CBF Texas called to live in world of paradox

February 17, 2003

CBF Texas called to live in world of paradox
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___ARLINGTON--Baptists must hold onto paradoxes if they want to prompt spiritual renewal, Virginia pastor Jim Baucom told a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Texas gathering.
___A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement or assertion, said Baucom, immediate past moderator of the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and pastor of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va.
___The national CBF formed in 1991 in opposition to the increasingly fundamentalist posture of the Southern Baptist Convention. While CBF supporters in numerous states formed state or regional CBF chapters, CBF Texas only recently formed, and the organization is seeking its first full-time executive director.
___Virginia, one of the first states with a CBF affiliate, and Texas, the most recent to create a state affiliate, have a "paradoxical relationship," Baucom said. "We couldn't be more different and yet could not be more alike in the way we understand the purity of Baptist principles.
___"The problem with some of our (Baptist) brothers is their inability to hold paradox," he said, adding that many of Jesus' strongest teachings involved paradox.
___For example, Jesus said, "Be in the world and not of it," he noted, explaining this teaching should guide Christians in their relationship to culture. It also can guide CBF Baptists in their relationship with their state convention, he added.
___"In Texas and Virginia, we love our state conventions," Baucom said. "But you are in the Baptist General Convention of Texas and not of it." CBF Baptists in Virginia and Texas are unique in that they can give to and receive support from their state conventions, he added. CBFers in many states are ostracized by their state conventions, which continue to walk in lockstep with the SBC.
___Another of Jesus' paradoxes, "The first shall be last and the last shall be first," also provides instruction for CBF Texas supporters, he noted.
___Some CBF supporters in Texas may regret not organizing a statewide affiliate a decade ago, but the delay is not bad, he said.
___"Those (states) that formed first tended to be comprised of the most 'progressive' thinkers in our movement, but that left precious little room for the masses of Baptists," he observed.
___CBF Texas has an opportunity to be much more diverse and include a broader range of BGCT Baptists than CBF organizations in other states, he said.
___"Some states can't appeal to the masses," he said, calling on CBF Texas to broaden the scope of participation and to "re-shape and re-form the CBF movement."
___Jesus also talked paradoxically about the transcendence or greatness of God and God's immanence or closeness and concern for the needs of people, Baucom said. So, some Baptists tilt toward worship of a distant and holy God while doing little for the needs of people around them, while others focus so acutely on human needs that they don't appreciate the supremacy of God.
___"I challenge you to be a balanced body," he said, "respecting the supremacy of God while providing care for your fellowman."
___A little-recognized paradox of Jesus is his admonition to follow him and "deny self," Baucom said.
___"CBF must be the (religious) body that does not care who gets the credit," he admonished. "We must be a body of humility in a sea of pride."
___CBF Texas intends on continuing its strong relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said Bob Newell, the state organization's moderator.
___"CBF Texas is about the renewal of God's people," he said. "We are partners with you, with the BGCT and a worldwide range of Christian ministries, including World Vision and Habitat for Humanity.
___"We don't intend to start a contrary, parallel, competing organization with the BGCT. We intend to be partners in missions."
___

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