For the Record

Some wise somebody has said that the formula for steering clear of criticism is to “believe nothing, do nothing, dream nothing, expect nothing, plan nothing, say nothing, support nothing, and think nothing.” If you want to make a redemptive difference, prepare yourself for criticism. Naysayers, critics, negaholics, and detractors, you will have with you always. My high school football coach used to tell us that “anyone who is in the game must be big enough to take the boos as well as the accolades.” There will always be someone nearby who will find something to vilify. And this certainty played a role in our continuing to embrace the Texas Baptists Committed brand.

I invite those who are confused about the “why” of TBC to read the thoughtful posts We Are Texas Baptists Committed and part 4 of Why It’s Good to Be a Baptist These Days. You will immediately note that there is no disparaging of anyone who holds a contrary perspective. TBC is intently about kingdom business. There are too many lost people in the Lone Star State walking about without the hope of Christ for us to get caught up in petty squabbling and infantile quibbling. Getting the word out to those who need to hear that God loves them and wants what is best for them trumps inane bickering and pointless mudslinging 100 percent of the time.

Texas Baptists Committed is going to continue to encourage leadership in the BGCT. No, we have no official slate of candidates. Yes, we do encourage leaders to share their giftedness with the larger body of traditional Baptists. This is nothing new. We all do it in subtle and not so subtle ways.

Texas Baptists Committed is going to continue to be supportive of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its leadership. TBC has a life wish for the BGCT! Randel Everett and every last one of those outstanding people who work in the Baptist Building deserve our prayers and reassurance! Yes, the BGCT is going through a rough patch right now. But, truth be told, so are other conventions, denominations, churches, and institutions. A pastor friend told me just the other day that he has had to take a 15 percent cut in pay. Does that mean that he is a bad guy? Does that suggest that his church is doing something wrong? Of course not!

Texas Baptists Committed is NOT against pastors and churches that choose to financially support the Southern Baptist Convention. Too many of those who are valued friends of TBC are pastors and leaders of churches that give significant dollars to the SBC. It’s common knowledge that most BGCT churches route financial support to the SBC. TBC is defined by what we are for, not by what we are against.

Several days ago, Bill Jones penned a post titled “Which beliefs are Baptist ‘dealbreakers’?” It is obvious that the purpose of the post was to promote meaningful dialogue about those issues that divide or unite us. The writing was so unambiguous that even the most imaginative reader couldn’t misconstrue the intent of the entry. When did frank and candid dialogue become something to be discouraged?

A few years ago, I stood before the BGCT Executive Board and read from Acts 5, where Peter and the other “sent ones” were rounded up and brought before the Sanhedrin, the council of religious leaders in Jerusalem, to be threatened and bullied into silence. And the Record states that Gamaliel stood up in the midst of this tumult and suggested to the council that they not act in haste and risk making martyrs of this band of ragamuffins. He suggested a pragmatic yardstick: Are these men caught up in anything redemptive or is this movement barely a blip on the radar screen? If God is not in it, it will collapse under its own weight. But if God is in it, let’s not be found opposing God Himself.

Maybe Gamaliel was on to something. So I have no response for those who choose to defame, denigrate, or cast stones. They have every right to do what they do best. We at Texas Baptists Committed, however, choose to intently be about kingdom business. I invite you to join us.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 4 of 4)

The recent renewal of Texas Baptists Committed seems to have caused a bit of angst among some Texas Baptists. Some fear that TBC is back in business in order to establish an oligarchy that will control Texas Baptist life. In my opinion, this angst is unnecessary. In fact, the work of TBC ought to have the opposite effect.

The work of Texas Baptists Committed is to constantly remind Texas Baptists that we are a network of autonomous cooperating churches and not a denomination governed by a powerful few. Texas Baptists Committed helps local churches by providing information and support for Pastor Search Committees who are fearful of being deceived by an authoritarian pastor who would drag their church into Fundamentalist conformity. TBC supports the work of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, because it is through that network that we are able to participate with one another in a variety of ministries without the fear of being under a denominational thumb.

On the other hand, all institutions, including the BGCT, can devolve into a self-preserving bureaucracy that feeds on its constituents and can tend to control rather than serve. Therefore, TBC must be a watchdog, even of the BGCT, to keep us free from denominational control, constantly reminding our institutions of our networking nature as opposed to a denominational structure.

This is not an irrelevant preacher fuss carried on for our political enjoyment. It is a struggle that goes to the heart of how we are going to win our culture to Christ. It is an evangelistic necessity. If we are going to have the ability to speak to a post-denominational world, we must fiercely resist the temptation toward denominationalism. It is not a matter of irrelevant politics. It is a matter of effective evangelism in a changing world. Texas Baptists Committed is needed to continue to remind all Texas Baptists that we are a network of autonomous churches and not a denomination.

The times are indeed a changin’. While in one sense that is disconcerting, in another sense it is very encouraging. Baptists OUGHT to be primed and ready to speak to this changing culture about the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, we will be primed and ready if we can resist the temptation to devolve into a denomination.

Texas Baptists Committed has an evangelistic mission, as it reminds us of who we really are. We are Baptists. Let’s act like it and then change the world.

Why It's Good to Be a Baptist These Days (Part 3 of 4)

As I said in my last post, the networking model of Baptist cooperation should be attractive to a post-modern culture. The problem, however, is that many Baptists have either forgotten or abandoned the model of networking and are trying to mold us into a denomination at the exact moment when denominations are waning. This is the practical problem of Southern Baptist Fundamentalism. I refer to Southern Baptist Fundamentalism as distinct from the old Independent Baptist Fundamentalists, because at least the Independent Fundamentalists tenaciously held onto the autonomy of the local church, even to the extent of often resisting the notion of working with one another at all. Southern Baptist Fundamentalists, on the other hand, want churches to cooperate but only under the condition of denominational conformity. The only way they can enforce conformity is through creeds and councils that draw lines to determine who is qualified to be a member of the denomination.

Therefore, Southern Baptists now have a statement of faith that is no longer an unbinding confession but a creed for doctrinal accountability. Scripture is interpreted for the masses by approved leaders, leaving no room for the Spirit to work differently in the lives of individuals. Members of institutional trustee boards act as a college of cardinals, delving into the personal and private prayer lives of missionaries. Declarations have come from the Southern Baptist hierarchy, concerning everything from the role of women to birth control and to how many children ought to fill the proverbial family quiver. Now power is in the hands of a privileged few, with the result that fewer and fewer are able to fit inside the approved Southern Baptist box.

The point is this: Southern Baptist Fundamentalism is insisting that we are a denomination in what appears to be a post-denominational culture.

Can We Have a Conversation?

A few days ago Bill Jones tried to launch a discussion about issues that are "dealbreakers" in Baptist life.  He got three comments -- one negative, but respectful -- and a disrespectful blog lashing from a blogger more enamored with the Samurai side of his personality than with the spiritual side.

It's apparent that dialogue, conversation and discussion regarding homosexuality is still a "dealbreaker" for some of the fundamentalists among us.

In my humble opinion, if even Al Mohler can acknowledge that science has something to say about this issue and begin to wrestle with it, so can Texas Baptists.

Those with passions too strong to engage in  respectful, civil and mature dialogue about this subject are encouraged to focus their attention on issues they can discuss with a more Christ-like demeanor.