Rod, you definitely have a point. I recall when I was growing up in an SBC church that most of the salvations and baptisms were a result of the week-long revival services that we had every summer. However, I think the greater cause for the decline of the SBC is that the pastors in the pulpits no longer preach the Gospel in a straightforward and unapologetic manner. I left the SBC after 40 years for a Bible church and now am a part of a Calvary Chapel church. While we are not perfect, the Gospel is preached unapologetically every Sunday and Wednesday and we have well over a thousand conversations and baptisms in our church every year.
"The thing is, the Great Commission teaches us one particular lesson of universal applicability: that for us, God commands persuasion rather than force. This applies to economics, to politics, and certainly to discipling the nations."
"The Great Commission" Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
The Mission statement. THIS IS OUR JOB. We do other things for money, to make a family, a society, BUT This is our job.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect"
Great statement and I agree totally. Before Christ went back to heaven he spent 40 days with the apostles explaining to them the prophecies and told them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Well we know what happened, the wind caught everyone’s attention and suddenly these guys spoke languages that everyone from all parts of the world understood and what did Peter tell these people to do that were under the same covenant that you and I are under? Acts 2:38 says it all. Tells us and our generations to come exactly what we must do to be saved then after they believed and were BAPTIZED they didn’t join the church but they were ADDED to the church. First we must get the message correct and teach it correctly.
I have never been a member of a Baptist church, but I have seen the same thing happening in the churches I have attended. I grew up in a small denomination, the Unity of the Brethren, founded by Czech followers of Jan Hus who emigrated to Texas in the 1850s and 1870s. There weren't revivals every month, but at least two or three times a year. This was in the mid-1950s through mid-1960s.
In 1963 I went to a 6 week long summer camp for 16 year olds. (Imagine 16 year olds these days having the discipline to take 6 weeks out of their summer.) During the course of those weeks, one of the local churches held a revival and all of the campers went. That service is where I gave my life to Jesus, and I have been following him since. (Not perfectly which is not possible for us on earth, but trying to walk daily in step with the Spirit.)
Revivals in general are sorely missed, and I think a big part of the reason this country is in the shape it's in. Since about this time in 2023, I have been praying for a massive revival to sweep this nation from coast to coast and from north to south. I firmly believe that's the only thing that's going to save our nation.
This was an excellent article, Dr. Martin! It very much rings true! The decline of the Christian Church in this country has been to the great detriment of this nation! Without Evangelism and revivals, it’s very hard indeed to attract new people to the church. You have ASK people to give their lives to God and PERSUADE them that Christianity is the truth! This isn’t just true for the Southern Baptists but for ALL Christian denominations! Now is the prefect role to revive Evangelism and revivals! The Golden Age of Secularism has officially passed and we’ve got a mini-third Great Awakening going on throughout this country. Gen Z especially young men, are much more religious than the Millennials were. It’s time for us to capitalize on these positive trends in our society. Now more than ever we need individuals like Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, Dwight L. Moody, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Jerry Falwell, and T.D. Jakes! Did I agree with some of those individuals on theological issues? No. But that is irrelevant, we are all part of the Christian Church and are working together for a common cause, to bring more men, women, boys, and girls to Christ! I call for massive revivals to be held by every Christian denomination: Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalian, Reformed, Pentecostal, Congregationalist, Eastern Orthodox, and any others I didn’t mention. Everybody! We’ve got to get out there and start spreading the good word to everybody! Look, I’m a social liberal through and through. I believe very much in social, racial and economic justice, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s equality, labor unions, the social programs of the New Deal and the Great Society, environmentalism, animal rights, disability rights, and a robust, well-funded public school system. I’m essentially the equivalent of a unicorn among the Rod Martin Report’s subscribers. Dr. Martin and I would have agreements and disagreements on many theological and political issues no doubt. But we are both Christians and want to see God’s Church grow and bring more people to the glory of His kingdom! In this broken and divided America we live in today where morals have become lax and our youth search for meaning in their lives, God is needed now more than ever! All Christians regardless of theological views or denomination must unite to take on this crisis! My liberal social and theological views do NOT blind me to the reality that we as Christians must all work together to rescue as many souls as possible and bring the Church back to the forefront of American life!
