If you ever forget who you are, you will be like a rootless tree.

Who are you?

The question seems simple, but when you begin to answer it, you discover how complex we as humans have become.

Which part of your identity is most important, primary, fundamental?

What is your primary identity?

The most fundamental question you can ask is: “What is my relationship to God?” This question is fundamental because your answer to it affects everything else.

Another way of asking that question is: “Do I identify with Jesus Christ?”

If you identify with Jesus Christ, how do you understand that identification? Do you understand Jesus to be the one to whom you submit all things? When you pray, do you commit to “not my will but yours be done”? Do you view your relationship in John the Baptist’s terms: “He must become greater; I must become less”?

If you answer yes to these questions, you probably claim “Christian” as a fundamental identity. Admittedly, to call yourself Christian based on answering yes to the questions above is a fairly narrow understanding of the name, an understanding with which others would argue. Despite such argument, this narrow definition of Christian is what I am working with here.

What is your secondary identity?

If you identify as a Christian, who else are you?

Are you Republican, Democrat or Independent? Are you conservative, moderate or liberal? Are you a 1-percenter, middle-class or working poor? Are you red, yellow, black, brown or white? Are you city, country or suburbanite?

As important and integral as all other identifiers may be to your personhood, they are all secondary to your primary identifier. If you identify with Christ, if Jesus Christ is the one to whom you submit all things, then all other identifiers are secondary. All other identifiers.

Why your primary identity is primary

Stephen R. Covey made his name and fortune teaching people to put “first things first.”

Don’t be distracted by all the good things; deal with the most important thing(s) first. Why? Because first things are primary things. Because everything else has a way of sorting itself out when the most important thing receives priority. Because if you try to deal with the secondary things first, you may never get to what is most important or you may find yourself like a rootless tree in a cyclone.

When chaos tests our primary identity

Anyone trying to keep up with current events knows the world feels chaotic—like a cyclone. Trying to decide which side of each issue you will be on threatens to undo you if you forget who you are.

When the news is chaotic, bad or frightening, knowing your primary identity will put all other things into perspective. Being pulled in different directions won’t move you if you are rooted and secure in your primary identity.

One reason the world feels chaotic is because so many do not know their primary identity and are tossed about by the winds. Those who identify with Christ can provide stability in chaotic times by remembering who they are, by remembering their primary identity.

Be strong and courageous, people of God

Let Trump do what he will. Let the Supreme Court do what it will. Let the economy do what it will. Let the whole world do what it will. None of it will change who you are in Christ.

Ah, but who you are in Christ won’t let you stand idly by while all else tosses in the wind. No, knowing who you are in Christ will secure your feet as you respond to the actions of others and as you bring refuge in the storm by bearing Christ to others.

Take in the news so your branches know where to direct the water in the drought. Take in the news so your leaves know where to give shade in the heat. Take in the news, the noxious carbon dioxide of a dying world, so you can breathe out the Breath of Life so Christ may restore that same world.

Dear reader, if you ever forget who you are, you will be like a rootless tree.

But if you remember who you are and delight in the Lord who made you, you will be “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” May it be so.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.

When a couple has a child, they begin a lifelong vocation of teaching. Sometimes the lessons are intentional: how to tie a shoe, read a story or do algebra homework. But, very often, the teaching is unplanned as parents offer lessons by simply living.

My parents, Ray and Nancy Ellis, have been teaching me for all of my 62 years. Sometimes the lessons were intentionally taught, but, even more often, they were just caught. My parents, now nonagenarians (in their 90s), are living out before me lessons as valuable as they have ever taught me.

My father is a Baptist minister, most of whose career was spent teaching Greek and administering graduate studies at Hardin Simmons University. In fact, he was my Greek professor for two years as an undergraduate at HSU.

My mother was a public school teacher for a number of years, and, even now at their retirement center, she continues to teach the Bible, which I estimate she’s done for over 80 years in one context or another.

My parents are still my teachers, too, as senior adulthood sneaks up on me. I’ve got so much to learn from them.

Realism and optimism

About three years ago, my mother decided on her own that she and my dad, who struggles cognitively after a stroke, should move from the house they’ve lived in for almost 50 years and relocate to a retirement home. Not all adults can make this difficult decision on their own, but a strong streak of pragmatism, along with the wisdom to know what was beyond her capacity to do for my dad, pushed her to make this significant life change.

It was a good decision.

Since then, my dad has had a second stroke, and they’ve had to move to another facility where he has skilled nursing and Mom has an apartment a floor above. Yet again, my mother is demonstrating, by her decision to move where there’s more help, how to live into reality and lean into the hard thing that needs to be done.

Grit. She’s got grit, and I hope I’m learning the lesson.

Mom’s strong streak of pragmatism is accompanied by remarkable optimism. Like many in the Greatest Generation, she typically chooses to push back against discouragement and self-pity, usually deciding she will be happy, even when it’s hard. To be sure, there are complaints natural to a constricted lifestyle, but Mom looks for the good in every day.

In Dad’s current circumstances of little short-term memory, he’s more often mentioning experiences from the distant past, like recalling what it was like to be an 18-year-old soldier in Calcutta during WWII. Recently, he commented about being a private in the army. “The best thing to do is to shut up and do as you’re told, even when you don’t like it.”

Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he said, “That comes in really handy around here, too,” gesturing toward the nurses’ station. Then he followed with, “I’d rather be home, but it’s good to have places like this when you need them.”  

Choosing to embrace realism mixed with positive good humor: that’s a valuable lesson to give your children.

Love and service

My favorite time of the week to visit my parents is on Sunday afternoons when they’ve wheeled Dad up to Mom’s apartment where they eat sherbet together, chat and watch TV. They are so gently felicitous to one another, and the tender good-bye kiss before dad returns to his floor never fails to melt me.

They are profoundly in love as they approach their 70th wedding anniversary this December. They live out the words of Paul: “Love never fails.”

Dad is a humble, brilliant man with an unflagging minister’s heart. About a year ago, he said, out of the blue, “I was wondering how I can be of help to other people. I can’t teach or preach anymore. I’ve got to have assistance just to get around; people have to do so much for me. And I’ve been thinking about whether I can serve Christ here. Then it came to me: I can be kind to everyone who comes in my room. I can say something to lift them up and let them know they are important. That’s what I can do.”

The aging process can be cruel. Vitality slips away as life seems to shrink to such a small space. Yet my father shows me that the Imago Dei within the true servant of God simply finds another way to shine, another way to be the presence of Christ.

May I learn the lesson, too.  

Gratitude and hope

On Dad’s 92nd birthday, my mom, who’s always been a creator of fun, planned a party for him with family and a couple of friends. When everything was ready, I went down to wheel Dad up to the parlor. He was lying on his bed, dressed for the party by the nurses, with his eyes open — a rarity since he falls asleep so often and easily.

