Challenges

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                    Vol. XIX, No. 1, January 2006

[Please read “State Wrap 2005" before this article, for it provides the background for what follows.]

Having read “State Wrap 2005" you will realize that the major battles of the Conservative Resurgence have been won. Of course some issues remain, notably in LA, MS, NC, & TN, but the biblical course of the SBC, the continuing flow of conservative SBC seminary graduates, and the iron determination of liberals to champion the most egregiously anti-biblical causes (e.g., abortion, homosexuality, feminism) in varying degrees by different liberal groups ... all these strongly suggest that state problems will be solved in the not too distant future.

The challenges presented in TX and VA are different. In these states the older, liberal, and larger convention continues its leftward swing, seemingly with clenched-jaw determination to contravene clear biblical mandates, choose leadership from committed anti-SBC liberal individuals, and move away from the SBC as fast as they dare. In my estimation only the fear of alienating many of their SBC-loyal churches (and thereby losing money) slows their departure. And the conservative state conventions in TX (SBTC) and VA (SBCV) continue to grow and prosper. Each church that realigns from the liberal to the conservative state convention makes it a bit easier for the next to move. It is sad to watch conventions that were once such powerful witnesses for Christ rebel and wither.

Turning our attention from these relicts and scars of past battles, what of the future? With no claim to infallible prescience, following are some of the challenging attitudes or approaches that face us:

The Resurgence is over; forget about it: Denominationally, this produces an attitude of “it’s okay what you believe as long as we can work together”, of “let’s just be one big happy family.” Certainly we are not to be mean-spirited, but we are to be Christ-spirited. And while Jesus is 100% love, He is also 100% just. Love cannot exist in absent consequences. After all, it was precisely because God loves us that Jesus came to make it possible for us to avoid the consequences we deserve. When we fail to teach people biblically about consequences, we usher them to hell and plant seed for new denominational apostasy.

We as a denomination, as each local church, and as individual Christians must love both Christ and sinners enough to insist on biblical standards for initial and continuing church membership.

Love without discipline: This fallacy confuses warm fuzzies with true love. Such “love” is really neglect, lack of concern, an unwillingness to be bothered, selfishness. Just as the child who is never corrected nor punished is warped and corrupted, so the lack of proper guidance and standards in discipling new converts waters down the body to accept progressively lower criteria in dress, entertainment, marriage, business, and all other aspects of life. Our standard should not be what is “fun”, what is popular, what the world is doing, singing, dressing, watching, playing. In each area of our life, our activity must focus on what is honoring to the Lord; how we can glorify Him; how we can show the world the difference that Jesus makes and that He is there for each of us. Imagine the impact if every Southern Baptist won just one person to the Lord this year! How do we move from where we are to where we should be?

Generational Change: Dr. Adrian Rogers, one of the giants of our denomination, of preaching, of the Conservative Resurgence just went Home in mid-November. This should impress upon us not only our love of Dr. Rogers, Joyce, and their family but also the fleeting nature of life. Those to whom Jesus assigned roles large or small (but every one important) in carrying through the Resurgence will be welcomed to Heaven faster than we tend to realize. As I type this I can think of at least five very active and effective conservatives who are no longer available to share their experiences with others.

Those who forget the past condemn themselves to repeat it. We have seen Satan pursue the same debilitating process in many denominations including our own. Why should we think that if we do not guard against the watering down of biblical belief, if we hire seminary and college professors who do not believe and teach the inerrancy of Scripture, the same kind of denominational downgrade will not recur?

Every SBC seminary should have a required course on the Resurgence, how the problem developed, and how it was solved with an emphasis not on the mere history but rather on being alert to signs of a repeat performance and a willingness to stand strong. Those with the experience should share it with the next generation.

Trustees who surrender to the system: Trustees are agents of and owe their responsibility to the messengers who elected them. They are there to insure the agency is faithful and efficient in executing the mandate messengers have assigned. Trustees are NOT on the board to be toadies for the agency head. In fact, one of their responsibilities is to evaluate his performance. This is not to say they should be trouble makers or mean-spirited, merely that they should guard their independence and not be hesitant to speak up when they see something wrong.

Our entity executive directors or presidents should be cautioned not to attempt to make trustees rubber stamps. And every trustee when first elected should be clearly instructed that he owes his position and responsibility to messengers, that is, to the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole, not to his entity head.

Manipulation of trustees is an exceedingly serious fault. Entity heads who so abuse their positions should be dismissed with no benefits above what they have earned by their years of service. To strengthen our structure trustees must be willing to stand, even alone if necessary.

SBC officials must lead, not direct: Pride is the basic human sin, and anyone promoted to a position of great influence and visibility faces serious temptations spurred by pride. One of the great failures of the “old SBC” was the all too common scorn of its leaders toward those they considered the simple, uneducated staffs and members of local churches.

In SBC polity messengers from local churches wield ultimate authority. Our pastors, our laity, and our denominational employees must all remain conscious of this fact and act on it consistently. This is a reality very easy to ignore.

State entities, especially state papers, colleges and universities, their faculties and staffs must be carefully and consistently scrutinized if they are to remain biblically sound: Here again pride rears its ugly head. Baptist authors and academicians face disparate pressures. They need to be scripturally true in order to serve the Lord’s purposes and to be accepted and supported by their denomination. They also have a natural desire for academic plaudits. But scriptural loyalty is often tenuous, intangible, and may be rationalized away in almost imperceptible increments. On the other hand, academic recognition in the form of articles and books published and awards presented are visible, tangible and very enticing. In this case, eternal vigilance is the price of doctrinal fealty.

Heart throbs: Even after 55 years of marriage my heart beat picks up when my wife enters the room, not with the tumult of our younger years, perhaps, but noticeably nevertheless. Why? Because I love her. Because she loves and serves me and I want to serve her. Because a tender touch, a smile, a pleasant word from her means more than encomiums from anyone else in the world. Nevertheless, this relationship of bodily husband and wife is temporary, limited to our earthly life.

We, the church, the redeemed, we are the bride of Christ. He is our eternal Spouse, our Lover, our Lord, our Commander. Yet our hearts seldom throb for Him. We too seldom seek His will for our actions, our jobs, our relationships even to the extent we seek the will of our spouses.

Can we ever be His earthly presence, His priests, His witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth unless we are fully committed to Him, unless our hearts throb with love for Him, unless holiness is our most important goal by far? How do we grow into such holiness? If the answer were easy, it would not be a challenge. But if we Southern Baptists are to be a great force for Christ, if He is to use us to turn our nation and world around, if we are to quintuple annual baptisms, if we are to become faithful, committed witnesses, we must seek holiness.

Well, the above is a first try, a tentative and partial list not intended to be complete. If you have additional suggestions or take exception to one or more of the above, write me at 8601 Buckboard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308 or email to thebaptistbanner@cox.net.