It was a case of genuine concern about a real problem, but the resolution adopted by messengers to the 151st annual session of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Indianapolis concerning regenerate church membership and church member restoration points the accusing finger in the wrong direction.
Baptists have always been committed to a regenerated church membership. Baptists insist that only people who have experienced a new spiritual birth (regeneration) through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ are eligible to be baptized into membership in the body of Christ (the church).
In the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M), the church is defined as "an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel." It is not asking for membership that makes one eligible for church membership; it is becoming a believer.
Our statement of faith further adds in Article XI that "[i]t is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ."
While Baptists believe in a "come-as-you-are" gospel, we have never believed in a "stay-as-you-are" gospel. We want every human being to experience the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ — to be regenerated.
Another thing true of Baptists is that not all who start on the Christian journey with us finish the journey with us. This is not a problem unique to our faith group. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us."
The apostle Paul warned the Ephesians about some within their own fellowship who would "draw people away" (Acts 20:30). In 2 Timothy 2:17–18, Paul listed Hymenaeus and Philetus among those "who have wandered away from the truth."
Southern Baptists boast of a total membership of 16,266,920. But average attendance in SBC-related churches on a given Sunday is about 6.1 million. That is roughly 40 percent, which also is the percentage of Americans who attend church on a given Sunday.
Average attendance does not reflect the number of individuals active in church, however. In most churches, 25 percent to 30 percent of the congregation is different from week to week. When the two percentages are added together plus the sick, shut-in, traveling, etc., one nears the 70 percent mark of members who participate to some degree in church life. It should be noted of the total membership of Alabama Baptist-related churches (1,125,821) about 70 percent are listed as resident members (787,163).
Still every church has nonresident members and inactive members, and this is a problem that needs addressing.
In the recently adopted resolution, the messengers urged churches to repent for failing "to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members." The resolution further asked denominational servants "to support and encourage" churches that practice church discipline, even if it results in a drop in church membership.
Repentance is certainly needed but it is not for failing to correct wayward church members. Repentance is needed for the church’s failure in care and concern for church members. The difference is more than semantics. One points the accusing finger at the wayward church member. The other recognizes the fault of the church. It is like pointing to the splinter in the eye of another, while ignoring the beam in one’s own eye.
When compared to the number of baptisms reported annually, growth in average attendance gets little recognition. Churches with high baptismal numbers are celebrated even if there is no growth in Bible study participation or average attendance.
A few Baptist churches have orientation programs for new members. Fewer still have assimilation programs. It is one thing to explain to someone how a church works. It is another to help new members establish new relationships, become involved in ministries and programs — in short, to become an accepted and functioning part of the congregation.
It has long been established that if a new member is not incorporated into the church fellowship within 60 days, then it will be most difficult for that person ever to be an active, vital part of the church. And still most churches leave new members on their own to find a way into the life of their new congregation.
Thankfully many do despite the churches’ lack of help. Unfortunately some do not.
In a church of another denomination with which I am familiar, participation of the entire membership is monitored on a weekly basis. If a member is absent for a certain number of weeks, then that person is called to let him or her know he or she is missed, to see if there are problems with which the church can help. If the absence continues, then that person is visited in his or her home and told of the church’s concern for him or her.
The goal is to let every member know they are important, that they are cared about, as well as to remind them of their commitment to God and to the church. This is a large congregation, and this approach of caring about church members continues to work.
Church member restoration will not be accomplished by sticking an accusing finger in the face of wayward church members and telling them how they have failed. It will not be solved by removing names from church rolls so our percentage of participation looks better.
Speaking for the SBC Resolutions Committee during a news conference, chairman Darrell Orman of Florida said nothing in the resolution could be used by churches to justify purging membership rolls even though the resolution does mention church discipline that might result in fewer members.
Orman’s understanding of the resolution is consistent with the BF&M in Article V that says, "Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation … yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
Since God does not give up on "wayward church members," it is hard to understand how His church could give up on them.
The truth is that restoration will only take place as people are loved into the life of the church, as people witness the care and concern of brothers and sisters in Christ. That means the accusing finger must be pointed back at us, the active members. We are the ones who need to repent for our lack of faithfulness in caring for and being concerned about our fellow church members.
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