Many of your State Board of Missions staff have served the Lord for multiple years and some for decades. For all those who work alongside me, I am grateful, including for those whom I would call “seasoned colleagues.”
Indeed, when you consider service to our Lord prior to state missionary service – notably at local churches, Baptist associations and some at Baptist Campus Ministries outside Alabama – many of us have had the blessing of being on mission with the Great Commission for several decades.
But what about the “beyond” that I mention in the title? I’m referring to younger colleagues who have answered God’s call to state missions ministry. It is encouraging to know that others are following in the footsteps of Jesus in obedience to Him.
Most recently, Spencer Bell has joined the SBOM staff as an associate to serve with Rob Jackson in the Office of Evangelism & Church Revitalization. Spencer has answered this call as a 23-year-old servant of Christ. (Read more here.)
As I told The Alabama Baptist, Spencer is among the most gifted young ministers I know. He has served with effectiveness as a pastor and as an evangelist. He brings to this ministry a keen understanding of the need to reach people for Christ and to help them become fully devoted disciples.
In his most recent pastorate, Spencer led a true revitalization effort in his church. The church grew in every measurable way, including baptisms, personal spiritual development of the membership as well as the congregation’s financial health.
Spencer Bell is a champion for the Cooperative Program having led his church to practice giving 10 percent through this vital missional channel. He is also deeply committed to Alabama Baptists and to Southern Baptists.
An outstanding preacher of the Word, Spencer loves expository preaching. Furthermore, he is a gifted singer who enjoys the music ministry of the local church. Alabama Baptists will love getting to know Spencer Bell. He is one of us!
But even as I think about the wider scope of what it means to be a “seasoned minister” working for our Lord, there are some troubling studies that indicate that not as many are answering God’s call to vocational or bivocational ministry.
This is almost certainly due in part to “The Rise of the Nones,” a term that has been around since the 1960s, though it has become better known in the past 12 or 13 years. It refers to an increasing percentage of the population – among younger people, especially – who are agnostic, atheist or non-affiliated when it comes to faith. Some call the non-affiliated group “Nothing in Particular.”
Without question, all of these and everyone on our planet need Christ, and the Gospel should be proclaimed to them as our Lord commanded.
Back to how this relates to the blog title “Seasoned Colleagues and Beyond” – in many decades and centuries gone by, many of those who answered the Lord’s call to ministry were teenagers and young adults. It was assumed that the ranks of an aging ministry would eventually be replenished by younger believers in response to the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit.
But the “nones” have had an almost certain impact on the number who fail to respond to His call. Since the 1960s, when an anti-religious and distorted spiritual impulse began to rise steadily, the “nones” have increased in percentage.
The Pew Research Center and others estimate this number to be in the range of 27 to 29 percent. That is highly troubling, but it should move us in fervent prayer to humbly lay this need at the throne of God.
Your State Board of Missions has undertaken an effort and ministry known as “Calling Out the Called.” You can read more about it on a website focused solely on this need.
Think with me about a few vital questions:
- Are there still many lost people in this world all of whom need Jesus as their Lord and Savior? Yes.
- Does our Lord want them to be saved? Yes
- Since the “fields are white unto harvest” and since the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” is it likely – in fact, highly likely – that He is calling many more to answer the call to ministry and not just as pastors and missionaries but also as vocational and bivocational evangelists? Yes – a resounding yes!
- Should all of us – in obedience to biblical commands – share our faith and tell others about Jesus? Yes.
- Does God call individuals from His people of all ages into ministry for Him? Definitely. Think of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Timothy and so many others in the pages of Scripture.
Turning our attention back to the joyous present moment in state missions, join me in thanking God for calling Spencer Bell as a state missionary. Indeed, I am grateful for all whom God has called to serve on the staff of your State Board of Missions.
