Baptists have long believed and taught that local churches are independent. They are not ruled or owned or led by anyone outside of themselves. The biblical and theological foundation for this is in Jesus’ teaching on the “keys of the kingdom” (Matt. 16:19, 18:18). Because Jesus gives the “keys” to local churches, they have authority over their members and doctrine. In other words, through the “keys” Jesus makes local churches autonomous, or independent. No Council or Convention or Pope or Presbytery can tell a Church what to do or what to believe.
Local church independence is what we find in the New Testament. But independence does not negate interdependence. Local churches exercise the keys of the kingdom by “binding and loosing,” or through church membership and discipline, thus guarding and promoting the gospel. But individual local churches are not called to complete the Great Commission on their own. As churches hold and promote the gospel among themselves, they should also work to fulfill the Great Commissions with other churches who call upon the same Lord and confess the same gospel. Churches can do more Great Commission work with others than by themselves.
Unfortunately, many independent churches do not cooperate with other churches for the sake of the gospel. They pursue the Great Commission alone. But the pattern of the New Testament is that local churches undertake Jesus’ mission together with other churches.
The New Testament offers a picture of the relationship between local churches that looks like a relationship between family members. In the New Testament, churches share love and greetings (Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:19, 2 Cor. 13:13, Eph. 1:15, Col. 1:4). They share preachers and missionaries (2 Cor. 8:18, 3 Jn. 5-6). They joyfully supported one another financially (Rom. 15:25-26; 2 Cor. 8:1-2, 9:12). They modeled Christlikeness to one another (1 Thess. 1:7, 2:14). They were exhorted to greet one another (Rom. 16:5) and care for one another financially (1 Cor. 16:1-3, 2 Cor. 8:24). They were cautioned about receiving certain teachers (1 Jn. 4:1, 2 Jn. 7-8a). They were exhorted to imitate steadfast and faithful churches (2 Thess. 1:4).
These texts reveal an intimate web of connection and relationship between local churches in the New Testament. Jonathan Leeman says, “The point is impossible to evade: local congregations of the New Testament were very much integrated with one another.” As a result, he continues, “A church will best fulfill the Great Commission when it is connected in relationship, prayer, and work with other churches.”
Local churches are independent because they represent the authority of Christ, announce the gospel of Christ, and initiate the Great Commission of Christ. Leeman again, “By a similar measure, the interdependence of local churches is founded in the fact that they share the same Christ, the same confession, and the same Commission.”
This is Baptist catholicity. “Catholic” here meaning “universal” or “comprehensive.” Churches who share a common Christ, Confession, and Commission working together is a most “catholic” thing to do. Independent churches working with other independent churches for the sake of the gospel’s advance across the world reveals the unity and universalness of our message and mission. It is good for churches to partner together in ministry and mission. We can always do more together than we can on our own.
Preston Highlands is a Baptist and thus independent church. But we are also an interdependent church. We have a long history of working with other like-minded churches to fulfill the Great Commission. One of the main ways we have done this is through a friendly cooperation with the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. We have given funds to the SBC that have supported international missionaries, domestic church planting, theological education, and disaster relief. We have also given funds to like-minded local ministries such as the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center and the Baptist Student Ministries at UTD – both of which are funded through the efforts of local churches like ours. We have given funds to specific missionaries through Reaching and Teaching International Ministries and specific church plants through the Pillar Network. And we have prayed for specific missionaries, church planters, and local churches in our main gathering every week for many years. These efforts to support and pray for other churches and ministries and missionaries is the tangible expression of our Baptist catholicity.
As you may know, our church has the opportunity to practice our Baptist catholicity one last time. The Lord, in his often strange but always good and wise providence, has led us into a season of transition as a church, opening a door for us to partner with two other like-minded churches for the sake of the gospel. The partnership has two aspects. First, I am encouraging our members and regular attenders to begin attending (and possibly join) Northrich Church in Richardson. And second, I am recommending that we give our property to Ekklesia Comunidad Biblica. Northrich and Ekklesia are sister churches in the Pillar Network. This means they are like-minded churches in the things that matter most to us: doctrine and philosophy of ministry. They are Bible-loving and gospel-preaching churches committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and a healthy ecclesiology. And the Lord is doing good work in each of these churches, bringing fruit from the steady preaching of his word and building up a people formed in his image.
These partnerships are our opportunity to steward the people and property God gave to us. It is yet one final way for our church to work together with other churches for the advance of the gospel in DFW. In a fundamental sense, this transition is not an end of our work, but a continuation of it. As we partner with Northrich and Ekklesia during this transition, the work the Lord began in us will continue in and through these other churches. None of our work has been in vain. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy. The Lord’s work through us will go on.
I leave you with Paul’s words to the Philippians, echoing them and making them my words to you, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (1:3-6).
With Love, Always,
Pastor John