March 1, 2000

Patterson calls for more
sensitive witness by Southern Baptists
___By Bob Allen
___Associated Baptist Press
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) --Following controversies over Southern Baptist evangelistic tactics, the denomination's president now says church leaders should be more sensitive when they approach people of other faiths.
___In recent months, Southern Baptist Convention officials have defended prayer guides targeting Jews and Hindus for a Christian witness. Members of those faith groups said they were offended that the pamphlets were timed to coincide with religious holidays and by negative language used to describe their beliefs. In response to the controversies, a council of religious leaders in Chicago asked Southern Baptists to back off plans to send thousands of volunteer missionaries there next summer, fearing the evangelistic blitz might set back interfaith dialogue or even incite religious violence.
___In remarks to the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 21, SBC President Paige Patterson said he learned some things from the experience.
___"I have learned that the word 'target' is an irritating word," said Patterson, adding that he agrees with those who object to the term. Most Southern Baptists do not use it, he said.
___"It is one we can do without," he added. "We don't need to target anybody. What we need to do is to get the gospel to everyone."
___Patterson said Southern Baptists should not "go around trying to be so sensitive" that they miss opportunities to witness. But, he said, "the time has come for us to be careful."
___Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., said he also believes Southern Baptists did a poor job of communicating their rationale for boycotting the Walt Disney Co.
___It was an attempt to "hold our people to a new and high standard of holiness," he said. Southern Baptists once were known for their social conservatism. They didn't dance, drink or attend movies. "People used to know we stood for something," he said.
___"We didn't do the Disney boycott to hurt anybody," he said, but to encourage Baptists to "choose the best form of entertainment and leave alone that which is unwholesome."
___Rhetoric surrounding the boycott--including speeches and writings of other SBC leaders--has not always matched that sentiment, however. Baptist Press, the news service of the SBC Executive Committee, has run multiple articles detailing the boycott's alleged impact on Disney's stock prices and income.
___Patterson, who described himself as "an unwilling participant" in the controversies, still bristled at the Chicago religious leaders' suggestion that Southern Baptists coming there might unintentionally provoke hate crimes by fomenting religious differences. "I cannot begin to tell you how dangerous that statement is," he said.
___He urged Southern Baptists to go to Chicago and "assist the poor and disenfranchised," to "love and be gentle to all" and to "witness to every single person who will listen to us."
___"We have no choice except to obey the command of our Lord," Patterson said, admonishing also, "Be aware of contemporary attempts to suppress religious liberty."
___In his last formal report to the Executive Committee, Patterson also said:
___ Despite an apparent growth in charismatic influence in Southern Baptist churches, the denomination's institutions and agencies "are not going to follow" the "neocharismatic movement."
___ In light of recent criticism of Southern Baptist involvement in a dialogue with Catholics and working jointly with non-Baptists, Patterson assured, "You can expect your agencies not to be drawn into ecumenical entanglements." He pledged, however, that Southern Baptists would continue to work with others on common concerns such as abortion and religious liberty, even though "they don't believe like we do."
___Patterson said he is "somewhat influenced by the Landmark movement" of the 1800s, though not a "Landmarker."
___"They made some mistakes" in various doctrines, he said, "but their emphasis upon the cruciality of the local church is still very much with us, and I am right there ... . We shall emphasize the local church. And we shall emphasize that we will not be drawn into ecumenical entanglements."
___Patterson said he also is "a pretribulation premillennialist," which "means that I am frightened to death of the coming one-world church, and, consequently, ecumenical movements of any kind scare me to death ... because it is the deceit of Satan in the last day."
___ The work of a 15-member committee studying the Baptist Faith & Message doctrinal statement will not be as far-reaching as many have predicted. The committee is "doing a superb job of re-examining the Baptist Faith & Message and bringing us some emphases that have needed to be there," Patterson reported. "It's not a massive rewrite or anything even approaching that."
___With additional reporting by Art Toalston of Baptist Press

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