Be Supportive Of Other Churches Series

The apostle Paul once admonished the Philippians, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). In serving the Lord and seeking to glorify Jesus Christ, we must be certain to put aside selfish ambition.

In our passage today, we will see how Jesus taught His disciples to be careful about competing with other believers; for when competition arises, we can become self-focused and forget the bigger picture. We can fail to remember, as Paul said, to “look out not only for [our] own interest, but also for the interest of others” (Philippians 2:4). It is all too easy to get caught in the trap of serving the Lord with the motive of personal gain, instead of with the intention of leading other people to faith in Jesus Christ; and when we become focused on self, we can become critical and judgmental of other believers and other churches.

Jesus Understood Team Effort Evangelism (vv. 38-39)

38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.”

Look again at what John said: “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us” (v. 38). This statement sounds like something a believer might say today: “Pastor, while I was outside doing yard work, a man knocked on my neighbor’s door and started witnessing to her. I overheard their conversation, and when the man said that he was from Bacon Lick Baptist Church I marched right over and asked him to leave. I didn’t think he should be sharing on our church field.”

In the fictitious scenario I just presented, the believer had likely lived beside his neighbor for many years, and had never worked up the courage to share the gospel with her. Jesus once declared, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). If a believer fails to share the gospel with his neighbor, then the Lord can make even the rocks cry out His name. If the Lord speaks to your heart to witness to a certain individual, and you fail to do so, then He can easily send someone else to do the job.

All too often, Christians will refuse to share the gospel with their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members. And when someone else comes along and takes the lead, then regret over our own failure can enter the heart, and jealousy can enter the mind; and in a moment of clouded judgment we might tell the person who’s doing the witnessing to move on. Keep in mind, however, that if we tell a faithful evangelist to “get lost,” we might be condemning our friend or coworker to “stay lost.”

Did you realize that a believer can become jealous or envious on behalf of his or her church? In the example that I just shared about the church member who told his pastor how he ran off someone who was witnessing to his neighbor, he could have been afraid that his neighbor would get saved and begin attending Bacon Lick Baptist Church. Like John, he might reason, “He does not follow us” (v. 38), or rather, “He is not from our church.”

Churches, unfortunately, can be competitive. Allow me to share from an article entitled, “Competitive Church.” Matt Monyhan testifies, “When it is all said and done, churches are competing with one another for the same people . . . Churches want big numbers of people to come to their services and they don’t care where they come from.” He continues to add,

Churches try to “attract people to their church from other churches. Why do churches advertise on Christian radio? Why do churches always want you to know why they are different from other churches? It’s because we . . . compete with each other for people.”(1)

Monyhan emphasizes that much of the competition we see, is from churches that are geared toward receiving transfer growth. A church that is focused on fulfilling the Great Commission will be geared toward growth from new converts; from the lost who have recently given their hearts to Jesus Christ. A Great Commission church will be expending most of its energy and resources on evangelism, rather than fancy advertising campaigns aimed at other Christians.

I have not seen very many Great Commission churches in action; and even if there were a great awakening, and churches got back on task with their true purpose of winning the lost to Christ, baptizing them, and discipling them (Matthew 28:19-20); sadly, you would still see church competition. The gospel of John shares the account of how John the Baptist’s disciples were being competitive in acquiring new believers for their own group. Listen closely, as I read John 3:22-26: