The late Gospel song writer Ira Stanphill ("Room at the Cross"; "Mansion Over the Hilltop"; "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow"; "Happiness Is"; etc.) recently came to mind. Of his various well-known compositions, "Be Thou My Guide" came to be my favorite.
This song, interestingly, was a collaborative work. Approached by a Presbyterian minister having written a poem he wished set to music, Stanphill (himself an Assemblies of God minister) agreed to provide such. The result, we would suggest, was but yet another example of the way in which God oftentimes blesses when valid believers transcend their sectarian distinctions in the interests of glorifying Christ and serving his Body at large.
All of which brings to mind another observation from the past. While briefly resident in a large western city, and apart from our own involvement there, our attention was drawn to a particular church of the same denomination with which we were then affiliated. While other congregations of similar identity were to be found in the area, this one was singularly different.
Each Sunday evening following its regularly scheduled service, a live Gospel program was broadcast from this church's auditorium. Unlike most churches, however, this outreach was not used for its own promotion. To the contrary, each broadcast featured another church from the area at large (more often than not from another denomination) with its singers, musicians, pastor and attendant members as special guests. Following their presentation of special music, the guest pastor would be introduced for the purpose of briefly sharing with both assembled congregation and listening radio audience. Upon his exhortation's conclusion, he would then be requested to give the name and location of his own church so that any in the area wishing to do so might attend.
Yet again, when an evangelical denomination of differing identity desired to establish a church within the city, this pastor and church not only gave them free Sunday afternoon use of their own facility (itself a quite attractive edifice), but openly promoted the new endeavor to those favoring their perspectives and identity until they were able to obtain a building of their own.
As a minister born and reared in a minister's home, I found the scenario at large almost unbelievable. At the same time, the host church was experiencing pronounced growth and vibrancy. To my perception, the implications ultimately became twofold:
1.) Many of us have yet to learn that neither we nor our spiritually self-enclosed enclaves constitute the focal center of God's Kingdom. Jesus Christ does, and when we come to share his love and sense of identity with his people - even should they wear another "label" - we begin coming into accord with his Spirit. Thus the apostolic exhortation to accept those "whom God has received" (Rom. 14:3). It is He, after all, who establishes and defines the boundaries of His kingdom.
2.) Episodes of this nature do not, nor are they meant to, provide a formulaic routine for inducing spiritual growth and vitality. While frequently learning from other's experiences, God does not call us to become someone else or to recreate another's modus operandi. What took place at this point was but one of the many ways in which God might have chosen to move within the context of a giving, beneficient spirit and openness to divine guidance. We sometimes have something to learn here as well.
Having been away from the aforementioned city for some years, we are presently unacquainted with its present state in terms of church related concerns. But during our brief tenure there considerable was learned that would ultimately prove highly useful.
Burl Ratzsch
