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Editor’s note: In celebration of the Cooperative Program’s 100th anniversary, each issue of the Texan this year will include a testimony from a pastor explaining why his church gives through and believes in CP.
Wally Schirra was one of the Mercury Seven, NASA’s first crop of astronauts who tackled the new frontier of space. Decades later, we continue to benefit from their achievements in countless areas—material sciences, engineering, communications, biomedical developments, and beyond. Our lives would look much different without the early contributions of the Mercury Seven and the later lunar missions.
However, Schirra recalled a different—but perhaps even more impressive—contribution of the space program. Writing in the late 1980s, he said, “I’d go so far as to say that the most significant achievement of the space program was [the] concept of teamwork.”
Teamwork.
Seven astronauts, each of them highly decorated and respected, came together for a mission none of them could accomplish alone.
As believers, we have a call and commission that dwarfs the efforts of NASA in the 20th century. We have been tasked with making disciples for the glory of Jesus from our neighbors to the nations. Thankfully, 100 years ago Southern Baptists devised their own significant achievement—a tool of teamwork for this very mission: the Cooperative Program. Of course, it’s not the only avenue for gospel advance, but it is an incredibly accessible, vetted, and fruitful one. And it’s one my church is glad to participate in as we mobilize our financial resources alongside other Southern Baptist Convention churches to reach, serve, equip, and disciple those beyond our specific context.
This, of course, is no excuse to believe the work of disciple-making ends with the writing of a check. Not at all. Be committed to your local church. Lean in during sermons. Make the first move to introduce yourself to someone new at church. Read the gospel of Mark with a new believer. Share the gospel with that coworker. Encourage those young parents. Pick up that elderly saint who can’t drive to services. Pray fervently. Sing loudly.
But God also calls each of us to be interested and invested in the spiritual good of those beyond our immediate locale. What does this look like? And how can you be involved?
One way is by giving to your local church so your local church can give through CP. In doing so, you are immediately invested in ministries and efforts beyond you and your church’s individual capacity. Like the Mercury Seven coming together to pool resources and expertise for their mission, CP allows churches to do the same for ours.
Jesus did not institute the Cooperative Program, but He did institute the Great Commission, and we are compelled to carry this mission out under His authority and by His power until the end of the age. The scale is massive, but together, through teamwork, it’s our moonshot to tackle by the grace and the power of our risen Lord. The Cooperative Program is a fantastic tool that helps get us closer.
