A SIGNIFICANT STEP…

A Significant Step in the Right Direction

Published on 11 March 2010 by Jim Richards in GCR Blogs

Dr. Jim Richards Executive Director of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention

The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force released a progress report last month in Nashville. It is my privilege to serve with these godly men and women. I watched the members struggle with the complexities of bettering our Convention’s Great Commission ministries while moving forward together. Unity of vision and heart was accomplished on the Task Force. I pray Southern Baptists will catch the vision and be of one heart as well.

If I were the author of the documents, I might have chosen different words at times. If I had my way on every issue, the report would look different (and no doubt not as good). Some may feel certain areas of Southern Baptist work did not get enough attention. Our major focus was reaching the nations and our nation. I am convinced the Task Force progress report is a significant step in the right direction. All of us are being challenged. It will be difficult, but anything worthwhile always calls for sacrifice.

The Cooperative Program definition remains unchanged and uncompromised. It is still the preferred channel of giving. Some state conventions introduced a “designated” Cooperative Program in the early 1990s. It is a failed concept. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention was founded with a strong commitment to keep CP an undesignated giving channel for missions and ministry. The SBTC has recognized designated gifts from churches from the beginning. In the future Southern Baptists may call those types of gifts “Designated Great Commission Giving”. The Cooperative Program will remain the preferred way of Great Commission Giving.

I will not comment on all the components of GCR progress report in this article. There is one of the components very close to my heart, reaching North America with the gospel.

I am a traditional Southern Baptist. My comfort zone is with traditional ministries found in many our churches located in the Deep South or similar rural settings. But much of the world I grew up in is gone. Some of that culture was good, some of it was bad. We can’t pine for the good ole’ days or the way it used to be. Decisions can’t be based on my preferences; it has to be about Jesus’ passion. His passion was to seek and to save those who are lost.

Our nation is becoming less evangelized every year. Southern Baptists work hard. We will not get the job done by working harder. We have to work smarter.  By approaching our nation as the world, we can have a better handle on the getting the gospel to the burgeoning people groups and diverse culture of the United States. We must find a way to move personnel and finances outside of our strongest areas and redirect them to the places of greatest lostness.

Is the GCR plan perfect? No. Is there time to improve it? Yes. I encourage you to offer positive suggestions. Help us find a way to move in the most aggressive way possible with the gospel toward lostness in America. It is my desire for God to use Southern Baptists as a tool of national spiritual awakening. It can be a spiritual morning in America. It will take a Joel chapter two experience. It also requires us to get outside the box to see what God would have us do differently.

We all want men, women, boys and girls to experience life in Christ. Business as usual will not get it done. An undeniable decline in the number of baptisms to population growth has taken place for decades. After much prayer and study the Task Force has cast a vision. I believe God is giving us one more opportunity to put our money and personnel where we say our hearts are. Let’s go for it, together!

LOVE LIFTED ME

Have you ever sung the hymn, “Love Lifted Me”? When I was an older boy and young teen, my peers and I were not the most “holy” group in the church. So, we would sit in the back, singing “I was sinking deep in sin” and turn to a buddy and say “Wheee!”

We understood sin only as a behavior and had little if any knowledge that sin was a condition of the human heart. We were already deep in sin but thought since we hadn’t had opportunity to commit the big ones we were OK. Cultural changes came so fast “change” almost became a sedative.

I given serious thought to the concept that one reason we love change is that it provides an escape from accountability. When things are changing so fast, or we are causing them to change so fast, there is little time to evaluate whether or not the changes are worthwhile and productive. And one cannot be held accountable without proper measurement.

Do not hear this as a rant against change.

But when we are so focused on the things related to the administration and growth of the church we can easily lose sight of core biblical truth.  Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)

Jesus actually said that. No amount of exegetical maneuvering will change that simple statement. It even works in context.

“Know” – intimate knowledge. Not just intellectual awareness, but deep, intimate knowledge. On another occasion Jesus said, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.” (John 14:6)

We youngsters, steeped in sin and blinded by the error that the essence of sin was badness, were laughing our way to perdition because we had not committed the “biggies”. No amount of self-reform would change us. There had to be deep conviction that what was wrong with us was internal, not external. And only the truth could set us free.

In a similar way, I believe we in the church have spent years cleaning the outside of the cup using our different methods, programs, and emphasis, while the inside has been stained beyond recognition.

