The Great Commission Resurgence

The Southern Baptist Convention last spring voted ovewhelmingly to appoint a task force to examine and make recommendations to the convention regarding several issues, primarily concerning us as Christians fulfilling the "Great Commission" given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:16-20. Dr. Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas was appointed as chair of the task force, which includes many highly respected Southern Baptists. The task force is due to release a progress report this month and issue the full document in May.

I believe we should as convention periodically evaluate how we do things. I believe a task force such as this, with so many wise men, can be useful in doing just that. But I also believe with all of my heart that our problems lie far deeper than a restructuring, re-emphasis or re-focussing. Our problem, is a heart condition. I do not think their is anyway any Christin can deny this. We can teach evangelism, encourage discipleship and preach on obedience all we want, but ultimately, it is a decision we each make from the heart. Will we have a burden for lost people, or not? Will we truly begin biblical discipleship, or not? Will, in our love for Christ, obeying Him be the most important thing in our life, or not? While I believe many useful things will come from the findings of this task force, these questions are the one's we really need to be asking of ourselves.

Where is Our Heart?

John MacArthur, in his blog "Grace to You," had a statistic that while extremely alarming and discouraging, I believe reveals our main issue as God's church(includes all true believers). In his February 2 blog(can link off of this page) Dr. MacArthur cited research which revealed that 95% of professing Christians had never led one person to Christ. 95 of 100 believers had never led a family member, friend, neighbor, acquaintance or complete stranger to Christ. Their is only one answer for this sad state of evangelism in the church, and it's this: The majority of that 95% has never even tried to lead someone to Christ. It is not a burden upon our hearts to tell others, even our loved ones, of Jesus. This reveals a heart problem of biblical proportions in the body of Christ. The conclusion we are forced to draw is that we, as the true church(once again all true believers), have fallen far short of the "Great Commission" that Jesus gave us, to go into the world and win the lost and make disciples of them. So the question we must ask ourselves, is why?

Over the next several days this is the issue we will be exploring. We will do this by looking to the bible, God's holy, inspired, inerrant, immutable word. We will be searching for the cause of the state of the church today and listening to God for the answers. This is not an attempt to belittle the work that the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is currently embarking on, but an attempt to look deeper. As much as I look forward to hearing what this task force will say, I do not believe a document or restructuring is the answer to our problems. I believe the only answer lies in the power of God through His Holy Spirit, and in the individal hearts of believers.

Revival

Revival is one of the most misunderstood words in our churches today. Revival, with the root word being revive, is to bring something or someone back from a state of lifelessness. We cannot experience true revival in our world until we first experience it in our churches. And to experience true revival in our churches we must experience revival in our individual hearts. The esteemed late evangelist of years gone by D.L. Moody put it this way. "If we want to experience a God sent, Holy Spirit driven revival, draw a circle on the floor. Then step into it and say 'It starts here.'" God through His holy word tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." While revival is a sovereign act of God, here He clearly lays out the conditions He expects to exist before He will send it. And those conditions are dependent upon us.

Join me over the next several days as we explore through the bible the reasons we do not see revival in America today, and look to God's word for the answers He gives us. Your imput is appreciated.