Being About the Business

Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing this as a confession, and a call to repentance. As I reflect upon the current events of my life, I am challenged to become more active in the life of my church. I fear that membership means little if anything nowadays in our churches. Strong, Bible-believing churches are allowing lax entry into the church, an error on the part of our leadership, while members have erred by not vesting a fuller involvement in the goings-on of the church.

So often, at least in Southern Baptist life, decisions are made on a congregational level, in the dreaded Business Meeting, and yet these meetings are rarely reflective of our congregations. Oftentimes, the large majority of members elect to not be bothered with the events of the church, and then complain that "nothing is being done," or, "I wish things were different."

While business meetings are often boring (if you're lucky), heated, and/or uneventful, we are remiss not to attend. Granted, I would have second-guessed my recent attendance, perhaps, if I were not on staff, for all of the above reasons. However, I am firmly convinced that much of the stagnation we are frustrated by in our churches, overall, is because many ministries and initiatives are never seen, because the church at large is not at the meetings to have such things voted in.

I appeal to you, as vibrant and concerned citizens of the Kingdom of God, who have tired of the lethargy and apathy that plagues our churches, to become active, as a voice in your respective congregations. You are missing a grand opportunity to support new, vibrant ministries of the church that you never even hear about because they are defeated in business meetings. I know they can be messy, frustrating, and outright enraging sometimes, but if the Church elects to do something, the Church should have spoken; NOT the politicking minority.

Be a Soldier of the Cross. Be a Part of the Body. Be an Active Member.

God Bless! Pastor Jeremy