The church is the hope of the world; it is time for the church to stand up and be counted.
That was my belief in joining with Dr. David Hankins, Executive-Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, to propose “The President’s 2020 Commission” to study the effectiveness of what we do as Louisiana Baptists. We must do the right things in the right way. God expects us to be obedient to Him as well as efficient and effective in all we do. God wants us to be good stewards of the gifts and responsibilities He has given us.
During the convention meeting this week, I talked with a good friend and prominent lay leader in our convention. We usually talk football. He loves to give me a hard time about my love for Auburn. On this occasion, we didn’t talk much football. Instead, we talked about the church.
This is the way he looks at the church. He said: “The church is all we have. Everything else in society is corrupt. Government and most every other institution has failed us. The Gospel is our hope.”
It is time for the church to stand up. Prominent church growth consultant Lyle Schaller famously said twenty years ago, “If next year is 1958, the church is in good shape, but if next year is [2013] we’re in trouble.” It was simply his way of illustrating the need to look at where we are and where we need to go.
On another occasion, he talked about the wonderful contribution the Builder generation made to our churches and to America. The Builders were born prior to 1945. Then, he concluded, “They are not making any more people born before 1945.” It was another way to talk about the need to continue to look at where we are and where we are going.
Over the next year, we hope to look at what “the hope of the world” can do to make Christ known and to make a real difference in our state and our world.
Let us pray together that all our churches across the USA and around the world step up to the task at hand.
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9 Responses
1. Sacrificial Love
2. Intercessory Prayer
3. The Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (and not the superficial sinners prayer. Command men to repent and believe the Gospel.)
4. Practice church discipline.
I look forward every morning to see your insight. Thanks for the way you lead our flock. We are truly blessed. God Bless you.
Amen. Pre-Katrina I was interviewed by an NOBTS student about what I saw as the major theological issues facing local churches over the next 10 years. I guess he needed someone who works at the associational level of our Baptist cooperative system! Ecclesiology was my almost knee-jerk response as the number one issue (pneumatology was a close second!). We must give attention to our churches. We have virtually sold our ecclesiological souls for several bowls of lentil soup that have nothing to do with our biblical mission. Simply put: The end of cultural Christianity as we have experienced it in our lifetime will, I believe, turn out to be the best thing that has happened to New Testament churches. And it is in God’s house we need to focus. We need repentance and faith. It’s not going to be easy. Repentance and faith never are. Simple, yes. Easy to comprehend, absolutely. But never easy. That’s why we need Jesus. His “yoke is easy” (well-fitting) and His “burden is light” (able to be borne with His indwelling Spirit empowering us). Keep the posts coming–
Lonnie
My physics prof in high school was Dan (The Man, The Silver Fox) Meyers. He had been reared by a family of three religions until the age of 16. After that he was told to pick one. He couldn’t. He found good ideas and bad behavior in each of them. He served in the Korean “Conflict” putting up communication towers in North Africa. His philosophy of teaching was: “It is a teacher’s job to teach the ‘whole child’.” He commented once about upper education regarding a grading on the curve experience (competition); in a Physics class where he was one of seven and a 97% on a test was failing. That was his reality. He happened to be in a class with the future leading physicists in NASSA and leaders in the aerospace and design community. It was his reality. He passed the course by the skin of his teeth and said he never worked so hard to pass. I wonder about the one who failed, you see, on the bell curve someone has to fail. It is the system. I wonder about that one presenting his context of being above a 95% in comprehension and application and not being able to “cut it.” Context takes time, time that can only be redeemed in the Lord of Hosts, King of Kings, the giver of Joy unspeakable.
So what are we to do? Like any good football player, it is important to remember the basics and to apply them appropriately remembering the goal of the struggle. Out of the “Law of the Feasts” is a lesson basic in remembering and being a team player summed up in Deuteronomy 16:17 (KJV) “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.” Now, let us recall the Apostle Paul’s picture of being in the “race” and who we are as One. We are not on the bell curve. It is pass or fail. Was it not God’s temple that was plundered? What are we to learn about God’s Way?
