For 20 years, it was my delight to serve as President of Gateway Seminary – a school whose lifeblood was the Cooperative Program. For most of my tenure, I made a presentation during new student orientation on the impact of the Cooperative Program on and through our school and other Baptist entities. My speech earned a nickname – the “mother-in-law speech” – because of its heroine.
My mother-in-law is a 91-year-old, loyal Southern Baptist who lives on a fixed income in a modest retirement center. She loves the Lord, her church, and Southern Baptists. She has been a lifelong advocate for the Cooperative Program and understands, as a contributing member of a Southern Baptist church, she is a primary funder of Gateway Seminary and our other entities. She reflects that understanding when she often asks, “How is my seminary doing?”
My mother-in-law is not a wealthy person. Her monthly gift to her church is a generous percentage of her income, but she would not be on anyone’s major donor list. Yet, her kind of giving is the backbone of the Cooperative Program. This ingenious funding mechanism does not depend on a few fat cats to bank roll our work. It depends on millions of people giving small amounts, that when added together, make a huge difference. Tens of millions flow to missions, ministry, education, and other causes because loyal Southern Baptist make thousands of small gifts consistently. My speech to new students revolves around her convictions expressed through her giving. The speech sounded something like this…
“If you are receiving discounted tuition at Gateway because of the Cooperative Program, you have an obligation to promote the Cooperative Program and pay it forward for the next generation. As you gain influence as a church leader, it’s your responsibility to contribute to the next generation the way a previous generation has invested in you.
If you feel differently, listen carefully. If you think, ‘The Cooperative Program is an old-fashioned bureaucracy and I don’t plan to promote it in the future,’ then have the integrity to stop receiving the benefit of the Cooperative Program now. Forego the Cooperative Program tuition rate for Southern Baptist students and pay the full price.
You see, my mother-in-law, and millions of loyal Southern Baptists like her, are counting on you as their future church leaders. They are investing in you, keeping the price of your education as low as possible, so you can become a minister or missionary. They are also counting on you to carry the blessing forward to future generations.
If you don’t plan to do this, show some integrity. Stop stealing from my mother-in-law! Quit taking from the Cooperative Program and pay the full tuition rate, unless you are committed to promoting it as a primary missions giving mechanism in the future.”
This speech often startles new students. They are not accustomed to straight talk like this about institutional funding. It might concern you that this direct approach discourages interest in and loyalty to the Cooperative Program. The opposite actually happened. At almost every new student orientation, students approached me in the break after my speech and thanked me for being up front with them. They often asked the best way to approach their church leaders about increasing their Cooperative Program giving. And, this is the most interesting response: non-SBC students often asked for guidance on how their church could start giving through such an amazing missions funding mechanism.
While you may not be a new student at Gateway, you have likely benefited from the Cooperative Program. If you have paid discounted tuition at an SBC seminary, attended a CP-funded Baptist university, been part of a CP-supported NAMB church plant, participated in a mission trip to help a CP-dependent IMB missionary, gained new insight from a CP-financed state convention training event, sent your children to an SBC-camp, trusted your young adults to the BCM at a college, or otherwise enjoyed the benefits of any of these as a member of a Southern Baptist church, you have received direct benefits from the Cooperative Program. Hence, you have an obligation to pay it forward by making sure the same opportunities exist for the next generation. If you take from the Cooperative Program, you have an obligation to give to it as well – even more generously than what you have received.
We have waning generations who built the Cooperative Program. We have rising generations who have been blessed by the previous generations’ generosity. If you are an emerging leader, now it’s your turn to use this amazing funding tool to assure the financial strength of Southern Baptist missions, ministry, and education around the world. The previous generations want you to enjoy their generous support, but also to extend that blessing to future generations as well.
There are many reasons rising generations should embrace cooperative giving. First, the Bible says we can do more collectively than we can by ourselves. From encouragement in group decision-making – “victory comes with many counselors” (Pro. 24:6); to the examples of partnership among believers – “I give thanks to God…for your partnership in the gospel…I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me…” (Phil. 1:3-7); to churches meeting each other’s financial needs in the face of natural disaster – “Each of the (Antioch) disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers and sisters who lived in Judea” (Acts 11:29); to the Pauline example of almost always working with a missionary partner or team; cooperation is both a biblical pattern and mandate.
Second, we cooperate because it expresses the unity we strive for in Jesus Christ. After describing various leaders as Gods’ gift to the church, Paul declared the task of those leaders is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith” (Eph. 4:12-13a). Jesus prayed “may all (believers) be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you” and “I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may one as we are one” (John 17:21-22). When we cooperate, we become part of the answer to Jesus’ prayer.
Third, when we cooperate we set aside some personal preferences on ministry practices, mission strategies, and financial allocations to work together for the overarching goal of getting the gospel to more people around the world. This demonstrates humility and willingness to work with many people – including some we don’t always agree with – to advance God’s eternal mission.
Finally, we cooperate because it works. While other denominations strain to preserve loyalty through top-down control, experience doctrinal drift when power is vested in a heretical few, demand financial support through assessments, and struggle to produce leaders loyal to their movement – our cooperative efforts have excelled and expanded for more than 175 years. We cooperate because cooperation works – producing supernatural spiritual results which reflect God’s grace, power, and favor on our movement.
God has given us a remarkable gift in the Cooperative Program – a means to express our mutual commitment to advancing his gospel around the world. It’s a funding mechanism, but it’s also much more than that. The Cooperative Program is a practical means to spiritual ends – believers voluntarily working together to fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment. May God give rising generations wisdom to embrace this remarkable tool and continue to fulfill God’s eternal mission.
Dr. Jeff Iorg, President and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee
