Yet another post about the SBC’s declining numbers

This is the fourth and final in this series of posts all on the same topic – the bad news that came to Southern Baptists last week.

I am a Southern Baptist who is proud of my denomination.  I am proud of our stance on scripture and our history as the only denomination to come back from liberalism.  (Just think how far our decline would be if we had progressed in denying the Scriptures.)  I actually enjoy the convention itself.  The business and the preaching is enjoyable to me. I want to see the convention grow, but I only have control over one Southern Baptist – myself.  Likewise, I only have influence in one Southern Baptist Church – LaGrange Park.

So today I am sharing with you a portion of my newsletter article I wrote for May 2009.

Last May I reported to you that the Southern Baptist Convention baptized fewer people for the third straight year, that number is now 4 straight years and for the second year in a row we saw a decline in overall membership.  I would like to offer you a challenge.  Let’s not let LaGrange Park be a part of this trend. We are already well on our way to baptizing more people than we did last year, but it will still be a difficult task.  We can, however, accomplish this goal, which is certainly God’s will, if we make sharing our faith with our friends, coworkers, schoolmates and family a priority.

This is my prayer:

Father, would you give our church a burning desire to share our faith?  Convict us of the need to live differently from the world (Rom 12:2), to tell others why we have the hope that we have (1 Pet 3:15), and to be winsome and encouraging to the lost world around us.  Burden us the way you burdened Jeremiah (Jer 20:9) because we know that there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:11)
Thank you for the gift that is salvation, and let us not take it for granted.

What I will do in light of the SBC’s declining numbers

Yesterday I put together a list of things I would not do in light of the declining numbers in the Southern Baptist Convention.  Today, a list of things I will do.

I will witness

I will be faithful those whom God has given me to minister to

I will be proud of my convention

I will affirm the Baptist Faith and Message

I will be a proud signatory to the Great Commission Resurgence statement

I will realize that my message is being pushed further into the fringes of society

I will be willing to speak the truth in love even if it hurts a bit

I will be willing to speak the truth in love even if it hurts a lot

I will attend the SBC as long as my church allows and I can afford it (anybody need to share a hotel in Louisville?)

I will pray before I vote for convention leadership rather than simply voting for the pastor from the largest church

I will share my faith

I will honor those who helped bring the convention to where it is

I will continue believe that the Bible is true in all that it declares

I will pray for the convention leadership

I will listen to those who are wiser than me

I will remember that the gospel is not just about the afterlife but that it instantly makes life better

I will tell others about what Christ did for me

I will encourage other under-40s to participate in denominational life

I will encourage my state convention to pass as much money on to the SBC as possible

I will continue to support the CP

I will remember that God is in control

I will make the gospel central to my message

I don’t have any plans to make any further comments beyond this list, but if you want something clarified just ask.  Also feel free to add to this list in the comments

What I will not do in light of the SBC’s declining numbers

As I was thinking about what I can do to improve my declining denomination I also thought about the reactions that I would probably read and hear from others.  So I decided to put together this list of things I will not do because of the bad news of last week.

I will not panic

I will not abandon the convention (unless it abandons me)

I will not change the message of the gospel for the sake of growth

I will not assume that my gospel presentation is the only successful method

I will not look to secular gurus of business growth to learn how to grow the church

I will not teach a lesson in which I do not include a gospel presentation

I will not blame the Calvinists

I will not deny one word of Scripture even if it becomes very unpopular

I will not think that becoming more worldly makes me a more effective evangelist

I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that there is no problem

I will not take joy in the shrinking denomination

I will not assume that a shrinking SBC is a sign of the end times

I will not give more credit to Satan than he deserves

I will not blame everything on Johnny Hunt or Frank Page or Al Mohler

I will not stop giving to the Cooperative Program

I will not go to Catalyst or any other conference in place of the Southern Baptist Convention (I may go, but not instead of the SBC)

I will not assume that my way is the only way to do church

I will not lead my church by surveys or popularity contests but with Christian discernment and the Scriptures

I will not strive for a greater “voice” within the convention.  I will be faithful to those God has called me to minister to

I will not heap undue criticism on those leaders of another generation (older or younger than me)

I will not be hopeless

Feel free to add to this list in the comments.

Tomorrow – What I will do in light of the SBC’s declining numbers.

More News That Bothers Me

Longtime readers of this blog will remember a post from last April 23rd called News That Bothers Me.  Everything I said in that post still applies to this year and I won’t rehash it.  Just follow the link and read it again for a refresher.

Click image to download PDF from Lifeway.com

Here is the bad news.  With the publishing of the newest ACP is is official, The Southern Baptist convention baptized fewer people for the fourth consecutive year, and for the second year in a row overall membership has declined.  This is very bad news and it really bothers me.  What follows is a bit of commentary on the subject.

I do not want to overanalyze the convention, but I do want to maybe diagnose it based on what I know.

