Southern Baptists and evangelism

It was hard not to laugh when reading the Baptist Press story about Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president Johnny Hunt issuing a new declaration — with hundreds of signatures from other SBC leaders — calling for a "Great Commission Resurgence" within the denominational group.

Apparently, it has something to do with the dipping statistics about dipping new believers.Of course, they could just put evangelist and former SBC president Bailey Smith back on the mega-church trail to rebaptize deacons, Sunday school teachers and choir members along with near-infants to get the numbers back up.

Instead, Hunt and others think this declaration might do the trick. The best punchline in the lengthy document was this one:

"The promise of the Conservative Resurgence was that eventually we would find enough common biblical and theological ground that we could focus on the Great Commission."

Perhaps "eventually" is the operative word. For those who don't see the humor, you should have been around these guys a quarter-century or so ago.

All we heard during the red-hot days of the Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC was that "liberalism" had infiltrated the convention. And if these true Bible believers were in charge, then evangelism would reign supreme.

The irony, of course, is two-fold:

One, Southern Baptists were in the midst of Bold Mission Thrust, the largest (and admittedly arrogant) worldwide evangelism effort ever tried when the takeover was launched.

Two, these guys who took over the convention have been running it for decades now with continuous infighting that keeps narrowing the circle of participation and with public proclamations that alienate large segments of society.

I'm sure the messengers to the SBC meeting in Louisville this summer will adopt this new document and feel proud that they are doing a good thing for the great cause of evangelism. Maybe it will work this time — eventually.

But I suspect Southern Baptists will have better success with the Great Commission when they start taking seriously the Great Commandment — instead of condemning and rejecting everyone who does not think just like them.

Handling the truth with gentler hands

Jesus said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). He did not say: "...and the truth shall make you obnoxious."

Yet often that is how Christians in the public arena come across — as know-it-alls eager to make all others in their likeness. We need to handle "truth" with gentler hands and less arrogance.

Many of us received a Christian education that focused on "right belief" — along with the assurance that what we had was indeed the truth while those with differing perspectives were either misled or had intentionally rejected the truth.

So the arrogant attitude seen in many public Christians is the result of a logical course built on premises such as these:

We have the "truth" that others lack and need. We have a divine command to share this "truth" with all others. Those without this "truth" are misguided and endangered. Some think they have "truth" but, in reality, only our "truth" is real "truth." Any "truth" that is different than our "truth" cannot have any element of "truth." Therefore, we are uniquely blessed to have discovered and embraced the "truth" and must be diligent in bringing others to our understanding of "truth."

But does it really lessen our understanding and embrace of "the truth that sets us free" if we handle it with gentleness and humility? Perhaps that is the best way to pass it on.

Baptist division is costly

The high price of division continues to climb in the ongoing legal efforts of the Missouri Baptist Convention against five breakaway agencies.

Even after losing a recent court decision involving Windermere Baptist Conference Center,the fundamentalist-led MBC is preparing to dig deeper.

Gary Snowden of Lee's Summit, Mo., gives his perspective here.

Belief and behavior

In any dining establishment, a "regular" is someone who does not have to verbalize his or her order.

"Your usual, hon'?"

"Yes, please."

That's all of the communication needed.

Roland, a Presbyterian layman and early-bird regular at my favorite coffee shop, stopped by my round-top table recently after picking up his "usual" cinnamon-crunch bagel and coffee.

"How much ethics have you studied?" he asked with unusual seriousness.

"More than I've used," was my response.

He smiled and replied. "That's true of all of us, I guess."

Instead of dealing with whatever topic had led to his question, we chatted for awhile about the overall difficulty in matching what we claim to believe with how we actually live.

In my old campus ministry days, I would ask students to list in order the top five priorities/values in their lives.

"God, family, friends, church, etc." flowed out readily onto paper.

Then I asked them to chart out how they had spent their time and money over the last 48 hours. These true indicators of priorities/values rarely met the stated ones.

It was revealing — and at times embarrassing — to see the results. Like when more time and money was spent on Pac-Man than anything on the so-called priority list.

But the failure to match behavior with stated belief does not rest with the few. It is the challenge for all of us.

Order is important

Driving just west of The Big Chicken — Marietta, Georgia's famous landmark — yesterday, I passed the expansive Roswell Street Baptist Church. A large American flag was blowing in the brisk wind — with a much, much smaller Christian flag on the same chain below it.

What is the message here? I wondered while trying to not judge.

But the size and prominence of the American flag — with the hardly noticeable Christian flag below — may well communicate a (perhaps unintended) message.

It raises the very important question: Are we Christian Americans or American Christians?

Civil religion — the mixing of religious faith and nationalism to the point of being indistinguishable — is hard to address rationally. Those who embrace that perspective are very emotional about their feelings and see any challenge as unpatriotic.