“Hey, Dad, how are you?”

“I’ve been thinking about what a remarkable life I’ve lived. I’ve seen so much, and I’ve been given a wonderful family, so many good things to enjoy, and good things to do. It’s been a wonderful life — not that I’m ready for it to end right now. But someday it will, and then it’ll get even better.”

At 92, he’s teaching me how to live well, with gratitude and hope.

My gray hair and sagging face lead acquaintances to periodically ask if I’m thinking about retirement. The answer is an unqualified no.

I’m a doer, and my work gives life a lot of value. In fact, retirement looks to me like the most boring job ever. But it will come eventually, as will declining health. And my parents are showing me how to navigate it with grace.

My parents are also teaching me about living well now, as they always have, for they are giving witness to

• Leaning into reality and courageously making hard choices
• Choosing optimism in the face of challenges and uncertainties
• Knowing the value of pushing everything else aside in order to love those who are most precious and to be loved by them
• Seeing the goodness in everyone around and affirming the dignity of each with kindness
• Receiving joyfully and giving gratitude for the countless good gifts of life, now and forever

As disciples of Christ, we are lifelong learners and also lifelong teachers.

Thanks be to God for the lessons of our elders. May we learn them well so that we may live well.

Bob Ellis is Dean of the Logsdon School of Theology and Logsdon Seminary at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.

A piece of preaching advice from John Calvin has affected both the way I preach and write more than any other piece of advice I’ve ever received.

The preacher, Calvin wrote, should primarily and always preach to themselves, recognizing that they are “students of the Word” just as much as the congregants. “When I climb into the pulpit, it is not simply to instruct others. I do not exclude myself, since I myself must remain a student as well.”

For the preacher who is not preaching to themselves as much as to the congregation, Calvin had frightening words: “It would be better if he were to break his neck while climbing into the pulpit.”

Why such harsh language, and why have his words stuck with me so strongly?

I believe Calvin is revealing something about the gospel that those of us in ministry tend to forget.

From worship to sermon?

I think most of us, ministers and laypeople, equate preaching with teaching. The sermon is the part of the worship service where the pastor teaches about the Bible, using it to present facts about the afterlife or reasons to be involved in a particular social cause.

In fact, the language we use during a service very often implies that the sermon is not a part of our worship.

By “worship,” we usually mean “music.” Consequently, I often hear phrases like, “Let us transition from worship to the sermon,” again implying that worship ceases once the pastor takes the pulpit.

Our language seems to imply that, when the church gathers, it worships God through song and then, after worshipping, receives information based, in one way or another, on the Bible.

Teaching and preaching

It should give us pause to think that worship comprises only a portion of our worship service.

This problem arises, I would argue, because preaching and teaching are not the same thing, biblically speaking.

“Teaching,” as it relates to the church, is a particular spiritual gifting. It isn’t a charge given to all Christians and is closely related to the discipleship process in the New Testament.

“Preaching,” in the original biblical sense, is a responsibility given to all Christians. In fact, the most common word for “preach” in the New Testament is “euangelizo,” a word that would come into English as “evangelize.”

“Teaching” in the New Testament usually means assisting others in growing in Christlikeness and is a spiritual gift given to some within the church. “Preaching,” meanwhile, also translated as “evangelizing” or “witnessing,” is the responsibility of all Christians to declare the work of God and the coming of God’s kingdom.

The role of the sermon

So what are we doing when we gather on Sunday mornings, and where does the sermon fit into it?

It’s worth remembering that, historically, the Protestant reformers substituted the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass with the preaching of the Word; the sermon replaced Communion as the “high point” of the service.

Communion, in Catholicism then and now, is the point of the service where God is most fully revealed and God’s presence most immediately manifested.

We as Protestants believe much the same thing about the preaching of the Word. Preaching isn’t teaching about something that happened in the past or the doctrinal content of the Bible, though both of those things have their place within the church.

Public preaching in the worship setting is, rather, the initiation of a unique encounter with God. Preaching is the recounting of the work of God, the declaration of the new state of the world because of God’s actions in Christ.

Calvin’s words were so stark because he recognized that a sermon is more than a scholar of the Bible telling congregants how to think or what to do: it is an invitation for God to enter that space and be with God’s people in a unique, intense and dangerous way.

Those in preaching ministry should think of themselves not as teachers informing the less spiritually educated but as conduits for the Spirit to work in the lives of those gathered. The words we speak on Sunday mornings or the rest of the week when we proclaim the Word are not our own. Rather, to borrow a phrase from Matthew, we pray that they would be “the Spirit of the Father speaking through you.”

Preaching is not teaching history or doctrine; preaching is the proclaiming of the mighty act of God in Jesus Christ, reflected in all of Scripture, done in the bold hope that God might take up those words as God’s own.

Jake Raabe is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. He is also a co-founder of Patristica Press, a Waco-based publishing house.

There’s an old church I see when driving on highway 277 between Munday and Wichita Falls, Texas.

Driving north, you can just see the church’s rusted roofline and steeple rising from a group of trees that must be on the old church property. Every time I pass, I make a vow to stop one day and take a closer look, but it seems I’m always in a hurry to get home.

So I tell myself, “On the next trip, I’ll stop.”

‘God loves the church’

I find an odd beauty in old, abandoned buildings, and there is something captivating about churches. While there is nothing sacred about any particular location, a church is a set apart place. A place set apart for worship. A place set apart for prayer. A place set apart for experiencing God.

And I don’t want to sound mystical, but I think some of that “set apartness” remains — even in churches abandoned, worn down and forgotten.

It reminds me that the church is not a manmade concept; rather, the church was and remains God ordained. God created the church. God gave the church its identity and mission. And, above all, God loves the church. And because God loves the church, the church is beautiful.

This is so important for us to remember.

‘There is beauty’

Many of us know and have seen the dilapidated state of our churches — not physically dilapidated, but broken down because of sin, racial biases, partisanship, infighting or apathy.

We see where the roof has collapsed and where rocks have been thrown through the windows. We know that the lawn hasn’t been mowed in years and that there are probably rodents living in the baptistery.

But beyond the perceived decay, there is beauty.

The church remains the bride of Christ, and the Body of Christ still has Jesus as its head. The same Jesus who is the head of the Body is the same Jesus who raises dead things back to life.

Jesus, the bridegroom of the church, is still preparing the wedding feast because Jesus is deeply in love with his church.

Jesus is not deeply in love with our buildings, he is not deeply in love with our programming and he is not deeply in love with our mission statements. Jesus is deeply in love with the men and women united under his Lordship to be his hands, feet and voice in a lost world.

‘We remain beautiful’

Even as we fix the roof, replace the windows, mow the lawn and flush out the rodents, we must remember that we do it not to gain God’s love, but because we are already the recipients of God’s love.

