Can Individual Congregations Cooperate in Evangelism and Benevolence?

Can cooperation be a bad thing? Oftentimes, we consider the idea of cooperation to be a virtue, a sign that humanity can work together toward a common goal. The question is, what form of cooperation is morally acceptable and authorized by God? In a religious context, who and what we support can become a sticky situation. One group may be in favor of certain elements of Christianity but turn around and teach against some of the other tenants. The Lord has taught us not to fellowship or cooperate with the “unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). This identifies the Lord’s intention that we are not to mingle or support anything that would be against His Word. Before one gets angry and says that God is too narrow minded or bigoted, we have to keep in mind that while the Lord’s church is a religious institution that welcomes and cares for those in the world, it is also a kingdom ruled by the Lord Jesus Christ. As with any kingdom, those who work against its benefit or hinders the works that support that kingdom; are labeled traitors. With such a serious consequence to abandoning the Biblical model, we must be cautious in any action of the church to ensure that we are within the authority of God. What we wish to discuss is not necessarily a debate over fellowshipping evil, but rather to consider what form of cooperation God allows between congregations of His church. With so many ideas of how the church “should” operate, let’s consider God’s design and build up our understanding of church cooperation. 

The Autonomy of the Local Church

One of the main identifying markers of the Lord’s church is the independence or autonomy of the local congregation. This is God’s wisdom at play, allowing for a natural “protection” from false teachings and heresies that could arise from another congregation. One church may fully abandon the Lord, and yet they have no say in the faithfulness of the church down the road. With this being said, it shows the importance of maintaining this autonomy. We see in the second and third centuries the damage that can be done from a loss of autonomy. Rather than having elders over every church who held the authority over that local congregation (Acts 14:23), the larger “governing bodies and counsels” began to erode the local autonomy by appointing Bishops to oversee multiple churches if they were not “important enough to oversee themselves” this took autonomy from the country churches and gave that power to the more influential city churches such as Rome. They were also guilty of standardizing matters of opinion and binding doctrines which are not sound. If this sounds like a political takeover, that’s because it was. It was a removal of the authority as God intended and replacing it with human overseers, politics, and philosophies, which eventually led to the formation of the Catholic Church and subsequent denominations which broke off from them. This damage is exactly why the Lord designed the church as He did. We see examples of this autonomy when the early church was taught to submit to those who have the rule over you (Hebrews 13:7) or when Paul spoke to the elders at Ephesus to take heed to themselves and the flock (Acts 20:28). Elders were given the responsibility of maintaining a local congregation. From a Biblical perspective, Bishops, Pastors, Elders, etc all referred to the same office, not varying degrees of hierarchy. This pattern shows that each congregation has a responsibility to maintain their God-given autonomy. 

The Bible’s Definition of Cooperation

This idea could seem contradictory. If God wants us to bear one another’s burden (Galatians 6:2) and to have the same mind and judgment (1 Corinthians 1:10), wouldn’t He want churches to cooperate? The debate on this topic is not generally from the idea that we cannot work together at all, but that we are not to create organizations or institutions that are beyond our authority to create. There have been groups in the past that have created institutions that operate outside the bounds of God’s authority. For instance, a group that would make decisions, teach doctrines contrary to biblical doctrine, or supersede (usurp) the role given to elders would be violating this authority. Such institutions, such as missionary societies, were not under an eldership as the Lord designed, but rather a board or governing body made up of those whom the Lord did not authorize. This is not to say that all organizations within the church are an evil; in fact, many can and have done good works for the kingdom. However, these organizations must operate within the authority God instituted. So what can the churches do? How do they operate together? One example for us to follow was the famine that affected the region of Judea. Luke records this event and the Christians’ response:

And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 11:27–30).

This crisis was addressed with the church gathering together to aid in the relief effort for another congregation. This shows us that we have the ability to have organized efforts to carry out the will of the Lord, even with other congregations. We also see examples where people worked together from other congregations. For instance, Barnabas went to Tarsus to work with Saul (who would later be called Paul; Acts 11:25), and Peter worked with Paul in His travels as well (Acts 11-12) when He was withstood to the face by Paul (Galatians 2:11). These are just a few prime examples from Apostles themselves that cooperation is encouraged when under the appropriate context. God does not require us to be isolationist, but rather to only operate as He permits. So, to answer our previous question, what can local congregations do? They can work together to meet the needs of brethren and those suffering (2 Corinthians 8:13-15), and we can work together to reach the lost through evangelistic efforts (Philippians 4:15-19). The problem is not regarding cooperation itself but rather a discussion as to what we, as Christians, have the right to do with the kingdom of God. We cannot supersede the authority of elders (Hebrews 13:17), we cannot violate the autonomy of other congregations (1 Peter 5:2), and we cannot build institutions that take away or replace the structure that God intended for the church (2 John 9-11). We must take great care to treat the kingdom of God the way that He intended and not add to nor take away from God’s design (Deuteronomy 12:32; Revelation 22:18-20).