June 28, 2010
Since I have returned from Orlando, several people have asked me about the GCR report/resolutions. I will attempt to reduce my thoughts.
I am Southern Baptist through and through. I have been a pastor in a Southern Baptist Church since shortly after my 19th birthday. My Dad is a Southern Baptist Pastor. My maternal Grandfather was a Southern Baptist Pastor. There are other denominational workers (pastors, musicians, etc.) in my family, so I qualify as Southern Baptist through and through.
My first Southern Baptist Convention was Atlantic City, New Jersey back in the 60s as a kid. My brother and sisters and I climbed into the upper arena and played “Old Maids” during the debates. I was present at most if not all of the conventions through the decades of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I missed few if any conventions until the mid-2000s. I say all of this to establish that I am familiar with the convention atmosphere. I have seen emphases and themes come and go. I have seen the crowds wax and wane with the interest in the elections or the topic. Many times debate seemed to be over semantics, or over “words” more than over substantive actions. So, as we approached the latest “issue” in Southern Baptist life, I was skeptical as to whether this would be anything more than words. Is this really the biggest thing since the “Battle for the Bible?”
I think that Dr. Hunt got it right when he said that “programs and plans do not work, people do.” I remember my Dad saying that many times throughout his ministry. I have found that to be true in my own ministry. The issue is not on whether we call it “Great Commission Giving” or “Cooperative Program Giving,” the real issue is not the program but the people. Do we change the name of our giving because we have become bored with the name, or because we have disagreed with the way the funding was allocated to the agencies and missions in the past? Would not a re-allocation of Cooperative Program funds do the same thing?
The real issue is whether the Holy Spirit grabs the hearts and souls of those who profess Christ, and motivates them to obedience all areas of living, holiness and evangelism. I personally don’t want to strain on the nomenclature, but get to the substance. The substance is the ordinary Southern Baptist is not doing Great Commission Work on a day in, day out basis.
I appreciate the Cooperative Program. I benefited from it as a young pastor in a language missions church in South Louisiana. I always led the churches I serve as pastor to give at least a tithe to the CP---that is until I became more aware of how our state was using the portion of monies it kept in state. Some of the institutions that were supported with CP dollars did not even teach the infallibility of the Scriptures. Even though we had won that battle on the national front, it seemed that we were unable to get the upper hand on the state level. Therefore, over 15 years ago, I led our congregation to begin to designate a percentage of our CP dollars to the IMB and NAMB. Even then our church leadership felt that not enough funding was making its way from the local church to the “Great Commission” agencies. As a church in the early to mid-90s, we began to take mission trips from our congregation to Mexico, Canada, etc. In the early 2000s we became one of the first Global Priority Churches and regularly have members of our church family participate in “unreached people group” work. We purchased and established a “Mission House” for furloughing missionaries that is regularly used. In many respects our church began to do what GCR proposed at the SBC this year, 10-15 years ago. Therefore, I was in favor of the resolution.
The question remains, is this just talk? Or, will the denominational agencies, state conventions, and local churches get on board and “GO.” Our talk on the convention level certainly has not been cheap, but many times ineffective. Will this be an emphasis that causes everyone to want to get on board?
I plan to suggest significant changes in the way the church I pastor operates, especially in the area of community and local missions--to become better stewards not only of our financial resources, but of our opportunity. I want to strengthen our Great Commission efforts locally. That means making changes. Nobody seems to be in favor of change until the change is less painful than the status quo. Maybe that is what has prodded the SBC to act; if we do not change, we will continue to drift into insignificance.