We are already the Bride of Christ and while, to change metaphors, we may be having a bad hair day, we remain beautiful in the sight of the bridegroom.

So, the next time you pass an old, abandoned and forgotten church, slow down and try to see the beauty that remains despite the rundown outward appearance.

Be reminded that God still sees his church as beautiful. More importantly, the next time you walk into your church, however old or new, big or small, traditional or modern, perfect or imperfect, see it through the eyes of Jesus.

Try to see your church the way the Bridegroom sees it: beautiful and worthy of giving up his life for her.

As churches full of imperfect people, we’ll never get it exactly right, but let us also not settle for anything less than what we are: the Bride of Christ.

Ryan Vanderland is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Electra TX. He blogs at ryanvanderland.wordpress.com.

Since November 2002, Don Fawcett has been the network missionary for the Heart of Texas Baptist Network in Early, Texas. From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on church and ministry. To suggest a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated leader to be featured in this column, or to apply to be featured yourself, click here.

Background

Where else have you worked, and what were your positions?

I have served as a pastor at FBC Santo in Santo, Texas, Fairview Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, Belle Plain Baptist Church in Brownwood, Texas, and as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church Lake Brownwood in Brownwood, Texas.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Burnet, Texas. I graduated from high school there in 1980.

How did you come to faith in Christ?

I was raised in the First Baptist Church of Burnet, Texas, my hometown. I was very involved in RAs as a child and came to faith at RA camp at Highland Lakes Baptist Camp as a boy of nine years of age.

Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

In high school, I was very interested in science, and so I continued my education at Texas State Technical Institute in Waco, Texas, and received a degree in Solar Energy. I then completed a Bachelor of Arts in religious education from Howard Payne University and continued studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where I completed a Master of Arts in theology.  Finally, I graduated in 2008 from Southwestern with a Doctorate of Ministry in missions.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

For 25 years, I have been interested and engaged in mission in and through local churches. As a pastor, I led churches to mission engagement, both in their respective communities and globally.  Serving in my current capacity is a natural nexus of my particular gifts and passions.

Please tell us about your association—where it’s located, the key focus of its work and ministry, etc.

The Heart of Texas Baptist Network consists of 59 churches in Brown, Mills, Comanche and San Saba counties, with one church located in Callahan County. Our office is located in Early, Texas, in the former Jones Chapel Baptist Church.

Our work includes mission engagement in Texas and globally equipping church leaders through training events, assisting churches with their needs and ministering to pastors and church staff.

What do you like best about leading your association? Why?

I receive the greatest joy out of seeing churches engage in missions. I take great joy in seeing churches become healthy, which I define as engaging in authentic relationship emerging in Spirit-led continuation of the ongoing work of Christ in the world.

What aspect(s) of associational ministry and/or its mission do you wish more people understood?

I think that the challenges to associations are systemic challenges stemming from global cultural change. This includes quantum changes in communication, demographics, technology, authority and its related structures and every aspect of culture.

Adaptation is critical, which requires strategic thought in most contexts. In more isolated and homogenous contexts, perhaps strategic thought is not as critical. I wish people understood and accepted quantum change for what it is because no one can stop it. They can only adapt to it.

How has your association and its mission changed since you began your career?

The changes for us are far-reaching.

First, we are not as relational on a face-to-face basis as we once were.

Second, giving and financial support from churches has steadily declined due to a variety of reasons.

Third, we are increasingly living in a post-denominational age. This doesn’t mean that denominations won’t exist, but that they don’t garner the same type of allegiance they once did. Now, there is a multitude of possible affinities and bases of cooperation in the world, all at the click of a mouse.

Our mission hasn’t really changed because it is a function of the mission of the local church, which is, in turn, a function of the universal redemptive mission of God. But our methodologies have changed dramatically.

How do you expect your association and/or its mission to change in the next 10 to 20 years?

I think that is very difficult to extrapolate due to the extreme fluidity of the current global realities. Also, our association is geographically large, and that poses special challenges that may not challenge an association consisting of a smaller area.

This association must find a way, it seems, to narrow a perceived gap between the network office and the local churches, some of which are well over a hour-and-a-half drive from this office. Likewise, some of the churches are almost 100 miles apart. This makes it very challenging to foster inter-church fellowship.

Name the three most significant challenges and/or influences facing your association.

1) Fostering and catalyzing pastoral fellowship across a large geographic area.

2) Building collective and unified vision across a large geographic area.

3) Strategically responding at this juncture to discover and implement creative pathways and adaptation in every aspect of this work.

What one aspect of your job gives you the greatest joy or fulfillment?

Global mission engagement

About Baptists

What are the key issues—opportunities and/or challenges—facing Baptist churches?

The biggest challenge facing Baptist churches includes the issues of their theological identity in regard to what it means to be kingdom citizens in relation to their earthly citizenship and the related task of rediscovering their roots and distinctives as a people called “Baptists” in today’s world. Many Baptists are now seeking to cozy up to power and empire, and, in so doing, they run the risk of forfeiture of their kingdom identity.

On the other hand, the opportunities before us are as great as they have ever been in our history.  Baptists would do well to adapt as a truly global people, and, as they reflect upon their theology, they could become stronger as they listen to the voices of the church in the developing world.  Globalism is here to stay, and Western provincialism must give way to a truly global conversation, which is reciprocal in nature.

What are the key issues facing Baptists as a people or denomination?

Institutions very often suffer from cultural lag. It seems we need “breakout.” We are an aging Anglo people who, in large part, have not moved toward our brothers and sisters of color, toward the poor, toward the broken, across the lines drawn by society and etched by our past sins.

We are increasingly insulated in our houses of worship, valuing fellowship and consumerism over following the example of the Good Samaritan. The hope of the Baptists or Methodists or any other denomination or spiritual entity is to put on the towel of service and move with humble intention back to those who have been passed by in the ditch — to empty our own wine on their wounds, to place them on our beasts of burden while we walk, to bring them to the inn and pay their lodging from our own purse.

No amount of theological orthodoxy can bring about spiritual renewal. The hope of revival is in engaging the immigrant, the marginalized and the broken in relational witness and friendship.

What would you change about the Baptist denomination—state, nation or local?

I do not know. It is like turning a flotilla surrounding an aircraft carrier. The leaders we have are good leaders. One cannot critique them without walking in their shoes. The concept that there is some “change” that must come to the denomination that can be easily applied is most often not applicable.

The quantum changes in our world now are akin and analogous to the invention of the printing press or the microchip. They are triggering shock waves on a global scale in every human endeavor. Sometimes nothing can be done.

About Don

Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

My mentors were second-grade teachers who taught me it is OK for a man or young boy to think and learn and be academic.

My mentors were local pastors who taught me the word of God.

My mentors were my parents who taught me how to serve the world.