Liberals, moderates and conservatives must all come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to make this happen! Democrats, Republicans and Independents must put aside their political differences and unite as believers in God! This is why I as a liberal mainline Lutheran resonate with what Dr. Martin a conservative and a member of the Southern Baptist Church wrote in this terrific article every Christian must read! God will guide this great country to a better future! Let me be clear, I’ve got nothing against Atheists, Agnostics or people of other faiths. I respect their differing views on spirituality. But I believe God is the way forward and Christianity is the one true religion. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want America to become a theocracy by any means. I’m no fan of the illiberal part of the religious right. I despise Christians who selectively follow God’s word and are racist, sexist, antisemitic, or homophobic. I’m all for Separation of Church and State and freedom of religion. But none of these things mean we should eliminate religion from society altogether. I’m all for the Ten Commandments being displayed in public schools and court houses as long as it is done of these institutions’ own free will and not mandated by the government. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a National Day of Prayer. Atheists and Agnostics needn’t participate if they don’t want to. In God We Trust being on our money and Under God being in the Pledge of Allegiance also don’t bother me a bit. Christianity has always had a special and influential place in American society and it’s time to get back to that as a country! If you want to increase the size of your flock, you have to go out and do the work to convince people and hold events that welcome interested people in! There is no alternative to it!
Setting aside the overall decline in belief. How much of this do you think is due to the church not changing in the sense of worship styles and the like and them fighting/being wrong about following the clear meaning of the word?
I think we have many problems. You mention music, and I would note (though I know many disagree) that we mostly sing contemporary music in my church, and in the church of which I was a member before, and in both cases, when we occasionally sing a hymn, the volume goes up dramatically. I know it's not just us. No church has more young people as a percentage of its attendees than Capitol Hill Baptist, they only sing hymns and Psalms, and those twentysomethings are belting them out more loudly than I've ever heard anyone do. So that's not an age issue, even though everyone thinks it is; and while that's not for everyone, it is certainly true for many.
When I was very young we were a lot less casual. We dressed (even if we had virtually no money with which to do so) in what was called our "Sunday Best" not to put on airs but to show respect for a sacred place. We don't do that anymore. People are not as attached to things they don't respect, and tend also to be more attached to things that demand more of them. I remember well as a teenager two services on Sunday, plus Sunday School, Training Union, Youth Choir, and Youth Bible Study after. Then we'd do church on Wednesday and another Youth Bible Study. Everyone went, so much so that the schools scheduled around church. I think that was better. I also think we learned a lot more Bible.
But while I can make the case for those things, they are unquestionably my preferences. Not everyone will share them, and not everyone needs to.
Even so, with regard to evangelism, I know the difference very well. There is no field of endeavor in which you don't have to ask for the order. There is nothing where you don't have to tell people what's expected of them: they don't know until you do. Church is no different. You should never be manipulative in doing so, and I've certainly seen that done. But merely asking is not manipulative. It is exactly what Jesus did.
I think we have not because we ask not: not of people, not of God. And I note that in the time in which we've stopped, membership in the largest Protestant denomination on this continent has dropped by 25%.
I think it's worth considering the possibility that some of our changes were not for the better.
Well said; it is a very difficult issue with many variables. I think you have a good point about, we ask not. I don't think we earnestly ask, or more like plead for revival, and then therefore we don't work for it to make it happen.
Holiness churches have been where I cut my spiritual teeth, but The Sword of the Lord was instrumental in my growth (Born in 1932). It is so very sad that you have lost 25% of SBC
. You have spoken of possibilities for that and all may be involved. I'd like to suggest one that you leave out. Ephesians 4:11 & 12 speaks about the gifts of leadership that He gives. NOWHERE does He say that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have to be male. There is no time to write here of the issues involved, But I cannot imagine how a lady physician or in any other leadership position in the world (many in church), coming to a SBC Church and being insulted that she is a second class citizen.
My wife was an ordained minister and I would put her Spirit anointed preaching up against anyone you can name. It was awesome and blessed in drawing people to God.
I have never seen any woman treated as a "second class citizen" in a Baptist church. 1 Timothy 3 prohibits women from becoming pastors and deacons. It doesn't say a single word about doctors, prime ministers, or CEOs.
I understand that perfeclty wonderful people like yourself disagree. But it is unkind to overstate your case.
Paul is a self appointed apostle and the main culprit of the drifting from The Way. "Call no one father..." And what did Paul do?! Read all he wrote without seminary bias but with Berean vetting, against the Scripture (OT). 2000 years deception, no one dares to talk about, though easily provable.
Jesus appointed Paul an apostle. To say otherwise is to deny the plenary inspiration of Scripture. And if you're going to do that, why bother to believe any of it at all?
