Been pretty busy today doing other things, but I have followed some of the Pastor's Conference through various media. Ed Stetzer said that we will not change until the pain of staying the same becomes too great. The theme of the pastor's conference seems to be focused on reviving the SBC because of our declining membership, declining baptisms, and declining giving. Basically, everyone now understands that we are a Convention in decline.
Alvin Reid just said that we focus more on maintaining our institutions than advancing the movement of the gospel and young leaders have picked up on that and they refuse to support it. We emphasize self-preservation over gospel proclamation, he said. Really, we as Southern Baptists just reflect the selfishness and consumer mindset of the larger culture. We are starting to get all of this, it seems, but I doubt that we are even beginning to understand how painful it will be to address these problems and repent.
Reid said that our focus used to be on baptisms, buildings, and budgets, but now, it is budgets, buildings, and bodies. If our Cooperative Program giving had declined as much as our baptisms have in the past 15 years, he said that we would have shut everything down. He really called the SBC out for being content to have money but not caring as much about souls and living for Christ and proclaiming the gospel. He is so right.
Grief seems to be setting in.
Southern Baptists are used to being the biggest, richest, and most powerful denomination of churches in America - the biggest, richest, most powerful nation in the world. The things that we used to know and trust in are rapidly fading away and the world around us is rapidly changing. What we are to do about that seems to be the theme of the pastor's conference.
We are three years removed from the convention in Greensboro (2006) where these things first began to be talked about. Back then, we had Bobby Welch's bus ride across America to stump for 1 million baptisms and an emphasis on CP giving. There was an attempted move by the Executive Committee to encourage all churches to give 10% to the cooperative program and Wade Burleson was the IMB trustee who was in trouble for speaking out against the IMB policies on tongues and baptism. Bloggers (of which I was one) arose and began pointing out major issues that the leadership seemed to want to ignore. Then, in a shocking vote, Dr. Frank Page was elected president of the SBC on the first ballot, primarily because of his church's support of the Cooperative Program.
Now, three years later, we have the Great Commission Resurgence, which is dominating the Convention and is an attempt by leadership to address the reality of decline that no one can deny. Ed Stetzer said that decline is not a matter of debate, it is a matter of math. He is right. But, what do we do about it? Should numerical and financial decline be what arouses us to action? Since Southern Baptists have generally fallen into the modern fallacy of measuring everything and declaring success or failure on the basis of numerical evidence, then it makes sense that decline is agonized over when it shows up statistically. But, it has been clear for many years that the primary thrust of our churches and congregants has not been fidelity to Christ or love for Him and one another, but rather, a support of self-preservation and self-fulfillment. That is what should cause us the greatest concern and alarm bells should have gone off years before. In some quarters they did, but only now that the numbers are reflecting the spiritual reality that exists do we get the attention to decline that we are now having.
It will be interesting to see what happens, and I am glad for the coming decline in triumphalism. But, we will not change until our hearts change, and that only happens when repentance occurs and we return to our first love, Jesus Christ, in heart and deed, as well as with our words.
There are many, many, many Southern Baptists who are in love with Jesus and serve Him faithfully and passionately. But, convention-wide, we continue to have major problems and that has now become obvious - just listen to the preaching at the Pastor's Conference. What was once whispered in the hallways is now being shouted from the rooftops.
The SBC is in decline. We are all agreed now (Baptist Press notwithstanding). What will we do about it?
I thought Ed Stetzer already had offered the solution to the problem of decline - HAVE MORE BABIES! Did he reiterate this at the Pastor's Convention?
Posted by: Doug | June 23, 2009 at 10:23 AM