I have been a Southern Baptist all of my life. First, the choice was made for me by my parents. However, the day came when I made the choice for myself. I am proud (in a good way) to be a Southern Baptist. God has blessed us as a people/denomination. I believe His desire is to continue to bless us.
These are crucial days for us. Studies have been conducted; dialogue has gone on and leaders have met. At last years convention in Louisville a motion was made instructing the president of our convention to appoint a task force to study how we might be more effective in carrying out the Great Commission. Sounds good. We are a Great Commission people. I mean, if we are obedient followers of Christ we must be about the Great Commission.
A great part of our involvement in the Great Commission has been in the area of giving. One of our entities has for many years used the by word: Giving, Praying and Going. All three are a must if we are going to "Penetrate the Darkness." Southern Baptists are a giving people. Southern Baptists are a praying people. And in recent years we have become more of a going people.
We are all called to go. As my good friend John Marshall said recently, "Some of us are called to go and some of us are called to go and stay, but all of us are called to "GO."
In 1925, God gave Southern Baptists a funding method that has proved functional no matter what era we were in. The Cooperative Program has served us well. Because of its effectiveness, we are the envy of the denominational world. I realize it is man designed, but it is God blessed. It allows us to do exponentially together what we could never do individually. With the majority of our churches having memberships of 300 or fewer not one church could support one of our missionaries and their family by themselves. Yet, through the Cooperative Program we support more than 11,000 missionaries worldwide.
In recent years we have seen an upswing in missions going. One of our large church pastors has said that their goal is not to ever see the sun go down without someone from their church being on the mission field somewhere. I applaud that goal and say "Hallelujah." I suppose that is very costly in more ways than one. More and more churches are sending members on volunteer mission trips. That is a good thing, because I know from personal experience that I became a better mission GIVER after becoming a mission GOER.
Many churches pay for, or at best supplement the going for their people. I applaud that as well. Yet, that money has to come from somewhere and many times we rob Peter to pay Paul and what suffers is the Cooperative Program.
One of our strongest attributes as Southern Baptists is what we call "the autonomy of the local church." In Southern Baptist life the local church is our strongest unit. No one tells a local baptist church what to do. We do not have a bishop or superintendent handing down ecclesiastical decrees. Local churches under the leading of the Spirit of God make those decisions locally. As a matter of fact we work quite opposite of other mainline denominiations. Elected messengers from these local churches meet annually in the summer to give direction to the national leaders of what we as a denomination should do.
That is why in a few weeks when we gather in Orlando, Florida we will make a decision that could (and will) chart a course for the next generation. The appointed task force has completed their report. I know that they put long hours of prayer and deliberation into what they will present. I have read and reread the report. I have sat in discussions with those who like me have read and now have an opinion. (Boy do we have opinions). I have listened both live and by "webinar" to those who had firsthand input into the formation of the report.
My emotions have run the gamut. Here are some things that I totally agree with.
First of all, we desperately need revival. If revival does not come I am not sure it will matter what we vote on. We need an outpouring of the Spirit of God. We must have an outpouring of the Spirit of God. We have a God who desires to pour out His Spirit. He has told us so. We must pray, seek the face of God and repent of sin. Individually and corporately we must seek God's forgiveness and then ask for His favor.
We need to do a better job or "penetrating the darkness" of the world, which includes North America. NAMB (The North American Mission Board) which is less than 15 years old has fallen short in its effort to impact America many think. Two leaders have stood at the ships wheel and now we await the announcing of a third. America is lost and growing more lost everyday. Something's gotta give. We need churches planted all across North America.
The International Mission Board whose mission is to penetrate the darkness where 95% of the peoples of the world live has never been allowed to appoint missionaries to North America. That has been NAMB's turf. However, we live in a day and hour where there are people groups in North America that speak a language that many of our IMB missionaries are trained to communicate in. The GCR report recommends tearing down those boundaries. I agree.
Since 1950 state conventions in concert with the old Home Mission Board and now NAMB have worked together through Cooperative Agreements where monies given to NAMB to do its work are returned to the state conventions to jointly support specific mission endeavors. The GCR report recommends great change here. Granted we live in a different day. We live in the 21st Century and must be careful not to rely on 20th century methodology (that is unless that 20th century methodology is working). There is great fear however that the current recommendation could greatly hamper future work in some states if not altogether destroy it.
Then there is "Great Commission Giving," a new term that "celebrates" all mission gifts to Southern Baptist causes. Herein lies my concern. Personally I believe we already have and for years have had "Great Commission Giving." It is called "The Cooperative Program." We might have many things broke that need "fixin," but the Cooperative Program is not one of them.
I have been told that if every church that gives ANY thing to the CP would just up their giving 1% every misisonary candidate in waiting could be sent. We have leaders in our convention who give less than 1% of their undesignated offerings to the Cooperative Program. We have young pastors who look up to these leaders and guess what they are falling right in line with their mentors in their giving trends.
Every generation does things a little different. I don’t want my children to look back at me and say, “Dad missed it.” Yet at the same time I don’t want them to say, “What was he thinking?”
The GCR Task Force Report includes many recommendations for individuals, churches, state conventions and entities to increase their giving, up their percentages, evaluate their effectiveness and respond with renewed commitment. I am all for that. However, I am also for seeing our SBC President, the Chairman of the Task force, some real good friends and large church pastors step up to the plate as well and up their CP %. "What is good for the goose is good for the gander."
If a church wants to give above and beyond the Cooperative Program they have that right as an autonomous body. But if you are going to be a Southern Baptist...be one. Join hands with the over 75% of the churches with less than 200 in membership and give through the Cooperative Program.
Do we need a Great Commission Resurgence? I think so! What kind? A kind that begins on our faces before a Holy God and results in our continued cooperation to "Penetrate the darkness."
