Commendable Commentary On Resolution #6

Greg Gilbert recently commented on Resolution # 6 (see previous post). His commentary is commendable,

This is good on many different levels, and the SBC should be commended for adopting this resolution. There is enormous confusion in Southern Baptist churches these days about who should be members of a local church, and why. Southern Baptists regularly baptize four-year-olds on little more than their profession that they love Jesus, our rolls claim over 16 million members when really only about 6 million show up at church on any given Sunday...

SBC resolutions normally represent the convention speaking to the world—or to the president, or to Congress—about a particular problem, and staking out what we Southern Baptists believe and what we think ought to be done. All that’s fine. But it’s fairly rare for the convention to turn and use one of its resolutions to speak to itself. This is one of those times, and the result is a document that will be genuinely useful for pastors who are in the trenches trying to restore meaningful church membership in their congregations.

There are many pastors out there who are trying to do that, and who are running into opposition from long-time members who are saying something like “But Baptists don’t do that.” And sadly, they’re right. Baptists haven’t done this in a long time. But here, all of a sudden, is a little help: “But Mr. Jones, take a look at this. The convention is asking us to take this more seriously!”

It’s no magic bullet; that’s for sure. But reform doesn’t happen in a day, and every little bit help