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Yesterday I spent the day in a seminar for the faith-based community that dealt with creating affordable housing. It was a great day of receiving information and touring an area of Newport News that has been revitalized in large part through a strong partnership between the faith community and local redevelopment and housing authority.

Over lunch, we heard from some folks who have successfully developed 200 acres in a nearby rual area into affordable housing for families and senior adults.  As the presenter was talking about the power of partnerships to help revitalize our communities, he made a profound statement:

If I cannot worship with you, I cannot partner with you.

As we explore partnerships with other ministries and other organizations (both private-sector and public), one of the questions we wrestle with is, “Can we partner with this group?”

For several years when we lived in Louisville, Kentucky, I was on the board of one of the community ministries. Louisville has about 14 ecumenical and interfaith community ministries that serve the larger Kentuckiana geographical area. At the time we were there, the one in our area was the largest in land mass and population. We brought together 27 churches from 11 denominations, and did a pretty remarkable amount of ministry for an organization in the early-to-mid-1990s.  But when we gathered for worship, everything had to be boiled down to the lowest common denominator so as to not offend anyone. When we provided financial assistance, food assistance, paid a medical bill, or helped a single mom, we were so politically correct that we couldn’t talk about Jesus. And now, over 10 years later, I still get their newsletter. They are still reaching out. And they are still not talking about Jesus.  And my suspicion is that they are stuck in the vortex of political correctness and that nothing has really changed in the lives of the people they serve. They are providing help. They are not providing hope.

When we came to Norfolk and I began to talk with area pastors about networking for greater effectiveness in our ministries of mercy, I decided that I wasn’t going to partner up with any ministry or organization that limited my ability to talk about Jesus.  As our pastors’ group met together and talked about this, they were all in agreement.  Consequently, we turned down some opportunities that could have brought some resources to bear on situations that needed to be changed.

When I heard this statement yesterday, I thought, “He nailed it!” This really is the litmus test.  If I can’t worship with you–full out celebrate what God has done for us through Jesus and is doing in our world today to draw people to Jesus–then I cannot partner with you.

That’s the bottom line for me. What is it for you?

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