Texas Baptists are kingdom-collaborating

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching at the South Garland Baptist Church, a Texas Baptists church with a long-standing commitment to the Cooperative Program and cooperative missions. On Monday, we met with Waco area pastors to talk about the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting this November 15-17 in Waco as we celebrate 140 years of cooperation.

Today, I had the joy of participating in the new Baylor Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) building ribbon-cutting. The celebration is the culmination of a process of dreaming, dialoguing and collaborating together for the sake of the kingdom. Baylor University donated a plot of land on the campus, and Texas Baptists raised the funds to build a state-of-the-art facility to support the BSM ministry which is currently reaching 1,200 students through service, disciple-making and missions mobilization.

As I thought about the organizations, the leaders and all the people that made this project possible, I thanked God for the privilege of collaborating with others in the kingdom of God. That is the seventh Texas Baptists descriptor: kingdom-collaborating.

While we are convinced that Christ established the local church as His instrument for God’s mission, the Bible also shows us it is His plan for churches to collaborate together. God’s kingdom is greater than any one church. God’s kingdom is greater than any Baptist convention. God’s kingdom is greater than any one Christian institution.

Wherever Christ’s rule is established, there his kingdom is, including churches, communities, universities, Christian ministries, the public square, businesses, hospitals and wherever we serve the least of these.

Jesus had much to say about the kingdom of heaven. His preaching and teaching consisted of helping people understand its nature and how it operates. He taught his disciples to pray for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. In the sermon on the mount, he urges us to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

We see more accomplished in God's kingdom when we build bridges and bring people together to achieve His purposes. To be kingdom-collaborative means that we recognize we are a part but not the whole of God’s kingdom. It means we commit to live out our role in this spiritual realm where Christ is King.

This concept is embedded in Texas Baptists’ governing documents and it ought to be embedded in our hearts,

The object of this Convention shall be to awaken and stimulate among the churches the greatest possible activity in evangelism, missions, Christian education and benevolent work and enterprises; to cultivate a closer cooperation among the churches and promote harmony of feeling and concert of action in advancing all the interests of the Redeemer’s Kingdom.

We recognize the scale and comprehensiveness of such a task. We also realize that we cannot fully live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in isolation. We need to collaborate with others.

Texas Baptists collaborates with like-minded partners to accomplish more together than what is possible apart. Our relationship with universities and seminaries allows us to be part of the formation of leaders from a Christ-centered perspective and of ministers from a biblical perspective in the Baptist tradition.

Our relationship with human care institutions that care for vulnerable families, for the widow and the orphan, for the sick, and the elderly allows us to practice the “love your neighbor as yourself” in very real ways and to practice “pure and faultless religion” (James 1:27).

Partnering with financial service institutions allow us to support churches and institutions so they can steward the resources that God has given to the body of Christ. Partnering with hospitals means we partner with pastoral services to be the presence of Christ to patients and families during difficult times.

Partnering with a Baptist publication organization helps us to tell the story of what God is doing among Texas Baptists and learn what else is taking place in other portions of the Baptist family, allowing for various points of view, without editorial control, so that we can have an informed and reflective Baptist people.

Working with a missionary union that promotes the work of Texas Missions and raises funds for specific Texas Baptists initiatives adds fuel to the mission fervor and activity. Having a mission partner who specializes in disaster relief gives us the confidence that when disasters happen volunteers will be mobilized, needs will be met and the gospel will be shared.

The same can be said for local associations, other state conventions, national Baptist conventions in other countries and many other like-minded organizations.

Our way of partnering with various organizations may vary from one to the other. In some cases we provide funds. Sometimes we elect trustees to their boards. In other cases, we have special agreements or memorandums of understanding.

We do not control any of them. They are autonomous entities who choose to collaborate. When we do collaborate, God’s kingdom advances and God gets the glory. Let’s continue to be a kingdom-collaborative people! We need each other!