Posted 6/30/03
Vestal: Diversity must express itself in comon stream of witness
By Mark Wingfield
Managing Editor
CHARLOTTE, N.C.–To be the presence of Christ in the world, members of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship must work together today, Daniel Vestal said at the CBF general assembly.
In his annual address as coordinator of the Atlanta-based Fellowship, Vestal called Baptists to be the hands and feet and mouth of Jesus in a needy world. He spoke at the CBF general assembly June 27.
But that will not be as easy to do as to say, he acknowledged, “because Jesus himself is not quite as simple or as easy to understand as we have thought him to be. Perhaps this Jesus of history, this Christ of faith, is far more beautiful and far more radical and far more profound than we have imagined.”
Vestal listed various emphases people give to the person of Jesus, based on their own special interests or needs. For example, to those concerned primarily with social justice, Jesus is a prophet; to those concerned with evangelism, Jesus is the Savior; and to those in need of liberation, Jesus is emancipator.
Rather than living in isolation, these and other views of Jesus must flow together into a common stream of witness within the Fellowship, he suggested.
“CBF is a place where we affirm each other's gifts and also recognize that none of us is the body of Christ by ourselves. No one of us can stand alone. No one of us has a corner on the truth. No one of us has a complete understanding of the gospel.”
Vestal pointed to 1 Corinthians 3:9, which in the King James Version says, “We are laborers together with God.”
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Emphasizing this and other “together” passages of the New Testament, he called for cooperation, partnership and multi-cultural interaction.
“From our formation, we have said we wanted to be inclusive and egalitarian in leadership and membership,” he explained. “It's in our DNA, it's in our desire, to balance leadership between male and female, laity and clergy, and different parts of the country. But as painful as it is for us to admit, we are too white with too few people of color in our midst.”
The time to be the presence of Christ is now, Vestal said. “This is our time. God has given us this day. And it makes no sense to retreat into an idealized past or always be wishing for a perfect future.”
Baptists must press on with the gospel despite the burdens of the times, Vestal insisted.
“I realize many of you live and work in very stressful places. … Many of you serve God on what seems to be an island surrounded by a sea of fundamentalism. Others of you work daily in an environment where people are hostile to Christian values. Some of you are in churches characterized by conflict, and others of you see little fruit in your ministry. … Yet this is our day.”
Vestal called on Baptists to seize the day by making their churches relevant in their communities rather than merely “playing church.” He urged churches to make God's mission their passion, to train effective congregational leaders and to have a global vision.
In the weakness of churches, God can bring strength, Vestal assured.
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