I learned of another good Baptist church that simply forgot to have Communion for nearly two years when without a pastor. But shortly thereafter, someone told me, "all hell broke loose when someone moved the American flag."

For ministers and other church leaders who are both patriotic Americans and committed Christians — but understand the priorities and differences between the two — are often challenged by church members who cannot.

But order really is important.

Welcome Spring!

Bill Prather, pastor of the American Baptist Church in Fort Collins, Colo., sent me this delightful photo.

When photographers talk about "contrast" they are usually referring to the image's quality rather than content. But the contrast in Bill's photo reminds us that seasonal weather — like the seasons of life — is unpredictable and pays limited attention to our calendar-keeping.

Despite the late snow, Prather said spring is faithfully making its presence known in Colorado.

"A few weeks ago, I began watching a patch of dry dirt that was beginning to crack," he said. "Since I didn’t think anything was planted there, silently I wondered if someone had disturbed the dirt or if a dirt dweller had been moving underneath the surface.

"But each day, the crack got a little larger until finally a bit of green growth appeared underneath the brown exterior. The growth was the head of a daffodil that thought it was time to sprout and poke through the ground for the new growing season.

"Soon the daffodil had grown several inches high and its protective skin was tightly wrapped around that little bud of a flower waiting for a return of the warmth of spring. A resilient little flower, now the daffodil has bloomed and waits eagerly for other hearty flowers to bloom."

Bill said the young flower reminded him that we too should be concerned about new growth in our own lives. Seeking spiritual growth, he rightly noted, should be something that comes as naturally as a plant receiving water and nutrients and sunshine.

Perhaps it was a spring day when the prophet Isaiah recorded the divine reminder: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

Whales in Tennessee

A walking trail winds its way through Fairfield Glade, a scenic vacation spot in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee west of Knoxville. A meandering stream brings beauty to both the eyes and the ears.

After passing through a pedestrian tunnel beneath the main road and approaching a simple ball field, I noticed the stream had dried up. Apparently, it only carries water in heavy downpours.

But in the dry stream bed behind one home was a sign: "Whale Watch." In Tennessee?

Then, when getting closer and looking down, I could spot the three "whales."

I was reminded that seeing sometimes requires more than just looking. Ever wondered how much stuff we miss?

Yogi was redundantly right: "You can observe a lot by just watching." That is, if you watch more closely.

Being perceptive takes a trained eye. I wondered how many people had passed along this trail and seen only rocks — or nothing at all.

But at least one person saw whales in Tennessee. There is something to be said for paying attention. You never know what you might see — or miss.

A Different Kind of Morning

By John Pierce

“Time to get up.”

Faintly, I could hear those words coming from the foot of my bed and quickly recognized the voice of my father. Nothing thereafter happened quickly.

The gradual opening of my groggy eyes revealed nothing but darkness. It seemed as if just moments ago my head had come to rest on the soft pillow.

Then I remembered that this was a different kind of morning.

With extra effort — and to avoid a second call to rise — my feet hit the cool hardwood floor. In less than full consciousness, I searched for my most readily available clothes.

Soon my brothers were awake and moving about as well, but we said nothing to each other like we would have on a school day.

But then, this was a different kind of morning — we all knew.

Within moments, and still with hardly a word spoken, the entire family stumbled out of the house into the predawn morning air where the headlights of our old Pontiac station wagon glared in the darkness.

There was stillness — even a sense of reverence — as we made the short trip up to the top of the ridge, and turned left on the gravel drive. The crunching sound beneath the tires was exaggerated in the otherwise early morning solitude.

Now more fully awake, I sensed a certain strangeness about coming to this place at such an unusual time. The straying beams from other cars encircling the community cemetery created an eerie effect as the lights reflected off the granite and marble tombstones.

Surely this was a different kind of morning from all the rest.

Leaving our parked cars we walked gently across the dew-dampened grass freshly mowed by members of the local LIONS Club.

Only when we got very close to the growing crowd could I begin to recognize those I knew so well. Some of the men were unshaven, and everyone was dressed casually.

I made eye contact with other children, but any communication was nonverbal.

The slightest hint of dawn revealed a cross — hastily made of two pieces of lumber and set in the ground.

Without instruments or warmed voices we sang. Then the pastor opened his well-worn Bible and read these words:

But the angel answered and said to the women: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.”

By now the nearby water tower with the tall ladder was visible in the morning light. There were more words and music, but I don’t really remember them.

After a prayer of dismissal, we exchanged a few pleasantries and headed toward our cars — careful not to step on any grave.

We had been taught that act of respect. Besides, in a small community you never know who might be related to whom.

Within moments the same cars that had departed the cemetery were now entering the church parking lot. Gathering in the fellowship hall beneath the church sanctuary, the previously serene crowd was now almost boisterous.

