"A Church in Debt" by Peter Lumpkins

  I graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990.  In August of that same year, I preached at my home church in Madison, Tennessee from the text, Romans 1:13-17. During the course of the message, I rhetorically asked "Are Southern Baptists paying their bills?" I then answered my own question>>>

 

I said:

There exists an alarming shortage of those going to the mission fields. I'm told 95% of those called to ministry is preaching to 5% of the world's population. Some are suggesting that many are just not listening to God's call. There are other reasons perhaps, and fear may be one of them--fear that Southern Baptists might split. A good friend shared with me such was the reason he could not go overseas. Whatever the reason, surely we cannot believe that God has placed a hold on world missions...

Is our church paying her gospel debt? The inspired Apostle confesses, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." Are we paying the gospel bills we owe to the world? Does our church put more priority on paying the insurance premium than preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth? Are we as concerned about coming up with the money for missions as for paying for the family-life park?  Should we not be more concerned? And even more pointedly, are each of us able to confess with Paul, "As I am debtor to the world, I must pay my debt!"?

I confess I wish I could say with the Inspired Apostle that I am free from the blood of all men

but I cannot...

I wish I could say I have shared the gospel whenever the opportunity arose

but I cannot...

I wish I could say I have paid every gospel debt I owe to every person I have met

but, alas, I cannot...I cannot...

God help us! Sweet Jesus anoint us! Give us ready hearts to pay the world the greatest Premium of all, the debt we owe to all--Jesus Christ our Lord.

August, 1990

May our Lord continually raise up an army of servants indebted to the world they owe the saving news of Jesus Christ.

With that, I am...

Peter

 

 

Comments

[darryl brunson]

Amen. And Amen.

[peter lumpkins]

Darryl,

Thanks my brother. I trust your Lord's Day yesterday was a glorious one...
With that, I am...
Peter

[Chris Gilliam]

That same text gripped me in 1998 and I started doing a lot of missions, particularly trying to go where the gospel is not preached in the midst of some places where he is preached.

[peter lumpkins]

Chris,

Thanks. A stirring text for sure...

With that, I am...
Peter