Does anyone really believe that we can change our name and the unchurched will suddenly see us in a different light than before, flock to the church buildings and reverse the decline in membership? The Lifeway study that revealed a significant enough level of negativity toward the Southern Baptist churches by the unchurched implies that our work fulfilling the Great Commission is made more complicated. It may be. However, painting our denomination with a different color (i.e., name) does not change the composition of our Biblically-based doctrine.

With over 50 associations, fellowships and conventions using the name “Baptist” in the U.S. I can see where the unchurched are confused, as this list goes from the Alliance of Baptists to the World Baptist Fellowship. The Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas is also in this list.

We (SBC Baptists) have pregnancy crisis centers, childrens homes, relief shelters, disaster relief teams, foreign and home missionaries and numerous other outreach programs that carry comfort, goodwill and the message of the Cross to those who need it. How many of the unchurched know about these programs of our denomination? I imagine very few.

I believe the answer to our negative numbers from the Lifeway study is not window dressing like a new name, but advertising in the national media showing what the Southern Baptists are doing in our communities to serve those in need. Additionally, each of us needs to redouble our time in God’s Word daily and spend copious amounts of time in prayer to God, seeking wisdom, forgiveness of our sins and His assistance to us in living our life as He wants us to do. We need to live our faith each day and be the salt of the earth and that the light on the hill, essentially “walking the talk.” Any effort less than that is aid and comfort to those who seek to criticize our church.

While we may disagree on this one issue, I believe Dr. Jordan to be a great man of God. His leadership of this Convention has shown a remarkable consistency in regards to taking the Gospel into dark places. The BGCO is at the forefront of evangelistic efforts, in a variety of areas, and I think Dr. Jordan deserves much of the credit for that. Though we have never met, I have no doubts about his sincerity and desire to fulfill the Great Commission.

I just wanted to clear that up.

Why?

Unfortunately we didn’t have a videographer at the event so we don’t have any video of your performance. I asked around and couldn’t find anybody that had any more info on who might have been recording it.

In a nation where over 70% of it’s citizens are self-avowed Christian’s, how is this possible?

I think it’s possible because the Church is failing America in two key areas: Evangelism and disciplining. We’ve gotten very good at expressing our outrage over politics, very good at organizing political rallies and gathering up at the Capitol building to protest, but we’ve lost sight of the inescapable fact that if we were doing the job Christ sent us to do, all that activism would not be necessary in the first place. If we were effectively mentoring our members in Christian growth and spending our time preaching the Gospel instead of organizing and carrying signs which point our judgmental fingers at the lost, maybe we’d still have some influence. As it is now, every time we take a political position, we drive away every person on the other side of that issue and separate ourselves even further from those to whom we should be ministering. We’re literally forcing people away from hearing the Gospel because we’ve offended them by our actions. WE look like hypocrites, not them.

Perhaps the answer isn’t to become even more active, but do what Paul told Timothy to do: The work of an Evangelist. If we believe anything else will work besides preaching the Gospel, we’ve become “Christian” in name only, having a form of godliness but denying the power of the Holy Spirit to transform this country by transforming individual lives.

Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns. They are taken seriously and will be discussed in the planning for next year’s conference.

You inquired about the availability of MY316 materials.

The materials are free to Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma churches.

The materials are available to others for a small fee.

Order by phone, call Erin Clark at (405) 942-3000 ext. 4313 or e-mail EClark@bgco.org.

The price list is as follows:
Adult, Young Adult, Student, Child Sunday School Lessons (per book) – $2.00*
Student Tract – $0.05
Children’s Tract – $0.50
Oversized Children’s Tract – $8.00
New Believer’s Book – $2.00*
Brochure – $0.50
Prayer Card – $0.05
Church Evangelism Accelerator – $2.50*
*Available online at no cost (www.bgco.org/my316)

Teaching Him personally,

Tim Gentry

Yes, both print and digital subscribers have access to the Digital Messenger. You should be able to use your email address as both the username and password to login to the system. If you experience any issues simple call our subscriptions clerk at 405-942-3800 (ext 4352) and they will be more than happy to assist you in getting setup.