Clearing Out the Deadwood

by Dr. M. O. Owens, Jr.                                                                        Vol. XV, No. 10, Nov/Dec. 2002

[Introduction: Dr. M. O. Owens, Jr., is a well known retired SBC pastor in North Carolina. He is editor of The Watchman newsletter and heads Owen Ministries. The following article is excerpted from the May 2002 issue of The Watchman. It deals with an extremely important challenge to Southern Baptists. TCP]

“Deadwood” is a very uncomplimentary metaphoric phrase sometimes used to identify people whose names are on the roll of a church as members, but who are totally inactive – they contribute nothing except to be one of a statistical number. Many of these no longer live in the community of the church – some I other states. In some cases there is no known address.

The problem of “deadwood” in the membership is tremendous in all Protestant/Evangelical denominations, and Southern Baptists are no exception; in fact, we may be in worse shape than most of these. Statistics indicate that at least 50% of the membership of the average Southern Baptist church is inactive – they are “deadwood”, attending rarely, if ever, and giving nothing in time, effort, or money.

This is tragic. In the first place, the church is living a lie. It is saying, for instance, “We have 300 members” for bragging purposes, when in truth there are only 150 who give support to the church in any way. In no other institution or organization is such a practice permitted. In the second place, by default, the church is saying to these inactive members, some of whom, almost certainly, have not been saved, “You are just as much a part of the body of Christ as anyone else.” If one of them dies, the pastor is in a very awkward position. Here is a person who was a member of the church, and the family perhaps wants the funeral in the church building. What can the pastor say about this person’s spiritual condition, wither in words, or by silence? The very acknowledgment of the person’s membership will seem to say, “This person was O.K. spiritually.” In the third place, such a situation is saying to the world, “To be a Christian, and to be saved from hell, all that is necessary is to be a member of the church.” In the fourth place, it says clearly to a lost world that the church really doesn’t make any difference. The world is already saying, “There is no difference between those who are church members and those who are not.” Sadly, there is far too much truth in that statement.

Handling this problem is not an easy task. If the church votes bluntly to remove inactive members from the roll, there are bound to be some who will feel mistreated, and there may be an occasional one who rightly should be excepted. Of the rest, there will be somebody who will say, “You are ignoring their need. They need to be helped. If you kick them out of the membership, they may very well, in reaction, turn away from God.”

Without question, every effort should be made to bring these people back into fellowship and faithfulness. Whatever action the church takes should be done in sincerest love, deepest humility, and earnest prayer. We should never forget that we are dealing with souls, each headed toward eternity. But we also must not forget that the church is the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:27), and that He speaks demandingly of th purity He expects of His Bride (Eph. 5:26, 27, 32).

(Suggestions for procedures that may be helpful in dealing with this problem have been put in pamphlet form by Owens Ministries. If you would like a copy, write to: Owens Ministries, Inc.; P.O. Box 2066; Gastonia, NC 28053.