President’s Perspective: Staying Connected

By Kevin Stone

Connection does not always come easily or even naturally. It is clear from Scripture that God created us to be connected, and yet we push connection away regularly. Connection takes time, it takes effort, but perhaps the biggest reason we avoid it is that it takes vulnerability. The closer I get to someone, the more likely it is for them to see my faults and failures. It is easier to stay at arm’s length. 

Society hasn’t helped us at all. We are taught from a young age that independence is a great strength, that our success should be “self-made,” and that self-care is of the utmost importance. These statements all obscure the fact that God designed us for connection. 

I believe lack of connectedness is among the biggest challenges of the Church today – at least in North America where all of society pushes individualism. Here are just some of the areas where I feel we are struggling: 

• Inadequate discipleship: The Biblical model of discipleship is to walk alongside someone through life. Jesus’ disciples didn’t just sit through the occasional class with him – they lived and traveled in his company. While that level of connection is usually not plausible, we cannot boil discipleship down into a one-hour Sunday School class each week. True discipleship involves a deeper connection and an understanding of what is going on Monday through Saturday. 

• Inadequate soul care: Everyone faces difficulty. Folks in our churches are facing anger about work situations, struggles with substance abuse, marriage issues, grief, persistent sin, and so many other things. When a person is unable to honestly share these issues, their chance of dealing with them in a healthy way decreases. 

• Inadequate physical care: We are trained not to ask for help. So, when there is a problem with our house or car or the medical bills are piling up, we don’t share that with our church family. We are trained not to stick our nose into the business of others. So, when someone else in our church family is struggling, we are likely not to notice. God calls us to care for one another, but we cannot provide for things we don’t even know about. We cannot even pray specifically when we are unaware of the needs. 

• Inadequate outreach: Many of us know little or nothing about our neighbors. We keep to ourselves, and we miss opportunities. Our churches focus on internal events and neglect connecting with their communities. We find it far easier to write a check than to see a need face to face. 

• Inadequate volunteerism: The key to finding volunteers to help at church is not making another announcement, it is realizing that someone is gifted and inviting them to help. When we are not connected, we have no idea who might be able to fill a need. At the same time, a person who does not feel personally connected to what is going on is unlikely to volunteer. The best volunteers are those who feel a sense of ownership in the ministry, which only happens through connection. 

There are undoubtedly more issues that could be mentioned, but you get the idea. Lack of connection is damaging to the local church. And as the local church goes, so goes our Fellowship. Our member churches need to stay connected to one another, but it is a challenge. 

As a friend pointed out to me years ago, this Fellowship used to be connected because everyone had family at the other churches. He asked how we can maintain our connection when this is no longer the case. As I have said before, it is our shared values and doctrinal positions that bind us. We are like-minded, and like-minded believers are family. More importantly, the Bible tells us that it is important to stay connected. 

Paul dedicates 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 to this idea of local churches being connected to one another. He starts out by telling the Corinthians about the sacrificial giving of the churches in Macedonia to support the church at Jerusalem, who was enduring poverty and persecution. He encourages the Corinthians to follow the example of these other churches. He tells them that their abundance should bless churches in need. He commends Titus and another brother who will be sent to visit them personally and then goes on to encourage generous giving to support what is happening among the churches. 

I do not think these two chapters were accidentally included in the Bible. I think they illustrate to us that it is important for churches to stay connected with others, to be aware of their needs, and to respond. It is interesting to me that Paul didn’t just share about needs, he also used the faithfulness of churches to motivate other churches to act similarly. The text describes mutual accountability, encouragement, and support. Those are the goals of our Fellowship, but connection does not happen without intentional effort. 

Connect26 is coming up very soon. Newcomers to Connect consistently say that it was such a blessing, and that they were pleasantly surprised at the quality and impact of the event. With that reputation, I often wonder why the attendance isn’t growing each year. I suspect life is just a bit too busy, time is a bit too precious, and connection with the Fellowship doesn’t seem that important. 

Please consider whether God would have you register for Connect – not because your church needs another delegate, but because connection with like-minded believers is good for your soul. Please subscribe to the Fellowship Focus and continue to learn about how God is moving among our churches. Please pray about how you and your local church can be used to connect meaningfully with the other churches of our Fellowship. Please let us know if your church has a need that could be met by our Fellowship. 

​Let’s stay connected. ​

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Stone has been in full or part-time ministry for over 30 years. Before accepting the position of President, he spent 12 years as the full-time Pastor of Worship at Crosspoint Bible Church in Omaha, NE - one of our FEBC churches.