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By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director and BaptistLIFE Editor
As I write this, the world has just learned of the death of Michael Jackson. Of course it is a vivid reminder of the brevity and fragility of life. Of all his songs the one I have always liked most is “The Man In The Mirror.” As I sat through this year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Ky., I kept thinking that, yes, we may need a Great Commission Resurgence (GRC). Yes, we may need to rethink some of our SBC infrastructure. But more than that, we need an old fashioned mega-dose of obedience.
In Revelation 2, it says, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forgotten your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (NIV)
If every Baptist in the pews were both a tither and a sacrificial giver, we would have all the resources necessary to carry out the Great Commission in our generation.
If every Baptist gave of themselves to share their faith, feed the hungry, clothe the naked and rescue the disenfranchised in our world, the present SBC infrastructure would be so busy accommodating missions experiences, training leaders to lead our churches, helping the poor and setting a climate for Kingdom advance that we wouldn’t be begging folks for more Cooperative Program dollars in order to survive.
In this month’s Golf Magazine I found a very interesting survey. The editor, David Clarke, reported that in a recent poll of avid golfers, there was a surprise result. They asked golfers, “What makes you happiest on the course?” They thought that ‘shooting a low score’ would rank very high. It didn’t. They thought ‘playing with your best friends’ would rank right up there. It didn’t. An overwhelming 67 percent of those polled said that their biggest thrill was ‘making solid, consistent contact regardless of their score.’ Of them, Editor Clarke said, “[They’d] rather pure it all day and shoot 93 than chop it around and post 80.”
How ‘bout it Southern Baptists? Are you ready to ‘pure it’ all day? That’s the resurgence we could really use. Maybe that’s us in the mirror this time!