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Thoughts on the SBC 2009, Take Two

Now that I have had a day to recover from my SBC travels I offer a little more detailed set of thoughts on this year’s SBC and its significance:

1. I believe history will show this to be a significant turning point in our convention. This reminded me a lot of my first annual SBC, 1985 in Dallas. That was a watershed event during the Conservative Resurgence as this is for the Great Commission Resurgence. And I am happy to say we embraced a GCR with the same zeal as the CR. Overwhelmingly messengers spoke with a single voice, a voice focused on the gospel and the future. I pray all of us who love Jesus and His good news will work together to reach our neighbors and the nations.

2. This is the convention in which leadership has been fully transferred from the first generation Conservative Resurgence leadership (roughly those courageous leaders over 60 who led from 1979 until recently) to the 2nd generation. While some earlier presidents (Merritt, Graham, Page, for instance) belong to the 2nd gen, the convention as a whole had been thoroughly first generation in its leadership. Thank God for those who paved the way for where we are now, but I would argue the greatest generational divide has actually been between 1st and 2nd gen leaders in recent days. This year the SBC spoke clearly that the values of the 2nd gen built on the 1st gen but look forward — inerrancy of Scripture, biblical fidelity, great commission focus, methodological diversity, theological unity based on essentials, a love for younger leaders, church planting, the nations, to name a few — also became the values of the SBC meeting.

Leaders including Thom Rainer, Al Mohler, Jeff Iorg, Danny Akin, Ed Stetzer, Geoff Hammond, and Johnny Hunt (among many more) led well in various ways. In addition, Ed Litton put together what many have called the greatest pastors conference of our time.  This convention allowed younger men to be involved at a new pace, including speakers like J.D. Greear and David Platt, the latter of whom spoke at the PC and the SBC.

But there was more than the baton finally being passed (that was for you, Johnny). We also witnessed the rise of new statesmen.  Johnny Hunt demonstrated the qualities of a statesman. More than a few underestimated his ability to lead, but lead he did, and we followed. He brought together various constituencies around a common vision central to Scripture–the Great Commission.  He stood above the minor contentiousness and division and led us well, and we have followed.  In addition, Al Mohler stood as more than the intellectual giant that he is; he stood as a leader pleading for that which can bring us together if we will ever be together — the gospel.  And my president, Danny Akin, has shown such courage to tackle tough and often divisive issues from Calvinism to the emerging church, faced criticism with grace and conviction, and humbly stood beside Johnny Hunt in the call for a Great Commission Resurgence. I have said for some time that I know of no greater leader personally in our day than Danny Akin.  These three men have risen above the fray and stood tall. I would also note Frank Page for his brief  but vital role in the passage of the GCR task force motion.

3. A flattened world has arrived. Southern Baptists are as likely to get information via twitter or blogs as the established media.  I could not help but see the irony in the convention with the plans of a few to sidetrack the discussion on issues unrelated to who we really are. Some interesting motions (correctly dealt with by the Parliamentarian) came Tuesday morning.  The irony is that those being named in these few motions were obviously and overwhelmingly those who have led in what the convention affirmed:

–Ed Stetzer, whose views on SBC decline were clearly acknowledged as accurate and timely, the contrarian position argued and summarily rejected by the established media;

 –Danny Akin, who chaired the resolutions committee, spoke at the SBC, and helped craft the document leading to the call for the GCR.

A minor touch of irony came in that John Marshall of Missouri brought the convention message (at least some will get the irony of that) and brought a message that nailed firmly the conviction affirmed by messengers that witch hunts and clandestine attempts to shape the future of the SBC can no longer succeed in a flat world where information is so readily available.  No, if you will lead in the days to come you will need to do what I was taught as a young leader: tell the truth and trust the people.

