Pass The Collection Plate

Well, this is interesting

On the 30th anniversary of its conservative resurgence, the Southern Baptist Convention is taking aim at another battle: declining numbers.

Over the years, the SBC has pushed out moderates and liberals and now, at its convention in Louisville, they are seeing fewer numbers and fewer baptisms. Now, the losses aren't shocking, really--it's about two-percent--but when you taken into consideration that the Southern Baptists sole reason for being is to recruit new members, it is a bit unsettling.

For them. Perhaps they should do as they've been accusing the gay community of doing for years: offer a toaster oven as incentive to join.

"If we're not growing, we're not reaching as many people for the kingdom of God," said Milton Hollifield, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Of particular concern to Southern Baptists is the leveling off of baptisms, which last year reached a 20-year low of 342,198.

"Anyone who says the SBC is healthy must be living on an island somewhere devoid of any type of information," said Danny Akin, the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, one of six SBC schools. Likening the denomination to an ill person, he added, "The patient is sick and in need of very serious and quick care."

The patient was sick long before today, my friend. When you devote yourself to shunning people, because of their moderate or liberal leanings, you end up being shunned yourself.

See, it's like this, and listen closely: God is not conservative.

She ain't liberal, either. Nor moderate.

Neither gay, nor straight. Male or female.

She's--if you believe in this sort of thing and not all folks do--is all-seeing and all-knowing and she's watching you treat people as undeserving because of their political leanings.

I don't think she likes that.

So, what's the SBC to do? Perhaps become more vocal? Ah, no. Perhaps reach out to the moderates and liberals. For goodness sakes, no. What they're doing is tightening the purse strings.

Yes, it's all about the money.

The SBC has a new Great Commission Resurgence, a 10-point manifesto that calls for a commitment to "Gospel-centeredness" and biblical inerrancy -- themes championed since the 1979 conservative victory. But it also calls for paring down the denomination's bureaucratic agencies.

Cutbacks.

Don't save the souls, SBC, save the bank accounts.