All good comments. Thank you!
Blessings.
Pastor, I enjoy reading your blog daily and I am glad you didn’t talk about football this week.
First of all, the church is not the hope of the world, Jesus is.
And I am going to pull a little string in Mr Schaller’s tightly knit theory about people born before 1945.
In 1957, when I was 3 years old, my father committed suicide without warning and left no note. It was a shock to all of his family and to all who knew him. He was a deacon in a large Baptist church. There are still no answers. Because it was suicide, there was no life insurance. My mother went back to school and sent 4 of us to college as a single mother. The ‘church’ turned their backs on us, judged and ridiculed us. No one was there for us except my mother. It was as if their bible taught nothing about how to treat widows and orphans (Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, Mark, James, & 1 Timothy). My mother never stopped taking us all to that church and serving and teaching in that church until she died. She forgave them. I tried, but I never forgot her suffering. I left the church for several decades before coming back to it at FBC Covington. When I joined FBC Covington I looked for mature believers (those born before 1945?) as mentors (desciplers). They were older than me and I hoped more spiritually mature, but the ABF leaders didn’t seem to have any more bible knowledge than I did. But, they appeared to love the Lord and other people and so I gave up on finding a mentor. I had hope of growing again in my faith and knowledge along with them. I was asked for my personal email address in order to receive prayer requests and updates about the members’ needs. But soon after I gave it to them, I began instead to receive the most insidious, dirty jokes (misogyny), hate-filled, bigoted, fear-mongering, racist, forwarded emails from these people I have ever seen in my long life. This went on continuously for 2 years with requests from me over and over not to include my address in that activity. They all ignored my requests. I eventually left the class because of it. The darkness of their hearts away from the façade of the church building was blatantly obvious. Some of the men are deacons. Many seem to be there just for the business contacts. I wondered if I had joined a corporate political country club cult instead of the church I read about in the NT. I am disillusioned (and it was an illusion) about those born before 1945. I am not sheltered or naïve. I have been around the block several times. I have had many conversations with people who have left their church and my experiences are not unique. So, pardon me, but what you (and Mr Schaller) are saying about the church prior to 1958 and about people born before 1945, just doesn’t ring true at all. Like my mother, I do not want to leave the church because of them. I am a work in progress myself and there are many there who truly do ‘walk the walk’, even though they were born after 1945. But I choose not to follow leaders just because they were born before 1945.
Amen! Jesus is all we have. He is everything!
Joy, if you ever need anything, let me know.
985-246-9715; mattjorgan@gmail.com
Waylon,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words to us through your sermons and daily blog. Thank you for standing up for what is right. Thank you for encouraging us to do the same. Thank you for your faithfulness and your willingness to let God work through you. Thank you for the prayer and preparation you put into ministering to people every day. We are going to need our leaders even more in the days to come (no pressure 🙂 Correct me please if I missed the point, but what I took from your comment about the people born before 1945 was not that they are the only good leaders, but that we can no longer rely on the work others have done before us. WE have to stand up and lead. The church is the only institution that can bring the hope of Jesus to our world.
Thank you Joy and Regina. I am betting you both are right and Dr. Bailey is right not to stand as judge or even to stand in for the One Who judges the quick and the dead. He leads by example and we are to prove what is that Good, Acceptable and Perfect Will of God by challenging what we Know to be True to prevail over the social game of “truth domination by opinion due to social status.”
Joy, I have been only able to attend one Celebrate Recovery Class. I pray with a group of men who lift up that class as one of the front lines of Spiritual Warfare with in the community of FBCC. I would be interested with your armor experience if you have or would be interested in participating. There are also those who comment to Dr. Bailey herein who would likely appreciate your fellowship. You have taken a solid step in shining light. Thank you.
Darling Joy, You are the Church. Your Mom proved what real commitment is all about. She put her Faith and Trust in the Lord. Because you have written, you have proved: her faith was/is well founded.
Blessings Sister!
Great Blogs!! Thanks for the inspiration daily.