We have a narrow minded God that needed a nudge to relax his requirements, to be more palatable for the new...We cannot obey God and express our free will in conflict with his Law at the same time. Choose Christ or Paul. Christ needed not correction or augmentation.
You literally just called God "narrow-minded"? Wow.
More to the point, you avoided the point. The OT Scriptures you keep citing in opposition to the NT are significantly more restrictive than what you're calling too restrictive. And even if you deny that Jesus is the Author of the entire Word, you can't provide a single passage in which He contradicts either 1 Timothy or Exodus.
So you're kind of making this up to suit yourself and attributing it to Jesus, whose teachings only appear in a Book the validity of which you deny.
No evangelists?! Natural departure from preaching Christ, The Way, the gospel and focusing on theology, Paul letters dominated. You want globalism and communism?! Continue Paul's theology, cheap grace, no God's covenant.
You are smarter than this. We both look for the cause and my observation is that what you incentivize is what you get: focusing on Paul and not on Christ.
So you deny the plenary inspiration of Scripture. Why not just say that? There is one and only one Author of the entire Bible, and if you deny that, you aren't a Christian. No shame in that (until the final judgment at least): just admit it.
Rod, you definitely have a point. I recall when I was growing up in an SBC church that most of the salvations and baptisms were a result of the week-long revival services that we had every summer. However, I think the greater cause for the decline of the SBC is that the pastors in the pulpits no longer preach the Gospel in a straightforward and unapologetic manner. I left the SBC after 40 years for a Bible church and now am a part of a Calvary Chapel church. While we are not perfect, the Gospel is preached unapologetically every Sunday and Wednesday and we have well over a thousand conversations and baptisms in our church every year.
"The thing is, the Great Commission teaches us one particular lesson of universal applicability: that for us, God commands persuasion rather than force. This applies to economics, to politics, and certainly to discipling the nations."
Memo To Stephen Wolfe, Doug Wilson. READ A BOOK!
"The Great Commission" Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
The Mission statement. THIS IS OUR JOB. We do other things for money, to make a family, a society, BUT This is our job.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect"
Simon Peter.
Great statement and I agree totally. Before Christ went back to heaven he spent 40 days with the apostles explaining to them the prophecies and told them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. Well we know what happened, the wind caught everyone’s attention and suddenly these guys spoke languages that everyone from all parts of the world understood and what did Peter tell these people to do that were under the same covenant that you and I are under? Acts 2:38 says it all. Tells us and our generations to come exactly what we must do to be saved then after they believed and were BAPTIZED they didn’t join the church but they were ADDED to the church. First we must get the message correct and teach it correctly.
they didn’t join the church but they were ADDED to the church
I Like That!!!
I have never been a member of a Baptist church, but I have seen the same thing happening in the churches I have attended. I grew up in a small denomination, the Unity of the Brethren, founded by Czech followers of Jan Hus who emigrated to Texas in the 1850s and 1870s. There weren't revivals every month, but at least two or three times a year. This was in the mid-1950s through mid-1960s.
In 1963 I went to a 6 week long summer camp for 16 year olds. (Imagine 16 year olds these days having the discipline to take 6 weeks out of their summer.) During the course of those weeks, one of the local churches held a revival and all of the campers went. That service is where I gave my life to Jesus, and I have been following him since. (Not perfectly which is not possible for us on earth, but trying to walk daily in step with the Spirit.)
Revivals in general are sorely missed, and I think a big part of the reason this country is in the shape it's in. Since about this time in 2023, I have been praying for a massive revival to sweep this nation from coast to coast and from north to south. I firmly believe that's the only thing that's going to save our nation.