My mentors were seminary professors who taught me about theology and how to think.

Other than the Bible, name some of your favorite books or authors, and explain why.

James Leo Garrett’s “Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical, Evangelical.” Because he was a great influence in the classroom and he is truly in conversation throughout his career across the Catholic/Protestant landscape. He is a fantastic human being.

Also, John Stott’s “The Cross of Christ.” Not because I agree with everything in the book, but because it ministered to my spirit during a very challenging time, and then, when I attended his lecture series, I saw what a fantastic Christian and man he was.

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

Galatians 2:20, because it describes the reality of the gospel as a true inner work through the Spirit, not just some objective truth statement to which we give mental assent.

Who is your favorite Bible character, other than Jesus? Why?

Paul. Because next to Jesus, he is the single most impactful and important human being in history. Everything we now enjoy is traced back to Jesus, but somewhere a vast amount of these blessings will flow through Paul.

Name something about you that would surprise people who know you well.

I don’t like being up in front of people or in the limelight at all.

If you could get one “do over” in your career, what would it be, and why?

I just don’t think like this. We see things and decisions, in hindsight, as mistakes. They may have been, but most of us do the best we can with the information we have at a given moment in a given context. And what others think of that is up to them.

God will judge all people as the only just Judge. Humans will write history, but most of the time they are people in power. What they say is to be heard, but it is one perspective.

Write and answer a question you wish we had asked.

How have you handled the reality of people in positions of spiritual authority and power who do evil things?

I have not handled it well, although I am fully aware that all people, including myself, are capable of anything. But this is a theological conundrum to me: How can fresh water flow from an unclean well?

The rule of law and the rule of morality are not synonymous in human systems.

The divide between law and morality has been on public display particularly during the last few weeks as growing numbers pressured Congress and the Trump administration to end the policy of separating children from their parents who are detained after entering the United States.

Thankfully, President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon, June 20, to cease the separation of parents and children at the U.S. border with Mexico when adults are detained for entering the country illegally.

Despite this positive step, the events of the last few weeks give us reason to consider the relationship between our law and our morals in order to prevent future injustice and to respond to injustices in more effective ways.

A case study in comparing legality and morality

It may be legal in the United States to separate children from their parents, but it may not be moral. The legality of separating children from parents depends on the situation, a statement akin to a famous Baptist’s parsing of ‘is.’

Are we talking about a situation of parents abusing or neglecting their children? If this is the case, there is wide agreement children can and should be placed in a safer environment. In other words, most agree with the creation of a system that separates children from their parents for the purpose of placing those children in safe places such as foster care. In this case, law and morality seem to align.

Are we talking about a situation of parents raising, disciplining and teaching their children in accordance with certain religious convictions such as those purported to be held by Jehovah’s Witnesses? If this is the case, we are very reluctant to separate children from their parents, even if we are in strong disagreement with their religious convictions. In this case, law and morality quibble.

Of course, these two examples refer to families who are citizens of the United States.

Is what’s good for Americans good for others?

What if we are talking about a situation of parents fleeing violence to protect their children? What if we are talking about a situation of parents trying to provide a more stable future for their children?

Of course, these two examples refer to families who are not citizens of the United States.

The question is whether or not the relationship between law and morality changes or should change from one situation to another. Does what we consider immoral when applied to our own citizens become moral when applied to non-citizens?

According to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the law is clear.

If a person enters the United States by any means outside the approved channels, that person has violated U.S. law and is a criminal.

Fair enough. How then should such criminals be treated?

There’s the rub. How exactly should a clear law, if it is indeed clear, be enforced? That—a policy for enforcement—seems to be anything but clear.

Much has already been said about the morality of separating children from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border (I wonder if the same is happening at the U.S./Canada border.). I won’t repeat all of the good reporting and editorial opinion already published.

I will call us to examine the rule of morality and to determine if the rule of law on this one issue meets the moral requirement. And yes, all laws must meet a moral requirement, regardless whether or not we can “legislate morality.”

Mandatory reporting is an example of a moral law.

Section 261.101of the Texas Family Code reads:

PERSONS REQUIRED TO REPORT… A person having cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect by any person shall immediately make a report as provided by this subchapter.

261.101 is commonly referred to as the mandatory reporting requirement. “A person” means any person. Clearly, this legal requirement is morally right. Every child should be protected from abuse and neglect and should be provided the means for recovery from the same.

An important provision of the mandatory reporting requirement is Section 261.106, which provides immunity for the reporter “if the person [reporting] was acting in good faith and in the scope of the person’s responsibilities.”

Again, most agree this law is good as it applies to citizens of the United States residing in the State of Texas. Does the same law apply to children and their parents who are not citizens of the United States but who have entered Texas? If the law applies equally in the latter situation, how should that law be enforced in that situation?

Does the zero-tolerance policy constitute “abuse or neglect by any person?”

My guess is Attorney General Sessions and others would argue a government does not meet the definition of ‘person.’ Interestingly, a similar discussion has taken place concerning corporations.

Supposing their argument is cogent that a government is not a person, might the individual enforcers of the zero-tolerance policy meet the definition of ‘person?’ Might each person on Texas soil involved in separating a child from his or her parents in compliance with the zero-tolerance policy be considered to give “cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect by any person?” The American Academy of Pediatrics thinks so.

Man’s law and God’s law

Sessions, given his reading of Romans 13, would have us accept the zero-tolerance policy without question. However, given the entire context of Romans 13 and Paul’s assertion that God’s love fulfills the law, perhaps law-abiding citizens of the United States can comply with another law, which isn’t policy but is an actual legal requirement.

Perhaps we can become mandatory observers along the border and in the places where children are being held, so we might then become mandatory reporters coming to the aid of children in need, mindful that not all who are enforcing the policy agree with or are happy with it and like us long for a more just solution.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.

After the Illumination Project, churches and other ministries affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are considering whether or not to remain connected to CBF. The crux of the issue for these churches is a change in the CBF hiring policy regarding LGBT individuals.

For some churches on the traditional end of the theological spectrum, the new hiring policy allowing “LGBT individuals to be considered for some staff positions” crosses over to the wrong side of a line of acceptability. For some churches on the progressive end of the theological spectrum, the new hiring policy stops short of the desired level of inclusion. Churches on both sides wonder if they are still in enough agreement to continue to affiliate with the CBF.

As the CBF grapples with the continuing fallout of the Illumination Project, four pastors discussed their church’s continuing connection to the Fellowship during the CBF general assembly in Dallas—Erin Conaway of Seventh and James in Waco; Carol McEntyre of First Baptist in Columbia, Missouri; Mike Oliver of Trinity Baptist in Madison, Alabama; and Alan Redditt of Georgetown Baptist in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Spectrum of positions on sexuality among CBF churches

Each of the four churches represented in the discussion holds a different position on the spectrum between traditional to progressive. The most traditional and progressive of the churches clearly identify their positions. Trinity identifies as traditional and conservative while First Baptist in Columbia identifies as welcoming and affirming. Seventh and James and Georgetown stand between these two on the spectrum.

