It was the preaching of regeneration, with an explanation of its discernible marks, that was the heart of the Great Awakening.
While his article points out a number of depressing features about the health of churches in the SBC, he also points out the possibility for great recovery if we will be honest about the problem and return to preaching the Word of God and applying its principles of church discipline and evaluating sinners according to biblical standards, not decision cards.Ĭonsider, for instance, Elliff’s comments about preaching on regeneration: And in truth, we should long to follow in the wake of these Great Awakening churches. Our potency has diminished to such an extent that we must “win” and “baptize” over 2,000 more people to get to the same 1000 to attend.Ĭhurches today, who possess the same Holy Spirit, should expect nothing less. Or, to put it in larger figures, it now takes nearly 3000 people, supposedly won to Christ and baptized, to result in a church attendance of 1000. Today, in rough numbers, it takes 300 people on our rolls to have 100 attenders. In 1835, the Christian Index of Georgia recorded that “not less than twice the number” of members were in attendance. Greg Wills in Democratic Religion in the South (Oxford University Press, 1997, p.14) reports that three times the number on the rolls attended Baptist churches, then located mostly along the eastern seaboard when surveyed in 1791 by John Ashlund. In the Philadelphia Baptist Association Minutes, our first association, our initial American statistical record shows that five times as many people attended the association’s churches as were on their rolls. Citing the work of Greg Wills, he writes: And he points to our baptists forefathers as prime examples. He makes the case that if a church is healthy and regenerate, attendance should outnumber membership. Appealing to the New Testament church, not the neo-evangelical church, he shows from Scripture how every author of the New Testament warns of false conversion and spiritual deception. Revelation 3:1 warns, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead,” and in his article, “Southern Baptists, an Unregenerate Denomination,” Jim Elliff explains why this warning to Sardis applies to the churches of the SBC.Įlliff writes honestly about the condition of our Southern Baptist Churches, and calls for churches to stop playing number games and to find the millions that are missing. Yet beneath the active veneer (or trendy website), something more pernicious may be at work. If your church brings in 38% out of its members every week, as the average SBC church does–according to the “SBC 2008 Annual Church Profile Summary”–it may be regarded as a thriving mega-church and the pastor a successful soul-winner. Sadly, the same may be true in the church. 380, you will be an All-Star and if you can do it year-after-year, you’ll be a Hall-of-Famer.
In Major League Baseball, 38% is outstanding.
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