This was an excellent article, Dr. Martin! It very much rings true! The decline of the Christian Church in this country has been to the great detriment of this nation! Without Evangelism and revivals, it’s very hard indeed to attract new people to the church. You have ASK people to give their lives to God and PERSUADE them that Christianity is the truth! This isn’t just true for the Southern Baptists but for ALL Christian denominations! Now is the prefect role to revive Evangelism and revivals! The Golden Age of Secularism has officially passed and we’ve got a mini-third Great Awakening going on throughout this country. Gen Z especially young men, are much more religious than the Millennials were. It’s time for us to capitalize on these positive trends in our society. Now more than ever we need individuals like Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, Dwight L. Moody, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Jerry Falwell, and T.D. Jakes! Did I agree with some of those individuals on theological issues? No. But that is irrelevant, we are all part of the Christian Church and are working together for a common cause, to bring more men, women, boys, and girls to Christ! I call for massive revivals to be held by every Christian denomination: Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalian, Reformed, Pentecostal, Congregationalist, Eastern Orthodox, and any others I didn’t mention. Everybody! We’ve got to get out there and start spreading the good word to everybody! Look, I’m a social liberal through and through. I believe very much in social, racial and economic justice, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s equality, labor unions, the social programs of the New Deal and the Great Society, environmentalism, animal rights, disability rights, and a robust, well-funded public school system. I’m essentially the equivalent of a unicorn among the Rod Martin Report’s subscribers. Dr. Martin and I would have agreements and disagreements on many theological and political issues no doubt. But we are both Christians and want to see God’s Church grow and bring more people to the glory of His kingdom! In this broken and divided America we live in today where morals have become lax and our youth search for meaning in their lives, God is needed now more than ever! All Christians regardless of theological views or denomination must unite to take on this crisis! My liberal social and theological views do NOT blind me to the reality that we as Christians must all work together to rescue as many souls as possible and bring the Church back to the forefront of American life!
Liberals, moderates and conservatives must all come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to make this happen! Democrats, Republicans and Independents must put aside their political differences and unite as believers in God! This is why I as a liberal mainline Lutheran resonate with what Dr. Martin a conservative and a member of the Southern Baptist Church wrote in this terrific article every Christian must read! God will guide this great country to a better future! Let me be clear, I’ve got nothing against Atheists, Agnostics or people of other faiths. I respect their differing views on spirituality. But I believe God is the way forward and Christianity is the one true religion. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want America to become a theocracy by any means. I’m no fan of the illiberal part of the religious right. I despise Christians who selectively follow God’s word and are racist, sexist, antisemitic, or homophobic. I’m all for Separation of Church and State and freedom of religion. But none of these things mean we should eliminate religion from society altogether. I’m all for the Ten Commandments being displayed in public schools and court houses as long as it is done of these institutions’ own free will and not mandated by the government. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a National Day of Prayer. Atheists and Agnostics needn’t participate if they don’t want to. In God We Trust being on our money and Under God being in the Pledge of Allegiance also don’t bother me a bit. Christianity has always had a special and influential place in American society and it’s time to get back to that as a country! If you want to increase the size of your flock, you have to go out and do the work to convince people and hold events that welcome interested people in! There is no alternative to it!
I'm a Baptist. The last thing I want is rule by clergy. LOL
America 250 Book Club 🇺🇸🫡❤️🤍💙🎆🎇📚📖 This Edition: Christianity in America
* A History of Christianity in America by Mark A. Granquist
* America's Religious History: Faith, Politics, and the Shaping of a Nation by Thomas S. Kidd
* The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today by Edwin S. Gaustad
* By the Hand of Providence: How Faith Shaped the American Revolution by Rod Gragg
* God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution by Thomas S. Kidd
* The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation by Zachary M. Schrag
* Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery by James Brewer Stewart
* The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation by Stephen R. Haynes
* Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations by Brad Christerson, Korie L. Edwards & Michael O. Emerson
* Billy Graham: A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist by W. Terry Whalin
* Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy by Marcel Falwell
* The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
* Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South by Albert J. Raboteau
* Hero of the Heartland: Billy Sunday and the Transformation of American Society, 1862-1935 by Robert F. Martin
* The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist by Marcus Rediker
* God's Country: Christian Zionism in America by Samuel Goldman
* George Whitefield: God's Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century by Arnold A. Dallimore
* Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden
* Cross Purposes: Pierce v. Society of Sisters and the Struggle over Compulsory Public Education by Paula Abrams
* Notre Dame vs. The Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defied the KKK by Todd Tucker
* From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism by Darren Bochuk
* The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle by Kathleen Flake
* And Then They Prayed: Moments in American History Impacted By Prayer by Barry Loudermilk
Setting aside the overall decline in belief. How much of this do you think is due to the church not changing in the sense of worship styles and the like and them fighting/being wrong about following the clear meaning of the word?
I think we have many problems. You mention music, and I would note (though I know many disagree) that we mostly sing contemporary music in my church, and in the church of which I was a member before, and in both cases, when we occasionally sing a hymn, the volume goes up dramatically. I know it's not just us. No church has more young people as a percentage of its attendees than Capitol Hill Baptist, they only sing hymns and Psalms, and those twentysomethings are belting them out more loudly than I've ever heard anyone do. So that's not an age issue, even though everyone thinks it is; and while that's not for everyone, it is certainly true for many.
