March 15, 2005, Vol.4, No.6.

Congregational Cooperation

The Difference Between Evangelism and Benevolence

Keith Sharp

Although I have, among other things, been labeled “Anti-Cooperation,” I believe in, teach, and participate in scriptural congregational cooperation. We are examining the scriptural pattern for cooperation between congregations. This article examines the difference between cooperation for benevolence and for evangelism.

THREE GREAT ISSUES

The study involves three great issues.

BENEVOLENCE & EVANGELISM

Defenders of the sponsoring church arrangement character-istically employ passages authorizing churches to send funds to another church for the work of benevolence to defend churches sending to another church to do the work of evangelism. What difference does this make?

PATTERN

It makes a big difference. First, the New Testament clearly authorizes many churches to send to one for benevolence (Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians ch's. 8-9; Acts 24:17) and for one church to send to several for benevolence (Acts 11:27-30). But there is no authority for a church(es) to send to another church or other churches to do the work of evangelism. Shall we follow the New Testament pattern or not?

AUTONOMY

This also involves the issue of autonomy. Each local church has the responsibility to assist its own needy members (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1-3). Local churches may assist a church unable to relieve its own needy members until the church is able to do so (2 Corinthians 8:13-15). The work of the sending church is to help the needy church, and the work of the receiving church is to assist its own indigent members. Thus, equality of congregations relative to oversight and the autonomy of local churches are maintained, in that oversight of the work of each local church is within that local church, and each local congregation is able to do its own work.

But each local church has equal responsibility in the work of evangelism, commensurate with its own ability (Matthew 28:19-20). Thus, when churches send funds to another church to do the work of evangelism, the oversight of the work of all the churches involved is within the receiving church. Sending churches sacrifice oversight of part of their work and give up autonomy. 

In essence, there is one pattern (the autonomy of the local church) with two applications (cooperation for benevolence and for evangelism). This is not hard to understand. We often preach on “God's Two Laws of Pardon.” God has one plan of salvation: by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10). But there is one set of conditions for forgiveness of the alien sinner and another for pardon of the erring child of God. One pattern - two applications.

COLLECTIVITY

When many churches send to one for the work of evangelism, since the elders of the receiving church are overseeing a work that pertains equally to all the churches, a collectivity of churches precisely parallel to a Baptist association is created, something unknown to the New Testament. The first large step toward denominationalism, the creation of an organization tying local churches together, is taken. This is not true in benevolence, since the sending churches simply help the receiving church do its own work.

CONCLUSION

We must not confuse congregational cooperation for benevolence with that for evangelism. To do so is to violate the New Testament pattern, sacrifice the autonomy of local churches, and create a collectivity of churches. It is to begin the departure from the faith that culminates in sectarianism.