The historic Baptist principle of local church autonomy guides both Trinity and Georgetown. Both pastors stated unequivocal commitment to their respective churches determining their own descriptors. Oliver said Trinity does not want “anyone outside the church to tell us who we are,” including their local association, the Southern Baptist Convention or the CBF. In describing Georgetown as “welcoming and blank,” Redditt said the church will decide on its own language to fill in the blank.

How churches are reviewing their relationship to CBF

When McEntyre broached the subject of connecting to CBF with the mission team and church council at First Baptist in Columbia, she was told regarding the church’s commitment to CBF: “We’re used to getting kicked out. We don’t leave.” For them, leaving is not an option.

Redditt and Georgetown Baptist began discussing sexuality after the 2015 Obergefell decision in favor of same-sex marriage. They engaged in an extended Bible study on the topic, repeating the study with new deacons prior to the release of the Illumination Project report. As a result, Georgetown decided their position before the report was announced.

Redditt went on to say his church is not in a hurry to conclude its discussion. One reason for their slower deliberation is to observe how they are treated by various Baptist groups and to evaluate their connections based on the level of mercy, grace and respect they receive.

Oliver and Trinity also are deliberate in their discussions. A large portion of Trinity’s congregation is employed by NASA, and those members appreciate measured discussion. As a result, Oliver intentionally has “leaked out information slowly” to allow his congregation to discuss various points thoroughly. In keeping with a slower approach, Oliver and Redditt went over the complete report with their respective congregations.

How churches are answering the funding question

Many churches questioning their continued connection to CBF focus their deliberation on funding. In Texas, this conversation was accelerated when the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas announced the removal of CBF as a giving option. As a result, Texas Baptist churches now must send funds directly to CBF.

While Georgetown made no change in its CBF funding, one family concerned about the new CBF hiring policy opted to direct their funds to support CBF missionaries. Notably, this family did not want the church to cut off its financial support of CBF.

First Columbia also continues to fund CBF, in addition to contributing to the Global Missions Offering in support of missionaries sent from their church. The church also funds the Affirming Network breakfast at the CBF general assembly. Their funding choices align with their desire to maintain a connection to their people and their values.

During the question and answer period at the end of the Illumination Project conversation at the general assembly, Tommy Hood, former pastor of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church in Hudson Oaks outside Weatherford, expressed the concern of his current congregation, Central Baptist in Johnson City, Tennessee, that designations to the Global Missions Offering free up funds for other CBF budget items to which the church may be opposed. Central holds to a traditional and conservative view of marriage and sexuality.

On behalf of Central, Hood asked what other traditional churches are asking, “How can we continue to cooperate [with CBF] in good conscience and maintain our convictions?”

Oliver responded: “You can’t parse every penny. Give it all away.” In support of his response, Oliver used the example of buying gasoline from Exxon. While conservative Christians might not mean to support things like alcohol, do they question what else they may be supporting by doing business with large corporations? At least with CBF, contributions can be designated to support only those things a congregation agrees to support.

But why are churches staying?

Conaway and Oliver both named missions as a significant reason their churches stay connected to CBF. “Historically, Baptists came together to send missionaries,” Conaway said. CBF does missions so well with a unique approach, high quality and “true to the gospel,” said Oliver.

Another reason Conaway named for staying connected to CBF is grace. “Grace is wider than we understand,” said Conaway. “I don’t love any perfect people or organizations, which are made of people.”

Continuing to affiliate with CBF an ongoing discussion

Many wonder how the Illumination Project will affect the future of CBF. That future will be worked out at the local level as each congregation decides for itself whether to remain connected. In making their decision, congregations will need time to consider all the ramifications, including what such a decision will mean for their members who attend or work for convention-related schools and other entities.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.

Let me lay all of my cards out on the table here at the beginning.

I am a young pastor of a small, rural traditional church in Central Texas.

I completely believe in evangelism and pray for revival.

I thank God for many churches who are reaching men and women and children who would never walk through the doors of my church.

I praise God for churches who do church differently than we do in order to reach their community. The work of so many churches to reach out to a new generation should be praised.

But I have a concern that our focus solely on being “relevant” can keep us from loving the full body of Christ.

The danger of missing the whole body

We must contextualize the gospel, but we must not sacrifice the wisdom and gifts of those in our church in order to be “relevant.”

This sole focus on relevance is a part of a larger movement to see the pastor as CEO instead of shepherd. The move to see the pastoral office as entrepreneurial has led us to see the church more as a business than as a body. It has allowed us to see people only as numbers and the purpose of the church as only making those numbers grow.

When this occurs, it is easy to see those whom we perceive as keeping us from growth, mostly our older saints, as hindrances instead of help.

When the church becomes our start-up business instead of the body of Christ, we miss the power of the gospel to unite us in our generational diversity.

Many times, the call for “relevance” has relegated our senior saints to the sidelines because they are the past. When we try to usher older saints out of leadership and paint their opinions and concerns as not getting the mission, then we miss the mouth of the body of Christ filled with the wisdom of the lived experience our church needs and the hands of the body of Christ that nurtured us, hugged us, raised us and planted the truth of the gospel in our hearts.

We miss the full body of Christ when relevance takes precedence over the unity of the church.

It is true that a church only filled with senior adults could show a church stuck in the past, but it is also true that a church filled with only young adults can show a church with a narrow view, susceptible to making the same mistakes of the past.  

Being “relevant” focuses all of our attention on the whims of the now and the uncertainty of the future. It causes us to only see the past and those who led in the past as hindrances rather than examples and people with gifts our body needs now.

We need senior saints

Senior saints have fought the battles, they have ministered to the hurting and they have reached their community and loved those in need.

When pastors come in and discount all they have done, we make a huge mistake. They know the community better than we do, and most of them will still be ministering in the community when we are gone.

Now, to be fair, I know of no one who actually calls for us to dismiss the past or to move past the contributions of senior saints, but much of our current leadership writing and church growth talks and conferences have this implication. To be “relevant” carries a notion of discounting the past. We must not do that.

Also, one last caveat: there are real situations where some may hold a church back from reaching their community because they want things to be like they used to be. This happens. It is a real struggle in many places, but this does not mean we should sweep the experiences and advice of those who have built the churches we serve.

Listen and be faithful

My advice to new pastors anywhere is to sit down with the men and women who have loved your church year after year, decade after decade, and listen to them.

Most desire the church to reach new people. Most want the church to grow. Honor their ministry. Honor their wisdom. Ask questions and be patient. Love them well by recognizing their place in the body of Christ.

