SBC - For The Love of People or Money?

In recent days, I have been writing about the “decline” in the SBC. According to the latest numbers, the SBC has experienced a decline in all major categories except the category of money. Membership has dropped, Sunday School has dropped, and baptisms have dropped. Does the SBC love money more than people?

Acts 4:32-5:11

In this passage, we see two examples of priorities. The first is a man named Jospeh. He brought his money, which was gained by the sale of his property, to the Apostles’ feet. The Church benefited greatly from this man’s sacrifice and commitment to the Lord. The Apostles called him, Barnabas, because he was the son of encouragement.

The second example is given to us in chapter 5:1-11. There is a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who are husband and wife. They are apart of the group of believers in the community (Acts 4:32). They saw the great sacrifice of Barnabas (Joseph) and they purposed to give an offering as well. The difference in their offering as compared to Barnabas was that his offering was pure, but their offering was polluted.

Acts 5:2 tells us that they sold their land and held back a part of the price prior to giving their offering. As a result, the couple was judged by God and their lives were taken away. God is the One who gives life and He is the One who has the right to take life. In this case, we see their lives taken as a result of their polluted sacrifice. Their heart was not in the right place. They had their attention on the name change of Joseph and the attention given to him (and others in the assembly who made similar sacrifices).

Verse 11 tells us that great fear came upon all of the people in the Church. God had used the death of Ananias and his wife to judge their sin, purify the Church, and to bring fear upon others in order to prevent similar sinful behavior.

Conclusion:

What can we learn as a Convention (SBC) from this passage of Scripture?

1. We should never love money more than people. Ananias and Sapphira loved their money more than people, so they lied to God and gave part of their money, but not all of their money as they were boasting. We should desire all churches in the SBC to be supporting the Cooperative Program, but our contributions should not outweigh our desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

2. The love of money is the root of all evil - not money itself (1 Timothy 6:10). We can use money to build church buildings, print tracts, print Bibles, and other things that can be useful to the spread of the gospel and the discipling of the people. However, if we are not careful, our desire for money will overshadow our desire for souls.

3. Not only do we see this couple lie to God, lie to their Church, and hold back their money - they also mismanaged the money that God had given them. They used it for their flesh as opposed to meeting the needs of people. We in the SBC need to make sure we are doing everything possible to prevent the mismanagement of funds given to mission offerings. In many cases, the amount of money given to the mission offerings and CP is used up at the State level prior to making it to the National level. In some cases, the percentage used at the State level can exceed 50-60% of the money given to support missionaries. This use of the money is necessary for management salaries and employees, but we must ensure that we are using the money rightly for God’s glory!

4. The danger of loving money more than people is far more than losing our life as a Convention, it involves living as hypocrites to the world.

May God be pleased to bring the SBC to a place of balance in approach to missions. May we love people more than money, discipleship more than programs, and the glory of God more than the glory of the SBC.

For His Glory!

Rev. Josh Buice

Tags : SBC, SBC Baptisms, SBC Decline, Southern Baptist, Southern Baptist Convention

Understanding The Great Commission

This morning I went to the local pastor’s fellowship with our Baptist Association.  We discussed the latest trend of SBC churches regarding declines in every area other than money.  One of the older pastors in our area spoke up and said, “It seems that many folks today are alright with giving their money so long as you don’t ask them to do anything.”  What he was referring to was that most people today would rather pay a staff to fulfill the Great Commission as opposed to doing it themselves.

As the group of pastors sat around in a circle in the Baptist Association’s building, the director went around and read the number of baptisms for our churches from 2005-2007.  Since I am new to Cornerstone, I was already aware of the numbers of our church.  As he read them, I felt really bad!  We had over 70 baptisms in 2005, over 100 in 2006, and then we had only 9 in 2007.  The drop in the number of baptisms was a bit discouraging, but the most discouraging part of the report is that our church has not grown by 170 people in 3 years. When we talked about the problem and discussed the issue of fulfilling the Great Commission, I suggested that we evangelize faithfully, but I also suggested that we truly fulfill the Great Commission.  In order to fulfill the Great Commission, we must do both evangelism and discipleship.  Without discipleship, the true sheep will seek another pasture where they can find grass to eat.

Our Lord said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).”

Therefore, the reason that many SBC churches are in a state of decline is not due to a lack of money, people, or programs.  The reason is that we have not fully understood the Great Commission.  The Great Commission involves faithful evangelism and faithful discipleship.  If we are not balanced in these areas, we will have growth problems in one direction or another.  It is my desire as the pastor of Cornerstone to lead the Church body into the town of McMinnville to reach the lost, but I also want to emphasize the importance of bringing those people into the Church for the purpose of teaching them the Word of God.  If we refuse to center our Church on the faithful teachings of God’s Word, we will notice that our back door will become larger than our front door.  We must truly understand the Great Commission - and fulfill it for the glory of God!

Our Lord told Peter, “Feed my lambs…feed my sheep…feed my sheep (John 21:15,16,17).”

Rev. Josh Buice

Tags : Evangelism, Matthew 28:18-20, The Great Commission