This is Your Wake Up Call Part III – Selling it Cheap

Deeper Problems

In Part I of this series we looked at the declining pattern of SBC membership. Then, in Part II, we focused on the fact that younger generations seem to be abandoning the SBC en masse and suggested some steps that may alleviate the problem. Here we will pause to consider why we are seeing these trends.

Statistics like the ones we have seen have causes, especially those that are this long-lasting. “A church membership roll that runs two or three times the number of people actually involved is a symptom of a much-deeper problem” (Kelly 2008). And we Baptists have deeper problems. In fact, the numbers have gotten so bad that we have started categorizing our membership to make things sound better. Today we talk about “non-resident members” and “inactive members” and we keep both on our rolls. Padding numbers seems to have become more important than focusing on the maturation of church members. For non-resident members the common sense thing to do is not to keep them on our rolls to make the church seem bigger but, rather, to stay in contact with those who have covenanted with us until they are able to find a new community of believers where they now reside. Inactive members should be contacted as well and encouraged to come back to the community or else removed from the rolls. “One thing worse than people being lost in their sins is lost people who think they are saved because their names are on a church roll” (Ibid.).

Our focus, then needs to be less about numbers and more about spiritual maturity. How’s that going? Well, the best predictor of spiritual maturity is daily Bible reading (Rankin 2011). A recent study showed that only 16% of churchgoers read their Bibles daily (Ibid.). A full quarter don’t bother to read their Bibles at all (Ibid.). This means that over half of the parishioners in the average SBC congregation only read their Bibles occasionally (Ibid.). And those numbers only take into account hearers of the Word. In terms of being doers of the Word, only 37% of churchgoers say that studying the Bible has made a difference in their lives (Ibid.).

Selling it Cheap

Taking together all of the numbers that we have looked at so far in this series you are probably wondering how things in our churches could get to this point. My question, on the other hand, is how could they not. Think about it. We live in a time where the focus has become numbers, numbers, numbers. Some, not all, churches even go so far as to create new member categories so they will have an easier time padding the rolls. And another great way to bump up your numbers is to make sure you are as inclusive as possible by getting rid of all that hard doctrine stuff. This way people can feel like they are part of a community without having any of their false beliefs challenged. Instant church growth plan. The downsides, of course, are that the rolls increase much more quickly than actual attendance and spiritual maturity takes an even bigger hit.

The good news is that it does not have to be this way. We do not have to continue in decline but, through a return to faithful biblical/doctrinal exposition, we can reverse these trends. Let’s look at a couple of examples starting with Secret Church. Secret Church is held at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. It is an intensive six-hour Bible study in the night. The entertainment so typical of churches these days is stripped away and the study of God’s Word is all that is left. This sounds like a recipe for a church collapse.

So what happened? Secret Church started with 1,000 people, then grew and grew until Brook Hills had to start taking reservations (Platt 2010, 27). Today Secret Church has grown to the point that it has to be simulcast online. So solid doctrinal Bible study draws people in and transforms them. I would say that teaching doctrine and edifying believers is a novel concept except for the fact that churches and church leaders are charged with it in Scripture (2 Tim. 4:1-5). We should not be surprised when God shows up and uses the work of his servants to glorify himself when we do the work in the way he has decreed.

Another good example of this principle is Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over the past few decades this church and its leadership have made extraordinary efforts at becoming more biblical in everything from their preaching to their leadership structure. The result is a church that was on the verge of stagnation and possibly death morphing, by God’s grace, into a thriving international ministry that affects the lives and strengthens the faith of so many Christians.

What this discussion really comes down to is whether Christians, and baptists in particular, should spend more of our time trying to increase our numbers or more of our time proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified. Teaching the truth may indeed cause some people to leave our churches. It may cause an even steeper drop in favorable statistics temporarily. It may even cause the world to call us “narrow.” But we can never forget the price that was paid to purchase our salvation. The blood of Christ is infinitely valuable and we cannot fall into the error of treating his sacrifice like a common thing. Our salvation by grace through faith is a free gift to us but it certainly wasn’t cheap (Eph. 2:8-10).

References

Kelly, Mark. 2008. SBC reality more complex than one number. Baptist Press. June 5. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=28197 (accessed February 23, 2012).

Platt, David. 2012. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. Colorado Springs: Multnomah.

Rankin, Russ. 2011. Lack of Bible literacy is spotlighted. Baptist Press. April 25. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=35125 (accessed February 23, 2012).

Great Post on Encouraging Christians to Serve Where They Are

Dr. Mike Horton at the White Horse Inn provides a thought-provoking post that everyone in church leadership should consider. Before we tell those in our care that they aren’t doing enough for the ministry, we need to remember that service to God does not begin and end at the thresholds of our church buildings. Read the post here.

