As the Southern Baptist Convention officially kicks off today, there will be a great deal of talk about money. In fact, money is one of the prime points of many facets of the proposed Great Commission Resurgence recommendation. Is money an important topic for Christians, of course. The bible and especially Jesus deals at length with good stewardship regarding our finances. Buy what we may see beginning today is a battle over money, which is not a good thing.
Much of the first part of the GCR(Great Commission Resurgence) Task Force report deals with this stewardship issue. The report tells us of what is a well known fact, that giving as a percentage of income in SBC churches is abysmal. The average Southern Baptist gives just 2.5% of their personal income to the church. Personally, I find it hard to believe that most Southern Baptists are unfamiliar with the principle of the tithe, meaning a tenth. 10% is the biblical standard for giving established far before the Mosaic Law in Genesis 14. Yet the 2.5% average giving shows that the tithe is not a part of most Southern Baptists lives. Will a report endorsed by the convention urging all Southern Baptists to begin true biblical giving change this? Not a chance. Which brings me to a simple conclusion. It's not our methodology that needs a transformation, but our hearts.
Other monetary issues that will be broached will include the shift from Cooperative Program giving to Great Commission giving discussed in yesterday's blog; a major proposed shift in the dollars coming from NAMB(North American Missions Board) to areas where the SBC does not have a strong presence(major northeastern and mid western cities) and away from the south; and the defunding of state conventions to fund this shift. The proposal could see state budgets cut to the point that many state conventions would cease to exist due to lack of funding, many in states that are not predominantly Southern Baptist.
Now I'm not saying these changes are not needed, the fact is, these could be a good thing. However, my opinion is that none of this is going to matter much if our hearts are not fundamentally changed. Money is going to be a major topic, but if hearts are not changed, giving will not increase. The focus of the GCR Report is supposed to be evangelism, but we will not reach the world unless hearts are fundamentally changed. Discipleship was sorely lacking in this report, apart from recommendations that Lifeway(the SBC literature wing) develop new discipleship materials, many focused on giving. But the fact is you have to want to be a disciple, and that's a matter of an individuals heart.
What I am saying is that while reform may be needed, what is really needed is revival. And revival occurs when individuals get right with God, repent, and begin walking in obedience. Now the GCR Report did stress heavily the need for repentance for all Christians, and I applaud this. But a report will not bring revival. And a battle over money will certainly not bring revival, or a true fulfilling of the Great Commission. Where I believe we have missed the boat is this: We cannot fulfil the Great Commission until we first fulfil the Greatest Commandment, "To love the Lord with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind and with all of your strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself." Without this in place first, no human effort will amount to anything.
It is fulfilling the Greatest Commandment that will lead to revival, not a plan to reform our methods. I simply feel we are putting the cart before the horse. Unless hearts are changed and fully surrendered to God in our churches, our churches will always fall short in fulfilling the Great Commission. Until we go into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, the best laid plans will fall short. If we truly loved the Lord and each other as we should, the Great Commission would not be a topic we'd need to be discussing. We'd be sending and going as we should. Until this happens we are simply treating a sick, dieing heart by trying to fix a broken leg. The reason we fall short in fulfilling the Great Commission is not dollars, organizational structure or methods. It's because our hearts are not right with God.
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