Sometimes I will use a joke, whether I'm talking about my siblings, people at work, or church stuff, where I say, "You know, this isn't a competition or anything... but I'm way ahead." I think I got it from an obscure TV show or something.
Churches and religious institutions are ironically competitive with one another. Working youth ministry, I noticed it is somewhat of an unspoken flaw of "the industry" that each group wants to have the flashiest trips, coolest youth pastor (does that make me "cool"?), and best all-nighters. So many youth leaders and organizers will do what I call the "North Carolina businessman" where they talk really nice to you and shake your hand, yet they are judging everything you do in the back of their head.
This isn't exclusive to youth ministry; entire congregations can get this way. When we were in the early stages of planning this church plant, Pastor Doug was telling me about an interaction he had with a citizen of the community who said, "We have too many churches in this town already." I have around 101 responses to that statement (some of which involve yelling), but the tone behind that statement is what stuck with me.
I don't think it's a secret that any time something new pops up in a community, the existing institutions often see it as "competition" or maybe just start picking it apart because it's different than what they are accustomed to seeing. While studying for my sermon this week, I ran across this section from Luke...
John responded, "Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us." "Don't stop him," Jesus told him, "because whoever is not against you is for you." (Luke 8:49-50)
This convicts me personally because I can get pretty competitive. After all, "it isn't a competition or anything... but we're way ahead", right? Christ paints a picture of a communal church that doesn't take regard for who you "follow" (pastor, etc) or the methods you use, but instead celebrates all who seek to reach souls for the kingdom. I can get opinionated about church-related matters so this challenges me, but I think it does all of us good to recognize that The Well isn't just "The Well spreading the Gospel"... we are a group (or groups) who are seeking to energize and connect with the people God has brought us before so that we can show others the love and compassion of our savior. This drives us to pursue and support ministry selflessly and humbly because we know we aren't doing it unto ourselves; we do it unto God.
People and communities are complex and so it makes sense the God would work through several groups and organizations to perform his work. I am excited to see how God uses The Well but even more excited to just simply see more people coming to Christ and growing deeper in their faith. I hope we are a big part of that but we should be celebrating the work any group of Christians is doing, so long as they are ardently pursuing spreading the Gospel.
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