Updated Monday, June 16, 2008

Whatever it takes

By Milton A. Hollifield Jr.

BSC Executive Director-Treasurer

As I write these words, the first day of the annual meeting of the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is done. Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., is the new president of the SBC.

The SBC seminaries and other Convention entities gave reports to the messengers on how their work is advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A little over 7,000 messengers have assembled here in Indianapolis making this one of the smaller conventions on record for the SBC. The high cost of fuel probably contributed to this low attendance, but there is also the reality that many who formerly attended the annual session of the SBC have chosen to stay at home.

Young leaders aren't seeing a direct connection between what we do at the annual meeting of the SBC and how they work every day to reach people for Jesus Christ. I hope this will change. We simply can no longer ignore the fact that some of what we have done or are doing as a denomination is not serving us well in our efforts to win the lost for Christ. Sadly, across the SBC our baptisms are in decline.

One of the significant moments of the SBC thus far was the tribute offered by President Frank Page in remembrance of his friend, Forrest Pollock who had nominated him to be president of the SBC. As the picture of the Pollock family was projected on the video screen, who could help but think about the brevity of life and how quickly it is gone from us? When Forrest and his son Preston left North Carolina in a private plane the morning of May 12, who would have thought this was the last time anyone would ever hear from this pastor?

We have been challenged to think about the millions of people in North America and the more than 1.5 billion unreached people across the world that still have no witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A Florida pastor asked me what it would take for our churches to experience dramatic growth. My response was a radical commitment to church health. We must confess and forsake the sin that robs us of our love for Christ. We must be willing to pay the price - whatever the cost - to see a new work of God in our personal life and in our churches. When He possesses our heart, then we will have his passion for reaching those for whom he died.

Sober thinking about the real issues of life compels us to think of others who have no hope as life's final enemy comes to take them into eternity. By God's grace, let us recommit ourselves as a denomination to do whatever it takes to give our lives in service to Jesus Christ as we seek to live for His glory.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. - Col. 2:6