There are 112 instances of the word "church" in the bible.

Most of them refer to "The Church" as the entire body of believers.

Somewhere along the way some leaders have gotten the idea that churches are in competition with each other - that it's about growing their event bigger than other churches.

Really the goal is to make disciples and teach them to be like Jesus (Matthew 28) (perhaps this is debatable. If so, that's for another post)

So, if that's the goal, it would help for us to work together - like the Army, or a football team. How can the body be successful if the foot is not coordinated with the knee? How can we win if we're all going in different directions, working against each other, duplicating effort, ignoring each other, etc. We look a lot less like a family and more like local small businesses competeing with one another.

Is this true? Does this concern you? If so, how can we address this?

Here are some ideas:

1) Have lunch with other local pastors & Christian leaders. Love them & pray with them.
2) Discuss plans and goals with other local pastors. Ask for help and help them. Collaborate where possible.
3) Share resources: equipment, rooms, money, etc.

Remember, it's not about building your name or your thing. It's about building the Kingdom. The Church is not like competing businesses. We are all working together toward the same goal. It helps us to share information, resources, staff, credit, projects, etc. In fact, it may be a sin not to.

Thoughts?