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by Micah Fries
September 9, 2015
Do not, under any circumstances, give your money to the Cooperative Program (CP). Seriously. I mean it. To many, I guess, this might that seem odd since Frederick Boulevard, the church I pastor gives 8% of our undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program. Ahhh, but there is the difference. Giving TO the CP, I think, is something entirely different thing than giving THROUGH the CP.
The CP is undeniably an impressive vehicle to take our church’s money and help disperse it to missions causes all over the US and the world. It really is genius, if you think about it.
It allows our church to partner with 40,000 other Southern Baptist churches across the country to support a massive mission enterprise together, without ever being required to give a dime. Lately we have heard much about the need to generate more and more commitment and giving to the CP.
The percentage that the average SBC church gives to the CP continues to go down, and today it appears to sit somewhere around 6%, down from 11% in 1927 (see here & here). In response to this declining percentage we hear an increasing volume level from those who would exhort Southern Baptists to give a greater percentage.
There are multiple state convention efforts across the SBC to increase CP giving and currently, on the national level, there is a push to ask each church to give an additional 1% towards the CP. While I applaud the desire to see increased CP giving, and I think each of these attempts are well intended, I think our process of encouraging increased giving may ultimately be flawed, and it relates to the distinction I attempted to make at the beginning of the article.
THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM IS NOT OUR GOAL
The CP is not our goal. It is not our aim, nor our purpose, as Southern Baptists. We partner together, not to promote and expand the CP. Instead, we partner together for the purpose of advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ among the nations.
As such, when I get publications in the mail filled with advertisements asking our church to give at a greater level to the CP I often find the argument to be less than compelling, and I am probably more committed to the CP than the majority of pastors my age. Growing the CP by simply appealing to increased CP giving often sounds like little more than a plea to further facilitate an organizational structure.
To be fair, I doubt that anyone thinks they are simply “selling the CP”. I think most assume they are pushing our cooperative mission. However, the message coming across over and over sounds much more like “give to the CP” and much less like “let us do mission together through the CP”.
What is most frustrating to me about this is that it could be entirely different. The CP is enormously important because it is a mechanism which finances one of the greatest Evangelical missionary enterprises the world has ever known.
If we understand it rightly, not as the goal of our giving, but as the means through which we finance Kingdom advancing enterprise, the CP is a beautiful thing of genius and I am convinced that many would find themselves more and more committed to it.
So, I am advocating that we talk less about the CP, and more about what the CP is helping to accomplish. State conventions, national entities, SBC Executive Committee, if I could offer a piece of advice, stop appealing to us to give more to the process and start spending more time telling the stories of those whose lives have been radically changed by the power of Gospel – lives which might never have been transformed if it were not for missionary activity financed through the CP.
VISION-FUELED GENEROSITY
Giving follows vision. Every time. Without fail. What is more, as Bill Hybels is prone to say; vision leaks. Like a bucket with holes in the bottom, vision is something that we must constantly pour into those we serve. What we need in SBC life is not a refreshed vision for the CP.
That will, in my opinion, lead to the continued demise of the CP. Instead we need a refreshed vision for our cooperative efforts to transform the world with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The CP, while a brilliant concept, is not a biblical one. Partnership for gospel advance, however, is a thoroughly biblical concept.
The Great Commission Resurgence, which we recently approved as a convention, will not be effective because it helps to generate more emphasis on our structural mechanisms, or our giving streams. It will only be successful if it helps turn our focus more squarely on the task at hand, which in turn will lead to greater commitment to whatever it takes to fulfill that vision (i.e. the CP).
This is why I say that you should not give TO the CP but as a Southern Baptist, you absolutely should give THROUGH the CP. Make no mistake; I am a big fan of the CP. This article is not intended to be derogatory to the CP, but rather to plead for a biblically faithful, and compelling vision that will lead to CP growth. There are precious few things in life worth dying for; even sacrificing for. Funding mechanisms are not among those things that are worth dying for. However, gospel advancing, Kingdom promoting, God exalting mission, financed through a funding mechanism, is always worth sacrificing for.
May we as Southern Baptists not care if we are ever known for having the greatest funding mechanism the world has ever seen. May we instead be known for a radical abandonment to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. A commitment that, in SBC life, is funded through the Cooperative Program.
This may seem to be a simplistic alternative, but I am convinced this is the only way to see a revival of commitment to the CP. Stop making the CP our goal. Quit judging faithfulness by one’s commitment to CP giving. The CP cannot be our goal. An ever growing commitment to the advancement of God’s kingdom must be. Drive that point home, and paint the picture of our cooperative efforts to advance Christ’s gospel, and watch as Southern Baptist’s giving follows that vision.
— This post was originally published on MicahFries.com on December 15th, 2011.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