Baptist Biographies: The Two Births of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Birth and Early Life

“What doest thou here, Elijah, sitting with the ungodly, and you a member of the church, and breaking your pastor’s heart? I’m ashamed of you. I wouldn’t break my pastor’s heart, I’m sure” (Fullerton 1920). With these words, at six years old, Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave one of the first indications of his God-appointed purpose in life. Spurgeon’s biographer, W. Y. Fullerton records a time when young Charles, then living with his grandparents, overheard his grandfather’s distress regarding the inconsistent life of one of his flock, known as “old Roads.” Upon hearing of the matter, Spurgeon boldly announced his intention to solve the problem by killing old Roads. His grandparents sternly warned him about the evil of murder but Charles was undeterred and insisted that he did not intend to do anything bad but that he was indeed going to kill the man causing his grandfather so much grief. Not long after this, then, Charles announced that he had done the deed, he had killed old Roads. But the family did not have to wait in suspense for long because the mystery was soon solved by a visit from Roads himself. He explained that as he was sitting in the pub nursing his pint a pint-sized preacher came through the door of the place and boldly addressed Roads in the manner described above. Mr. Roads’ life was changed forever. For the last four years of his life he lived exemplarily. “[Roads] could not read, but he knew that the words of life were in the Bible, and with pathetic love for the Book, he counted the very leaves of it” (Ibid.).

Spurgeon was born June 19, 1834 at Kelvedon, Essex. He was the first of what would be seventeen children (many of whom died in infancy) born to his parents, John and Eliza Spurgeon. His siblings often provided a good audience for Charles to practice his preaching skills and he could usually be found doing so. But during Spurgeon’s early life it was his grandfather, James Spurgeon, who had the most significant influence on young Charles. His grandfather lived in Stambourne and it was there that Spurgeon would reside for the first six years of his life. Under the care of his grandfather the boy was encouraged in Bible study and developed lasting memories that often served him in his adult ministry.

Conversion

Just as God had used an unlikely tool in the conversion of “old Roads” so he used providential circumstances and an unsuspecting layman in Spurgeon’s own conversion. From the time that he was ten years old Spurgeon began to have questions about the state of his own soul. Naturally strong-willed, he would later confess “I never would have been saved if I could have helped it. As long as ever I could, I rebelled, and revolted, and struggled against God…. But long before I began with Christ, He began with me” (Ibid.). During this time Spurgeon had difficulty accepting the free grace of God and rejected the thought that there was no way that one might earn salvation through works-based righteousness. These years were challenging for such a young child who felt the weight of his sin but often suffered in silence while looking for ways that he might justify himself:

Oh, the many times I have wished that the preacher would tell me something to do to be saved! Gladly would I have done it, if it had been possible. If he had said, “Take off your shoes and stockings and run to John o’ Groats,” I would not even have gone home first, but would have started off that very night if I might win salvation. How often have I thought that if he had said, “Bare your back to the scourge and take fifty lashes,” I would have said, “Here I am. Come along with your whip and beat as hard as you please, so long as I can obtain peace and rest, and get rid of my sin.” Yet the simplest of all matters—believing in Christ crucified, accepting His finished salvation, being nothing and letting Him be everything, doing nothing, but trusting to what He has done—I could not get hold of it (Ibid.).

All of this changed, however, one God-appointed day when Spurgeon was fifteen.  As the preacher himself recalls, a snowstorm was more than coincidence this Lord’s Day. Spurgeon was attempting to make his way to services but, because of the weather, he was forced to turn down a side street and to seek shelter in a primitive Methodist church. The pastor of that church seemingly was kept away by the storm and a layman stepped up to deliver the message whose simple point was “look unto Jesus.” The layman went one step further and called Spurgeon out specifically and, upon this message and this confrontation, the Lord Jesus wrought a permanent change in the heart of C. H. Spurgeon. Shortly thereafter, having been convinced by his study of the Word on the importance of believers’ baptism, Spurgeon travelled to Isleham where he was baptized into the local Baptist congregation there, just shy of his sixteenth birthday. Spurgeon famously said that “[b]aptism also loosed my tongue, and from that day it has never been quiet” (Ibid.). Later that year, when he was just sixteen, he preached his first sermon at Teversham, Cambridge.

References

Chadwick, Harold J. ed. 2009. Biography of Charles H. Spurgeon. In Spurgeon on Prayer: How to Converse with God, Charles H. Spurgeon, 1-39. Alachua, FL: Bridge-Logos.

Fullerton, William Young. 1920. Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography. Available at http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/biopref.htm (accessed February 13, 2012).