When I was very young we were a lot less casual. We dressed (even if we had virtually no money with which to do so) in what was called our "Sunday Best" not to put on airs but to show respect for a sacred place. We don't do that anymore. People are not as attached to things they don't respect, and tend also to be more attached to things that demand more of them. I remember well as a teenager two services on Sunday, plus Sunday School, Training Union, Youth Choir, and Youth Bible Study after. Then we'd do church on Wednesday and another Youth Bible Study. Everyone went, so much so that the schools scheduled around church. I think that was better. I also think we learned a lot more Bible.
But while I can make the case for those things, they are unquestionably my preferences. Not everyone will share them, and not everyone needs to.
Even so, with regard to evangelism, I know the difference very well. There is no field of endeavor in which you don't have to ask for the order. There is nothing where you don't have to tell people what's expected of them: they don't know until you do. Church is no different. You should never be manipulative in doing so, and I've certainly seen that done. But merely asking is not manipulative. It is exactly what Jesus did.
I think we have not because we ask not: not of people, not of God. And I note that in the time in which we've stopped, membership in the largest Protestant denomination on this continent has dropped by 25%.
I think it's worth considering the possibility that some of our changes were not for the better.
Well said; it is a very difficult issue with many variables. I think you have a good point about, we ask not. I don't think we earnestly ask, or more like plead for revival, and then therefore we don't work for it to make it happen.
Holiness churches have been where I cut my spiritual teeth, but The Sword of the Lord was instrumental in my growth (Born in 1932). It is so very sad that you have lost 25% of SBC
. You have spoken of possibilities for that and all may be involved. I'd like to suggest one that you leave out. Ephesians 4:11 & 12 speaks about the gifts of leadership that He gives. NOWHERE does He say that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have to be male. There is no time to write here of the issues involved, But I cannot imagine how a lady physician or in any other leadership position in the world (many in church), coming to a SBC Church and being insulted that she is a second class citizen.
My wife was an ordained minister and I would put her Spirit anointed preaching up against anyone you can name. It was awesome and blessed in drawing people to God.
I have never seen any woman treated as a "second class citizen" in a Baptist church. 1 Timothy 3 prohibits women from becoming pastors and deacons. It doesn't say a single word about doctors, prime ministers, or CEOs.
I understand that perfeclty wonderful people like yourself disagree. But it is unkind to overstate your case.
Paul is a self appointed apostle and the main culprit of the drifting from The Way. "Call no one father..." And what did Paul do?! Read all he wrote without seminary bias but with Berean vetting, against the Scripture (OT). 2000 years deception, no one dares to talk about, though easily provable.
Jesus appointed Paul an apostle. To say otherwise is to deny the plenary inspiration of Scripture. And if you're going to do that, why bother to believe any of it at all?
Thank Paul for it. It didn't happen in the OT!
Oh yes, the OT was so much less restrictive, requiring that priests be ONLY male linear descendants of one guy.
We have a narrow minded God that needed a nudge to relax his requirements, to be more palatable for the new...We cannot obey God and express our free will in conflict with his Law at the same time. Choose Christ or Paul. Christ needed not correction or augmentation.
You literally just called God "narrow-minded"? Wow.
More to the point, you avoided the point. The OT Scriptures you keep citing in opposition to the NT are significantly more restrictive than what you're calling too restrictive. And even if you deny that Jesus is the Author of the entire Word, you can't provide a single passage in which He contradicts either 1 Timothy or Exodus.
So you're kind of making this up to suit yourself and attributing it to Jesus, whose teachings only appear in a Book the validity of which you deny.
No evangelists?! Natural departure from preaching Christ, The Way, the gospel and focusing on theology, Paul letters dominated. You want globalism and communism?! Continue Paul's theology, cheap grace, no God's covenant.
So when we had more evangelists and revivals, that meant that Baptist churches rejected Paul? That's, well, kind of moronic.
You are smarter than this. We both look for the cause and my observation is that what you incentivize is what you get: focusing on Paul and not on Christ.
So you deny the plenary inspiration of Scripture. Why not just say that? There is one and only one Author of the entire Bible, and if you deny that, you aren't a Christian. No shame in that (until the final judgment at least): just admit it.
Sacrilege!! "Plenary?" According to the Holy Spirit or sanctioned by men?! And what you call Scripture? Jesus and the Bereans didn't have NT.
"What you call Scripture". That pretty much says it all.