The future of the SBC now belongs to those who can openly, publicly, and biblically articulate a vision for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel.  This is not the day of personal letters, phone calls, and confidential emails. It is the day of blogs and twitter, like it or not (and there are good and bad parts to that). It also belongs to those who understand both our faith and the culture.  Note comments from the Nashville Tennessean after the SBC, which makes clear David Dockery and Geoff Hammond understand where we are and where we must head:

Dockery articulated it is time to change:

“David Dockery, president of Union University, a Baptist school in Jackson, Tenn., thinks there is a spiritual component to the Baptist decline. Because of their success, Southern Baptists began to believe they were God’s chosen people. ‘We are God’s last and only hope — that was said from the pulpit of this convention more than once, from the 1950s on,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to move way beyond that.’”

We just did, David, and you have helped us in this. Many times we heard that God does not need us, but we certainly need Him.

Also, Hammond observed our world has changed, and we must think like missionaries:

“Geoff Hammond, head of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board [observed]: Rather than expecting people to show up in their churches, . . . Southern Baptists have to get out in the community. ‘Southern Baptists have to go out and get to know their neighbors,’ he said, ‘and serve them with the love of Christ.’”

I said the same thing at the Pastor’s Conference. Welcome to the new, missional, gospel-focused leadership of the SBC.

4. This convention served as a referendum on the future. Younger men came.  Places like the Baptist21 Forum and Nine Marks found hungry audiences, and a young man from Prestonwood Baptist Church spoke eloquently for his generation regarding the passage of the GCR Task Force.  Some still think being a Baptist Church is wrapped up in the name of the church, a style of worship or way of life more aesthetically similar decades ago. As I meant to say but ran out of time at the Pastors Conference, with all due respect to my friend Chuck Kelley, before this meeting I felt we were not as much in danger of being the new Methodists as we were the new Amish! I noted that three speakers on the Pastors Conference program (including me) are members (the other two are pastors) of SBC churches without Baptist in their name.  We will focus on those with whom we share a conviction about the Word and the gospel, and less on the secondary differences between us.

A word to younger leaders and to those of my generation and those older who love them: thank you for coming. You are vital not only to our future but to our present. Heed the words of Paul and be an example. Honor those older than you, but honor Jesus more. I would only hope we can add an even greater emphasis in the coming days on those even younger, college students and youth. I will not be satisfied until four generations are seen and involved at some level in SBC life. We still tend to treat young people like children rather than young adults. But this year we made a valiant step forward.

5. David Platt. Amazing. His Pastors Conference message was the most significant sermon I have heard in a long time, maybe ever. You MUST hear it. The voice of a prophet: Will we risk all and die in our devotion, or retreat and die in the wilderness? So moving. I was stunned. David is a young man of God for our time. I told he and his precious wife how much I loved them, and then I told him so many would pat him on the back, but because God’s hand is so heavy on him, I told him above all else to fear–fear God. If the future of the SBC is in the hands of men like David Platt and JD Greear I am happy.

6. We are a family, and all families have odd members. Note some of the motions on Tuesday, which caused more than a few to scratch their heads. Someone hated on the Holman Standard Bible; some wanted to investigate Drs. Akin and Stetzer and me; and at least three people really hate Mark Driscoll. We have a wonderful convention that allows any messenger from any church in the whole denomination to stand up at a mic and say things. Like the uncle at the family reunion you really did not want your fiance to have to meet when you were young. But we are a family and we should love one another. That is part of why I love being part of something so large–it can also make such a great impact when we all come together.

And we all came together, well, nearly all of us. There will always be a few more interested in issues other than the gospel. But I will give my life for the gospel. And I will stake the rest of my ministry on the future for my family and my students and others just like them.

7. Finally and personally, two things. First, speaking at the Pastors Conference was one of the great honors of my life. Ed Litton was gracious to ask me to speak. I thought about being a 9th grader and afraid to give a book report to a handful; now I was speaking to thousands of leaders. I had to hurry and cut out about half, but I feel I was able to say what was in my heart. God was good. Finally, I commit to make the Great Commission Resurgence personal. David Platt said it best: “Those most effective in reaching the many are those most passionate in reaching the one.” I recommit to being a follower of Christ who yearns to tell others personally the good news. I pray we will all join in that movement.

