What World Are We Living In?

During the 2009 annual meeting of the SBC, over 95% of the messengers approved a motion authorizing the President of the Southern Baptist Convention to appoint a Great Commission task force charged to deliver a report and recommendations to the SBC in June 2010. Right now, many state conventions are weighing on on the initial reports (you can typically read a new press release every day in the Baptist Press).

The task force was created in response to a declaration for a "Great Commission Resurgence" among the churches of the SBC. Why the GCR? If you visit www.pray4gcr.com here's what you will find:

* The churches of the Southern Baptist Convention are yearning for a new day of Great Commission awakening and commitment. They sense both a need and a rare opportunity to come together to reclaim the missional vision that brought us together from the first.
* A new generation of Southern Baptists is ready for deployment in the service of the Great Commission – and waiting to see if Southern Baptists are ready to send, support, and propel this generation out to the nations. Will we do what it takes to send those God is calling?
* Many of our churches –- perhaps 70% — are plateaued or declining. They need a Great Commission Resurgence starting right where they are. A Great Commission Resurgence has to start right at home.
* Southern Baptists have much work to do reaching America in a multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual era. We need a Great Commission Resurgence that will make us do whatever it takes to reach America with the Gospel.
* Southern Baptists need a Great Commission Resurgence that will reorder our priorities, refocus our vision, reclaim our mission, and set our hearts on seeing the nations exult in the name of Jesus.

O.K. PBC Voice readers, here's what I have to say:
We can restructure, re-surge, reinvent, and realign but it seems to me that we need a REVIVAL!

If only 30% of my body was functioning properly I would probably be in a coma. When someone is in a coma there may be signs of life, but there is no real quality of life. While I'm not saying that the SBC is dead, what I am saying is that we need to be revived!

My prescription: Invite the life giving Spirit of God back into the SBC.

I'm sure that statement will upset many of my Southern Baptist friends. They will say, "We believe in the Holy Spirit" or "We know that we can't do anything outside the work of the Holy Spirit." However, our North American Mission Board and International Mission Board have decided that they will not appoint missionaries who claim to operate in the Gifts of the Spirit (in particular - speaking/praying in tongues). This is where I strongly disagree with my brothers in the SBC. Although the SBC does not have any written rules about Spiritual Gifts, these two entities have chosen to operate in this manner. Notice what the Baptist Faith and Message says about the Holy Spirit:

"The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service."

Did anyone else notice what this said? The Holy Spirit bestows the spiritual gifts (to the believer) by which they serve God through His church. What right does the SBC have to say that people can only operate in certain gifts that are listed in the Word of God. There is no Biblical proof whatsoever that any of the gifts should have ceased. But NAMB and IMB refuse appointment to gifted and called individuals because they operate in something they don't understand.

I'm all for a resurgence of the Great Commission. Our churches need it. But more importantly is a resurgence of the Spirit of God in our churches! Maybe the reason we aren't reaching North America the way we could/should is because we have limited the Holy One of Israel.

Please pray for the SBC.