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baptism, Baptist, churches, decrease, fellowships, increase, local, lost, membership, pastor, SBC, southern
After my little rant here, there’s an article in Christianity Today I’d like you to read. According to the following report, in the SBC there is an increase in baptisms yet a decrease in membership of local churches.
Ok, time for a rant.…..
It sounds as if people are leaving the assembly of the saints faster than they’re being baptized. Hmm.
Here’s a thought: Maybe the SBC and their autonomous churches should stop baptizing goats then, what do you think?
Seriously, if people are truly regenerated, would they leave the assembly of the saints? I think not.
Look folks, just because somebody wants to have their ‘ticket punched’ so they can escape hell is no reason to baptize them and give them false assurance so they can head out the back door of your building and live the rest of their lives thinking they’re going to heaven because you said they were saved. You have no authority to declare anyone saved…not one. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin and to give assurance of salvation.
I know, I know, you want to increase membership, who doesn’t? Then again, you, pastor, are going to answer for those you deceived. Wake up.
Did it ever occur to the SBC bean counters and pastors that perhaps they should actually talk to people and examine their profession and their hearts BEFORE you baptize them?
I know, it can get complicated. It may be that the pastors who are baptizing are actually lost themselves, etc. But still, the statistics are reflective of the sad, heart-breaking absence of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in the SBC today.
Reporting from Christianity Today, Robert Phillips of the Baptist Press tells us:
“Southern Baptists reported a 2.2 percent increase in baptisms in 2009, stemming a four-year decline, but membership in the denomination fell and the sagging economy led to a drop in missions giving, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in conjunction with Baptist state conventions.
Baptisms last year totaled 349,737, up from 342,198 in 2008, a year in which Southern Baptists recorded the fewest baptisms since 1987. Total membership fell 0.42 percent to 16.16 million, and Sunday School enrollment dropped 0.04 percent to 7.75 million.
While the baptism numbers are encouraging, they do not necessarily signal a reversal of fortune for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, said Thom Rainer, LifeWay’s president and CEO.
“Every baptism is a celebration of another person finding new life in Jesus Christ,” Rainer said. “The fact that more people were baptized this year than last year gives us a reason to hope we’re on the right path. At the same time, we as Southern Baptists continue to show signs of drifting from our historic commitment to evangelism, as reflected in the fact that it still takes 46 Southern Baptists to lead one person to faith in Christ.”
Baptism symbolizes believers’ identification with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection; their new life in Christ; and their anticipation of the day in which Christ will raise them from the dead, demonstrating His victory over sin and death. Therefore, the number of baptisms is a key measurement of Southern Baptists’ effectiveness in evangelism.
Rainer continued, “The decline in membership across our denomination, along with the drop in Sunday School enrollment, indicate that Southern Baptists continue to be distracted from — or indifferent toward — the command of Jesus to make disciples. I pray that these discouraging numbers sound a wake-up call to all of us.”
ACP data revealed a slight rise (0.36 percent) in the number of Southern Baptist churches, to 45,010, and an increase of 0.37 percent in primary worship attendance, to 6.21 million.”
Read the rest here.
Another possibility is that this is related to the “honesty in church membership rolls” issue, where many churches have had 3 times as many “members” as actual weekly attenders.
If the SBC gets that under control, it will mean that the denomination’s membership seems to go down. And that could happen even if actual memberships are increasing.
But that’s a best-case scenario.
I actually think it is a sign of health that baptisms are up but the number of members is dropping, IF that means SBC churches are removing the huge number of delinquent members (from the past) and at the same time only baptizing true converts (a big question mark in too many churches, unfortunately). In other words, perhaps a larger percentage of SBC churches are getting serious about a regenerate church membership, removing unregenerate members (along with those who have moved, etc.), and becoming more careful with the gospel and thus are now baptizing believers, not just people who walk an aisle or pray a prayer that is not found in the Bible. I hope that is the case.
Warmly,
Steve Burchett
Steve,
Obviously, you are intent on using biblical wisdom and common, middle-American sense to boot.
Actually, that is an excellent perspective. Thank you! However, the SBC still frustrates me.
Maybe it is wiser to look at the “fruit” instead of the numbers.
Why boast in this anyway?
The ‘fruit’ is the problem!