Movements and Margins

We who call ourselves Evangelical Christians owe a great debt to Martin Luther. Luther, a Catholic monk who learned that the just shall live by faith rather than by religious behavior, led a Reformation. His impact demonstrates how movements often happen. Rarely if ever do spiritually renewing movements come from the center of a tradition; rather, most of the time movements start at the margins and bring life to the center. In Luther’s case a radical break had to occur because of the flawed soteriology (among other issues) of Catholicism. Luther began the communion that bears his name and the Lutheran church was born.

Before long, after a century or so, the Lutheran church became mired in institutionalism. Along came a young Lutheran priest named Philip Spener, who saw priests enjoying the benefits of being clergy without the concomitant passion for the gospel. He wrote a book called Pia Desideria in 1675 calling for a renewal, a Great Commission Resurgence if you will, in the Lutheran church.

Spener did not have a lot of demographic data to show him the need for a renewal in his time. His pastoral wisdom and insights from others observing the same thing was enough. Those in the center of Lutheranism did not jump on the idea of resurgence he called for in his book. In summary he called for these points of renewal:

1. A greater commitment to spread the Word of God (we might call this becoming more gospel-centered).
2. A renewed emphasis on the priesthood of all believers.
3. A greater focus given to the development of individual spiritual life.
4. Establishing truth not through disputes but through repentance and a holy life.
5. Candidates for the ministry should be genuine Christians, who have had spiritual training.
6. Sermons should not demonstrate the preacher’s erudition, but attempt to teach and edify.

While the center of the Lutheran church scoffed at the need for change, many embraced the ideas, especially younger people. In a matter of decades a movement was birthed called Pietism that brought much life to the Lutheran church and spread to affect others from more Reformed to newer groups such as the Moravians. In fact, the Moravians produced a missionary movement so extensive that one Moravian for every sixty went to the mission field. In comparison, if for instance the Southern Baptist Convention had that ratio we would have 250,000 going across the globe rather than 5,000.

Historically, even the best of movements honoring Christ tend to move toward institutionalism and eventually to decline. You see it in the early church after the early centuries of amazing growth. You see it in the first century in the church at Ephesus. You see it in the Methodist church, an evangelistic juggernaut for centuries now in rapid decline. The same can be said for others, and not only traditions, but also institutions within them, including schools and individual churches.

Today many call for a renewal in the church in the West. In the Southern Baptist Convention it comes under the banner of the Great Commission Resurgence. Others have different slogans or emphases, but there is a general sense that the American church has not remained the spiritual force it once was. More than a few individual churches also hope for a renewed vision and effectiveness for Christ. Of course there are plenty who want to squash such notions, arguing that things are not so bad. That is not new either, for in the Old Testament the prophets had to warn the people: “woe to those who are at ease in Zion.” It is easy to cherry pick statistics to argue for the status quo. Statistics matter, and I often consult those who have the skill and expertise to do statistical studies (they too see a need for renewal). But sometimes we need to do more than crunch numbers. Sometimes we need to see what leaders out in the middle of ministry sense is happening in the culture — pastors, laypeople, students, etc. Many who either feel outside the center of life in their tradition, or those whose convictions about change are pushed to the periphery, may in fact be the very ones who can bring life again to the center of their faith tradition. It has happened before.

In the First Great Awakening Theodore Frelinghuysen scandalized his tradition (Dutch Reformed) with his obsession for the gospel. This led to a series of complaints by those in the center of his tradition. When confronted concerning his preaching and methods he replied: “Is this not the doctrine of the Reformed Church? I would rather die a thousand deaths than not preach the truth.” His conviction and new ideas, such as involving laity more in ministry and visiting the lost to share Christ, brought renewal and revival, and his innovations became standard practice.

Jonathan Edwards brought renewed life as a young preacher to the Congregationalist church, even though some were so committed to the Halfway covenant of his day (among other issues) that he eventually faced termination from the church he served in the awakening. Arthur Wallis is correct: revival is costly.

