R.G. Lee spoke with clear prophetic utterance when he addressed this question, "How did Southern Baptists not grow?" These words were spoken regarding the pinnacle of growth that had been experienced among Southern Baptist churches. I believe it would serve us well to blow the dust off these ideas and reimplement them in our practices today. Lee offered these 9 points in avoiding mediocrity in the churches. We should not:
1. Practice open church membership - this will devaluate our Baptist position.
2. Disregard the Scriptural meaning of, and invitation to, the Lord's Supper - this will cheapen communion.
3. Play down the importance of baptism - this will stifle our testimony.
4. Emphasize ecumenicity - this will erase our distinctives.
5. Be apologetic regarding the use of the name "Baptist" - this will weaken our prestige.
6. Deny direct kinship with the New Testament Christians - this will cut the root of Biblical and doctrinal strength.
7. Minimize the importance of training - this will close the churches on Sunday evenings.
8. Take the side track of fanatical conservatism or radical liberalism - this will produce a series of splinter groups.
9. Solicit financial support from non-Baptists - this will make beggars of the churches.
As I read this list, I realize that most of our churches have erred on most of these points. My desire is not to beat up on the churches that Jesus loves, but to call us to reform. That we might once again return to the faith that was once delivered unto us. Each of these points are rooted either in biblical imperatives or in profound historical significance. Hopefully, we have not become so ignorant of both that we cannot even see our departure from these truths.
I would like to invert these 9 points and offer them as good counsel to anyone planting or seeking reform in a church.
1. Practice biblical church membership - regenerate people seeking to follow Christ in a covenant with God and one another for the sake of mutual responsibility and the propagation of the gospel.
2. Fence the Table - Communion is to be holy, for baptized believers only, and should symbolize sacrifice not convenience. "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself." 1 Cor. 11:29
3. Elevate the importance of Baptism - this is your profession of faith in Christ and inauguration into membership of a church, by ignoring it you are living without the most foundational commitment of Christianity.
4. Get together in God's Word - all disciples of Jesus should be united by His atoning work, which is perfectly revealed in the Bible. If someone will not unite on the Scriptures, they have moved away, not us.
5. Don't apologize for being "Baptist" - negative connotations abound, but so do they with the name "Christian" and so did they in the 1st century. The historic prestige of the free-church movement and the freedom we now enjoy owes gratitude to the Baptist forefathers that were killed because they believed we should be free. Explain it, don't erase it.
6. Be Biblical - there should never be a time when being Baptist means anything other than being Biblical. Enough said.
7. Offer more Bible training - biblical illiteracy is killing us. The level of acceptance for what is now considered, "biblically knowledgeable" needs much help. Sunday night is a good time, after all it is the Lord's Day...all day. Many may not attend, but its better to have 10 people praying and studying than it is to have 0. Preach expositionally.
8. Be knowledgeable - the key to avoiding counterfeits is to know the truth. To be theologically naive or ignorant is to contribute to fanatical conservatism and/or radical liberalism.
9. Be a joyful giver - God's finance plan was initiated thousands of years ago. Tithing is good but its only the beginning. If everyone in our churches gave joyfully there would be more than enough.
May Christ be exalted and may His churches be faithful!
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