The GCR Has Begun! tagged: , ,

The GCR Has Begun!

Posted by in Baptist Life

I am thrilled to be a Southern Baptist!  I am both hopeful and prayerful that that true and authentic change is in fact already occurring within our denomination.  I’m not just talking about change for change sake—I am talking about change for sake of the growth of God’s kingdom.  I believe that the Great Commission Resurgence is about change for the sake of the kingdom.  I am ecstatic to see change occurring at every level of our denominational organization.

I am thrilled to see the change that is happening in my local association.  We recently voted to put our associational building up for sale.  The proceeds from the sale of the building will be put in our state’s foundation with the interest being used to fund church planting or any other worthy cause that the association may agree upon.  I am thrilled that we are turning bricks and mortar into flesh and blood.  The Kingdom of God does not grow through buildings but through people.  I am glad that in the Longs Peak Association we are trading our building for people.  Budget shortfalls have required that our association become lean and mean.  Maybe “have to” is the only way that we will ever change.  Our association has adopted a motto, “Putting Churches First”.  I really like that—because as Dr. Johnny Hunt says, “The church is king”!  Every dollar that the association spends needs to be spent in a way that exceeds what an individual church could do on their own to advance the kingdom.  Dollars are scarce in these days and each one must be spent to its maximum potential.  I have an elderly lady in my church that lost her husband to death last year.  She lives off of her social security and the few extra dollars that people in our church contribute to her.  Yet, she faithfully gives to the work of the kingdom.  I have seen her take money that people have given to her and turn around and put it right back in the offering.  I cannot buy anything on behalf of the church without thinking about Miss Lola and wondering whether or not we’re getting the most bang for her buck.  I am pleased that our association seems to be focused as well on getting the biggest bang for Miss Lola’s sacrificially-given offerings.  The Great Commission Resurgence appears to already be well underway in my association.

I am thrilled to see the change that is happening in my state convention.  Just yesterday, I was included in a conversation intended to recruit a cross-section of Colorado Baptists to participate in a new task force.  This group of people will envision why our state convention needs to exist and then starting with a blank sheet of paper begin to strategically identify the essential staff and organization needed to resource our churches in penetrating lostness in Colorado.  One of the persons that was asked to participate responded affirmatively with some excellent thoughts.  This person wrote in their email, “I have for a long time believed that the Southern Baptist Convention has become too ‘bureaucratically bloated.’  It feels much like our government!  My heart, and I believe our churches heart, is for our dollars to reach the mission field.  Too much is being spent on either dead or ineffective programs, unneeded staff positions, and out dated agencies!  We need to trim the fat!  While I believe that Colorado is different from many southern states, I still feel that we need to ‘start with a clean white board.’  My expectation would be that we can actually do that and not give lip service to this.  We need to re-evaluate everything!  We need to ask the question, “Is it absolutely necessary to the mission?” Less than two years ago, we went through a similar process of reevaluating our Executive Board structure at the state convention.  The result was a leaner and meaner body that actually accomplishes some worthwhile things.  It appears to me that the Great Commission Resurgence is already well underway in my state convention.

I am thrilled to see the change that is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention.  I know that it is early and that there is much that remains unknown.  I am excited though that there appears to be great discontent with business as usual.  The SBC has a nearly two hundred and six million dollar budget not including Annie and Lottie.  I want to see as much of that budget as possible turned into people on the ground preaching Jesus and growing the kingdom.  Administration is of course necessary at some level.  I’m just wondering if we really need to spend $250,000 for the Executive Committee meetings.  We spend $980,475 for “convention relations” and an additional $822,575 for “Convention News”.  Now I will confess that I am not at all familiar with these budget items or the fruit that they produce.  I am confident that we need public relations, news, and meetings.  I just hope that we’re not spending too many of Miss Lola’s dollars on these types of things.  I can assure you that she wants each dollar to advance the kingdom of God.  It’s really good to see that our SBC leadership has identified the need for a Great Commission Resurgence.  I hope to be a part of whatever positive change needs to occur.  I am thrilled with the prospects of seeing a lean and mean kingdom-building machine resourcing the great churches across our nation as we seek to saturate lostness around the world.  It appears to me that the Great Commission Resurgence is already well underway!