Editorial for June 30, 2005
By Jim White
There is much I don't know. Anyone who knows me is not surprised in the least by this statement. But, self-deprecation aside for the moment, there is much I do know as well.
I know, for example, that there are 4 million lost people in Virginia. I also know that we do a lot more talking about reaching the lost than in actually reaching the lost. That's why, when Bobby Welch, SBC president and pastor of Daytona Beach's First Baptist Church, began last year to emphasize reaching and baptizing a million unbelievers during the 2005-2006 church year, I began to listen.
During his sermon to the convention last week, he spoke passionately about the need to “launch out into the deep” waters of evangelism. To reporters during a press conference he emphasized the need to develop a synthesis and build momentum around the single issue all Baptists can agree on. His theme, “Everyone Can,” was so prominently hung over the speakers' platform that it was impossible to miss.
Because people have always mattered to Baptists, long ago a means of gauging our effectiveness in evangelizing was developed. The number of persons baptized during a single year was divided into the total number of members to determine the baptism ratio. A ratio of 1:25 would indicate that one person is baptized for each 25 members. In the decade of the 1970s it took 32.5 Southern Baptists to reach and baptize a single convert. The figure has risen steadily through the years. In the 1980s the ratio was 1:38.5; in the 1990s, 1: 40.1; and so far in this decade 41.8 Southern Baptists are required to baptize each new believer. Last year it took 60 Virginia Baptists to bring a lost person to salvation in Christ. Clearly, a renewed emphasis is in order.
But it takes more than a mere emphasis. We are accustomed to emphasizing things. We have promotion down pat. It will even take more than acknowledging that “everyone can” reach someone. It will take church calendars reflecting the prominence of evangelism. It will take church budgets giving evidence of this Baptist core value by the dollars devoted to the cause. But mostly, it will take courageous and obedient Virginia Baptist pastors and laypersons to say, “I will” reach someone. Bobby Welch told the reporters, “There's no magic bullet” in evangelism. It is just plain hard work-so hard most never get around to doing it. Not only that, when you really get serious about battering down the doors that keep the lost captive, you can expect all kinds of opposition.
Be that as it may, I'm ready to sign up. I confess that I have been willing for others to do my part in evangelizing the lost. Apparently, I am not alone. For many years we Baptists became so accustomed to growth that we took it for granted. We also grew accustomed to letting others do the hard work of evangelism for us. Oh, we have prayed for the lost and for those laboring in the harvest fields to be successful. And, speaking for myself, I often shared my faith with others. But, as far as making it a steadfast priority, I have not. Not like I should. But, I want to. I want to be desperate to see people won to Jesus. And, if I know you as well as I think I do, you do, too.
There's a lot I don't know. I don't know how we will reach a million people. But, I know that if we don't roll up our sleeves and get to work they certainly won't be reached. I know that we have grown too comfortable in our padded-pew sanctuaries. I know that too many of us have been content to let others do evangelism in our places. And, in my heart I know that Bobby Welch is right. Christ is calling us to leave the shallows and move out into the deep where there are more risks-and rewards. Join me?
Jim White is editor and business manager of the Religious Herald.