We need our older saints. Their love for our community and their wisdom of years walking with Christ will help us be faithful, and that is more important than just being “relevant.”

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.

DALLAS—The #MeToo Movement brought to light issues of sexual abuse the church should have addressed long ago, the leader of a workshop at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly insisted.

“Hollywood has done a better job confronting abuse than the church,” said Pam Durso, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry.

The #MeToo Movement—started in 2006 by Tarana Burke—only recently was expanded to include #ChurchToo. Durso pointed to that long delay as evidence of churches’ inattention to sexual abuse, when they should have taken the lead.

Support and believe survivors

Durso facilitated discussion at the workshop, which focused both on how churches can support survivors of sexual abuse and how congregations can take steps to prevent sexual offenses.

One woman in five will experience rape or attempted rape, Durso noted. Many more will encounter sexual harassment or discrimination based on their sex.

“I’ve never talked to a woman who hasn’t experienced sexism,” Durso said.

Since the lives of most women already are affected by an abusive society, churches should not compound their pain by failing to adopt and implement policies that respect the survivors of sexual abuse, Durso insisted.

Too many churches respond to reported cases of sexual abuse the wrong way, she asserted. Too often, churches find reasons to blame the victim rather than the perpetrator—because of the clothes she wore, or because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because she trusted a man too much, she said.

Sexual violence and abuse happen so often that it often is normalized, Durso explained. Whether because men are understood as sexually driven beings, or because women are blamed for not strongly avoiding the situation, she said, churches can see these attacks as a normal occurrence and therefore not take action.

“They will tell women, ‘You need to just accept what happened and not question it,’” Durso observed.

Particularly in cases of clergy sexual abuse, churches tend to doubt what women say about the sexual violence they suffered, she insisted.

Many ministers are so beloved, even if a woman says she was attacked, churches will question her statements, Durso said.

Because women realize they will face the obstacle of disbelief, 63 percent of rapes go unreported, she noted.

“It’ll cost them too much to report what happened,” she said, whether that means not being believed or being blamed for the offense. “Churches have been slow to believe women.”

Christian educational institutions

That extends to many Christian institutions, she added. In May, the Washington Post reported how Paige Patterson allegedly mishandled a rape report when he was president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Megan Lively later came forward to reveal she was the woman who reported the assault, and she said the seminary placed her on probation for two years after she reported the incident—presumably for being alone in her apartment with a man.

After the story came out, Lively had to endure personal attacks on the Internet for “ruining a ‘good man’s’ reputation,” Durso said.

While discussions about sexual assault never are easy, churches must provide safe places where victims can come forward and trust their account will be trusted, she insisted.

“It’s uncomfortable, but if we can’t do it in the church, then where is it going to happen?” Durso asked.

In addition to creating safe spaces for victims of sexual abuse and harassment, Durso called on churches to move beyond “thoughts and prayer” and take tangible action by not only reporting incidents, but also providing follow-up with survivors.

“While some reports may happen, follow-through and due process often does not,” she said.

Begin with honest conversation

For churches to respond quicker and not be taken by surprise, Durso urged church leaders to prepare policies regarding clergy misconduct beforehand.

“This starts with conversation,” she said.

Seminaries need to address sexual abuse before ministerial students graduate or enter churches to serve, she added.

Churches need policies in place to protect women and children in the congregation, and pastors need to preach about the issue of sexual abuse from the pulpit, she said.

“If we do not think proactively, we will not move in the right direction,” Durso said. “We need to make it a matter of public worship.”

Considering that 93 percent of CBF senior pastors are male, Cooperative Baptists cannot wait for women pastors to take the leadership in addressing sexual abuse in churches.

“We cannot say women pastors need to lead when most pastors are men,” she said.

When the people of God do not listen and do not believe victims of sexual violence, they do not love the victims, Durso said. It is not surprising when the survivors do not feel loved by God because of what the church does, she added.

Churches need to engage in serious conversations about who God is and who God has called the church to be, Durso insisted.

And any deep conversation about the love God has for all people should include the themes of sexuality, consent, respect and love for each other, she added.

“At the heart of all this, there is really bad theology,” Durso said. “The church then must have a safe space where serious conversation about theology can happen.”

The following article does not constitute legal advice but is intended to provide churches with questions to ask with regard to the formation of a security response.

During worship on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley walked into First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs and shot and killed 26 people, and he wounded 20 others. The response to this mass shooting was immediate and has continued to reverberate through houses of worship.

Churches all over Texas and elsewhere scrambled to assemble security teams to prevent a similar occurrence. Unfortunately, these churches may have created a new problem for themselves.

On the same November morning, Manuel Garcia shot and killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend outside St. Alphonsus Church in Fresno, California.

According to the FBI, 220 active shooter situations occurred between 2000-2016, said John Litzler, director of the church law division of Christian Unity Ministries, during his workshop at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 2018 general assembly in Dallas. Eight of those incidents, or 3.6 percent, happened in houses of worship. Most were robberies or spillover from domestic disputes. Some actually targeted the religious group.

While active shooter incidents in houses of worship are rare, eight occurring over 17 years, three such incidents occurred in 2017 alone, two on the same day.

Church security is broader than gun violence

Litzler told workshop participants to “think broader [than gun violence] about church security.” Churches need to think about chemical attacks, cyber attacks, bomb threats, robbery, vandalism, natural disasters, child abductions and other things that have occurred at places of worship.

In thinking through other security concerns, churches should consider what kinds of events happen in close proximity to them, such as parades, marathons or concerts. Think about how many people may flood your facility if a violent incident happened nearby. How would you handle those people in that situation?

Be proactive in developing a crisis response plan

• Know your nearest emergency responders. How far away are your nearest first responders and who are they?

• Invite first responders to tour your facilities and provide them blueprints. During their tour, ask them to help you strategize and plan for emergency events. For example, where will people shelter during a tornado? What entrances to the building pose security threats?

• Create safety and security policies and review them regularly. Schedule your review to coincide with your state legislature. The Texas legislature convenes every two years and makes changes to the law that may affect your policies.

How the law affects and complicates church security

Be familiar with the legal requirements of your local jurisdiction. What follows pertains only to Texas.

In 2015, the Texas Legislature amended the Texas Penal Code to allow gun owners to open carry. Previously, gun owners were allowed to conceal carry with a permit unless prohibited by a private property owner under state statute 30.06. After Jan. 1, 2016, gun owners are allowed to open carry with a permit unless prohibited by a private property owner under the new state statute 30.07.

Churches in Texas have four options with respect to guns on their premises.

