By Chuck Kelley Optimism is the tendency to expect the best. Pessimism is the tendency to expect the worst. An “optimistic pessimist” is someone who chooses hope in spite of discouragement. In a series of nine blogs, I explored the reality that the Southern Baptist Convention is in the grip of prolonged decline. That decline was first manifested in our evangelism statistics, but as it grew unchecked, decline spread to nearly every statistical category that matters to people concerned about the Great Commission. The chart on the total number of SBC churches and their baptisms over a period of more than one hundred years (see Part 1) and the chart showing key SBC statistics over the past decade (see Part 8) are two of the most unsettling documents I ever presented. The numbers give Southern Baptists no place to hide and no room to wiggle. The knowledge of what happened to Methodism in the aftermath of their failure to heed the similar warnings of W. E. Sangster in 1938 (see Part 9) is a chilling reminder of how very serious this moment is in the Southern Baptist story. Having painted this bleak picture of the SBC present, what do I see in the SBC future? I am an optimistic pessimist. I choose hope! Here is why. The SBC leaders … [Read more...]