THE WAY IT WAS: THE WAY IT IS

by   John Yeats                                                                                                                                           Vol. IX, No. 6, June/July 1996

[John Yeats is the new editor of The Indiana Baptist. This article is excerpted from his editorial in the 4 June 1996 issue.]

Some of us are old enough to remember the days when ... elitism and institutionalism were on the verge of eroding away the missions and evangelism established by those who treasured God's word. Would the SBC fall victim to the mindset of old guard institutionalists who have destroyed the fire of the Spirit in all the other main line denominations in America?

Many knew something...

had to be done. Seventeen years ago some people stood up to make the change to return to the SBC's Bible believing roots. These courageous people desired a return to a deep love of the Bible, to a passion for lost souls and a desire for a fire of revival to sweep this nation beginning with Southern Baptists.

But there were the elite.

They left, that is most of them did. They started their own club, where their loyal fans will be with them for the next fifteen to twenty years. Some of the old guard are still with us and sing of the bygone days.

They have naively suggested that in the good ole days there was no placing of presidential nominees in position for election. Some have grievously suggested that New Orleans messengers not vote for a certain presidential nominee because there existed a group who prayed together a few months ago and came away believing the leadership of this brother was right. For a messenger not to vote is irresponsible before God and man.

Diversity...

is the trigger word for the old guard. Yet only in recent years under conservative leadership has our SBC made strides toward genuine diversity. For example, on the SBC-Christian Life Commission (not to be confused with the Texas-CLC, which has strong CBF ties), the board of commissioners has openly welcomed the opportunity for cultural and gender diversity. Before the conservative resurgence, such opportunities were as limited at the CLC as they were on the other SBC boards. Diversity may be a great sound byte until one looks into the mirror of the past.

Our SBC is beginning...

to experience the fruit of our return to our roots. Some of our seminaries, once bastions of liberal thought, are beginning to rekindle the fire of evangelism and missions. Our mission boards reflect banner years. Our positions on moral and social issues are once again lifting high the righteousness of our God which points men to their need for the Savior. Our Sunday School Board materials are trustworthy and marked by excellence. For young men and women and our brothers and sisters of color, there are greater opportunities of service for the Kingdom of God through the SBC than ever before in our history.

Vigilantly,

we must press on toward the new century. Our Covenant for a New Century will make us leaner, and we trust more effective. We may find there are those institutionalist, elitist voices of a bygone day who may say, "If we don't get our way, we will leave." Let us ever be kind and gracious, but let us never be detoured from our course of discovering our Lord's heart for this world and the SBC.