Did you know that CABA’s church members are only 2.6% of all evangelicals in the Cincinnati Area? Evangelicals are defined by the Association of Religion Data Archives as having:
salvation in Jesus, the authority of the Bible, and obedience to the Great Commission. And, again, out of all the evangelical church adherents, we’re 2.6%.
Serving churches in CABA, I sometimes get micro-focused on only Southern Baptists. Part of that comes from my ministry being largely in Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, and Missouri where Southern Baptists typically have a majority. Assuming superiority is a bias, a fault, and a sin.
A couple of years ago, a woman on Facebook told me that I was too myopic. She said that there were far more missionaries who were trying to reach the world for Christ than Southern Baptists. Although I knew it, I just didn’t think about it. I recently saw where Crossroads Church is the 5th largest U.S. church with 35,000 attending right here in the Cincinnati Area. CABA has 107 churches, but 12,700 on average attend worship each Sunday. And if we do consider working with those beyond our Southern Baptist churches, just when and where should we begin networking?
Step back for a second and think of networking with others in the Kingdom of God as being like a target with five rings. Each ring can be used to address lost peoples. This isn’t about ecumenicism, but gospel advance. I was led by the Lord to develop what I call a Networking Guide that you might use to help you anticipate actions that you will want to address when dealing with others beyond your own church.
1. Initial access to specific peoples through various gatekeepers. This might be an apartment manager who just might be a Muslim. It might be a college activities director and she might be an agnostic. Or it might be a government worker that gives you a permit for serving meals to people in need. His religious faith doesn’t hinder you from receiving his service. These gatekeepers help you have access to groups of lost people.
2. Intercession through prayer and meeting needs. Praying can be done by dozens if not hundreds of people. They can even get out and prayer-walk with your church members. They should definitely have a relationship with Jesus, but don’t necessarily have to be Southern Baptists. Again, it’s networking.
3. Sowing the gospel down through evangelization and Scripture distribution. This level of networking requires people who are born again and are trained in evangelism. SaturateUSA.org is an organization that wants churches of all stripes working together to spread the Gospel door-to-door in every zip code in America. Many of our CABA churches have participated with others, including independent Baptists.
4. Involving partner churches who will walk beside the team in planting churches. Supporting church planters is a privilege that most Southern Baptists accept. I think you see that this fourth level of networking requires closer alignment with missionaries who may or may not be serving through NAMB or IMB, but are aligned with a ministry.
5. Maintaining doctrinal integrity among believers and church leaders. This would be the center of the bullseye. We want to make sure that whomever is training leaders and pastors have doctrinal integrity. What they teach should be in alignment with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
So, these five levels form a Networking Guide as you think about working with others in the Cincinnati Area and beyond. May the kingdom of God be advanced while networking with workers with trust when trust is warranted and fidelity in biblical authority when biblical authority is needed. And suddenly, we just might find that our 2.6% of evangelical church members in the Cincinnati Area have a lot to offer to the greater body of Christ.
--Mark Snowden directs the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association
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