Death Of a Baptist Church

The Death of a Baptist Church

The obituary read as follows: “First Community Center—alias, First Baptist Church. The formerly well-known deceased was born in the throes of revival as sinners wept their way to the Lord. The parents, Gospel Truth and Prayer, rejoiced at its birth. The child grew into maturity with great strides, making a name for itself locally and even around the world. The deceased had grown not only by additions to its own body, but as its sons and daughters went forth, grandchildren were born throughout the area and adjoining states. As missionaries were commissioned for service in foreign lands, grandchildren were born virtually around the world. As its family grew, newer and better facilities were necessitated, and its general health was apparent to one and all. Not only was the deceased enabled to care for its own needs of growth, but its grandchildren in foreign lands benefited by its assistance as well.

Its demise has been very gradual. The coroner discovered the following maladies: The artery that called for a proper diet of spiritual meat had been clogged with entertainment. The obstruction of the prayer artery had choked the blessings of the power of God as both public and private prayer failed to flow. The artery of evangelism had been clogged with disinterest and carelessness. When asked to call Dr. Evangelist, the body refused and even ridiculed the doctor claiming he was out of touch with today's generation.

In reviewing the death, friends had failed to see the telltale signs of degenerate heart failure; but upon careful reflection, they have mentioned the following. When the body first noted signs of poor health, it was thought that a new name would solve the maladies. Thus the name ‘Baptist’ was dropped, and a ‘Community’ name was adopted. New interest was generated, but the new additions did not like the hymns of Zion, so the music of heaven was replaced with the discordant sounds of the world. Some of the new crowd objected to the archaic language of the menu, and thus bright new language was developed that would be ‘relative’ to the age. Outside interests began to attract the body’s attention on Sunday evenings, and spiritual nutritionists decided that that meal was totally unnecessary.

Apparently the body’s mind began to observe the dysfunction of parts of the body, and radical efforts were made to regenerate activity, but the arteries were clogged beyond repair. The efforts were too late, and the body died. Few were left to mourn the passing.

It became necessary to find a new use for the empty shell that once housed the now departed, vibrant soul and body called “First Baptist Church.” The residue of the most recent additions have suggested that the property be deeded to the community for a counseling center where the adherents of Freud can disseminate the doctrines of their leader to the unwary.

A distant relative, who still bears the family name “Baptist,” opined that Satan had won through guile what he could not win through a frontal assault. A former member of the late “Community Center” expressed displeasure with the statement, though he could not elaborate on his objections since he had to leave for his Sunday morning tee off time of 11:00 A.M.

Dr. Vance Havner once wrote, “I had been brought up in a Christian home, under old-fashioned preaching—sin black, hell hot, judgment certain, eternity long, and salvation free. I was converted during an old-fashioned revival—not a modern, fashionable, harmless little revival, but an old-fashioned revival that stirred the saints and saved sinners and set the angels rejoicing and put the devil’s program in reverse... where ‘grace taught our hearts to fear and grace our fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour we first believed! They didn’t ‘hold’ revivals in those days, they turned them loose!”[1]

Adapted from This Day in Baptist History II
by David L. Cummins and E. Wayne Thompson... Brother Glen