Is The Church Only For Good Christians?
I recently read an article about an organization that provides background checks for churches. If a church wants to feel safe about those who volunteer to work with children or serve in a leadership position, it might be a good idea to get information about that person’s past. The article was full of statistics and inferences, but it was not the numbers that caught my attention. It was the attitude of quoted interested parties that struck me as curious.
Researchers did what statisticians like to do. They took the numbers, applied them to a specific situation, and came to a conclusion. Don’t worry if their conclusion is based on faulty logic and incomplete research. The researchers speculate that there are more than 60,000 people with some type of criminal history in Southern Baptist churches.
I am not sure why they chose to single out Southern Baptists. Do we really believe that Methodists are more law-abiding? I know some Southern Baptists who believe that “mixed bathing” is a walk on the wild side. For those of you younger than forty, “mixed bathing” does not refer to taking a shower with your girl friend. It means boys and girls swimming together, actually in the same body of water and wearing a complete swimsuit.