1. Allow all guns, which is the default position and does not require any notice.
2. Prohibit all guns, which requires oral or written notice under 30.06 and 30.07 according to the specifications of the Texas Penal Code.
3. Allow only concealed carry and no open carry, which requires oral or written notice under 30.07 according to the specifications of the Texas Penal Code.
4. Allow only open carry and no concealed carry, which requires oral or written notice under 30.06 according to the specifications of the Texas Penal Code.

If a church in Texas opts to provide written notice under 30.06 and 30.07, the posting must follow the guidelines given in the Texas Penal Code.

Be aware that 30.06 and 30.07 are trespassing statutes, giving authority to the land owner. Under these statutes, churches are considered private property with the rights that apply to land owners.

If a church in Texas has a school, then a different statute applies. Texas Penal Code 46.03 prohibits firearms and other weapons on the premises of any school or educational institution, public or private. Whereas churches have private property rights under 30.06 and 30.07, church schools do not under 46.03.

A further complication of 46.03 relates to the word ‘premises.’ Under 30.06 and 30.07, ‘premises’ refers to the inside of buildings, allowing a person to leave a firearm in his or her vehicle in the church parking lot. Under 46.03, ‘premises’ includes parking lots, sidewalks, parks and other places where a school activity is taking place, such as Sunday school rooms.

In other words, the same person protected under 30.06 and 30.07 would be in violation of 46.03 if he or she parked in a school parking lot where school activity is taking place, boarded a school bus or attended a school event at a nearby park while carrying a prohibited weapon.

Churches take on legal issues by choosing a fifth option

Due to the cost and unsightliness of written notice requirements and the complexity of state statutes, many churches in Texas choose a fifth option—only the security team will be permitted to carry firearms. This, however, is not a safe option in Texas.

The fifth option could unintentionally create a de facto security team in violation of Texas Occupations Code 1702, which governs private security. In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed a blanket exemption for houses of worship, making compliance with 1702 easier.

Under the exemption, individuals providing security to churches in Texas must be volunteers and must avoid the appearance of being trained private security. Volunteers cannot receive any form of compensation, including gift cards, gift bags or other item of monetary value. Volunteers under this exemption should not wear any article of clothing labeled ‘safety’ or ‘security’ in order to avoid even the appearance of being trained.

While the exemption to 1702 allows individuals to provide security to churches, churches must still be cautious. Statute 1702 only applies to individuals and does not remove liability from the church. If a church knowingly enlists individuals to provide security, and one of those individuals injures or kills another person on the premises, the church may be held liable for the individual’s actions.

Should churches have security teams?

Because security is a matter of discipleship and stewardship, churches should provide security and should be careful how they do it. Litzler suggests churches do the following.

1. Engage a professional who can provide accurate legal counsel.
2. Discuss safety and security measures with your church insurer and be prepared for premium increases if you allow a safety or security team to be armed.
3. Form a diverse group that includes ministers to children and youth to inform emergency response plans.
4. Layer your security using policies, visible cameras and greeters who observe and report suspicious behavior.
5. Train individuals providing security to comply with state statutes.
6. Partner with other churches to fund security.
7. Don’t arm your safety or security team but train the team in preventative measures, such as welcoming people while still in the parking lot. An unarmed security team is not subject to 1702.
8. Hire off-duty law enforcement. This is the best option in Texas if a church can afford it because 1702 does not apply in this situation and it develops good relationships with first responders.

None of these measures prevent a lawsuit. They do demonstrate your concern for the safety of those in your care. No one will begrudge you that.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.comor on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.

Since June 2014, Keith Simpson has been the ministry director for the Lake Ivie Baptist Association in Ballinger, Texas. From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on church and ministry. To suggest a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated leader to be featured in this column, or to apply to be featured yourself, click here.

Background

Where else have you worked, and what were your positions?

I taught school for 38 years and started pastoring in 1998 at a small rural church in northeastern McCulloch County in 1998. I was employed as an agri-science teacher for 35 years and a principal for three years.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in and around Richland Springs, Texas, graduating from there in 1966, and got my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Education at Tarleton State University.

How did you come to faith in Christ?

It was not in a church, believe it or not.

I have always been the one in the family who was called upon in times of crises, and, after one of these crises, while driving home, I had a sudden realization that I could not do this myself. I then pulled over on the side of the highway, cried like a baby and accepted the Lord on the spot with my wife (who had been a Christian for 20 years) by my side.

I came forward the following Sunday and made a profession of faith and was baptized soon afterward.

Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

As previously stated, I have a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Education from Tarleton State University. I also attended Logsdon Seminary from September of 2016 through May of 2017, where I accumulated 12 hours of credit.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

I had worked with the local association in just about every capacity for the last 20-plus years, serving as moderator of the former Brady Association and then on the strategy and development committee to reform the former Brady, Coleman Runnels Area into what is now the Lake Ivie Baptist Association.

While we were without a director of missions, I served as moderator of the association and ran the search committee to find a new DOM. After receiving over 200 applications, and after interviewing several candidates, the other members of the committee approached me and asked me to take the position since I was so involved in the association anyway.

After much prayer and votes from the search committee, our administrative team and the executive board (all unanimous), it was a clear sign from God that this is where he wanted us.

Please tell us about your association—where it’s located, the key focus of its work and ministry, etc.

We are located in West, Central Texas, 40 miles northeast of San Angelo and 60 miles south of Abilene, and we encompass about a 100-mile-by-100 mile radius with 48 churches, 36 of which have bivocational pastors.

In August of 2017, we had a strategy development meeting to see what the perceived needs of our churches were, and we came up with nearly 50 ideas, but seven of the top 10 dealt with evangelism and discipleship, so this has been our focus this year and will continue to be our focus.

We are looking at deacon trainings, discipleship trainings, and already have in place for the fall two different “Heaven’s Gate, Hell’s Flames” presentations in two different parts of our association.

We have also had some church security/safety trainings and other trainings.

What do you like best about leading your association? Why?

Without a doubt, the best part of leading this association are the people.

My wife and I have the opportunity to be in a different church every Sunday, and we enjoy the fellowship with the people, whether it is in a traditional church, some of our small rural country churches or our cowboy churches. We both love the fellowship and meeting people and enjoy the time we spend visiting with all the people.

What aspect(s) of associational ministry and/or its mission do you wish more people understood?

For the first time in four years, I have been asked to come speak to approximately six of our churches and just inform them what the Association is and what it does. It seems that the younger Christians have never been involved with nor told about the local association.

How has your association and its mission changed since you began your career?

I feel as if we are more targeted now since we have a strategic plan put together by member churches to help us focus our emphases on where they think it should be.

How do you expect your association and/or its mission to change in the next 10 to 20 years?

As times change and as culture changes, we must become more relevant to people. The needs in today’s society are entirely different than what they were 30 or 40 years ago and we must adapt or die.

Name the three most significant challenges and/or influences facing your association.

