My Sheep, Your Sheep - Competition Between Churches

If you’ve been around the Christian community very long you’ve probably experienced a strange phenomenon which seems to be gaining ground. Many churches, even of the same denomination, are very protective of their sheep – sometimes to the point of charging them to disassociate with others of the same belief.

I’m not making a blanket statement and saying that all churches are this way, but there are enough of them that it seems to be an epidemic. People leave one church and go to another for various reasons (and this is not an accusation against either the specific church or the sheep concerning why this happens) but warnings against other churches are commonly shared with those that are leaving. It’s odd that we can see how wrong someone else is but can’t see where we err in understanding – granted, sometimes it’s valid to protect sheep from what lurks down the highway.

John the Baptist refused to participate in a fight for sheep (John 3): He knew they all belonged to Jesus anyway. John’s disciples thought they had ‘first dibs’ on baptizing; it was their ministry and now others were copying it! His disciples were flustered because people were leaving ‘their group’ and going to ‘Jesus' group,’ but John put a quick end to their complaints by saying that “No one can claim anything that has not been sent to Him by God.” In other words – if they’re supposed to be here, they will be here, but if not, we are all fighting in the same Army anyway!

John’s disciples saw Jesus’ ministry as a rival, but the same attitude was with Jesus disciples when they saw others driving out demons in Jesus’ name (Mark 9). Jesus told His disciples that whoever was not against Him was ministering for Him – those that are serving God are all FOR God, not against one another, regardless of location.

It's quite obvious from Paul's letters to the churches that none of them was serving perfectly - they were a work in progress. But in spite of their issues, we have no record of Paul or anyone else telling believers to stay away from specific NT churches. While caution never hurts, it seems we have reached a point of abrasively criticizing other churches, even when we've previously broken bread with them and know their hearts for the Lord.

Perhaps there’s an element of feeling rejected that comes into play in these types of circumstances - but personal feelings of rejection can be healed by forgiving others, and accepting a dose of God’s reality as recorded in both John 3 and Mark 9. But more importantly, we should be content to know that the sheep who have left our fold are still serving God and fellowshipping with other believers – and we are continuing to do what God calls us to do as a small part of the larger Army! In the end, we who believe are linked arm in arm in Kingdom service.

Peace to the Church!