What do Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Bill Clinton and Al Gore have in common? If you answer, “All four have been members of Southern Baptist Churches,” you move to the head of the class.
These four individuals are found in the branch of Christianity that also includes Al Mohler, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Bowden, and Billy Graham, among others. Our Southern Baptist Churches include their share of prominent personalities. Some bring honor to our denomination. Others bring dishonor.
The purpose of this article is to answer to question, How has meaningless church membership adversely affected the Southern Baptist Convention?
The question assumes that membership in many Southern Baptist churches has little impact on how those members think or live. Historically, Baptists have affirmed regenerate church membership, which implies that every church member should walk in holiness and purity. Yet the widespread reality today is otherwise. A person can walk in ways that bring great shame to the name of Christ and yet remain a member in good standing in a Southern Baptist church.
What are the consequences of meaningless membership
• It Gives a False Assurance of Salvation to Multitudes It is common for a man or woman to join a Southern Baptist church, but then to stop participating in worship and fellowship – sometimes for decades. Yet when the church says or does nothing, the individual continues to believe he or she is saved. We often say that we love inactive members too much to discipline them. Actually, our lack of discipline reveals our lack of love for these people who give little or no evidence of the new birth.
• It Harms our Gospel witness
Church history professor Tom Nettles has said that “holiness should pave the way for evangelism.” In other words, the holy lives of a congregation should undergird its Gospel witness. Those who proclaim the Gospel of God’s saving grace in Christ Jesus should be able to point to an assembly of believers who are new creations in Christ.
• It makes for some ugly business meetings The typical Southern Baptist congregational meeting is characterized by routine motions and decisions. However, occasionally, when the Spirit begins to move in God-glorifying ways, unregenerate church members who haven’t been seen for years suddenly appear at business meetings. The results are not pretty. God-Glorifying initiatives are halted, and godly pastors are often voted out. The occasions on which this has happened are too numerous to count.
• It hinders our missionary efforts
It is true that we have the largest number of missionaries worldwide of any American denomination. Our 5,000 International Mission Board missionaries span the globe. Yet this translates to one missionary for every nine Southern Baptist churches. In light of the Bible’s clear teaching on missions, is it unrealistic to think that every church should have a least one missionary serving internationally?
Consider one other missionary statistic: Southern Baptists gave approximately $150 million last year to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. While this is the largest missionary offering in the 2,000-year history of Christianity, do the math. Divide $150 million by 16 million Southern Baptists. You get less than $10 per Baptist. Apparently, obeying Jesus’ last command to “go and make disciples of all nations” means very little to many.
What shall we do? Recover meaningful membership Vance Havner’s diagnosis from 50 years ago – “Southern Baptists are many but we’re not much” – is as true today as it was then. The greatest tragedy of meaningless church membership is that God’s glory in His church is diminished. A rediscovery of meaningful church membership is desperately needed in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Via Gary Taylor (This piece was taken from an article written by Al Jackson, senior pastor, Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn, Alabama. A longer version of this article was originally published at www.9marks.org.)