I will begin with a bit of optimism.  I am very encouraged by the movement towards a great commission resurgence.  I suggest all Southern Baptists go to the website and read the resolution.  Sign it if you are so inclined.

Secondly I’ll say this, I am sure that there are no churches that purposefully avoid evangelism.  Every SBC church I know anything about would say that evangelism is a key tenet of the faith; that evangelism is necessary.  I believe that what happens is that there are a lot of necessary functions of the church, and it is easy to get distracted by finances, politics, and internal issues so that we find ourselves dealing with these things rather than witnessing.

I also believe that most preaching is gospel preaching.  I believe that the message of hope in Christ rings from most SBC pulpits on any given Sunday.  Admittedly however, Churches have less impact within their communities than they once did.

Why then do I think the convention is declining?

I believe that, at the core, this problem is really a youth problem.  I am not just saying that because I am a youth minister.  What I mean is that there is a problem with the graying of congregations.  When a church has less youth and children it will baptize fewer people.  It’s that simple.

Who do we blame for this graying of the church?  We certainly don’t blame the children who cannot come to children’s church when parents won’t bring them.  Do we blame those young parents?  Maybe we blame the young parents’ parents.  They obviously didn’t instill in them the importance of passing on the faith to the next generation.  Maybe we blame the church and its old-fashionedness, or its out-of-touchness.  Maybe we blame the publishers of the hymn books.  Don’t they know that hymns are too boring to be worthy of worshiping the 21^st century God?  Maybe we blame all the hypocrites.  You people should be ashamed of yourselves.

I said last week that I think a worldview problem is responsible, in large part, for the lack of evangelism.  People have accepted the idea that there can be no claim to religious truth.  Acceptance of this world view has lead to the graying of churches.  Why pass on what you believe about the world and salvation to come if it is no more true than whatever your children decide to believe?  When parents fail to teach their children about God they teach them that God doesn’t matter.

Although the culture is shifting further from Christianity, one thing I’m sure of is that the basic problem is not a failure to relate to culture.  In fact I believe that we have just the opposite problem.  We are far too worldly and far too culture-driven.  Do you honestly think the people in the 50% of SBC churches that baptized no one in the last year would not be able to have a conversation about American Idol or CSI: Montpelier with their lost co-workers?  Look at the books on your shelves, or the DVDs you have.  Are they products of the out of touch church?  Not likely.  They are almost certainly products of the culture we live in.  And they almost certainly teach messages that you would disagree with.

Another thing I’m sure of is that the problem is not that the message of Christianity is irrelevant.  In fact, the message is inherently relevant.  There simply is nothing more important to the lives of people than the peace, hope and purpose that comes from knowing Christ. What was our President’s campaign slogan?  One four-letter word – HOPE.  That message was incredible powerful and popular.  That fact should tell us something.  People are looking for hope.  Christianity, or rather, Christ offers real hope that won’t fade.  Hope in the government is pointless and will ultimately fail, but the hope from our salvation is real.

Do I have any solutions for the depressing news at the beginning of this post?  The same ones I had last year.

Take this test.

• Do I know somebody who doesn’t know Jesus?
• Do I know somebody who doesn’t know Jesus that I haven’t witnessed to?
• Do I love this person?

If you answered yes to these questions, you are officially part of the reason for this news story. I have been deeply convicted lately that I don’t witness enough. And I wanted to share.

BTW: If you are reading this and don’t know Jesus please read here or here

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.

What’s coming on this blog this week

This will be a 5 post week.  Monday through Thursday posts will center on the same piece of news.  For a heads- up, you can read it here. Then on Friday you will get the standard – best web junk.

Best Web Junk (April 24)

You have to have the right priorities in life

Ever wonder what it would look like if a venus flytrap got owned?

Everybody needs a body snake

This guy does a lot of cool stuff on this bike.  It’s funny that it begins to look routine. 

Evangelism and Offense

This post is brought about by reading this.  This is not intended as an interaction with that post.  That post merely started the wheels turning in my mind.

First, let me say that I believe the most important duty for a Christian is to evangelize, to make other Christians.  But this post is not even about that command or necessity.  This post is about answering the question, “What is the most loving thing to do?”  This answer would be the same whether you are a Christian or a Jehovah’s Witness, or a Mormon or a Wiccan.

Now, to my point.

The fact is, if I deeply hold a belief that is so important as Christian faith, then I am obligated to share it with those whom I love.  I might add here that it is even more important than just life after death.  Faith in Christ and His sacrifice for my sins gives me peace and purpose in this life, as well as a certainty about my future in heaven.  If I knew where people could obtain a million dollars with no strings attached, I would certainly tell my loved ones how to do that.  Why?  Because I love them and it could make their lives better.

I don’t really want to be the five millionth blog to post the Penn Jillette video, (click here to see it) but in fact Penn, an atheist, understands the necessity of evangelism better than many of the Christians I know.

