Special Report of Committee
on our
Relationship to the Southern Baptist Convention
Vol. III, No. 3, April 1990
[Introduction: This report was presented to the membership of a Southern Baptist church in Virginia. The Report will be followed by my editorial comments.]
This committee was appointed by the church to study some of the most critical issues which are causing controversy and conflict among Southern Baptists, and to explore ways that we might respond to current policies and practices within the SBC and make resolutions regarding our relationship to the SBC.
The process this committee went through in studying the matter was first to identify the issues involved, then to try to determine how this church felt about the issues (distributed the questionnaire), and to compose resolutions and recommendations relating to the issues.
The committee felt the issues of concern at this time to be: Women's Role in the Church; Interpretation of the Bible; Priesthood of the Believer. The following resolutions address these concerns.
The committee also is concerned about areas of ministry that are funded through Cooperative Program giving. Our concerns in these areas are: (1) the Foreign Mission Board's, {sic} growing trend toward creedalism, its requirement that of belief {sic} in the inerrancy of the Bible, and refusal to appoint any divorced person to service in the mission field; (2) the Home Mission board's policy not to recognize the ordination of women or to support any church which has an ordained women as pastor; (3) Southeastern Seminary-circumstance that led to the resignation of its president, Randall Lolley, {sic} its policy that no professors will be secured who do not hold to the inerrancy of the Scriptures, and the diminishing of the role of the faculty in the selection of professors; (4) the Christian Life Commission – its narrow view of Christian life concerns.
I. RESOLUTIONS
1. WOMEN'S ROLE IN THE CHURCH:
"WHEREAS, we, the members of the First Baptist Church of Front Royal, recognize the authority of scripture in all matters of faith and practice; and
"WHEREAS, we are committed to the historical principles of Virginia Baptists; (soul liberty, separation of Church and State, and autonomy of the local church; and
"WHEREAS, the New Testament emphasizes the quality of men and women, and that the
Holy Spirit at Pentecost divinely outpoured on men and women alike; and
"WHEREAS, St. Paul confirms this with these words, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus;"
"THEREFORE, let us resolve that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal shall support with prayer and love any man or women who responds to God's call for service and ordination."
2. INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE:
"WHEREAS, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by the inspiration of God and are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience; and
"WHEREAS, we recognize that all Scripture must be interpreted with all the resources available and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the community of faith; and
"WHEREAS, we believe the Bible does not need protectors, but sincere and serious students;
"THEREFORE, we resolve that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal affirms the freedom of the individual, led by God's spirit within the family of faith, to read and interpret the Scriptures.
"WE FURTHER RESOLVE, that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal does not condone the use of the Doctrine of Inerrancy as a test of Christian faith and fellowship; and, in particular, the First Baptist Church of Front Royal does not condone the use of the Doctrine of Inerrance as a prerequisite for employment at Southern Baptist seminaries, churches, or mission endeavors."
3. PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER:
"WHEREAS, God first called a people unto himself as a "nation of priests" (Exodus 19:6), and
"WHEREAS, this covenant was fulfilled in Christ as recorded in I Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people,..."
"WHEREAS, this understanding has been central to our understanding as Baptists; and
"WHEREAS, the 1988 Resolution adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention addressing the Priesthood of the Believer narrowed church leadership and authority to the pastor;
"THEREFORE, let us resolve that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal affirms the Doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer when used responsibly to reflect the competency of each soul before his or her Maker.
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal affirms the servant role of leadership within the church following the model of our Servant Lord, and
"BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the First Baptist Church of Front Royal embraces the full partnership of all of God's people in mission and ministry."
Upon consideration and adoption of these Resolutions by the First Baptist Church of Front Royal, we recommend that copies be sent to the officers of the Southern Baptist Convention, the members of the SBC Executive Committee, the President of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Executive Director of the Shenandoah Association of Virginia, the Director of the Southern Baptist Alliance, the Presidents of the SBC Foreign Mission Board, Home Mission, the Christian Life Commission, The Religious Herald, SBC Today.
II. RECOMMENDATIONS
That we continue our Cooperative Program giving at the same level but with the following revisions in designating:
That we cut our portion of the Foreign Mission Board allotment by 25% and redesignate it to the World Hunger and Relief program; and
That we reduce the Home Mission Board allotment by 25%, the allotment to Southeastern Seminary by 50%, the allotment to the Christian Life Commission by 50% and redesignate all of this amount to the BJCPA (Baptist Joint Commission {sic} on Public Affairs), and
That we undergo a continuing process whereby we study the matters involved in our relationship to the SBC and periodically re-evaluate the situation and make recommendations of further resolutions and statements for future actions.
