Paul's testimony in Romans 15 is clearly that any work he has done which is worthwhile is actually the work of God, working in and through him. His desire, therefore, is to "preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named . . . " (Romans 15.20a, ESV). How does this differ from our common attitudes? So often we wish to claim credit for God's work. We wish to arrange para-church ministries so as to have an influence for Christ, even though the existing local church would supposedly be having an influence for Christ. We try to plant a new church right down the street from an existing church.
What do we claim as justification? We may claim that we have a better understanding of Christian doctrine, that we have a more dynamic presentation of the truth, that we know how the gospel applies to our world, any number of reasons. And there is something to be said for doctrinal distinctions. To put it bluntly, I don't think Lutherans, Methodists, and Baptists are the same. So I don't think we need to avoid establishing a congregation where there is another more or less orthodox community of believers. But do we do so at the expense of areas which are underserved by Christian ministry? For instance, I talked with someone not too many months ago who was a pastor of a church in a small community. He thought it was a nice enough place to serve in ministry, but he did not want to stay there indefinitely. Why not? It wasn't the kind of town where he thought he had a future. But what is the future of the congregation of believers there? What is the future of the claims of God's law and the liberating work of the gospel in that town? Are there people who need to hear from God? Most certainly there are.
Now I know that we may not all want to stay just where we are forever. Yet I think too often we are eager to move on when there is still much to be accomplished for Christ right where we are. We are eager to go to the place where we see a lot of activity in Christ's kingdom. And we do it at the expense of ministry to the people who are scattered around, dispersed, not already in community with other believers.
Let us look to those our Lord brings us, rejoicing that the Lord has brought us together, few or many.
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