The following "Question" was asked by an attendee at the 2005 Shepherds' Conference (a ministry of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California), and was "Answered" by John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from "General Session #4 John MacArthur - Q&A."  A copy of the CD, cassette tape, or MP3 can be obtained by going to:  www.shepherdsconference.org  ©2005. All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church.

Questioner

I’m from Flagstaff, Arizona, and we’re a town of about 60,000 and a university and there’s a lot of pressure on a pastor, especially one of the larger churches in town, to cooperate with other evangelical church in common ventures, whether it’s an outreach on campus or groups like Campus Crusade and Intervarsity—neither of whom am I particularly enamored with their theological purity or methodology.  I would just be interested in the guidelines you use on both cooperation and fellowship.  I’ve heard you say in the past you’ve gone over and spoken with Jack Hayford’s church on various occasions…those kinds of things, even though, obviously, there’s a pretty big chasm, theologically, between you.  So, apart from—I mean, I hope we’re all clear we don’t do that with liberals or Catholics or those who deny the gospel—but among evangelicals who profess some version of the gospel, how do you determine when you roll up your sleeves and join with them and when you just say, “I can’t do that”?

John MacArthur's Answer

You know, it really comes down to a case-by-case situation.  One thing you said needs to be emphasized, that the text of Corinthians 6 (“being unequally yoked”), that’s not talking about business, that’s not talking about anything secular; that’s talking about in any kind of ministry.  So, if it’s with unbelievers, that’s the slam-dunk.  That’s easy.  So, when you’re talking about believers, here’s the question I ask: is this an opportunity to go to some people who need to know more about the truth, and to have their doctrine clarified, or to be called to some understanding they don’t have?  If I have the opportunity to do that, I’m more likely to go. 

Maybe I need to say to those of you who might criticize me for that, I made a decision long ago, many years ago, that I would not spend my life saying what I believe is critical truth only to people who already believe that.  That’s pointless.  So, I may show up in places where you wonder why I’m there and you’ll have to trust me for what I said.  So, that is an issue for me.  I will tell you, I have even gone to—I drove past a rank, liberal church in Los Angeles the other day and mentioned to Patricia that I had preached there one time—and I would preach there again.  It would be no different to me than Paul going to Mars Hill and talking to the philosophers or going into a synagogue and talking to the apostate there.  That’s one aspect of it.

The other aspect of it is mutual, cooperative ministry.  It gets a little more hairy at that point.  I guess I’ve been at this long enough and I’m old enough and I think I’m sort of “out there.”  Most people, you say “John MacArthur” and it doesn’t take a long time for them to react.  I mean, you know, I’ve been at it a long time, and it’s either positive or negative, typically, so other people who cooperate with me may have more to lose than I do because I’m sort of known and I’ve put myself out and what I teach, so I’m not trying to protect my reputation. 

But, at the same time, I never want to do anything that would confuse people about what I think is important, what I think is crucial, what I think is critical to the heart and soul of the gospel message.  So, there are times when I’m asked to be involved in certain events and I say, “I just can’t do that” because it would be tacit affirmation and it’s outside the boundaries of what I think is the core of necessary theology.  There are other times when I say, “I will do that,” even though I don’t necessarily affirm everything because I think that the greater good is to participate and that there is agreement on what really matters.  There are some hills to die on, frankly, and there are some hills not to die on.  So, it really does come down to the individual situation.  I’m not going to stand here and defend myself and say I always make that decision wisely.  There probably have been times when I didn’t go somewhere I should have and I did go somewhere I perhaps should not have, because it sent confusing signals.  When you are a pastor, and especially if you draw lines, you can be confusing to people if they look to you and trust you and they can’t figure out why you would link up with these people. 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986