Faithfulness

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                           Vol. III, No. 1, January 1990

Faithfulness, like so many things, comes in many varieties. Regarding our spiritual life, faithfulness often pertains to attendance and giving. And rightly it should, for we are to "forsake not gathering yourselves together" and to "bring the full tithe into the storehouse." If we are not faithful in such easily met standards as being where we know we should when we should and returning to God the minimum from all the blessings He gives to us, how can we claim to be true believers, faithful disciples? Yet faithfulness should extend far beyond attendance and tithes.

Bible study is also an area where we need to be faithful. (And we should always remember: God does not need our faithfulness. He is perfect and in need of nothing. It is we who have the need to be faithful.) We are to escape sin by faithfully studying, memorizing, talking about, rejoicing in, meditating on, and delighting in God's word (Psalm 119:9-16). If we are not faithful in this respect, we should expect to be snared by sin, to forego that joy, to miss that delight. A decision not to study God's word faithfully is simultaneously a decision to become embroiled in sin and to miss many of God's greatest blessings.

Another area of faithfulness is prayer. We know that, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." We know that the prayers of the saints are as sweet incense before the throne of God. We know that we need that time alone with God to seek His will, to express our love for Him, to subject our egos, to replace our attitudes with His. If we are not faithful in prayer, how can we grow in God?

We could extend this discussion, for example to service, but I want to focus on an area often overlooked. We Southern Baptists have a way of making decisions that we believe is best. It gives each local church the opportunity to participate. The procedure we use is to hold annual meetings of each local association, each state association, and the national SBC, meetings where we vote to decide matters. This is a wonderful system designed to prevent any small group from dominating the entire denomination and dictating practice and belief. Beginning in 1979 we have had a graphic demonstration of this democratic system in action. A majority of pastors and people in the pews came to the conclusion that the SBC was heading in the wrong direction, that it was departing from our historical devotion to God's infallible word. And they set about to correct that error. For eleven years we have faithfully attended national conventions in sufficient numbers to elect inerrantist presidents determined to bring the SBC back to its roots, to its historical stance and beliefs. We must remain faithful to the task if the process is to be completed.

We must also apply that same faithfulness at the state level, but we are not yet doing so. As one example, note that 410 people attended our Virginia Baptist Bible Conference in Salem Monday night. But on Wednesday afternoon when the crucial votes for president and the vice presidents were taken, our conservative nominees received only 265, 194, 287, 210, and 194 votes on the five ballots. Where were the other 200 or so?

Please make this a matter of prayer and planning. You know already that the SBC convention will be in New Orleans June 12-14 and the BGAV convention will be in Richmond November 13-14. Don't come just for the first day. We need you to be faithful to the end. Come and stay until the final session is adjourned.

Some of the pastors reading this are thinking, "Yes, but prayer meeting is Wednesday night, and I need to drive home in time to lead it." Is that really the case? Is there no one else you could ask to replace you that evening?

The decisions made at our state and national conventions are critical not just at those levels of our polity but also, ultimately, for every local church. We must be faithful. We must attend. And we must stay till the end. Please, please pray about it and make the necessary arrangements so that next year you can be faithful in this regard also.