Earlier today I was part of a South Carolina Baptist Convention listening session hosted by Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. Present was head of our state convention Jim Austin. These sessions are designed to let those interested know what is going on in our state and to hear from us our praises, opinions and concerns. Here are a few observations from today's session:
As a convention we are in serious decline. The latest polling from Ed Stetzer indicates that approximately 86% of SBC churches nationwide are plateaued(not growing numerically) or in decline(shrinking numerically). Of the 14% that are growing numbers wise only a measly 3% are growing due to winning people to Christ. The rest are adding people in the pews, but most are simply leaving one church to join another. This is a recipe for irrelevance within a generation.
There are many suggestions to reverse this serious decline, but very few real solutions. As a convention we will be attempting major structural re-organization to address these trends, but restructuring is not the answer to our issues although it could help in small ways.
It was identified to us that a major issue we face is discipling our flocks. This has long been an issue. The latest data shows that even in churches with an aging congregation base(most churches in Chesterfield county and the entire SBC) those who attend have never moved from being a babe in Christ to a mature believer spiritually. A child wants what he or she wants, not what the authority figure(in our case God) wants. When you have immature believers making important decisions and providing the witness, the fruit will not be plentiful. I've asked the question, how does one make a disciple of someone who has no desire to deny themselves and fully follow Jesus? I'm not sure you can. Until we begin to grow in our faith, we will never grow our churches numerically in a biblical manner. This is one of my issues with the SBC Great Commission Resurgence agenda. No matter how many we claim to win to Christ, if we are bringing them into congregations that are a mile wide and an inch deep, true spiritual growth is being hindered, and thus discipleship. We will never truly grow the kingdom of God until we make disciples instead of padding baptism numbers with many false converts or more spiritual babes with no instruction or desire to grow.
Many local pastors feel as though the small rural church is no longer a part of the SBC plan. I can understand their feelings, seeing as much money will be shifted from areas like South Carolina where their is a very strong SBC presence to areas where we have few churches. The SBC emphasis for the foreseeable future will be planting churches in largely unchurched metropolitan areas. While this may mean hardship for some state and local ministries, I ask this question; do we really need any more churches in our area? In Chesterfield county we now have 62 Southern Baptist churches, and countless other denominations and non-denominational churches serving a county of around 45,000 people. We don't need any more buildings, what we need is for the people who are the church in those current buildings to begin living and being a witness as the bible instructs. The sad truth is we have many in church who claim the name Christian, but few who look like the bible says a Christian should look like.
God is moving in mighty ways in pockets across our state. But it's only in pockets, not a wide movement that is obvious to all. This has been the case for over 150 years in our state and nation since the last "great awakening" in the late 1800's. It's always encouraging to hear the testimonies of these places where God is blessing.
At the end of the session my opinion on things had not really changed. In my heart I know that no true change is going to occur because of denominational restructuring, planting more churches, changing our strategy, or funding one area over another. The only way the SBC, and Christendom as a whole changes is if we repent from our disobedient ways and begin doing things God's way instead of our way. In Luke 18:27 Jesus says, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Until we are "with" the ways of God and running as far as we can from the things that are "with" man, Christ's body on earth will continue to die. Until we confess we are what is standing in the way of God truly moving, and desire in our hearts to follow Him and see Him work, we will continue to produce little fruit. Until we are willing to get out of our comfort zone, and show the true love of Christ to the lost, we will see no revival. Until we die to self, are crucified with Christ, and surrender to His authority, we will work in our own power, and not His. Is the church that surrounds us and that most of us are a part of on this earth not enough evidence that our ways will not work? God, do whatever it takes to truly draw your church to You and Your ways! You are our only hope!
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