Every week our church gathers on a Sunday morning to sing, serve, listen, and respond to the scriptures. Our church is pretty regular as churches go. You might come to Vineyard one Sunday and then go to the church down the street the next Sunday and find few differences. Singing, serving, sacraments, and responding—nothing sexy. Our belief is that we have Jesus and that’s enough. Last year, though, we added one distinction—every week we pray for other churches. Another pastor in our city recently asked me why we have this practice (though he was thrilled that it happens), and it caused me to think through it a bit more. Here are the reasons we pray for other churches (and why other churches should do the same):
1. Because we’re on the same team. This isn’t church talk. This is gospel mentality. Churches really are on the same team! The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12:15 to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” Certainly, this text has a context to it—a personal context. That is, weep with your friend who has lost a spouse. Rejoice with your neighbors when their son comes home from war safely. But this command has broader implications for the church at large. We are able to rejoice with the church down the street or across town as they experience real gospel growth. We can say publicly to our own community, “Isn’t it exciting that God is working that way? Let’s continue to pray that God pours out His Spirit on their ministry!” And when churches experience loss, pain, or even when they must close their doors, we can say publicly, “These people are our fellow laborers in the city. They are weeping over this loss. Let’s weep with them!” There is no room for “us and them” talk because we are on the same team.
2. It crucifies our tendency to think less of churches that practice their faith differently. I love our church. I love our music and the Sunday environment and even the kind of coffee we serve. So when I have an opportunity to visit other churches, often before I realize it, I’m categorizing all the things they’re doing “wrong.” Most of us operate that way when we’re not actively abiding in Jesus. So when we regularly pray for other churches, we are killing the idea in our minds that “we’ve got this thing totally figured out.” Again, the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:22, “. . . that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self . . .” All people AND most churches have a “former manner of life.” When we pray for other churches, in particular, when we pray for other churches that sing differently, preach differently, and maybe even gather differently, but worship the same Jesus, we are laying aside our judgment. We are killing our natural inclination to believe that our church is the best church in the city.
3. It’s good for our people. Many people who are part of Vineyard have also been part of other church communities in our city. And frankly, not all those who came to Vineyard came because of a divine calling. Some came because they were running from difficult conversations, sinful encounters, and even church discipline. That is, we know that everyone who attends our church does not naturally love the whole church. Even worse, we know that Vineyard will probably be just one more church they leave behind when they realize that the people they are gathering with here are just as broken as the people at their last church. Interestingly, when we began to pray for other churches, our people’s hearts began to shift. No longer did our church have to be measured against other churches. We could now celebrate the whole church, not just our church. Not all of a sudden, but over time, we began to hear our people rejoice and weep with other churches. Over time, our people began to see that it was good for their souls to engage in kingdom prayer.
4. It’s good for our staff and pastors. It’s hard not to get discouraged in ministry. On Mondays when our staff meets to pray and plan, we are worn out and need a bit of kingdom encouragement. When we pray for other churches, we are reminded that we’re in a global movement, empowered by the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. And though our purpose may feel small from week to week, we are reminded that our labor is enormous in scale as we see with gospel eyes.
Our hope is that this practice would be adopted throughout our city, in every church. The early church was identified as “the church at Rome” or “the church at Corinth.” Now we have dozens, or even hundreds, of churches in a city with different identifiers. But one way we can unite ourselves back to the good news of Jesus and his global people is by praying regularly and publicly for each church in our city.
