RAYTOWN – Followers of Jesus are true partners in the Lord, John Yeats, Missouri Baptist Convention executive director, said during his address to messengers at the MBC annual meeting at Connection Point Church here, Oct. 23.
“Missouri Baptists, we’re better together,” said Yeats. “That’s the gist of synergy: people can accomplish more together than separately.”
Yeats noted that the apostle Paul, in his writings, uses the Greek word synergos – the root word for synergy – several times to refer to his fellow workers. “There were people like Priscilla and Aquila, Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditis, Philemon, Mark, and Luke who Paul viewed as his synergizing partners in ministry,” Yeats said. In Philippians 4:3, the Christian Standard Bible translates the word sunergos as “true partners” in the Lord.
Yeats said that Missouri Baptists understand the concept of synergy because of all the ministries they share: disaster relief, children’s homes, campus initiatives, ministries to international students and workers who have come to our state, and much more.
“Synergy is a biblical concept worthy of incorporating into our lives and work,” he said.
Yeats shared three principles of synergy:
- Practically, the mission of the Lord requires synergy. “Part of the Baptist DNA is that we embrace a global responsibility to reach all people,” he said.
- The overwhelming work demands synergy. With so many of the world’s 7 billion people lost and without Jesus, we must work together to reach them with the gospel. This involves our Southern Baptist entities as well as our cooperative ministries in the state.
- The angst of Jesus for His Bride is transformed to joy in synergy. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed for unity. Unity does not mean uniformity. It recognizes diversity within the body of Christ but singularity in purpose.
“The secret to godly synergy is loving one another instead of loving ourselves,” Yeats said, closing his message by inviting Missouri Baptists to stand and read in unison the words of Jesus in John 13:34-35 – “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”