Jeff Smoak’s letter (“From milk to meat,” April 1) addresses a critical issue for South Carolina Southern Baptists. We indeed need both a conference on intentional discipleship and an entire modification of our orientation and theology of evangelism.
My appeal as a pastor is that we focus on making disciples, not counting baptisms. Some recent studies conducted by Southern Baptist Convention entities revealed that we could locate fewer than 10 percent of those who were baptized one year after their baptism. If they cannot be located, they most certainly are not being discipled.
I frequently address this topic of intentional disciple-making and the issue of measuring what really matters in ministry: transformation. In one such exchange, I received the following response to my message:
“Numbers are important because: (1) they represent souls who will eternally escape the awful judgment of a Holy God; (2) they represent potential disciples who have been given the task of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth; (3) they represent those who have become a part of the family of God and the body of Christ.
In response to (1): It is not “souls” that God redeems, but people. The motivation is not merely to ‘”escape judgment,” but to be sanctified. As redeemed men live holy lives in the midst of a sinful world, Christ is glorified.
In response to (2): Where in Scripture are we instructed to baptize potential disciples? If in fact they are not truly redeemed they most certainly are not to proclaim the gospel – they are lost.
In response to (3): It is not baptism that marks a person as a member of the family of God. The validation of our faith according to the text of Scripture is repentance and holy living (Hebrews 12:14).
I submit and continue to appeal for a radical and biblical reorientation of our theology. Evangelism is not a separate component. Rather, it is the first phase of disciple-making. Until we recognize that fact and modify our practice accordingly, we will continue to suffer the ravages of a dysfunctional metric drawn from the culture, not the text of Scripture. Our metric to measure effectiveness must be transformation.
Jesus said: Make disciples. When will we focus on obeying all that he has commanded?
What do you think? Click here to send a letter to the editor addressing this or another subject.