EDITORIAL: Good answers from our new exec

David Hardage said the right thing shortly after Texas Baptists' Executive Board elected him executive director.

"I don't know."

Only moments before, the Executive Board voted 69-1 to name him the Baptist General Convention of Texas' top staff member. Then Hardage climbed the back stairs of the Baptist Building in Dallas, sat down with Baptist Standard editors, and talked about his new job.

The conversation ran the gamut of issues confronting the convention. (See Managing Editor Ken Camp's news article here.) But when I looked back over my notes, I realized a dominant theme: His open acknowledgement he's got a lot to learn, and he's not bringing pre-packaged "fixes" to the job.

• Queried how he would reconcile disparate desires of small churches, which demand a broad array of convention resources, and larger churches, which have been shifting their ministry money to other causes, he said: "I don't know yet."

• Asked if he would develop a "compelling vision" to rally Texas Baptists around a singular cause or event, he replied: "Probably. What it will be, I don't know yet."

• Questioned about how he would evaluate programs and priorities in order to allocate budget funds most wisely, he noted: "I've got a pretty big learning curve. … I don't know yet."

These are terrific answers, for at least three important reasons.

First, they're honest. Texas Baptists' opportunities and challenges are ominous and complex. Nobody knows all the solutions. Any pretense otherwise is disingenuous and off-putting.

Of course, Hardage already knows quite a bit. He's the first executive director who has served in all three major spheres of Texas Baptist life—as pastor of congregations, director of an association of churches and staff member of a BGCT institution. He's visited and preached in hundreds of churches, knows associations well, and has witnessed both the incredible strengths and enormous needs of institutions. He knows a lot, but he doesn't pretend to carry around a briefcase full of fixes.

Second, those answers open the pathway for cooperative efforts at finding the solutions. The only way—the only way—to go about discovering those solutions is to (a) admit we don't know them yet and (b) invite Texas Baptists to join together to help find them.

Hardage stressed he wants to be a catalyst for enabling Texas Baptists to discover solutions to our common challenges and advance on our shared opportunities together.

"I plan to meet pastors and be in churches," he told Executive Board members just before their vote. "I would love for every Texas Baptist pastor to feel this is their building. I will open the doors to the executive director's office." An aside: He would do well to make sure laypeople know they are welcome. Engaged laity, with their range of experiences in business, education, the military, medicine and other "real world" vocations provide a wealth of often-overlooked resources.

One of his primary initial tasks will be "finding out what the churches need and providing it (with) high quality," he said in the interview.

Three, Hardage's "I don't know" answers evoke a sense of humility that, if it spreads, will do Texas Baptists a world of good. Pride and independence are the twin strands of Texans' DNA. And self-regard and autonomy are key ingredients of Baptists' chromosomes. So, when we combine our traits, we can tilt toward hubris and self-righteous isolationism. One of our biggest problems as a convention is we all want everything done our way. We're not very inclined to seek the common good. So, a dose of humility—embodied by our leader—will improve our predisposition.

Join me in praying for David Hardage and his wife, Kathleen, as he steps into this vital position. Lord willing, we'll discover answers and solutions together.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. Visit his blog at www.baptiststandard.com.