The big lie is that we Southern Baptist claim 16 million members. How can you be considered a member if you haven’t darkened the door of a church, any church, in 10 or 20 years?
I occasionally get requests for church letters (“Letter of Recommendation” ) for people that I have never met, and I have pastored the same church for 20 years. I write back that we are happy that they are now worshiping with the new congregation but cannot recommend someone that we have never met. We cleared the rolls several years ago, and I hope that all churches will do the same soon.
Then again, I wonder if many congregations are still entertaining goats instead of feeding sheep. Wasn’t it John MacArthur who stated that he could walk into just about any church and reduce attendance by 50% in about 3 weeks?
The church I pastor is beginning to clean up the roles. Mark Dever and Jeff Noblit both have helpful resources to do so. I think it is Noblit that says one year is his benchmark… if a person hasn’t attended in a year they are contacted and the process started. That’s a fair standard. I’d like to have it written into our bylaws and accepted into our practice.
We also started AWANA this year and we are seeing a lot of young people coming to faith in Christ due to the fact that they memorize so much Scripture and they talk about the Gospel weekly. I am cautious that the kids are wanting to be baptized now so young, even some at five, which I have never done before, but these kids understand the Gospel and want to be baptized. I am having two staff people talk to these kids and they know what they are doing. My policy has always been to tell children to wait until they are older but now I’m looking at it like the EThiopian eunich. WHat prevents me from being baptized?
Do any of you have thoughts on the age a person can be baptized? I’ve always liked 10-12 in the past but am seeing so many children trusting in Christ now that it encourages me but also concerns me.
Thanks…
Let me say first that the Truthinator is no wimp. However, I felt like crying when the article reminded me of something that I have known for many years having been a Southern Baptist for a long time. There is so much error in the way many SBC churches operate and in the ways many inside these churches think.
Many think that to simply get emotional or intellectual assent to the concept of ‘Jesus’ constitutes a salvation and then they toss them into the baptistry before their mind can change…because once they are dipped they can be counted as another member of the mighty SBC and local affiliate church.
Then there’s the numbers thing…how many times have I watched ministry opportunities get walked across in order to get a quick numbers fix accomplished so we can continue to ‘grow’ the church. Grow the church? At what cost to minstry?
Don’t get me started about cliques and other such junk…
The SBC much like most others today should read the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation. We could all learn much from these letters. God will not be impressed with our improvisation… “Behold, He stands at the door and knocks”. Why don’t we let Him in and see what He has to say?
God help us…
Did it ever occur to the SBC bean counter’s and pastor’s…
counters and pastors. no apostrophe needed.
Maybe these pastors are baptizing as many as they can so they can get their names printed the state Baptist paper. Nothing stirs purpose driven pastor like public recognition. Being in the TOP 10 will look real good on your resume.
The article says” if they are truly regenerated they wouldn’t be leaving the assembly of the saints”. Well, maybe they are leaving because the so called saints are nothing more than an assembly of goats. Most of the sheep can’t find a church that feeds them sheep food. Some start off ok but wind up trusting in man instead of God for bringing in the members. Preach the Word and it usually cleans house these days. The sheep leave for lack of food. Of course, that may mean that the pastor will not rise in fame and fortune. And you must know the Word in order to preach it. Most of the sermons today consist of jokes and personal experience with a few Scriptures thrown in to keep it “Bible” and a whole lot of bells and whistles.You know, that whole appeal to the culture thing. Baptizing is the least of the problem. When Jesus’ earthly ministry was over there were only 120 gathered. Maybe that’s a clue.
Pam S,
Very astute commentary! You are correct that when someone gets saved at too many churches today, there is nothing for them to eat and they leave looking for proper guidance.
I also agree about preaching the Word of God cleaning house. Many churches today would amost empty out if a strong Bible preacher spoke there each week. However, the effect of having a real preacher would cause people to get saved from hearing God’s truth and waking them up to their elected state. They would then go out and take the message to others. Eventually there would be many REAL churches representing Jesus Christ not a bunch of posers.
Churches today carry such a heavey load of mantenance debt for salaries, jets, travel, lakehouses, and etc that they fear preaching the real Gospel because they need the 2% being contribued by the tares and the 3% being contributed by their carnal converts…
Thanks for your post, Pam. It hit the target.