I got a note today from a good friend here in Champaign who attends a different church. My friend was writing to tell me that her small group had just spent their evening together driving around to various churches and standing in the church parking lots praying for those churches. What a beautiful demonstration of a church getting beyond denominationalism or territorialism. They spent a chunk of time standing in the parking lot at Barkstall praying for us! Praying that we would have God's vision for our future together and praying that people would be drawn to Jesus through our life, our worship, and our mission. I was blown away and so incredibly encouraged.
The timing was interesting. Right about that time, i was driving by a local church on my way to work and noticed that on their marquee out front, they were advertising a night of live music. As i drove by, a little smirk sneaked onto my face as i thought about how completely non-interesting that sounded. Just then, I had this really stinky feeling of guilt. I knew almost instantly how pathetic my attitude was - especially when other folks at other churches were praying for me and for my success. So as i drove the rest of the way to work, i tried to make up for my own hypocrisy by praying that God would bless that church and their live music night so that it succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
I really hope God moves us, as a church, to be a loving and committed part of the Church.
That's an interesting idea, actually praying for other churches. I sometimes think we tend to look at each other as competition, like rival businesses.
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