Little is much...
By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director
As I write you today I have been thinking a lot about how we measure success. For Southern Baptists in Maryland and Delaware it is even harder to measure because we are such little fish in a great big pond. Let me illustrate (and I apologize in advance to Delaware since most of the statistics referenced here only reflect Maryland).
According to the Association of Religious Data Archives, the population of Maryland was 5,296,486 as of the year 2000. At that same juncture, the membership of all SBC churches in Maryland was 142,401 or just 2.7 percent of the population. That ranked Maryland number 20 in the ratio of SBC membership as a percentage of state population.
(Delaware actually ranked 35th with only .08 percent of that state’s population being Southern Baptist).
In comparison to other Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), the Baltimore/ Washington area ranked 131st (or 3.5 percent) of SBC membership as a percentage of MSA population. Interestingly, Cumberland, Md., ranked higher at 128th (3.7 percent). The highest ranking MSA in this category is Gadsden, Ala., with 47.1 percent of SBC membership as a percentage of MSA. The odds that you will meet another Southern Baptist in Gadsden, Ala., are extremely high.
One other statistic that I found interesting is how Southern Baptists fare in the top ten Maryland counties. Charles County leads the way with 6.6 percent of the county population being Southern Baptists.
The remaining counties in the top ten fall out as follows: Worcester (6.5%), Cecil (5.2%), Dorchester (3.9%), Alleghany (3.7%), Montgomery (3.4%), Wicomico (3.2%), Caroline, (3.1%), and Harford and Howard tied at 3.0%.
Just a little perspective… Charles County (above) ranked 1,244th nationally. One last analysis…in Maryland, here’s how all religious affiliations were ranked in 2000:
#1 Unclaimed (56%) for a total of 3,004,590 people
#2 Catholic (17%) for a total of 952,389 people
#3 Mainline Protestants (11%) for a total of 604,648 people
#4 Evangelical Protestants (7%) for a total of 409,460 people
#5 Other (5%) for a total of 303,163 people
#6 Orthodox (4%) for a total of 22,236 people
What jumps out at me is that 56 percent of the population of Maryland claimed no religious affiliation.
WOW…do we have work to do! David Meacham, senior strategist for church planting with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), says, “A three-year old church is only half as effective in reaching people for the Lord as it was in its early days. And once a church is 15 years old, it becomes only one-third as effective.”
According to NAMB statistics, there were 29 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1900; 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1950; 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 2000; and only 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 2004.
For some, the task seems so daunting that it is a de-motivator on its face. There are so few of us and so great a spiritual need in our region. But that’s the same thing the disciples said to Jesus when he asked them in John 6 to feed the 5,000. There were only two fish and five loaves. Obviously on the surface, there was no way it could be done. But Jesus took the simple offering of a willing child, multiplied it with His supernatural touch and, what was thought to be impossible, became possible!
Sometimes the task seems overwhelming. We rarely ever have the sense of how successful we are being at the task.
I am reminded of the great story by Loren Eisley: One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing? ”The youth replied, “I’m throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and thousands of starfish? You can’t possibly make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said… “I made a difference for that one.”
There is an old song that says, “Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown and you can win it, if you go in Jesus’ name!”
Go make a difference for someone today…and every “someone” God gives you to share His love with. Your little will go a long way.