John Wesley and George Whitefield were forced to preach in the fields due to the content and the zeal with which they preached the gospel. Wesley, who at one time wrote that he did not know whether a person could be saved outside a church building (that is serious institutionalism) witnessed such a movement of God that an entire tradition was born (Methodism), although he never left the Anglican communion. Sometimes when movements remain pushed to the margins, never allowed to bring life to the center, they must break away.

Some sought to marginalize William Carey and his call to missions. Quite content with the status quo, ministers told him if God wanted to save the heathen, he would do so. But Carey, undeterred, led a Great Commission Resurgence of sorts in the Calvinistic Baptist tradition of his day. The same could be said about early presidents of the SBC in the Conservative Resurgence, pastors of large churches but also men outside the mainstream of the denominational leadership center.

Today again there is a growing tide of people, in particular those on the front lines of ministry–pastors, church planters, missionaries, students, etc. — who feel more than a little marginalized, but who hope to see their faith tradition energized again. I personally see and hear from so many international missionaries, more than a few veteran pastors, and disenchanted denominational servants adding to a growing chorus calling for change, in hopes to bring a fresh gospel fire to the center of the communion known as Southern Baptists. But many have responded with “do not get too carried away, we are fine, it is not so bad.” Ironically, that is what many in the center said 30 years ago when some on the margins said liberalism posed a great threat.

I have talked to hundreds of pastors and dozens of other leaders who also have talked to many actively involved in gospel ministry. The overwhelming consensus: we need a resurgence of conviction about and practice of the Great Commission. I honestly have not met a single person who is out in the fields who thinks the status quo is worth maintaining.

I think Michael Green says best what must happen in the Western church today:
“Unless there is a transformation of contemporary church life so that once again the task of evangelism is something which is seen as incumbent on every baptized Christian, and is backed up by a quality of living which outshines the best that unbelief can muster, we are unlikely to make much headway through techniques of evangelism. Men will not believe that Christians have good news to share until they find that bishops and bakers, university professors and housewives, bus drivers and street corner preachers are all alike keen to pass along, however different their methods may be. And then will continue to believe that the church is an introverted society composed of ‘respectable’ people and bent on its own preservation until they see in church groupings and individual Christians the caring, the joy, the fellowship, the self sacrifice, and the openness which mark the early church at its best.” (Evangelism in the Early Church, 275.)

In my tradition, the SBC, no story in the past few decades has better shown our work for the gospel than current president Johnny Hunt. Hunt was a lost pool hustler who met Jesus and never recovered. He has gone from pool hustler to become pastor of one of the great churches of our era, an evangelistic, church planting, missions dynamo. He has also long been known as one who listens carefully to those who are in the frontlines of ministry. Hunt has concluded, as have a multitude, we need a great commission resurgence. I pray we will see it.

Will the church of the Lord Jesus Christ recover a passion for the gospel that leads to dramatic impact of biblical proportions in the West? Can we see such a movement of God? We can. But it will likely start outside the center.

Guest “blogger” J Edwards on Zeal and Resolution

The following comes from the writings of Jonathan Edwards on Revival and speaks much to our day as well. You can read more in its context at http://books.google.com/books?id=qbQOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA386&lpg=PA386&dq=jonathan+edwards+zeal+and+resolution&source=bl&ots=5xM2Rjj1sX&sig=G1QEgUwZP5WC4tJVFV4bzR9Q__o&hl=en&ei=GaEvSprmI4PUNJOl6IcK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3.

“Two things that are exceeding needful in ministers, as they would do any great matters, to advance the kingdom of Christ, are zeal and resolution. The influence and power of these things, to bring to pass great effects, is greater than can well be imagined: a man of but an ordinary capacity, will do more with them, than one of ten times the parts and learning, without them : more may be done with them, in a few days, or at least weeks, than can be done without them in many years. Those that are possessed of these qualities, commonly carry the day, in almost all affairs.

Most of the great things that have been done in the world of mankind, the great revolutions that have been accomplished in the kingdoms and empires of the earth, have been chiefly owing to these things. The very sight or appearance of a thoroughly engaged spirit, together with a fearless courage and unyielding resolution, in any person that has undertaken the managing any affair amongst mankind, goes a great way towards accomplishing the effect aimed at.