Johnson, J.E. 2001. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell, 1146-1147. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

This is Your Wake Up Call Part II – The Generation Gap

[W]e are certainly an aging denomination. Our congregations are aging, as are many of our buildings, our programs, our strategies and our most visible leaders. Many of the mega-churches that have been our flagships for the past 30 years have quietly plateaued. There are numerous non-denominational churches and mini-denominations that have sprung up in suburbia everywhere — younger, more agile, cooler and basically baptistic but not in name or affiliation. These churches and organizations siphon off some of our best leaders and most faithful people. Sometimes it just seems like the SBC is tired (Scroggins 2011).

The Generation Gap

The numbers in Part I of this series paint a truthful if somewhat unpleasant picture of the SBC in decline. The long history of slower growth and, now, of outright year-to-year decreases in membership indicate a systemic problem that will not be an easy fix. It gets worse, though, and in this post we will look at a pattern that, if not corrected, could bring about the end of the SBC altogether.

More Numbers

At the 1980 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting 33.6% of the messengers present fell into the 18-39 age group (Kelly 2008). By 2007 this number had dropped to 13.1% (Ibid.). During the same time frame the 40-59 group jumped slightly from 49.9% to 51.6% (Ibid.). The 60 and above group exploded from 12.9% of messengers in 1980 to 35.4% in 2007 (Ibid.). The overall 27-year trend is that the youngest group dropped precipitously in attendance at the convention, the second group stayed relatively constant and the third group increased significantly. Add to these numbers the fact that on average 40 percent of messengers are senior pastors and it becomes clear that there is a decline in young leadership in the SBC (Ibid.).

Inevitably, some will deny these facts by trying to explain them away (Hall 2009) but the trend holds out even when one accounts for factors like the appeal of particular cities, travel expenses, etc. In fact, the decline in young leadership is still visible when comparing convention attendance in the same cities from year to year. Dallas, for instance, hosted conventions in 1985 and 1997. The percentage of young pastors at these conventions was 35.9% and 24.6%, respectively. Same city, same appeal, same amount of travel time but different years (Kelly 2008).

Other objections to these numbers are unconvincing (Hall 2009). While the aging population of the United States as a whole may explain some of the decline it does not negate the importance of reversing the trend. So what if the white, non-hispanic portion of the United States is aging? The last time I checked being Baptist had nothing to do with the color of one’s skin but, rather, with convictions. We should be reaching out to all people groups in the United States and internationally. We are making advances in that direction but there is a larger problem that we must address if we are to see significant diversification of the SBC (we’ll discuss diversity in some later posts). The point is that, regardless of the reasons, if each successive generation of Southern Baptists gets smaller, then, simply, there will eventually be no next generation of Southern Baptists.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

The great thing about facts is that they are clear even when they are inconvenient. The numbers point to the obvious fact that the SBC is losing young people and especially young leaders. The proper question is no longer whether this is happening but, rather, what do we do about it. As a young Baptist who very nearly left the SBC a few years ago I have some thoughts from my experience.

1. Baptists must not be afraid of our roots. Why did I come back to the SBC wholeheartedly after flirting with a younger and more agile non-denominational denomination? Because I discovered Baptist history and the Baptist principles of old. This is probably not too surprising given the general thrust of this blog but as Baptists we must never forget our history and we must be careful that we don’t push that history off to the side, either. Young people are smart enough to see the lack of depth in many of these non-denominations and mini-denominations that are stealing them away from our Baptist churches. We just have to make sure that they can see the alternative of our rich heritage, meaningful worship and sound faith.

2. Baptists must boldly proclaim Baptist (i.e. biblical) doctrines. Charles Haddon Spurgeon famously “said that he and his people ‘have no desire to sail under false colors, neither are we ashamed of our principles: if we were, we would renounce them to-morrow” (Mbewe 2001). In other words, Spurgeon thought Baptists should put up or shut up. The fact is that I couldn’t tell the difference between the preaching in the non-denominational congregation that I attended and the Baptist churches I grew up in. This wasn’t because of the outstanding doctrine of the non-denomination but, rather, because I didn’t grow up learning Baptist doctrine. If we aren’t willing to proclaim it and to stand on it, come what may, then we should get used to losing our young people.

3. Baptists must encourage aspiring young leaders. This time I speak not merely on my own behalf but also for many of my friends who have shared in the experience of being told “no” again and again when seeking to get to work in their local churches on this ministry or that. Instead of meeting with rejection and discouragement, young Baptists should be tested, trained, affirmed and sent into ministry. It is no easy or meager task that they are embarking upon. It should not be treated as one.