Since we are such a large geographical area and since we have such a large number of bivocational pastors, it is hard to get the involvement we would like. There never seems to be a time to get a large group of representatives from our churches to come together for solutions to common problems.

The second challenge I see is the fact that church membership/attendance is declining in so many of our churches.

The third challenge I think we formerly faced was a lack of vision, but now, with our strategic plan, we can and will become more focused on our vision and objectives.

What one aspect of your job gives you the greatest joy or fulfillment?

Without a doubt, the greatest joy I have is seeing and visiting with the people all across our association, from businessmen to farmers and ranchers to laborers. They all love the Lord.

About Baptists

What are the key issues—opportunities and/or challenges—facing Baptist churches?

I feel as if most Baptist churches (and others, as well) have no sense of purpose as to why they exist. The challenge is that most churches do not have a strategic plan or a direction or a vision.

What are the key issues facing Baptists as a people or denomination?

Baptists are still relevant in today’s society, but we must stay relevant or people will lose hope and quit attending church because they don’t see the relevance of it.

What would you change about the Baptist denomination—state, nation or local?

Baptists are still, by far, the most focused of any denomination that I am aware of. They continue to reinvent the wheel, as it were. We, as a denomination, continue to be on the cutting edge of reaching people and building the kingdom.

About Keith

Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

Without a doubt, my wife has been my greatest influence, and, were it not for her prayers for many years, I may have never come to know the Lord. Since joining the church, I have had several pastors who have helped shape my life and ministry.

Other than the Bible, name some of your favorite books or authors, and explain why.

I like reading David Jeremiah, Thom Rainer and many others because they are so relatable to today’s culture and society.

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

First Corinthians 15:19: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (KJV). As I was reading one day, God showed me this Scripture and it impacted my life dramatically.

Who is your favorite Bible character, other than Jesus? Why?

I would say that Job is my favorite, simply because, even in the midst of losing everything, he continued to praise God. I feel that this is a life lesson for all of us. Being a Christian is not easy, but we should continue to praise God in the midst of the storm.

Name something about you that would surprise people who know you well.

Even though I have trained myself to be more outgoing, I am basically an introvert, especially around people with whom I am not comfortable.

If you could get one “do over” in your career, what would it be, and why?

I waited until I was 31 years old to accept Christ, and I certainly wish that I had done it sooner.

Write and answer a question you wish we had asked.

Why did God call you into the ministry?

To me, this is an all-important question since I do not hold a theological degree. My training has come from on-the-job experiences, I guess one might say.

I started out teaching Sunday School for some 20 years, was a deacon for over 15 years, filled the pulpit upon occasion, pastored for 17 years, have now been ministry director for nearly four years, and I still cannot answer that question because I don’t understand how God can continue to use me.

But, God has continued to bless my wife and me with opportunity and opportunity to bless people with whom we have contact. And I truly believe that one-on-one sharing is the best evangelism tool God has.

“Winds in the east, there’s a mist coming in, like something is brewing, about to begin,” sings Dick Van Dyke playing the part of Bert in the Disney version of Mary Poppins.

Something is brewing, indeed.

To hear one leader after another speak to the messengers Wednesday morning at the Southern Baptist Convention, that something must involve an assault on God’s design for men and women.

The code word is complementarianism.

To open his report Tuesday, August Boto, interim president of the SBC Executive Committee, named several measures for gauging the health of the SBC, including Cooperative Program receipts, baptisms, seminary enrollment and the number of member churches.

Nowhere among those measures did Boto cite a decline in adherence to complementarianism.

Yet throughout the seminary reports given Wednesday morning, the word complementarianism was heard repeatedly as one seminary president after another pledged his institution’s commitment to complementarianism. One might think adherence to the doctrine is a measure of SBC health. Why the repeated refrain?

For the uninitiated

According to a summary posted to the website of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, complementarianism is the belief that God created men and women as possessing an equal essence expressed in differing roles, with men being given authority over women in both the home and the church.

As a result, complementarians do not believe in any biblical justification for women serving in leadership positions such as the pastorate.

Egalitarianism is another view of God’s design for men and women.

According to the same summary, egalitarianism is the belief that God created men and women equal in all respects and gave both the responsibility “to rule over his creation.” Therefore, egalitarians believe women may serve in leadership positions in equal measure to men.

Complementarianism is ensconced in the SBC’s guiding doctrinal statement titled the Baptist Faith and Message amended in 1998 and 2000. As a result of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, women no longer could teach theology to men and were in one way or another removed from their teaching positions in Southern Baptist seminaries.

Seminary presidents double down on complementarianism

During a joint report of the six seminary presidents given Wednesday morning at the SBC, the presidents almost uniformly committed to complementarianism.

• Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, stated his institution’s commitment to complementarianism alongside an apparent equal commitment to equip women for God’s call to serve.
• Jeff Bingham, acting president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, stated his institution will not move doctrinally and is committed to the entire Baptist Faith and Message, as well as welcoming the diversity within the SBC.
• When Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was asked what seminaries are doing to include women in leadership, he committed to the complementarian position as stated in Scripture, stating emphatically and to strong applause that his seminary “will not have a woman as a preaching professor.”
• Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argued that the current health of his seminary is a direct result of the SBC’s stand for biblical inerrancy and the doctrines expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message, also stating his institution’s commitment to complementarianism, which precludes any woman from teaching in an SBC school of theology.

Complementarianism as the repeated refrain

Not only were seminary presidents somewhat quick to commit to complementarianism, so was J. D. Greear, newly elected president of the SBC. During his press conference Tuesday, he also committed to complementarianism.

Interestingly, most recitations of the SBC refrain came in response to questions about how the SBC will protect people, particularly women, from sexual abuse and harassment and how the SBC will include women in leadership.

In answer to the question of women in leadership in the SBC, one might understand reference to the official stance. In answer to the question of protection, I did not hear a clear connection made or explanation given for how complementarianism instructs the SBC to protect against sexual abuse and harassment.

In fairness to the seminary presidents and Greear, each did state their commitment to making seminary campuses in particular and the SBC in general a safe place.

However, to those taking the SBC leadership to task on this issue, men simply stating the official position smacks of hiding behind words, appearing to legitimize the dodge with appeal to biblical authority. The insinuation is anyone disagreeing with complementarianism does not take the Bible seriously. Many who are questioning SBC leadership are not arguing the authority of the Bible because they do take the Bible seriously.

A possible prescription

Just as a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, perhaps the male leadership of the SBC needs to spend some time thinking through and communicating how their God-given roles of leadership in the home and church should empower them to protect women and children against sexual abuse and harassment.

In claiming such authority, they need to be able to give a clear and compelling response to a church and world serious about wanting to know what the SBC will do to make good on their expressed belief in the sanctity of all life.

At this point, the brewing storm demonstrates trust is broken and will not be restored simply by singing “complementarianism.”

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.