A history note, In the early days of this country Baptists were disliked because every time they spoke to someone they had "a scripture to cast in your teeth."
Sadly, they have come a long way and the wrong way. For many years in ministry I have had to plead with Baptists to come to church, to exercise their gifts and many would have been hard pressed to quote a verse let alone bring some up in every conversation they had with another Baptist let alone a stranger.
The other extreme was the ones who would knock on doors quote a few Scriptures and finally nearly force someone to say the "sinner's prayer" and run back to church counting the souls they led to the Lord when in most cases the people did not really get it but said it to get them out of their house or off their doorstep. They never came to church, were never baptized and were curt or evasive on a follow up visit. Yet, they were counted as a notch on the person's gospel gun.
Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
I am afraid many of those "converts" are just twice the child of Hell because now they tell the next one that witnesses to them that they prayed the prayer and are saved. They have been inoculated, not converted.
I am also afraid that many who do come to church got religion and not salvation which explains the need to plead, beg and guilt trip to get them to come to church and serve the One they say saved them.
It can also be a fair explanation for church splits. Jesus unites so why are there so many splits? More often than not it is a flesh thing not a doctrinal thing. How do i know? If it were a doctrinal issue you would see differences in the doctrine but most split churches hold the same doctrines so it was not truth that divided them.
Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
There will be some fruit if you get saved and you may be a 30 fold for years and then make it to 60 or 100 fold. But no fold is not an option. You may fight weeds, locusts and other things and have some unfruitful seasons or low yield crops, but zip and nada are not options.
If you have to be roped and drug into church or service then you are a bull or mule, but maybe not a sheep. Pastors, you are shepherds not cowboys. You lead not drive and if you have to drive your congregation then you need to move on to a herd of sheep and leave the bulls, mules and tares to someone else if you are truly called.
It is past time that we so give ourselves to Christ so that people fuss again about us using "too much Scripture" all the time. Jesus, the Apostles and others used a great deal of Scripture in the temple and the market place. If we want 1st Century fruit we need to become 1st Century disciples.
It's not just the Baptists that need revival. Roger Williams, Charles Wesley, Martin Luther, John Knox and others would not be welcome in many churches who claim they stem from these men. i am sure that there are also many lethargic Pentecostals that need some fresh fire!
Whatever your background, now is the time to find out who you are, a child of God or a convert of men. If of men, then turn to Jesus. If a child of God, let's be about our Father's business led by the Spirit. Otherwise, our faith is fruitless.
