Recently I received from the North American Mission Board the most recent statistics on recorded baptisms in Southern Baptist churches from 1971 through 2003.

During those years, our highest number of baptisms occurred in 1972 when 445,725 were baptized. Our lowest baptisms in a given year occurred in 1978 when we baptized 336,050. In the past ten years, our high was 419,342 in 1999 and our low was last year, 2003, with 377,357.

You can see from these statistics that there has not been much movement up or down for the past thirty years. Actually, Southern Baptist baptisms have been on a plateau since the 1950’s. We have declined in baptisms each of the past four years. What we need is a new focus upon evangelism. There is no doubt in our mind that evangelism was the very heart of Jesus’ ministry. He said of himself that He had come to seek and to save those who were lost. We also have no doubt that He has called us to be evangelists. In fact, He said that we are to go into all the world and baptize! This world includes Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost. Apparently, Southern Baptists, while baptizing increasing numbers on the international mission field, last year over 500,000, have failed to do the same in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

How can we turn this around? What can we do? Our world is increasingly lost. We see the evidence of lostness all around us. Yet, Jesus promised that even the gates of Hell would not be able to prevail against the church. So, the church is the answer to overcoming the darkness in our world. We know that the church is the people, which simply means that the answer lies with you and me doing what God in Christ has called us to do. One by one we must reach our communities for Jesus Christ. Taken as a whole, the task is overwhelming and seems impossible, but when we see it as each one reaching one, it becomes possible. What if every Southern Baptist led someone to Christ in a year? No doubt baptizing 16 million in one year would set a new standard! What if we did only one-sixteenth of that possibility and baptized one million. That certainly seems doable, but it will require our commitment.

About four years ago Southern Baptist leadership conceived the concept of baptizing one million in one year, planting 2,500 churches in one year and starting 100,000 new units in Sunday School in one year. We called this effort “What Now, America?” simply because we are living in an entirely new world since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What should be the Christian’s response to such an introduction of wickedness? We saw on that terrible day, up close and in a personal way, the cataclysmic effect of evil. So what should be our response? “What Now, America?”

I believe our response should be, “Onward, Christian Soldiers!” It is not time to retreat. It is time to advance. We should exercise more effort than at any time in our history to reach people for Christ.

In Georgia we are calling our thrust for 2005/2006 “What Now, Georgia?”. Our goals as a state convention include baptizing 50,000, starting 3,500 new units in Sunday School and planting over 100 new churches. If we are to succeed in this worthy goal, it will take the involvement of every association, of every church, of every believer. Will you do your part?