More than 1,400 churches are a part of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. In a conversation with Lyle Schaller a couple of years ago, he helped put this in perspective. “The BGAV is larger than most denominations in the U.S.”
With our 1,400 churches—to say nothing of other churches also committed to sharing the gospel—we should be making serious headway in reaching the “pre-Christian” population.
Jim White
But, the uncomfortable truth is, we are not. Not us. Not others. Not like we should. Each passing year finds a greater percentage of unchurched and unconverted persons in the Commonwealth.
It is time to review our evangelism methods. During the time of the Great Awakening an interesting phenomenon occurred. Through the appeal of powerful preaching a population that was already predisposed to Christianity by background and culture, was evangelized. The conversions they experienced were typically not of unbelief to belief, but rather from rebelliousness to affirming Christ as Lord.
During these years the church membership grew evangelistically lazy and even began to equate evangelism with revivals, mass meetings and crusades. In the early days of the church it was not so. With the possible exception of Acts 2, one does not find an example of mass evangelism. People were won to Christ from paganism one person at a time by someone who cared enough to share and by someone whose life was so transformed as to make the message believable. In our age, people are won as they learn about Christ's love in practical ways that make their lives better and meet their needs.
How will the Church of Jesus Christ, all of us, make a kingdom difference?
Although I don't agree with everything George Barna writes, I think he is exactly on target with the following: “The American church is dying due to a lack of strong leadership. In this time of unprecedented opportunity and plentiful resources, the church is actually losing influence. The primary reason is the lack of leadership. Nothing is as important as leadership.”
Of course, he is not suggesting that leadership is more important than a relationship with Christ or being empowered by the Spirit. And, neither is he saying that a heavy-handed, iron-fisted approach is the answer. What is desperately needed in our churches is spiritual leadership not only among the pastors, but among deacons as well.
Let's face it. Pastors come and go, but deacons stay around. They represent stability. Too often they represent immovability. This strategic group of laity is essential to the mission of the church. But they often see themselves as guardians of the past rather than as vanguards of a glorious future. They act as if they expect the church to fail and it meets their expectations.
What are deacons supposed to do in churches? What is their mission? Deacons have done different things as one searches church history, but in every age they rose to meet the greatest need of the church at that time.
In recent years, we have returned to examples of deacon ministry provided in Scripture. Stephen was one of the seven listed as deacon prototypes in Acts 6, but he was also the preacher and martyr of Acts 7. Philip was one of the seven in Acts 6, but he was also the church planter and baptizer of Acts 8. They are spiritual leaders in action!
Deacons are not called to the kingdom to protect the way things have always been. If things keep going as they have, the American church will dwindle away to insignificance. Something different better happen, and it must start with church leaders, clergy and lay!
Where should leaders begin? I see Nehemiah as an example of spiritual leadership. First, he was willing to look around to see how things ought to be. He knew that the city of God should not be lying in waste. If a leader has no destination in mind, he's just out for a walk. No wonder people are not flocking to follow.
Second, Nehemiah prayed specifically to be forgiven for his own sin. Until we get serious about confession and begin to name our own sin, we are prone to think God is lucky to have us on his team. We are also apt to think that we are somehow better than those sinners around us. When we call our own sin by name and confess it before God and seek his forgiveness, we are humbled enough to be useful.
Third, Nehemiah caught a vision of what needed to happen. If church leaders have no vision it is because they have not spent enough time looking at the needs of their own church or community. A vision of rebuilding the wall captivated Nehemiah.
Next, Nehemiah began to share elements of his vision as he had opportunity to test it with others. In his case, the king asked what was bothering him. Before the conversation ended, Nehemiah was on his way to Jerusalem with the monarch's blessing. And, once there, he began to share his vision with a few people whose feedback he trusted.
Finally, Nehemiah knew that he was not going to rebuild the wall by himself. It required everyone. The vision needed to become theirs or it would never be accomplished. I can't imagine that the first time the people heard the idea they jumped to their feet and shouted “Let us arise and build!” (2:18). I'm sure they made the usual excuses. “We can't afford it.” “We don't have the right equipment.” “We don't know how.” “We like it fine just the way it is!” Any way you slice it, the people were opting for failure.
But with patience, the people finally caught the vision. The Bible tells us it took 52 days to rebuild the wall, but it doesn't say how long it took for them to agree and believe the could do it. Spiritual leaders will persevere.
Spiritual leadership is the critical need of churches today and it's time for deacons to rise to the challenge.