WWJD for a declining denomination?

A Southern Baptist researcher asks the right questions, but not enough of them.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, looks at the "ongoing decline" in Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) membership. He says a loss of 68,350 members in 2009 and statistics from other recent years shows that SBC membership has peaked, and suggests that Southern Baptists react with questions like the one posed in Charles Sheldon's novel "In His Steps:"

"What Would Jesus Do?"

Stetzer, who previously showed the downward trend of SBC membership, says, "We are a denomination in decline. Some don’t like to admit it.  But, the decline of SBC membership is not a matter of debate.  It is a matter of math."

Worse, Southern Baptists already face a shrinking demographic pool from which to draw. Furthermore, the SBC's membership numbers are clearly inflated.

Stetzer rhetorically suggests four ways the SBC can fail to handle the decline:

• Option #1: Act as if nothing negative is really happening.
• Option #2: Acknowledge that the decline is real and blame some “other” segment of the convention for the decline. “It’s those contemporary pastors who have colluded with worldliness.” Or “It’s those old dusty pastors who have confused tradition with the power of the gospel.”
• Option #3: Blame lost people for being lost. Perhaps complaining about the state of the country will make lost people want to be saved.
• Option #4: Wish for something else. We can dream of a different future or pine away for a preferred past but without action in the present context of our churches, nothing with change.

Then Stetzer suggests a fifth option, which he says is the only way to impact the world: "a serious self-examination as to whether how we make disciples is rooted in Scripture and delivering the gospel effectively to our mission field. We can scarcely hope to impact the world if we do not approach the gospel and kingdom of God in the same way that Christ did."

Stetzer goes on to list four questions Southern Baptists should ask themselves.

• Do we value the kingdom as He did?
• Do we love sinners as He loved them?
• Do we serve as He served?
• Do we remind our neighbors of Jesus and tell them of His gospel?

Good questions, to which well-known SBC realities suggest that we add:

• What would Jesus do about pastors who use titles they haven't earned?
• What would Jesus do about a large majority of trustees coming from a small minority of churches?
• What would Jesus do about actions toward women that "fall short of biblical standards"?
• What would Jesus do about a former convention officer praying for the deaths of the president and members of Congress?
• What would Jesus do about executives who won't reveal their salaries?
• What would Jesus do about inflated mission numbers?
• What would Jesus do about a denomination closely aligning itself with a political party?
• What would Jesus do about church autonomy protecting predators?
• What would Jesus do about Batholics and Cathists?

To reverse the slide, the SBC must broadly consider what ails it. Not frame WWJD narrowly in an attempt to reduce the number of hard questions.