My alma mater, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, produces a quarterly magazine called, VISION. In the spring/summer issue, Dr. Chuck Kelley, wrote an article to Southern Baptists. I want to recap his words.
Eighty-nine percent of Southern Baptist churches have either plateaued in their growth or are in decline.
For 15 years I said: Southern Baptists are a harvest-oriented denomination living in the midst of an unseeded generation.
At the heart of the decline is not inadequate funding or outdated methods, but inadequate discipleship on the part of Southern Baptist churches.
Though Southern Baptists are often criticized for overemphasizing conversion, the opposite has been true.
Churches have “atomized,” focusing more on particular methods of reaching people than on an integrated process of sowing and reaping.
Dr. Kelley introduced two new words: “discipl-istic” and “Biblelationships.” Discipl-istic refers to evangelistic discipleship that incorporates both evangelism and discipleship at the same time. Biblelationships describes the combination of teaching Scripture and building nurturing relationships.
The death of the discipleship process in SBC life, calling its demise, is the most significant and influential death in the modern history of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Kelley goes on to boldly say: The conversion of a soul to Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit. The stirring of a church and community in revival and awakening is a work of the Holy Spirit. Neither of these works of the Spirit is typical in SBC churches today. We are not anointed. That ‘we’ would be you, me and all of us at work in places with little evidence of the activity of the Holy Spirit. We are so not anointed we have come to accept not being anointed as normal.
Finding someone to blame is a waste of time. Wishing things were different and better is a waste of time. The war starts right where we are: choosing to repent, praying for God’s anointing, and working in a new direction of the aforementioned.
You can find a recording of Dr. Kelley’s message here.
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