[1]
I got a message from one of my pastor friends recently. His church has partnered with their local public school for years. Lately they have been approached by a church from one of the mainline denominations wanting to come alongside them in ministry there.
Questions came fast after that. Are they theologically sound? Should I partner with them? They are going to be there whether we are or not. Might as well figure out how much we can work together.
The truth is every pastor I know is wrestling through some version of that conversation right now. These opportunities come wearing sheep’s clothing. A community service project. A school function. A civic prayer gathering. A coalition for some worthy cause.
Thinking about it long enough though, most partnerships like this are not really about the pulpit. They are about access. Access to the community. Access to neighbors. Access to a platform that could open doors down the road.
The question is, when does that platform start to feel less like cooperation and more like compromise? When does standing with someone start functioning as public endorsement of their ministry?
We see it all the time on the high-profile stage. Evangelical leaders stand side-by-side with Word of Faith teachers and prosperity preachers constantly. Sitting shoulder to shoulder with those who teach dangerous heresy forces the rest of us to ask the question: “How far is too far?”
[2]Good shepherds do not lead their flock into false teaching. Sometimes that means boldly pointing out open error. Other times it means refusing to muddy the water where lines should be drawn in black and white.
So how should a pastor think about these kinds of partnerships?
1. Triage the disagreement before you weigh the partnership.
Albert Mohler has done a fantastic job articulating theological triage. First-order doctrines are doctrines without which you compromise the Gospel itself. The deity of Christ. The authority of Scripture. Justification by faith. Salvation through Christ alone. Second-order doctrines are doctrines that divide Christians into different denominations, but do not compromise the Gospel, such as baptism, church polity and women in ministry. Third-order doctrines are ones on which members of local churches can agree to disagree, like the timing of the return of Christ.
Where does the doctrine your potential partner gets wrong fall? Sitting side by side on a platform straddling a second-order doctrine about baptism does not compromise your integrity like sitting beside a person who compromises the Gospel itself.
2. Association implies affirmation, whether you intend it to or not.
Not only must a shepherd protect his sheep from wolves, he must protect them from grazing in wolf territory. He must ask of those he is considering partnerships with not only, “Can I work with this person?” but also, “What will my sheep assume if I do?”
The early church had a zero-tolerance policy for theological wolves in sheep’s clothing. John the Apostle wrote with this warning:
[3]“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him; for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.” (2 John 10-11, CSB)
John is not telling believers they cannot love unsaved people. This passage is addressing false teachers coming to visit houses and denying that Jesus came in the flesh. He is commanding believers not to publicly greet or partner with those who undermine Christian truth. What you allow into your house, you approve. What you greet, you bless.
According to Irenaeus, John once visited a public bathhouse in Ephesus only to discover a famous heretic of the day named Cerinthus was inside. Cerinthus taught a separationist Christology, holding that the divine Christ came upon Jesus at baptism and departed before the crucifixion. When John discovered him inside that building, he left immediately. “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.”
John would not stand under the same roof with a man who taught that the divine Christ had abandoned Jesus. He was not being cruel to the false teacher. He was being clear.
Your sheep will not understand the fine doctrines swirling around in your head. They will not care that you reserved judgment on certain issues while partnering together for some common good. They see pictures. They see who is standing with whom.
A call to clarity
Our churches are watching us. Our communities are watching us. The church does not need more celebrity partnerships to reach culture. Christ is enough for us.
The real test of our partnerships is not whether we get a bigger platform. It is whether the Gospel is still clear when we step off of it. Sometimes the best thing a pastor can do for a confused and darkening world is to quietly, steadily step off of the platform altogether.
Before you say yes to the next partnership, ask yourself this. Does this coalition make the Gospel harder for your people to see? If so, you already know what you need to do.
[4]Related posts:
FIRST-PERSON: Get the most out of your Bible reading 
The Authority of the Bible Calvinism ~ Southern Baptist Perspectives 
‘But seriously folks’: Humor’s role in pulpit assessed 
ETS regional meetings: ‘a joy’ for SBC seminaries The Church ~ Considering Congregational Polity 
FIRST-PERSON: Doctrinal fidelity without methodological conformity The Bible — Effective!