This July completes my second year as your Stewardship/Cooperative Program Strategist. As I travel our state, I am blessed to experience every level of Baptist life. I have learned from people in local churches, associational offices, the state convention building in Alexandria and the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville.
From this experience I have made two observations: 1. every level of Baptist life has its own distinctive ministry focus and responsibility; and 2. Southern Baptists have one common thread running through their core. Southern Baptist's common thread is cooperation.
I’ve done a good bit of thinking about the word “cooperation.” The word cooperation comes from two Latin words; com, meaning with” and operari, meaning “to work.” When the two are combined, the word cooperation, meaning “to work together” is formed. Cooperation is a positive and powerful idea. Nowhere is its meaning negative. By its very definition, the word cooperation denotes a benefit, a desired outcome. Its meaning carries the idea that something greater is accomplished when two or more work toward a common goal.
There is not a better example of the power and the benefits of cooperation than the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. Think about it. From 1925 to 2008 Southern Baptists have appointed almost 20,000 career foreign missionaries. Throughout times of economic struggles, including the Great Depression, not one missionary has been called home for lack of funds. Southern Baptists have over 10,000 IMB and NAMB missionaries whose lives and ministries are sustained daily by the power of cooperation. We are currently training 18,000 future pastors, church leaders, and missionaries at our 6 seminaries. Southern Baptists have the nation's third largest disaster relief agency.
I believe the Cooperative Program is God’s gift to Southern Baptists. We cannot take credit for its greatness or its eternal impact. All glory belongs to its author, our Heavenly Father. Dotting the pages of Scripture are examples of great success that was accomplished through cooperation. Even though we are not essential in the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, He calls us to join Him in building His kingdom. As we focus on accomplishing things that are measured by eternal standards, our lives become richer, fuller, and more meaningful. When you and I work together, we experience the benefit of cooperation. When you and I work with the Lord, we experience the power of cooperation!
Your state missionaries would be honored to visit any LBC church to say "thank you" for your cooperation in building the Kingdom and to tell the timeless story of the Cooperative Program. If you would like to schedule a Cooperative Program presentation or for information about other CP resources, call Terry Tanner at 318.449.4254.
HIS blessings!
Michael Stewart