Our ministry will be done in relationship with others while respecting diversity in all of its aspects. In our diversity we will treat others with respect at all times.
They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love was a hymn written in 1968, and I believe sums up well the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains (ABCRM) Core Ministry Value: Grace Filled Relationships.
On the eve before Christ went to the cross he told his disciples “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35.
This value is important not only because Jesus commands it of us, but also because just as the church is the body of Christ, we the congregations that make up ABCRM are the body of Christ as well. Those things that prejudicially divide our world are neither accepted nor tolerated in the community of believers. We are not in the business of being divided, but united. What divides our world?
• Skin color
• City folk vs. rural folk
• Age or Sex
• Wealthy vs. the poor
• Jew or Greek
• Middle Class or Lower Class
In the churches of our Region, we may dress different, we may worship differently, we may listen to different music, or our order of service may be different. However despite those differences, there is much more that unites us than divides us.
It was through the church that our world is being conquered for Christ. Left to ourselves we would do nothing but seek our own. We have discovered that the church is the people we love and work together even as they are different from us. Our common ground, our common denominator is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Often times in our fallen human condition, our greatest motivator is jealousy and our strongest temptation is to control. The only cure is the same grace God shows to us. Jesus calls us to be a Region of churches, a Region of Godly people to be filled with grace. Our relationships are marinated in grace. Our work collectively is for the common good of Jesus Christ. Who I am means nothing—but love for one another means everything. So what does a “grace filled relationship” look like?
• We work together being the hands and feet of Christ as God’s character is reproduced in our Region.
• We offer “grace” instead of “opposition.” Our relationship is about “we” not “me.”
• We are open and honest with one another.
• We respect each other’s differences and allow God’s grace to take our difference and transform it into his glory.
• We have a passion for the work we are doing together in the name of Christ.
• We are united because our bond to one another is cemented with grace.
• We have a servant’s heart knowing we are in this together.
• We pray for the kingdom and we pray for one another.
• We love one another just as Christ loves us.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found—was blind but now I see! Our response to God’s grace is our collective grace and love we show to one another.
Grace is Christ’s best gift to Christianity. And that grace is the best gift we can give to one another.
Rev. Alvin D. Wilkerson
ABCRM Board Member
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