It is evident that the appearance of these things in Alexander, did three times as much towards his conquering the world, as all the blows. that he struck. And how much were the great things that Oliver Cromwell did, owing to these things. And the greater things that Mr. Whitefield has done, every where, as he has run through the British dominions (so far as they are owing to means), are very much owing to the appearance of these things, which he is eminently possessed of. When the people see these things apparently in a person, and to a great degree, it awes them, and has a commanding influence upon their minds; it seems to them that they must yield ; they naturally fall before them, without standing to contest or dispute the matter ; they are conquered as it were by surprise.

But while we are cold and heartless, and only go on in a dull manner, in an old formal round, we shall never do any great matters. Our attempts, with the appearance of such coldness and irresolution, will not so much as make persons think of yielding: they will hardly be sufficient to put it into their minds ; and if it be put into their minds, the appearance of such indifference and cowardice does as it were call for and provoke opposition. Our misery is [a lack] of zeal and courage ; … it prevents our attempting any thing very remarkable, for the kingdom of Christ.

Hence, oftentimes it has been, that when any thing very considerable, that is new, is proposed to be done for the advancement of religion, or the public good, many difficulties are found out, that are in the way, and a great many objections are started, and it may be, it is put off from one to another; but nobody does any thing. And after this manner good designs or proposals have oftentimes failed, and have sunk as soon as proposed. Whereas, if we had but Mr. Whitefield’s zeal and courage, what could not we do, with such a blessing as we might expect.

Zeal and courage will do much in persons of but an ordinary capacity ; but especially would they do great things, if joined with great abilities. If some great men, that have appeared in our nation, had been as eminent in divinity, as they were in philosophy, and had engaged in the Christian cause, with as much zeal and fervor as some others have done, and with a proportionable blessing of Heaven, they would have conquered all Christendom, and turned the world vipside down.

We have many ministers in the land that do not want for abilities; they are persons of bright parts and learning; they should consider how much is expected, and will be required of them, by their Lord and Master, and how much they might do for Christ, and what great honor and how glorious a reward they might receive, if they had in their hearts a heavenly warmth, and divine heat, proportionable to their light.”

Wanted: A Movement of God

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.” Einstein

In the fall of 1969 a young college student at a small private college became
concerned over the spiritual life on her campus. She invited five other students
to join her in what she called the “Grand Experiment.” On the surface
the experiment hardly seemed grand: she asked her friends to join her in
spending one full hour a day in the Scriptures and in prayer, taking notes
on what they learned. Then, each week the six would get together and compare
notes. They decided to do this for one month.

After the first month, the students became excited and encouraged at all
God seemed to be saying. Growing in excitement, they determined to do
this for another month, inviting others to join them. Eventually each of the
original group invited five others to join them, and throughout the month
of January this expanding band of believers met, gathering once a week
to share with growing enthusiasm the things they were learning from the
Word and from each other.

At the end of January, these students began to share their testimonies about
the things God had been teaching them in the school’s chapel service. Something
“grand” seemed to be happening on the campus. What was going on?
The following Tuesday morning, the dean stood to preach in the regular
chapel service. As he stood, he said he felt strongly that rather than preach
he was to share his story of how he met Christ. After doing so, the presence
of God filled the chapel. An unplanned time of response was given, and the
students came alive.

The day was Tuesday morning, February 3, 1970. The chapel service
that began that morning continued uninterrupted for 185 hours! God
had come, and historians call this event the Asbury College Revival. The
“Grand Experiment” produced God-sized results, as students spread across
the country, testifying and witnessing movements of revival. We still encounter
people who met the Lord in a powerful way because of the Asbury
College Revival.

At the same time this was happening, another movement among youth
had begun in California and was also quickly spreading across America. The Jesus Movement witnessed a multitude of unchurched young adults come to Christ. The Jesus Movement began on the West Coast in the late 1960s and, while far less popularized by the media than hippie culture, it embodied an important cultural counterinfluence among hippies that provided
a much different message than the “tune in, turn on, and drop out” attitude promulgated by Timothy Leary and the Woodstock generation. Thousands of hippies and other young adults abandoned the counterfeits of free sex, drugs, and rock and roll and turned to Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Not only did important ministries and churches spring up as a result, but much of the contemporary Christian music and worship styles popular today also have their roots in this movement.

