Spiritual Cooperation

A pastor friend told me about a sign he had seen in front of a neighborhood church. Instead of just advertising the congregation’s own time of worship, the sign also listed the schedule for two other churches that met at different times in the same small town. Interestingly, my friend didn’t think this was impractical or foolish. Instead, he imagined what it must do for a church to put such unselfishness at the heart of everything it did! Whether it is a good idea to advertise the worship times of other churches is a matter of opinion. But one thing is certain—the Spirit of Christ is not found in a spirit of envy and self-serving competition. The generosity and goodwill that Paul expressed toward self-serving church leaders is a mark of the authentic Christian spirit (Phil. 1:14-18). This Christlike attitude lines up with the absence of spiritual competition James called for in his epistle (James 3:14-17). (Mart DeHaan; July 29, 2008)