That this report be adopted by a vote of 75% of those in attendance. {end}
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Commentary:
There is such an intermingling of truth and confusion, insight and error in this document that it is difficult to know where to address it. The most basic point to keep in mind as you reread it is that the presence of some biblically true statements does not necessarily mean the entire text is trustworthy. This is not to impugn the motives of the authors but simply to point out some mistakes and offer another perspective. For example, in their first resolution on "Women's Role in the Church" there is a confusion of the spiritual equality of men and women (biblical truth) with functional uniformity (error). The point is not that one sex is better than another, but rather that each differs from the other. We know that literally every cell in a woman's body differs from every cell in a man's; that there are important physical differences far beyond the reproductive ones (e.g., upper body strength, percent of body fat); that there are mental and psychological differences such as linguistic proclivity. With all the differences God has designed into men and women, would it not be remarkably strange if He did not direct us into differing roles. Thus when we read I Timothy 2:9-15 we should not be surprised but understand it as part of God's will, working out His intent in making men and women different. Those who on the one hand acknowledge that the Scriptures are "given by the inspiration of God and are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience" but on the other ignore parts of the Bible such as I Timothy 2:9-15 create for themselves logical and spiritual tensions that must be resolved. If the Scriptures truly are inspired of God, if they are the rule, if they require obedience, then we are to accept and obey, not quibble and cavil. God is monarch, not president. Humans have no vote regarding His authority, no voice regarding the truth of His Word, no alternative other than obedience or rebellion.
It is not that one person or one sex has a legitimate God-given ministry and the other does not. Instead, every individual of both sexes has one or more ministries as gifts from God. Neither is it that some ministries are more or less Christian than others, it is simply that God has prepared each of us to minister in different, unique ways. Our proper role is to seek humbly to be within God's will, not to demand our rights relative to other people. Indeed, the attitude which focusses on my rights is the very opposite of what Jesus taught. Christians are to be voluntary servants, not libertarians.
To act upon the last resolve of the second resolution would mean that professors who believe that the Bible contains errors would be hired to teach at our seminaries. Ask yourself where that would lead our convention.
The resolution on the priesthood of the believer is founded upon another logical confusion and a lack of understanding the full biblical history. Of course ancient Israel was to be a nation of priests, and yet God instituted a special family of priests among them. Of course each Christian is competent to go directly to God without the mediation of any but Christ. But that fact does not mean different Christians do not have different functions. Nor does it mean that pastors do not have special responsibilities of leadership, teaching, equipping the laity, etc. Likewise, pastors are held to a stricter account than laymen, for they are responsible for our souls before God (Hebrews 13:17).
Third: Let us look at the very liberal organization, the Southern Baptist Alliance. The SBA is actively organizing in Virginia and other states. It is establishing a seminary in Richmond, has hired Stan Hastey as its executive director [Hastey was previously Washington correspondent for Baptist Press; thus his job change confirms what conservatives have said for years, that Baptist Press is biased against conservatives.], is undertaking mission activities. Asked whether the SBA would become a separate denomination, Hastey replied that he would not have taken the executive director's job if he did not think it would.
Last October 27 the SBA met at First Baptist Church, Deland, FL. The following four points were made by speakers indicating the direction of the SBA:
1. The SBC is dead, it is dumb to ignore this fact.
2. Churches should stop funding SBC agencies that reflect the conservative trend and send diverted funds to the SBA.
3. SBA members are remaining in the SBC in hopes that the defunding effort will collapse the SBC agencies and they will be there to pick up the remnant.
4. SBA members believe the "inclusion" principle is important: you have theology, I have mine, but what matters is that we work together. (It is not clear how wide an interpretation is acceptable.)
Fourth: Consider the views of Rev. Will D. Campbell whom the Greenville, SC, News and Observer describes as "the eccentric elder statesman of the denomination's moderate wing." The News and Observer describes Southern Baptist plans to witness in Las Vegas and says, “The chance to witness makes some Baptists hot with holy fire. But Dr. Campbell said it makes him sick. 'If we want to have an authentic Christian witness, we should go into the brothels and say to these victims, please, ma'am, teach us something about grace.' said Dr. Campbell."
The simple fact is that without a sure reliance upon the Word of God as the absolutely reliable truth in all subjects that it addresses, the motivation to witness withers away. This fact is documented in an article by Harold Lindsell that appeared in Christianity Today.
"Perhaps the best way to show how dramatic the missionary retreat has been is to look at the percentage decline in the number of overseas career missionaries among some of the major denominations between 1962 and 1979: Episcopal Church, 79 percent decline; Lutheran Church in America, 70 percent; United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 72 percent; United Church of Christ, 68 percent; Christian Church (Disciples), 66 percent; United Methodist Church, 46 percent; American Lutheran Church, 44 percent." It is noteworthy that all these denominations are more liberal that is the SBC. Lindsell continues, "On the other hand, there were some significant increases ... among these were: Southern Baptist Convention, 88 percent." The more liberal denominations also reported losses of membership between 1960 and 1979. "For example, the Episcopal Church lost 430,000 members; Lutheran Church in America, 130,000; United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 770,000; United Church of Christ, 520,000; Christian Church (Disciples), 570,000; United Methodist Church, 1,150,000."
Concluding Thoughts: God honors those who honor Him. Sheep go to where they are fed. Denominations which lose their depth of conviction about basic Christian doctrine will first lose the missionary imperative and then membership.
You may ask to what extent we in Virginia are and will be faced with these attitudes. The short answer is that we do not know precisely, but already we see these same attitudes and actions around us, such as in the action of the First Baptist Church, Front Royal. Moderate and liberal spokesmen are addressing pastors conferences around Virginia in the persons of Stan Hastey, James Dunn, and Dr. Neal Jones. Conservatives need to carefully and prayerfully consider what our response should be if in the future there is an effort to move the entire state association from the SBC to the SBA, to dually align the state with both the SBA and the SBC, or to change the Cooperative Program funding division between Virginia and the SBC.