November 5, 2001
TOGETHER:
Support passion where you find it
___Someone asked me, "What was the best thing about the 2001 Baptist General Convention of Texas meeting?" There were too many to name in one brief column. Here are just a couple of impressions, with more to follow next week.
___Walking through the exhibit hall, I saw Lindsay Cofield, who leads the BGCT lay ministry development office, shining shoes. In the two days, he shined 117 pairs. He told me: "As I shined the first shoe, I listened to them talk about their church and their needs. As I shined the second shoe, I handed them our brochure on developing lay ministries in their church and talked to them about how we could help them develop servant leaders in their church." What an example he is to us all.
___Further on, I met a young man from Georgia working in one of the bookstores. Tom Harrington is now the deputy fleet chaplain for Naval Forces Europe. He became a Christian when, as a young officer just out of college, he met Capt. Alan Dunn. Dunn grew up in Cleburne, was a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University and loved to talk to anybody who would listen about the HSU volleyball team.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___Tom said: "I was hoping I would get a chance to tell you how much Texas Baptists have meant to me. If it had not been for Capt. Dunn, his faithful Christian witness in word and deed, and his unabashed love for HSU and all that the school had meant to him, I might never have understood the gospel of Christ."
___Tom later went on to seminary and became a chaplain in the Navy as well as an accomplished writer and editor of Christian literature. One of the great contributions of our Baptist schools is what they do to empower Baptist laypeople to be effective leaders and witnesses for Christ in the many different occupations they enter.
___As I reflect on all that I saw at the convention, I remember something I learned this summer: You cannot buy passion, but you can support it.
___As I was watching our people at work with their unselfish commitment to give their best in ministry and mission for Jesus' sake, I realized there is not enough money in the world to make people do things they really don't want to do--not for long and not well. But when people feel God's call to service, when they find the very thing God created them to be and do, you really cannot stop them.
___If you had a million dollars and something you really wanted done, I would not recommend taking the whole million and finding just anyone who would sign a contract and promise to do the job. Rather, I believe you would be best served to use some of that money to find the person with the passion and then support that person with what is left.
___Texas Baptists, there are thousands of your sons and daughters whom God is calling into his service. In your churches, there are ordinary people with an extraordinary sense of calling who could make a huge difference in many people's lives with a little encouragement and support.
___Our convention is committed to helping churches and related ministries coordinate efforts to provide adequate training and spiritual preparation for all those God is calling out among us.
___We are loved.
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