Will we be an Average Church?

I used some numbers and a quote from Dr. Frank Page (former president of the SBC) in a sermon a couple of weeks ago.  This is the jest of it.
Average is defined as typical; common; ordinary.  One pastor defined it this way: “a step above the worst and a step below the best”. The average SBC church (62%) has 1-99 in Sunday School and another 21% 100-199. It takes 49 Southern Baptists to reach and baptize 1 person each year.  The average age of the worshippers is 49 and 23% of Southern Baptists are retired.  Frank Page states that if these trends continue by 2030 50% of our churches will have closed their doors.
That begs the question, “How do we avoid this”?  I don’t want us to look at it from a defensive posture, guarding against this outcome, but from an offensive  mindset.  Can I tell you that if we do what the Lord has called us to do that will not occur (Matthew 16:18).  So we ask not what we need to do to guard against this prediction, but what we need to focus on to continue to grow and be relevant.
One, we need to love the Lord with all our hearts and being (Matthew 22:37).  If we love Him we need to be faithful to Him in our church attendance.  Not just from the standpoint of our personal walk with God, but the community is watching to see if we are faithful.  Obedience is another sure sign of our love for God.  If we don’t love Him enough to obey Him and keep His word, then do we really love Him at all (John 14:21, 1 John 5:2-3)?  Are we willing to tell others that we love Him and that He loves us?
Secondly we need to love others.  I don’t think a church that loves others will ever find itself irrelevant in today’s world.  How can SBC love others in our world today?  I think it’s more than having community outreaches, giving to needy causes, and mission efforts; even though those are important.  I think the grassroots of it is, “are we willing to sacrifice and serve others in our church and community”?  It’s being willing to serve in the nursery one week a month so that young mom and dad can worship the Lord unhindered by a little one clinging and crying throughout the whole service.  We need a Nursery Coordinator to schedule folks so that we have every Sunday covered.  We need some able bodied souls who will work (yes, I said work) in Children’s church to not only accommodate young parents, but to teach those little ones God’s love and design for them.  Do we love others enough to do that (Mark 10:13-14)?  Can we sacrifice that others can come to know Him?
What will Second Baptist be in twenty years if the Lord tarries?  What we do today will determine what we are then.  Let’s love our Lord with all our heart and others as ourselves and watch what He does.
It’s a joy to be your Pastor!