One of the things our church has worked hard at is keeping our membership rolls current. Our church is 153 years old and at times, this means removing names of people who are no longer committed to our church (only after we have reached out to them multiple times).
Sometimes well intentioned people resist the removal of names reasoning, “What harm can it do to leave them on?”
The below article summarizes problems with meaningless membership from a Southern Baptist point of view. Notice especially the consequences of meaningless membership.
What do Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Bill Clinton and Al Gore have in common? If you answer, “All four have been members of Southern Baptist churches,” you move to the head of the class.
These four individuals are found in the branch of Christianity that also includes Al Mohler, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Bowden, and Billy Graham, among others. Our Southern Baptist churches include their share of prominent personalities. Some bring honor to our denomination. Others bring dishonor.
MEANINGLESS CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN THE SBC
The purpose of this article is to answer the question, How has meaningless church membership adversely affected the Southern Baptist Convention?
The question assumes that membership in many Southern Baptist churches has little impact on how those members think or live. Historically, Baptists have affirmed regenerate church membership, which implies that every church member should walk in holiness and purity. Yet the widespread reality today is otherwise. A person can walk in ways that bring great shame to the name of Christ and yet remain a member in good standing in a Southern Baptist church.
The meaninglessness of membership can be seen in the number of Southern Baptist church members compared with the number of people attending Sunday worship. Convention-wide, there are 16 million members. But only 6 million people show up on a typical Sunday. Where are the other 10 million Southern Baptists? Some are providentially hindered, but surely not 10 million.
Apparently, the twentieth-century Southern Baptist revivalist Vance Havner was right when he said, “We Southern Baptists are many but we’re not much.” After the convention-wide crusade to add one million new members to Sunday School rolls in 1954— “A Million More in ’54”— Havner famously said, “If we get a million more like we got in ’54, we’re sunk.”
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF MEANINGLESS MEMBERSHIP?
The Southern Baptist Convention is most likely far smaller than what we report. And our membership rolls most likely contain a multitude of unregenerate individuals. Our Baptist forefathers would view our present condition with shock and horror.
What are the consequences of such meaningless membership?
It Gives a False Assurance of Salvation to Multitudes
First, the failure to practice church discipline and maintain integrity in our church rolls gives the multitude of “inactive members” a false assurance of salvation. . .
Read the rest here.
HT: Timmy Brister
They are only meaningful as members when the church deacons need the bodies to vote out an unfavored pastor.
This was a great article Chris. We just had a discussion with some Christian friends of ours the other night about church discipline and the lack of it in most churches today. We never do anyone a favor if we allow them to drift and never try to bring them back home to the fellowship. It is a problem in all denominations not just Southern Baptist. Thanks for posting this on your blog.
Fred,
Any church leader that resorts to this kind of tactic should be chased with a pitch fork.
On another note, where in the history of the church did some churches get confused as to elders and deacons? In the bible they are clearly not the same. So why are some churches led by those who “wait tables” and not those who teach/preach?
Hmmm. Very good question Scott!