I am encouraged by what I hear from the Great Commission Resurgence commission report. It points us to Jesus. Perhaps we as a people called Southern Baptists will be blessed by God with a deep conviction that what is wrong with us is internal, not external. May we return with words in repentance and submission to Him.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

THE SBC IN 2010…A VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS

This post is not intended at all to complain or to offend anyone but the Devil. And I pray I offend him every single day with every single action. Unfortunately, I do not. But I seek to do so.

This post’s intent is to challenge all who seek to be used to advance the purpose and intent of our Sovereign God. It is an observation with that challenge especially for younger pastors in chronological age and those who recognize they are aging, but refuse to get old.

There is a difference. Some of you young guys are already old and seeking how you may “climb the ladder of  success.” You are already on the road to irrelevance in the Kingdom of God.  And some of us who are aging are not as “old” as our appearance.

My observation throughout the years has been that of being close to some “insiders” and yet not close enough to influence decisions. In other words, I have been in the house but not at the table. At times I feel somewhat frustrated but then I review the ministry God has given and I am overwhelmed by the grace and mercy extended me.  I am very grateful some things I wanted early in my ministry were kept from me. And I look forward to the future although I do not know what that will be. Our all-seeing, all-knowing, all-present God is always faithful to us, even when we are failing in our faithfulness to Him.

Thus, my view is from the cheap seats. Here are some of my observations.

A Great Commission Resurgence is much-needed. But my question is why a denomination that believes Scripture is both inerrant and sufficient needs a Great Commission Resurgence? Please do not interpret that as critical of the concept or the committee. Hear the question: Why do we need? And if we do need this and it is biblical, why are we waiting for a committee report to obey God? How many times must Scripture speak before we obey?

There are churches that no longer visit prospects. I was actually told by one staff member that he typically waited until someone visited twice because the second visit indicated there might be serious interest about the church. I have had others, seminary trained, who simply do not visit. Some talk of “attractional” methods. Tell me what is attractive about a church that has lost its passion for Christ and those for whom he died?

Where does a local GCR begin? It begins with leadership in precept, principle, and example.

We have emphasized church growth, then church health, now we have a Great Commission Resurgence committee. God bless them. Those who initiated and suggested this were people of integrity and passion. The same is true for the committee. They seem to desire to be catalysts to move the SBC as a body toward incremental and necessary change.

But you, pastor, do not have to wait until Orlando to change. What is the Spirit saying to the churches? I submit the same things he has said all along recorded in Revelation 2-3 and other passages applicable to the subject.

Has “revival” become a cop-out for such things as passion, caring, obedience and hard work? We do not really know much about revival other than what we have read. We may have had what some call “mercy drops”, but a national or denominational revival/awakening has not been seen by anyone alive today. Biblically, those are mostly Old Testament passages. It is not the cry of the New Testament. The closest in the New is a call to a busy church to remember their first love, turn around, and return to that first love. And I believe that is a first love of loving Christ as well as loving others (Rev. 2:1-7). It seems consistent with the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:34-40.

There is an article here in the Southern Baptist Texan. It is well written and acknowledges that revival/spiritual awakening seems to be predicated upon prayer and the Sovereignty of God. There are those that reduce God’s Sovereignty to man’s formula. We would not do so in precept, but we often do in principle with our methods. Roy Fish, one of God’s greatest gifts to Southern Baptists and the world, is quoted in the article. One of the most crucial concepts is this: “Yet Fish added that awakening—a term he uses synonymously with revival—is not merely the result of believers meeting certain conditions in a formula. In fact, two churches could seek God identically but  only one congregation experience revival, he said.”

So my observation is this. We as leaders should lead our people to passionately pursue communion with God through prayer privately and corporately. I do not believe it offensive to lost people who are intelligent enough to know they have entered a place of worship called a church. They may even have expectation that we would pray.

Justice is big stuff these days. It is ”big stuff” and later blog posts will address the subject.

What is justice? This particular post will not go into theological definitions and nuances of the term. However, one has said that justice is righting past wrongs. This particular definition was given within the bounds of biblical truth. One could also say that in a great sense justice is cooperating with the mission of Christ to push back the darkness (see Isa. 61 and Luke 4). If that is true, then not only good works, but also prayer and evangelism become part of any biblical concept of justice.

I may give a cup of cold water and/or food in Jesus’ name, and I should. But if I do not give biblical hope, that person may perish on a full stomach and spend eternity apart from God’s grace but eternally present with His wrath. Good works should not at all be manipulative for the purpose of getting ”decisions”. But somewhere in the conversation, eternal hope through the Gospel of Christ must be clear.