Loud greetings and laughter flowed as plates were filled with country ham, scrambled eggs, grits and red-eye gravy.

For us kids, there were milk and orange juice in Dixie Cups while the adults enjoyed piping hot coffee from the large percolator often borrowed from the church for family reunions.

We gathered around folding tables and sat in chairs that squeaked on the well-waxed floor. Even when our plates were empty and our stomachs full, we knew there was more to come on this different kind of morning.

We would soon return home to wash our faces, comb our hair and dress in our new Sunday outfits. Of course, based on sibling order, some of us found our designated new clothes to be that which our older brothers had worn the previous Easter.

The church drew its biggest crowd of the year that day. And there were more hats and shades of pastel than usual.

The choir had flipped the stoles on their robes from the green to the gold side and sang their best. The pastor’s new Palm Beach suit (with a coordinating second pair of checkered slacks for Sunday evenings) was the envy of all men.

Of greatest distraction — at least to me — was the lingering aroma of the earlier breakfast making its way up through the floor vents into the sanctuary.

But the significance of the day had already been embedded in my young mind from the words that were read as the sun was starting to rise over Boynton Ridge:

“Do not be afraid … He is risen from the dead.”

Indeed, this was a different kind of morning.


© John D. Pierce, Executive Editor, Baptists Today

Rest stop ahead

In a recent newsletter from Mount Zion Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., pastor Stan Braley announced that the congregation will experience Sabbath Week — beginning at the conclusion of worship on Easter Sunday.

No church activities will be held until the following Sunday.

While I'm not sure where this idea may have originated, it certainly is a good one. After completing the Lenten journey of introspection that led into Holy Week, and then giving full attention to the big celebration of the Resurrection, rest is in order.

Rest — in Sabbath terms — is different from vacations which often are filled with activities. A Sabbath experience involves doing fewer (or no) activities in order to recharge and refocus.

Stan put it this way in the newsletter: "God was the first to practice Sabbath and evidently thought it so good that he shared it with us ... The week following Easter will be a time for our church to rest and refocus on God."

The church office will remain open and pastoral duties will continue. It is the programming that will be suspended for a week.

"...Think about the members who spend countless hours throughout the year leading ministries and practicing their skills to lead us ... week in and week out," Stan explained further. "This special week is a time for our workers, our leaders and our members to find rest and refreshment while refocusing on the reason for working so diligently."

When visiting with various congregations, I am always amazed at the sheer volume of activities that are carried out. These are worthy of our time and talents. But, on occasion, the busyness of such commitments must give way to a refocus on the purpose of our work.

Sabbath Week is such a time.

Teaching preaching

The late John Carlton was arguably the most popular professor on the Southeastern Seminary campus back in the glory days. A dapper and eloquent man, Dr. Carlton was both inspiring to hear and more generous with his grading than most profs on the old Wake Forest campus.

So it was should not have surprised me as a new student in the late '70s to discover during registration that his classes filled quickly. But there were plenty of spots available for the other preaching professor's classes.

"Why are students not signing up for Dr. Trotter's preaching classes?" I asked a more experienced seminarian.

He replied quickly: "Because he would have given Jesus a B- for the Sermon on the Mount."

Well, the warning didn't stop me from signing up for the class — and I'm glad I did.

This week I read in the Biblical Recorder that Dr. J. Carroll Trotter Jr. died March 12 in Concord, N.C., at age 91.

A word of thanks is in order to the man who helped Southeastern students from 1955-1983 — indeed the seminary's glory years — to develop the very important ministry tools for preaching.

Sure, Dr. Trotter could be direct and demanding. But his critiques were needed and helpful.

He would not tolerate a preacher pointing a finger toward the congregation — as if they and not the preacher were the only ones in need of the message. Also, he insisted on clarity of speech — reiterating that no message has power unless it can be understood.

I was always grateful to have sat under the good tutelage of both preaching/worship professors.

Among many other good things, Dr. Trotter taught me to never put myself above the congregation. And Dr. Carlton told us: "If you can't say it in 20 minutes, say it next Sunday."

The good timing of passing through the magnolia-filled Wake Forest campus during the seminary's glory years is a gift to be treasured as well.

Taking time off

Getting away with family is important. So I am grateful for a spring break trip to the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee last week.

Overall, I give myself a B+ for shutting out work — which was kept to a minimum.

The greatest asset was the absence of an Internet connection in our cottage. And I only took the laptop to a nearby wi-fi hot spot twice over five days.

But the Internet, cell phones and other technological advances make getting away more challenging than ever before. However, rest and restoration are important parts of life.

In fact, such breaks from routines can even make our routines more creative and effective. At least I hope so — now that I am face-to-face with 303 new emails and a short deadline.