Movements change things. In fact, one could easily argue that the study of history is really a study of the ebbs and flows of movements. Some movements have been positive; many have not. But one thing is clear: history has been changed by movements. The secret to the success of virtually all initiatives that succeed outside the status quo is in the ability of those initiatives to grow from ideas into movements. The key to a movement is a groundswell of people who are galvanized by a common cause and/or are committed to a central idea or vision for which they pool their energies and resources to produce a result that is greater than the sum total of all the parts.

In its most basic form, Christianity should not be understood primarily as an institution but as a movement. To understand why the term movement more accurately portrays the church than the term institution, it is helpful to look back two thousand years and observe what originally began as a handful of people who locked themselves in a room because they were paralyzed by fear and confusion over the recent events they had experienced. This group of120 people, gathered together in an “upper room” (Acts 1) had no political might, no economic power, and no standing in the culture. But they had one faith, one Lord, and one mission, which became the central rallying point that was bigger than any one of their lives and for which they were all totally committed. They were a movement ready to happen. All that was necessary was for the Lord to ignite them with his Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In the face of persecution, confusion, misunderstanding, and even some internal conflict, this once timid band of confused and fearful followers became totally committed to a mission and vision that they understood was bigger than themselves and which would change their lives forever. And you are reading this article in no small part because of this movement.

By its very nature the mission compelled motion, so these followers of Jesus moved into the surrounding regions, nations, and continents like the concentric circles of a shock wave after an earthquake. They were so successful that the expansion that took place in just a few years (captured in part in Acts 1–17) could only be described as the followers of Jesus having “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). The clarity of their mission combined with the filling of the Holy Spirit and expressed through a coordinated commitment to pray and go ignited the most powerful movement in history: the Christian church.

Small dreams do not inflame hearts—big visions do. We all want to be part of something special, something bigger than we are. It need not be something that brings great recognition to us, but it does need to be of some significance. People pursue all sorts of causes, issues, and opportunities to quench the insatiable appetite to do something. What greater joy and thrill could a human being experience than being captivated and motivated by the greatest cause in human history?

History demonstrates again and again how the church tends to lose its focus. As a result, the advancement of the gospel and its transformative effects on culture waned. In a word, it is a move away from a movement mentality toward what we would describe as “institutionalism.” When entire segments of the church lose their focus on the proper end and function of the church and surrender orthodox foundations, they veer off course into hazardous directions. For example, consider the Reformation. After a theological and biblical renewal, which rescued the church to a large extent from institutionalism and back to the Word, the Lutheran church soon became steeped again in institutional deadness. A movement called Pietism was initiated by men such as pastor Philip Spener, whose book Pia Desideria, a Great Commission Declaration of sorts for his day, challenged the status quo and called for a renewed, passionate church, especially among its leaders. Theology professor A. H. Franke joined in this movement, leading his students to minister in the community through orphanages, schools, and evangelistic endeavors. The Pietistic movement led to remarkable missionary work and a renewed focus on living out the faith. One can easily see a similar movement in the First Great Awakening, in the ministry of Charles Spurgeon who challenged the status quo of his day as a relatively young man, and in the successful parachurch ministries launched by men like Billy Graham and Bill Bright which spread rapidly in their influence. One can see this in the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention.

We need a movement today — a gospel- focused, biblically-centered, culture-changing movement of God. There are stirrings around. I sat in a conference with almost 3,000 called Advance 09 in Durham just this past week. I was in the original meeting with pastors Tyler Jones and Elliott Grudem and a couple of others months ago. No one envisioned the response both by interested speakers and by participants that we experienced this week. Movements still happen. Perhaps we can see one in our time that brings glory to God and souls into the Kingdom. I will give my life for such.

Note: some of this was adapted from Mark Liederbach and Alvin Reid, The Convergent Church: Missional Worshipers in an Emerging Culture (Kregel, 2009).