Why is it that so many Christians don’t share their faith?  I believe that it is a combination of things.  First, I think that many of us don’t really think about the gift of salvation as we did when it was new.  Next, I think we don’t live with urgency, understanding that life could be over for any of us very soon.  Finally, I think that many of us are so worldly that our thinking is warped.  Survey after survey shows that Christian church-goers deny the truths of the faith.  Not because they don’t believe them, but because of the illogical notion that there is no such thing as religious truth.  This post is not about apologetics but I will say this.  If there is any such thing as truth at all, then there is religious truth.  (Everybody believes in truth and they certainly want a banker who believes in truth.)

Another symptom of this worldliness is that we are worried about offending people to whom we witness.  I understand their view, if there is no such thing as religious truth then how dare I hold my view as certain.  Again, I’ll say this, if I’m not certain, then why bother?

After saying this let’s look at my hypocrisy meter.  Do I get annoyed when the Mormons or Jehovah’s witnesses come knocking at my door?  Sure, but I am not offended, and I always pray for them when they leave and I understand why they are there.  I believe that they have a message that is false and ultimately hopeless, but they believe it deeply and are right to share it.

Any religion worth having is worth sharing. Share Christ with someone this week.

Hugo and the Platypus: A Mad-Lib

On Wednesday nights in youth I am teaching on the minor prophets.  Tonight I was in the book of Jonah.  Since every student knows the story of Jonah so well, I decided to make it into a mad-lib.  I cheated a bit for the purpose of having it make sense.  (Instead of just a noun I would ask for a mode of transportation for example.)    It turned out very fun.  Feel free to use this for your own youth group, all I ask is if you do, post it in the comments so we can all enjoy.  Without further ado, here is how mine turned out:

1. Name: ___Hugo____________

2. Place: ___Tokyo_____________

3. Verb: ____Eat_____________

4. Mode of Transport:___wheelchair____________

5. Adjective: _____unique_____________

6. Place: _____Wal-mart______________

7. Adjective: __Fluffy_______________

8. Disaster: ____Ice Age_____________

9. Noun: _____Ramen_____________

10. Animal: ___Platypus______________

11. P T verb: ___Picked______________

12. Noun: ____Fleas________________

13. Adverb: ____Extremely________________

14. Verb: _____Drive________________

15. Verb: _____Roll________________

This is the story of a man named (1)___Hugo__.   (1)____Hugo___ was very close to God, in fact, he could (3)___Eat____ to God directly.  One day God said, “(1)___Hugo_, go to (2)__Tokyo__.”  But he was (5)___unique__ and didn’t want to go to (2) ___Tokyo__.  So instead, he got on board a (4)___wheelchair_ bound for (6)___Wal-mart__.

Once (1)__Hugo__ began his journey, he became even more (7)__Fluffy__ because God caused a (8)__Ice Age___.  The (8)__Ice Age___ was so bad that those around him were frightened and decided to kick him off his (4)____wheelchair__ and into a (9)__Ramen____.  Once in the (9)__Ramen___ God caused a(n) (10)__Platypus__ to attack him.  After a bit of a struggle, the (10)___Platypus___ swallowed (1)___Hugo__.

From inside the belly of the (10)___Platypus____. He (11)___Picked__ and asked God to show him (12)___Fleas____.

God made the (10)___Platypus__ vomit (1)___Hugo____ up.  He landed on the ground (13)__Extremely__, and went directly to (2)___Tokyo___.  To preach this message, “(14)____Drive____ or you will (15)____Roll___.”

Be careful how you read the news pt. 2

Anybody who says that their choice of a news source is unbiased is kidding themselves.

Consider this identical story from the Baptist Press and the Associated Baptist Press. I’ll bet you can pretty much guarantee which source wrote which story based on the headline alone.

Southern Seminary closing School of Church Music

Southern Seminary combines two schools, creates Church Ministries School

Feel free to make your own commentary from here.  I’ll just say that discernment is a gift from God.

Book Review: Growing an Engaged Church

I recently read Growing an Engaged Church: How to Stop “Doing Church” and Start Being the Church Again by Albert Winseman.  Here is my official review.

The best part of this book is the title.  Read Simple Church instead.

Obviously that is a bit harsh and a bit facetious, but I was really disappointed.  There are few good things pointed out in the book, and overall it felt like the theme was that pragmatism is more important than the Spirit’s leading.  It seemed to suggest that, churches should operate by survey and giving the people what they want.  The best point made by the book is that churches where expectations are clear are more effective at ministry.  However, Simple Church makes the same point, and does so more clearly and biblically.

To sum it up, I do not believe that this book on how to make a church more effective even contains one quote from Scripture. That is always a bad sign.

This is not exactly a full review, but I really didn’t feel that one was warranted.

If Albert Winseman happens upon this review, I invite him to defend the book in the comments.  Explain to my readers how I missed the point of the book.