Ten days after the ascension of Christ, the disciples were in the upper room of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. The signs and miracles that took place on that day were numerous: the sound of a violent rushing wind, flames appearing as tongues hovering in the upper room and above the disciples, the filling by the Spirit, utterances in other languages, and a great ingathering of souls into the newborn church. It truly was a day that would never be forgotten.
But it would be easy to overlook what many might consider the first miracle of the day of Pentecost. Luke’s account from Acts 2:1 states it this way: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1, NASB). I don’t think any of us would take for granted that on the day the church was born, the first followers of Jesus were all together and in one place.
One of the great tragedies of our day is how much division and separation exists within the body of Christ. We all understand the need to separate or divide because of deep theological differences over key matters of faith. We all know that to be more efficient in ministry, it often requires that we are scattered in different directions and hustling in various lanes. But there is a danger when Apollos, Paul and Cephas have a hard time being all together in one place simply because of differences of opinion, experience, or ministry practice.
There is too much at stake for us to walk away from our cooperative efforts or huddle only within our own tribes and friend groups. Just one look at the state of gospel saturation and kingdom advance in South Carolina makes it clear that there is still work to be done. We must show up when our convention of churches gathers together.
That is part of the vision of our 204th annual meeting of the SCBC on Nov. 11-12. On that Monday, we will have more South Carolina Baptists gathered than on any other day of the year for all our pre-convention collaborative meetings. These include the Pastors’ Conference, Onward, Outside the Walls, Elephant in the Pew, Church and Campus, and Together. The SCBaptist and First Baptist Church Columbia staffs have done the hard work of getting those meetings all within one block of each other in downtown Columbia. So I want to humbly invite and strongly encourage as many South Carolina Baptists who possibly can to attend those meetings and then gather all together in one place for the opening session of the annual meeting at First Baptist Columbia.
Over the course of our annual meeting, we will hear inspiring reports of what God is doing in our churches, be challenged with great opportunities for ministry, discover new ways to partner for kingdom advance, and participate in forging a path forward to the day where every life is saturated and transformed by the gospel. We will hear motivating messages from J.J. Washington, director of personal evangelism at NAMB; Bryant Wright, president of Send Relief; and Clint Pressley, SBC president.
Let’s not wait for controversy or crisis to bring us all together in one place. Let’s decide to lean in and participate in the cooperative work of our convention of churches because the mission and vision matters.