Following two state evangelism conferences last month, South Carolina Baptist Convention staff will provide follow-up service to churches, organize small-group evangelism discussions this fall, and plan for a single-venue conference in early 2012.
The Monday-Tuesday conference, held Feb. 21-22 at Anderson University, drew just over 100 participants and 470 viewers through live streaming video on the convention’s website. The Wednesday-Friday conference, held Feb. 23-25 at Hoffmeyer Road Church, Florence, drew more than 1,000 participants.
Ron Barker, evangelism and prayer strategist for the SCBC evangelization and missions team, praised the hosts, leadership teams, and speakers for the two conferences, but said the spirit for evangelism can’t end with the events.
“Evangelism is almost non-existent in churches across our country,” Barker said. “We assume that people are not interested in the gospel because they don’t come to our (church) services. But people will come to our churches if they are invited by a Christian friend who is living authentically in front of them.”
“A lot of our churches are under the assumption that anything and everything that they do is evangelism, but it’s not,” he said. “Unless we are presenting the gospel to lost people, we aren’t engaged in evangelism. We seem to have forgotten that people are the church, and our people must live, equipped to evangelize, day to day, in a lost world.”
To aid the local church’s evangelistic efforts, Barker said his office and other SCBC staff and convention leaders will set a firm course of follow-up from the recent evangelism conferences.
“We want to offer one-day training events this fall through our associational directors of missions and specific churches,” he said. “We also want to see an increase in personal service to churches interested in evangelism assistance. Last, we want to create small groups of pastors, especially younger pastors, focused on evangelism discussions in our state.”
Barker said plans for the 2012 State Evangelism Conference will focus on having one statewide venue in Columbia.
‘Be the church’
Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, was a featured speaker at both the Anderson and Florence events.
He challenged South Carolina Baptists to “be the church” beyond the walls of the church, and to focus on what God can do with only one or two people equipped to share Jesus.
Preaching from Judges 7, where God reduced the size of Gideon’s army to defeat the Midianites, Wilton said too many leaders look at their church and community and get caught up in the numbers.
“We say, ‘God cannot save 600 here, he can’t save 300 here, he can’t save 100 here, he can’t save 20 here.’ I just believe God can do it,” he said. “Would our evangelistic efforts be worth it if just one person gave his or her heart to Jesus?
“The living God reminds us that he can do a lot with one or two people willing to say, ‘I will be the church’ at the ball field, in the restaurant, in the workplace and the marketplace.
“We must stop beating people up in our churches,” Wilton said. “God can take just a handful and reap the victory. We must teach our people to ‘be the church’ and carry the full authority of Jesus Christ into the marketplace, telling others about Jesus.”
Wilton said even those who are uncomfortable telling others about Jesus “can invite people to church, where, in our church, we will tell them about Jesus.”
Wilton said churches need to be praying for people who don’t know Jesus and be prepared to receive those who come.
“The more uncomfortable you and I feel about those around us, the more willing we are to carry out the Great Commission of God. Jesus died for all people.”
Speaking personally, the former SCBC president said, “I’ve come to the place where I want my life to count for the Lord Jesus. I am no longer interested in the seat I occupy, the building I stand in, the crowd that I draw, or the trophy I might receive.”
“There is a yearning before us from a desperate world,” he said. “The great tragedy unfolding around us in South Carolina is the blind lostness; scores of people who gather in our churches and are the casualties of modern-day evangelism. The local church has increasingly forgotten what the church is supposed to be. We are called to go into the highways and byways and represent the living God. We are to be the church.”
Wilton said, “I am asking God to renew my spirit and create a fresh wind and fire that will burn in my heart and life.”
He further challenged South Carolina Baptists to “put aside church competition, jealousies, and uncooperative spirits. What would our beloved South Carolina look like if we all got together to see people who need Jesus?”
In Anderson, Wilton and son Rob, lead pastor at Vintage Church, New Orleans, led one of several break-out sessions focused on how churches can be evangelistic through missions and ministry. Following are some of the Wiltons’ comments from the break-out sessions:
Rob Wilton: “The gospel is not a ‘what,’ but a ‘who,’ and the only message is the gospel.”
Don Wilton: “A lot of preaching today is social hogwash. [It’s a message of] pulling yourself toward yourself. The human heart wants to feel good and to be congratulated.”
Rob Wilton: “We get in trouble as the church when we over-focus on either the vertical or the horizontal. Horizontally, we may feed the homeless, but without an expression of Jesus, it’s worthless. Vertically, we must be careful about ‘holy huddles.’ Jesus didn’t come to earth and just hang out with God.”
Don Wilton: “Churches need to have an evangelistic plan to keep soul-winning in front of people all the time.”
Evangelism-united Baptists
Randall Jones, retired pastor, Langston Baptist Church, Conway, and a former SCBC president, was a part of the planning team for the Florence venue and preached at the Wednesday session.
“I was extremely pleased with our attendance in Florence,” he said. “There was a revival spirit that prevailed, and it took on its own theme of personal witnessing and soul-winning. The preaching and music presented the idea that we reach the lost one by one, seeking motivation through the Holy Spirit in worship and witnessing.”
Jones said, “There are pastors who are committed to winning the lost, and there are others who don’t share that same fervor. Evangelistic passion is not really determined by size, location, or age of the church. I do sense, coming out of this conference, that there is a new awareness and commitment to winning the lost – not just among pastors, but among the laity in attendance and our state staff. Dr. Jim Austin (executive director-treasurer, SCBC) and Ron Barker, especially, are leading us to put a new emphasis on evangelism.”
Jones, who, in 1992 led the beginning of the Coastal Evangelism Conference, said, “The only thing that Baptists have ever genuinely united around is evangelism, and when we fail to keep evangelism as our primary task, we will fail in our cooperation.” The Coastal Evangelism Conference, which now includes 67 sponsoring churches, is planned for August at Langston Church, Conway.
Jones said he was grateful that so many of the church laity attended the Florence venue, bolstering “one of the largest crowds we have had in years. It was an amazing thing for me to see.”
“A lady drove by the church during the conference, saw all the cars and stopped,” Jones said. “She saw an elder and asked, ‘What is happening here?’ ” When he told her, she gave him a $100 donation.
“That’s the heart of where people are today – our people are ready to step up to the plate to share Jesus and support evangelism, and I believe they will step up. As church leaders, we just need to keep our eyes on the primary task of sharing the gospel.” – SCBC