June 18, 2001

EDITORIAL:
Issues unite, positions divide SBC
___After two decades of discord, Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt said something with which all Southern Baptists can agree.
___Eyes misting and voice cracking with emotion, Merritt proclaimed the "real heroes" of the SBC aren't mega-church pastors who ascend to the convention presidency or high-profile executives who run the Baptist bureaucracy. Baptist heroes are missionaries like Charles and Christy Beaty.
___The Beatys stood a few feet from Merritt, whose heart seemed to break with the hearts of SBC messengers and visitors. The Beatys highlighted the International Mission Board's report. This was 34-year-old Charles Beaty's farewell. After a three-year battle with cancer, he may not live to see the birth of their fourth child, Abigail, next month.
___And yet the couple recently invested precious days at the close of his life to return to North Africa, where God led them to sow their lives, seeding the gospel in hard spiritual soil. (You may have read their story on page 1 of the April 2 Standard.) During the IMB report, they stood on the convention stage, holding hands and looking simultaneously frail and filled with God's power.
___Beaty urged Southern Baptists to take up their challenge. "Go," he exhorted, for billions have not received the gospel. Their appearance in New Orleans provided one of the most moving, uniting moments for Baptists in decades.
___Similar feelings later echoed through the Superdome, when Fred Luter became the first African-American to deliver the convention sermon. One hundred fifty-six years after the SBC formed out of the cauldron of slavery, a black pastor preached the most significant sermon Southern Baptists will hear all year. It was a moving, uniting moment.
___Southern Baptists also rallied around America's families at this year's annual meeting. The Council on Family Life issued an interim report, laying out guidelines for developing strategies to save families and to turn Southern Baptist homes into "Great Commission Families." Numerous speakers picked up the theme, pressing the urgency of the cause.
___Interestingly, these issues that riveted this year's SBC annual meeting are issues with which Texas Baptists fully concur. The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the leading provider of both missionaries and missions support, and Texas Baptists directly engage in missions actions, not only in the state but across the nation and around the globe. The BGCT also is a leader of inclusiveness, integrating all groups of Texas Baptists, particularly Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian-Americans, into key positions. And strengthening families is a key BGCT cause, illustrated by the Hope for Home emphasis, family ministries of institutions and associations, and the new long-range strategy of the state convention. Add to these issues the BGCT's affirmation of the Bible as the authoritative guide for faith and practice and the clear mandate of the Great Commission to spread the gospel, and you have a core of common concerns that the BGCT and the SBC hold together.
___So, why the recent division between the two conventions? Four issues stand out:
___ Authority. The SBC exhibits a top-down chain of command. In the church, the pastor is the absolute ruler. In the convention, the president and agency heads are supreme. This notion was exhibited at the SBC meeting when messengers who proposed changes to the Baptist Faith & Message were criticized for daring to suggest such a move.
___Texas Baptists tend to trust each other more. It comes from our affirmation of the priesthood of the believer, the idea that while we live and work in community, we first are accountable and responsible to God. Consequently, we hold back from imposing rigid authority over each other. We trust God and each other too much to do that.
___ Grace. Ironically, the Texas Sunday School lesson just before the SBC meeting was taken from Galations 2, where the Apostle Paul had to defend himself from the Judaizers, who accused Paul of over-emphasizing God's grace. They feared what might happen if people were not bound by laws. They did not trust the Spirit of Christ to lead believers in the way of righteousness, and so they sought to impose restrictions.
___Over and over, SBC leaders express fear of what might happen if Baptists exercise the priesthood of the believer. Texas Baptists rest secure in God's grace, realizing the Lord's love turns hearts toward righteousness and compels Christians to live according to standards laws never could attain.
___ World-view. A sub-theme of this year's SBC could have been "The Sky is Falling." Speaker after speaker lamented that these are the worst of times. Indeed, they built a case from certain indicators of morality that Texas Baptists would not dispute. But BGCT Baptists tend to be more optimistic than that. Yes, we lament abortion, the sorry state of TV and movies, and sexual promiscuity. But we see God's hand at work in spiritual movements, in human compassion for others, in opportunities to turn disaster into victory for the glory of God.
___ Attack. For the most part, the SBC meeting was free from attack on the BGCT that has characterized the SBC for the past year or so. However, some could not resist. A seminary president misrepresented a Standard editorial to make a point in debate on a motion. And Baptist Press released two Texas stories--one that perpetuated the seminary president's remarks and another that misrepresented BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade. Frankly, BGCT leaders are bone-weary of arguing with and responding to such attacks, but truth must be presented to counter falsehood. Fundamentalism's nature is to attack, and warm-hearted Christians are not wrong to resist for the sake of Baptist ideals.
___Most Baptists simply want peace. If the SBC and its surrogates in Texas would stop attacking the BGCT and refuse to sanction untruth, Texas Baptists could decide where they stand on authority, grace and world-view as they decide where they will stand in relation to the conventions. Then, we could live in peace to support missions, racial reconciliation and America's families.
--Marv Knox

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com


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