Well, this is not about the old west, but about the old notion of self-sufficiency and the contemporary church. Hundreds of churches in the south metro area are attempting to "lone ranger" it causing their pastors isolationitis and making their churches into, like, boats afloat at sea with no radar and no radio and no rapport with any other ship at sea.

Every church has the potential for thinking the Son's business rises and sets within its four walls. It, however, just ain't so. Every church has the potential for fully believing its denomination will be the one to carry the baton over the real Finish Line. That's old-fashioned pride. No Christian should really care who is the last one to reach the last one for the Savior. That he or she is reached should matter most.

Maybe that's it. Pride. It keeps us from cooperating. It keeps us from believing there are others out there hitting more licks than we for God.

Pride knows if we look outside our church's windows and see what some other church is doing to reach folks we've abandoned, it just might engender a bad case of jealousy. And we know jealousy is no fun. So, the best course of action is be a long ranger pastor and have a lone ranger church.

There have never been such Godly networks pervading church life as now. National Day of Prayer, March for Jesus, Pastor's Prayer Summit, See You at the Pole, Prayer and Fasting, Lighthouses of Prayer, and Statewide Distribution of The Jesus Video are networks bringing the Christian Church together for a common purpose: presenting Christ to the nations.

As a Southern Baptist, I am happy that our denomination has finally realized that we can't do the job alone. Our current leadership has abandoned the idea that "if we don't think of it, we won't do it." There's no sin in buying into a good idea promulgated by another brand of Christianity.

But back to the churches in the south metro area. It's high time for more than a minority of churches to get involved in these networks that combine our resources and our passions. It's high time that small churches stopped being intimidated by larger churches and get involved. It's high time that larger churches stop thinking they are all-sufficient and get involved.

Opportunities abound to see what the Son is doing outside your restrictive four walls. I dare you to walk outside. (Yes, I know Silver was the name of the Lone Ranger's horse; and that Buttermilk was Dale Evans' horse - wanted to see if you read to the end. Can't remember the name of Tonto's horse).

Editor's Note: Tonto rode "Scout."

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Religion Home Page