4. Baptists must not be afraid to challenge young people. We live in a culture where each generation is more sophisticated, more educated and more connected than the last. The younger generations are used to having new information thrust upon them and being forced to process it and they are used to being asked hard questions. As Baptists we cannot fail to challenge all the members of our churches (including the younger ones) to dig deeper into the truth of the Scriptures and to grow in their understanding of the gospel. Easy-believism doesn’t bring young Baptists into the local congregation but, instead, it drives them away by painting a false picture of the Bible.

Concluding Thoughts

The numbers are in and there is a very real and very stark generation gap in the Southern Baptist Convention. These numbers will continue to worsen unless we, as Baptists, are willing to step up and to fight for them. This means ridding ourselves of the fear of teaching hard biblical truths. Ridding ourselves of the idea that young people are best when sitting in the pew and not tackling the difficult work of ministry. And, finally, it means ridding ourselves of the easy-believism that now pervades much of our church culture. The younger generation must be encouraged and engaged or their exodus will continue.

References

Hall, Will. 2009. Analysis: What do the numbers mean — is the SBC in decline? Part 2 Generation Gap, Young Leaders. Baptist Press. June 11. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=30662 (accessed February 8, 2012).

Mbewe, Conrad. 2001. Flying the Flags High in Africa: Baptist Hope for a Ravaged Continent. In Why I am a Baptist, ed. Nettles, Tom J. and Russell D. Moore, 95-101. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

Kelly, Mark. 2008. Study: Fewer young people attending SBC. Baptist Press. January 7. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=27143 (accessed February 8, 2012).

Scroggins, Jimmy. 2011. SBC Discussion: SBC may be smaller — and better. Baptist Press. June 24. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=35636 (accessed February 8, 2012).

Good Steward Book: The Treasury of David

Good Steward Books

In our last post I mentioned that I would attempt to offset the depressing statistics with some encouraging Baptist history. I couldn’t think of a better time to put up the first in what will be an ongoing series here at takingbaptistback called “Good Steward Books.” Forgive me if this is a bit of a long entry but I want to first explain the premise behind this series and then get into our first book.

Castles and Stewardship

My wife and I recently discovered that we like castles. We like to study their architecture and the purpose(s) behind each aspect of each castle. We also like to study their histories and castles have very long histories, often spanning hundreds of years. To put it simply, castles are built beautifully, they are built to perform a function and they are built to last.

Some things are like that; beautiful, useful and time-tested. And that is the idea behind the Good Steward Books series. If you’re like me you are disheartened whenever you walk into your local Christian bookstore and find that almost everywhere you go you are surrounded with softcover, inexpensive and rather mechanical books on how to be a better Christian, etc. While there may be some value in some of these, most that are purchased will be read once (if at all) and then shelved never to be used again. Let’s face it, most books have limited usefulness and lack staying power. One could spend a fortune just looking for the precious gems amongst the throng of words.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Some works are timeless. Some works are triumphs that have led believers to a deeper understanding of the Lord God and to a closer walk with Him for generations. These works are the castles of Christian literature. They are beautifully written, theologically sound and worth visiting over and over again.

So below is the first recommendation in this series. It is not a review because these works have been reviewed countless times by better men than myself and can be trusted to strengthen us in the faith. If you begin your Christian library with these works you may find that you needn’t spend your God-given resources on the latest buzz-worthy bestsellers. As an added bonus, I would suggest purchasing solid, hardcover versions of these that you can pass along to your children.

Without further ado…

Good Steward Book: The Treasury of David

Written by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and originally published over a twenty year period in The Sword and the Trowel, Spurgeon’s magnum opus was then released volume-by-volume until the seventh and final installment was published in 1885. This is without doubt Spurgeon’s finest work and perhaps the best exposition on the Psalms ever recorded. Each Psalm’s main theme is summarized, its divisions shown and then it is expounded upon by the Prince of Preachers. A true treasure! And if you are a preacher or a Sunday School teacher (or if you lead your family in Bible studies), Spurgeon includes tips and outlines for teaching the Psalms.

This is a resource that serious students of the Bible will come back to again and again as they seek to understand the objective truths found in God’s Word. There are more sound doctrines and useful instructions in this one collection than in most entire home libraries. Like the Psalms themselves, C.H. Spurgeon deals with distinctions between the righteous and the wicked, with the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus upon the cross, with His eventual return in glory and with the wonderful peace that comes from knowing God and resting in Him. A Baptist classic.

If this work isn’t in your collection, it should be. Especially consider purchasing a hardcover edition of The Treasury. One of these in long lasting hardcover form is most likely on your pastor’s shelf and with well-worn pages. It should be on your shelf as well and the pages should be in the same condition.

Tip: If you’re strapped for cash, the collection is available for free and well-formatted here.