Doing all the Great Commission indeed involves evangelism, discipleship (inclusive of prayer and justice), and bringing people into the local Body of Christ. Again the question: Why do we need a GCR committee?

If indeed there is need, and there appears to be, then is not our immediate and personal response that of heeding John’s call to the Ephesian church in Rev. 2:1-7?

Like I said – it is my view from the cheap seats. How many more churches could be started, mission trips taken, and people helped with the monies we spend trying to motivate professing Christians to simply obey the elementary commands of Christ? Think about it.

SHORT TERM WINS, LONG TERM LOSS

There is an expression, “win the battle, lose the war”, used to describe those who lose sight of the big picture and get short-term wins but the reality becomes a long-term loss. My question is, are we there?

My trek over the past years has brought me very close to the inside of several arenas. I have participated in and even spoken or facilitated group discussion at national and global conferences of Evangelicals (including Baptists) on evangelism and prayer. I know most of the early leaders in the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention and have seen some of the Moderate Baptist movement.

Some of these Evangelicals seem to want everyone to come together for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission. But there are certain leaders that always have the “next big thing” and seem to pop in at just the right time to offer them. I left these kinds of gatherings because I felt used in the negative sense. These were para-church organizations needing money, data base, and volunteers to extend their ministries. Discretion keeps me from calling organizational names.

The Moderate Baptists of whom I am speaking have gone so far in a religious version of political correctness and tolerance that participation in worship events with various religions is practiced. One only has to roll back the calendar a few months to an interfaith (not inter-denominational, but inter-faith) meeting in a city in Texas that was held in a local Baptist church facility.

So what of us? How do we who have taken our stand for inerrancy as a descriptive of Scripture fare in all this? Are we known more for legalism and backward thinking or lovingly sharing the Gospel of Christ? I and most others who are conservative in theology would look at the Conservative Resurgence as necessary in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention. I will not re-visit all the reasons nor will I affirm everything and every word spoken through-out those years. Movements often produce what the military calls “collateral damage”. Some of us have been there, done that, but didn’t get the t-shirt.

I want to affirm that I am deeply committed to a conservative theological path and to the inerrancy of Scripture. I am a complementarian, and was before I knew that was the word to describe my beliefs. But what has happened in our neck of the woods over the past years?

The Barna Group gave results of a year-end survey here based upon thousands of interviews during the year. They summarized their findings around four themes. You can read their commentary and explanation, but the major points of that survey were the four themes copied below.

Theme 1: Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.

Theme 2: Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience.

Theme 3: Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S.

Theme 4: Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future.

It is a cop-out for us to say these do not reflect some of the values of the people in our pews. I would agree these likely do not show the belief of the average Baptist church member who involved in the life of the church. However, what of the community in which you serve? And do we really know that “average” church member? Are we a shrinking minority in a sea of population seeking hope and moving toward some form of Universalism?

A pastor friend of mine (SBTC) told me a story of when he first arrived as the new pastor. One of the fine upstanding deacons in the church was taking him on a tour of the city. They were on one side of the town square when the deacon pointed out a man on the other side. He said to the pastor, “That is ______. He’s one of the finest Christian men in this town. Funny thing though. He’s never made a profession of faith.” Is there a dis-connect there somewhere?

I sat in on a Senior Adult Sunday School opening exercise a few years ago and heard the Dept. Director say “I believe that God looks at all of us and sees what we do. If we just do the best we can, I believe God will accept that.”

Perhaps we need to refresh our passion and church ministries to show an intentional focus on sharing the Gospel. Romans 1:16-17 reminds us “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (NKJV)

One resource offered you is the annual SBTC Evangelism Conference February 15-17 at the Arlington, TX Convention Center. You may access information and schedule here. I urge you to attend and bring several influential leaders from your church.

Pray daily for the Great Commission Resurgence task force of the Southern Baptist Convention and for NAMB’s  GPS emphasis. I hope you will take part in it. And, wherever you find yourself in the landscape of North American Christians, return to your first love (Rev. 2:1-7) and use all of your influence in home, church, community, and workplace to speak and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is not too late to encourage your congregation to join you in reading the Bible through in 2010. There are some very good web sites that give various plans. You can access the best ones I know here, here, and here. I am using the Chronological reading from Back to the Bible as listed on the ESV site. I looked at some other sites and could not find Bible reading plans.

May God grant you your best year in 2010.