Once upon a time, the main divisions among evangelical churches were either denominational or stylistic. Denominationally, some of us baptize babies and some of us don’t, some of us speak in tongues and some of us don’t. Stylistically, some of us sing hymns, some of us rarely do. Some of us serve third-wave coffee, some of us have no idea what that is. So when it came to cooperation between evangelical churches, the barriers were either significant and objectively clear or trivial and largely subjective.
But those days are long behind us. Over the past decade, evangelical churches have splintered into a plethora of tribes that cut across denominational lines and ministry styles. Our age is polarized, and now political allegiances, views on social engagement, and increasing theological diversity divide us, too, making the question of cooperation with other churches even more complex.
To make matters worse, church members will regard our decisions to cooperate or not as statements of identity, of taking sides and drawing lines between “our people” and “not our people.” They won’t see such decisions as careful, prudential judgments intended to best facilitate Great Commission cooperation. Rather, signing or not
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