God has given us to do together. As Tony Wolfe reminds us in his recent Southern Seminary dissertation, “Confessionalism and Cooperation in the Baptist Movement, 1609-1925,” these words form the biblical basis of cooperation in the work God has called us to do.
Paul uses the word, sunergoi in 1 Corinthians 3:9 to describe himself and Apollos as “co-workers” with God. That statement was not meant to elevate their status. He had just described the two of them as “servants” who planted and watered but pointed to God as the One who gave the growth. He then makes the connection that we are working together with God. Our cooperation with one another begins with a proper understanding of ourselves as servants who are completely dependent on God for any results. More Here