Fish or Cut Bait

Earlier this week I had one of our wonderful students come to see me (I really love these students). During our conversation she shared her plans to go with the IMB as part of our 2 plus 2 program. Then she mentioned hearing about our International Mission Board cutting back on the number of missionaries because of the economy.

I love to encourage students. I especially love to encourage those in our 2 plus 2 program who spend some of their best years in some of the most difficult places on earth. I sometimes wonder: are we as committed to the Great Commission as we say when so many times I have sat as students, tears in their eyes, told me how their “good Christian parents” are ticked they are going overseas (”how dare you take my grandbabies overseas?”). While this is the exception, it is too common.

My president Danny Akin has two children serving with their families (and grandbabies!) in Africa and Asia. For him, a Great Commission Resurgence is more than a slogan. I submit most of us see the call to spread the gospel as at the heart of the inerrant Scripture we so zealously defend.

So, being the optimist I am, I told her I was sure that one thing Southern Baptists and other Christian missionary organizations will not do is cut back on sending missionaries. We are a Great Commission people, after all.

Then I read the press release on the IMB. Read it at http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=30535.

Really. We do not have the funds to send missionaries. One might think this would be the last thing we would ever allow to have happen, economic downturn or not.

Have you ever noticed how the biggest thing we tend to call our people to sacrifice for is a building program? “Not equal gifts but equal sacrifice.” All my life I have heard call after call for this or that building project. Not a bad thing. We are blessed to have the ability to provide such comfy places of worship in the US. My church is about to go to four services for lack of space because we are serious about the GC.

What if we took one year and asked our people to sacrifice like never before for, not for a building or an institution, but for the nations under the banner of the GREAT COMMISSION?

It is time to fish or cut bait. Enough of the “let’s not get too carried away,” “let’s be positive,” “let’s just keep doing what we are doing” talk. Enough bickering over semantics and excusing away our genuine decline. I submit this is the day of Amos and Micah. It is not a time to chill out, kick back, and remember past successes.

Some days I just want to get in touch with my inner John the Baptist.

But instead of being negative, why don’t we do something about this? I sat down with Michelle and talked about what we can do. We will give a special gift to Lottie in June (Christmas in June!). What if every one of us provoked by the economic effects on missionaries did just something greater than complain? What if each leader pushed for “not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice” for the nations?

What if every pastor in the SBC took a special offering Sunday, June 14? I have been a commissioned Home Missionary, a pastor, a state convention employee, and now hold an endowed chair at a seminary. I have many friends in all those positions. What if every convention employee–seminary faculty/staff, state convention employees, national agency staffs, DOMs, all came together that day to give to an urgency offering for the sake of the gospel?

What if Jerry Rankin stood up at the SBC and report that we in fact in ONE SUNDAY made up the shortfall? Outsiders might think of us less as people bent on fussing and more about the gospel. People in our churches might begin to believe we are serious about fishing for men rather than arguing over how we divide up the bait.

Instead of complaining, I want to do something. We have observed plenty of other traditions lose their grasp of the gospel. I still believe the majority of us are serious in our love for the gospel. Perhaps this could be a rallying point. We argue over such petty things sometimes. COULD WE NOT COME TOGETHER AND JOIN HANDS FOR GLOBAL EVANGELIZATION? I think we can. I know we must.

If we cannot get together for the gospel, we are never going to come together. Enough self-preservationism. Enough mincing over words. It is time to walk by faith, to risk nobly for the gospel. Let us do something.

Pick your cliché:
Fish or cut bait.
Put up or shut up.
Walk the walk and talk the talk.
It is time to ACT.

On another June day almost 70 years ago, Winston Churchill delivered a famous message at a time when the German army assaulted the continent, taking Paris June 14, 1940. In his speech to the House of Commons on June 18, he uttered these famous words:
” Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

Could it be that in the providence of God that at the Southern Baptist Convention, dealing with a matter of even greater importance–the gospel, we could come together for the Great Commission?

Perhaps this could be our finest hour.

I pray it will.