Candidate Promoting...

[Jon Estes]

In the upcoming SBC, the vote for who will be the next President is already being debated as to who is worthy and who is not.

I am fine with questions being asked, if they are questions to not intentionally belittle either of the candidates. I think it is fine if SBCers use their voice to promote their choice, even if they currently are in SBC leadership. I am unwilling to tell an SBC leader that they are less SB and their voice must be silent because they lead one of our entities. I would support this, regardless of who the person promoted.

On a different site that deals with SBC stuff, this has been posted and the premise is that current leaders need to not support a candidate. I am quite sure though that these same persons did not complain when Patterson or Land promoted a candidate after they were sitting at the helm of one of our entities and promoting the chosen inerrantist over the other guy (whoever it might be).

Many here do not have a dog in this hunt but most, if o not all, have an opinion on anything and everything SB.

What think ye?

[Rvaughn]

[Jon Estes]

[KeithE]

[Rvaughn]

. (They're not big on dissent!)

Here is one complaint by them against the Mohler-Moore-Greear "coalition".

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

Let's see, there's a Trad, old line, former seminary prez, megapastor running...he's the outsider?

Current prez doesn't think it appropriate for him to endorse a candidate. Right and proper. Some entity heads support Greear because of his action two years ago, to defer to Gaines, giving the SBC an authentic moment of grace and harmony.

SBCToday hosts some really strange writers. Odd. Probably not helpful to their stated mission.

[Jon Estes]

[Haruo]

[Sandy]

[Jon Estes]

[Sandy]

It's tough to set aside a lifetime of denominational involvement, and the built-in loyalty that is part of all but a small percentage of my college and graduate education, both done at institutions related to Southern Baptist bodies. I had professors at college in the 70's, and at seminary in the 80's, who were visionary enough to see things that were coming. Some of those that were bold enough to speak out wound up having to leave their churches and their jobs for their honesty. For many others, it was a matter of winning the race to retirement before the chickens started coming home to roost, so to speak.

I took a job with an institution belonging to another denomination, moved to Pennsylvania and became a member of a church of a different denomination, because geographically, it would have been difficult to be involved in an SBC congregation. I worked part-time for a ministry that belonged to an SBC entity for each of the past seven summers, including four summers here in the Pittsburgh area, connecting with local churches and church planters. I resigned from that ministry after serving last summer, so that was my last tie to the SBC (though I think we're still members of the last SBC congregation we belonged to in Texas, because we didn't do a "transfer of letter" and I'm not sure they were aware we joined a CMA congregation). But I don't want to see the SBC become embroiled in another damaging controversy, or set itself on the path to irreversible decline. The denominational structure at the national level is built to allow power to fall into the hands of those who are in a position to be influential, whether it is because of the size of their church, or the money that allows them to be prominent, well known, and visible.

It looks like a lot of the crowd connected to the old conservative resurgence group are quite resentful of the place some Calvinists have built for themselves within the denomination, and the influence they have outside of it. Reading some of those blogs, there's really a lot of hostility there, and quite a rift. That's not going to be good for anyone, regardless of who gets elected. Hopefully, either candidate will be visionary enough, and gracious enough, to figure out how to calm down their constituents, and offer a hand of fellowship. The real crisis in the SBC is a very real and significant decline in evangelism and ministry that has led to a serious drop in membership and attendance. Part of that is due to having a high number of churches that are heading into their twilight years, as churches do, less able to minister in a changing cultural context than they once were. They've got to figure out how to support their churches, pastors, and put energy and resources into that, instead of into a preacher media war.