Fine Article From a Fine Pastor

"Southern Baptist Fight Decline"
From Ramblings of a Hoodlum Pastor Pat Hood, Smyrna TN.

Yesterday's article in the Tennessean on the decline of the Southern Baptist Convention was very revealing. For instance, the article revealed that we've lost 455,000 children in Sunday School in the last 36 years. I'm no mathematician, but my trusty calculator tells me that's a loss of 12,638 (and some change) each year. At the same time, our population has increased by 46%. If that's not depressing enough, SBC baptisms have declined to the levels not seen since the 1950's. Last year, more than 9000 churches reported 0 baptisms. Do you see what I mean by REVEALING?

This is not why Jesus established the church. I've heard people say the church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet a part of it. But, I think I disagree. The church exists to be the Body of Christ for the GLORY OF GOD. Now, living for the Glory of God always results in people seeing & falling in love with Jesus... it's the produce, not the purpose. But, just like any organization in existence, the church has to fight hard against the urge to be self-serving. Have we not fought hard enough in the SBC? Have we lost the fight? Have we given up the fight?

I've talked to many pastors who've entered the fight by trying to develop new strategies & innovation in such areas as Children's Ministry only to get beat up by people with good intentions who simply don't want to change. The boat is taking on serious water, but rather than getting in another boat, they just try to paddle harder & faster, & they continue to go down.

So, many pastors are faced with a decision to either lead their church to make necessary changes to continue building God's Kingdom or keep everyone happy while the ship goes down. This tension has led to many churches claiming rapid growth, but the growth isn't from new believers, it's from discontented Christians moving from churches trying to engineer new ships to churches just trying to stay afloat. (Forgive me if this sounds a little...cynical, but I've seen too many Christians lose focus on THE Kingdom & be more concerned about THEIR kingdom.)

I'm so thankful for pastors & leaders like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Ed Young, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll... (the list could go on & on) who have stood strong in the fight, giving inspiration to those of us in the trenches. Any dead fish can float down stream, but it takes someone with strength to go against the flow.

I'm also thankful for the people who make up LifePoint Church. You have stepped in the ring & fought hard to build God's Kingdom. LifePoint is full of people who have laid aside their own agenda to passionately pursue God's Agenda. Some of the changes we've made over the years have been tough, even for me, but Lifer's have stood strong in the battle so that kids & adults alike can see & fall in love with Jesus. It's an incredible joy & tremendous privilege to lead a people who are so passionate for the supremacy of the Glory of God in all things.