November 25, 2002
CTEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Cruel practice
___Common sense and decency should tell anyone who pauses to think about the matter that requiring employees of religious institutions and agencies (professors, pastors, missionaries, staffers) to sign every new version of a doctrinal statement on pain of losing their jobs and possibly having their very careers disrupted if not destroyed is cruel.
___And what is cruel cannot be Christian.
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___It is one thing to require candidates for ministry employment to express agreement with a doctrinal statement; it is another thing entirely to require already hired or commissioned people to express agreement with each new version promulgated by an increasingly conservative constituency or else lose their ministries.
___The former practice is arguably consistent with Christian love and justice. The latter cannot be defended; it is unconscionable. It disrupts lives--not only the employee's but also his or her family's.
___Those who do this are more than inconsiderate; they are cruel.
___ Roger Olson
___ Waco
True gossip
___I will tell you up front that I do not pay to receive the Baptist Standard. It comes to our church, so I sometimes look through it. I expect to see it soon at the checkout stands at the local supermarket alongside the other tabloids.
___The Baptist Standard seems to be content in sensationalizing every move made by the Southern Baptist Convention. Naturally, they only print one side of any story and it is always the side that makes the SBC look as bad as possible.
___Gossip is gossip if it is false. Gossip is gossip if you are not sure if it is false. Gossip is gossip if it is true.
___Point your finger all you want, but your kind of journalism is unbiblical and harmful to the cause of Christ. Your self-righteous attitude is unfortunate.
___ Jim Ballard
___ Edgewood
Baylor's big news
___Thank you for your editorial encouraging support for Baylor University's 10-year vision (Nov. 11). Truly Vision 2012 is the big news from Baylor. It declares to our state, nation and world that an institution of higher learning can remain faithful to its Christian moorings while its students and faculty seek to be the very best among their peers across the land.
___Vision 2012 is the result of many months of conversations among students, faculty, administrators, alumni, regents and others. President Robert Sloan is the one to lead Baylor in implementing the vision.
___The vision serves the students and extends from Baylor's mission--to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.
___ Bill Brian
___ Amarillo
Objective obituaries
___Jim Jones and David Koresh were "Christian" fundamentalists? Jerry Vines and Jerry Falwell are "haters of Islam"? As is, apparently, Franklin Graham, who also spoke to the danger of militant Islam.
___We small-"f" fundamentalists (flashword for conservatives, designed to arouse bad connotations) are accessories before and/or after the fact of suicides?
___Of my 50 years in the ministry, all but four of the 42 spent pastoring were at Texas Baptist churches. The remainder were on the mission field in Thailand and Brazil. I have served on the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board and in more associational and institutional positions than I care to remember.
___But the broad-brushed, defaming and inflammatory statements of character assassination made by Carl Hess and published, with no disclaimer or comment, in the Standard (Nov. 11), are inexcusable, accusatory and patently un-Christian. I am sure the usual pleas of "objectivity" will be made. Who are you kidding?
___I shall miss the obituaries, but then, they are about all that is left of objectivity in the Standard.
___ Bob Wimberly
___ Franklin
Ministerial backbone
___I would like to reply to the letter stating that Jerry Falwell's statements about Islam caused people to die (Nov. 11).
___Did the letter writer really think about his statements? Have we grown so biased and prejudiced to lay the blame on Falwell? Blame the ones who actually did the killing.
___Thousands of Baptist saints have been killed throughout time for taking stands. Do not blame the messenger; blame the perpetrators.
___I may not totally agree with Falwell on all issues. I do, however, admire his backbone and willingness not to allow political correctness to rule his ministry.
___ John Sanders
___ Lubbock
Diatribe of hatred
___The "Killing words" letter of Carl Hess (Nov. 11) is a sad commentary on the effects of the Baptist wars.
___The words Jerry Falwell and Jerry Vines spoke with reference to the Muslim religion were true according to the Koran and Mohammed's own words.
___I watched Vines as he compared Mohammed to Jesus Christ and said we have a choice. He also said he loves Muslims, but not their religion.
___Alluding to the notion that these words were directly responsible for the deaths of others, or suggesting that Christian workers committed suicide because of the so-called lies of fundamentalists is totally irresponsible. Jim Jones and David Kor-esh were teaching "another gospel" akin to the false teachings of other cults.
___With respect to SBC "tyrants," the writer seemed to be voicing an emotion and not an opinion based on truth. The SBC leadership loves and serves God and proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ tirelessly. We will all hang our heads in shame before the throne of Christ if the hateful words we have uttered during our life are replayed for us.
___Hasn't this diatribe of hatred gone on long enough? Did Jesus die on the cross in vain?
___Let God sort out our differences of biblical interpretation through the power of the Holy Spirit. We should fight less and listen more.
___I hang my head in shame before a mighty God as I observe the hatred and venomous behavior of one Christian to another.
___ William Smith
___ Houston
Stern gospel
___Why is it that so many today refuse to acknowledge the stern, challenging, offensive side of the gospel and of Jesus Christ?
___Addressing Jews who refused to believe that he was God's Son and follow him accordingly, Jesus went so far as to say that God was not their father, citing the devil as their father instead (John 8:42-47).
___This same Jesus vigorously turned over tables in the temple courts, citing Hebrew Scripture as he condemned the errant behavior of the merchants and moneychangers (Mark 11:12-17).
___John 8 proves relevant yet again when we examine verse 11, in which Jesus commands the woman accused of adultery to repent, identifying her behavior as sin and exhorting her to turn from it.
___Despite the existence of such passages, far too many people rise up and criticize those who stand firm for Jesus Christ and his teachings, identify sin and sound the call to repentance. These critics argue that we ought to follow Jesus' example, but they erroneously define that example as one of gentle, encouraging love to the exclusion of Jesus' stern and righteous passion evidenced in Scripture.
___When vouching for the validity of Jesus' example, we must take into account the entire scope of that example. Otherwise, we reduce following God's word and the teachings of Jesus Christ to a heretical game of pick-and-choose.
___ Daren Butler
___ Waco
Safer choice
___You overlooked an important demographic fact in your article about sexual misconduct in the pastorate (Nov. 11).
___I don't blame pastor-search committees for asking if there is a demographic grouping less prone to sexual misconduct in the ministry. That is a good question to ask.
___But your sources said there is no type or grouping of pastors that is safer than others. This is a serious oversight.
___There is indeed an overlooked group of pastors who have such a low ratio of misconduct it amounts to almost zero--female pastors. Male pastors have a greater percentage of sexual misconduct than female ones.
___Please do not dismiss this fact as merely the result of the small number of women pastors. Many denominations have had women as pastors for decades, and women clergy prove themselves a far safer choice to the congregations who wish to prevent the heartbreak of scandal in the pulpit.
___ Ed Haynes
___ San Antonio
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