Prayer Request

At the moment (10:42 PM Sparkman time) Sherrill and a team from here in Arkansas are on their way to Southeast Asia on a Mission Trip. They are participating with a 'Jericho Prayer March' for a country there. This trip partners volunteers with a people group through prayer walking. The prayer is that Christ would break the barriers for these people. They will be gone until October 30th and will be partnering with some IMB missionaries there.

Please be praying for their safety as they travel. They have another 4 hours until they reach Tokyo where they will have a brief layover before their final flight to the country where they will be praying.

I am so excited that Sherrill is serving on this trip.

I already miss her though!

The trip itself is a picture of Southern Baptist cooperation. It was organized through our Arkansas Baptist State Convention and partners with our International Mission Board.

A Little Perspective

I was a pretty nervous kid. You can ask my parents and they will gladly tell you that I was easy to get nervous. Perhaps one of my more nervous moments was when I took the driving portion of my driving test when I was 16. I lucked out when I realized that any State Trooper could legally administer the test - this was exciting because I went to church with a State Trooper and he was more than willing to help! The test ended up being much less fear-inducing than I first expected and I actually enjoyed this opportunity to talk with this respected member of our church. He even taught me something about driving that I have never forgotten - he taught me about perspective. As we drove he told me story after story about how a little perspective when driving can save lives. He told me to keep my eye on the road, while keeping what is around me in good perspective. He explained that I should always be aware of what is going on. He explained that safe driving begins with having good perspective.

I’m finding that one of the difficulties of being involved in denominational work is the task of keeping good perspective. There are times when I can easily become overwhelmed with the weight of what is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention. There are times when we can look around at the many churches, ideas, competing visions and constant debate and say, “Maybe this just isn’t worth it.” There are times when we can lose our perspective about what we are doing as Southern Baptists. We must keep our eyes on Christ as we take these steps of great faith.

What we do as Southern Baptists is done with proper perspective. I consider it important to talk about the Cooperative Program, State Conventions and Missions because I believe it is part of the work of the gospel. Yet, when it comes down to the bare essentials of faith - it is Christ and Christ alone. I will labor for the Southern Baptist Convention and our denominational future because I believe God wants to use us. Yet, when it comes down to basics of faith - it is Christ and Christ alone. I think it is important for us to support the work of our convention. Yet, when it comes down to it - it is Christ and Christ alone. All that we do as Southern Baptists must be done with a little perspective. The Southern Baptist Convention is part of God’s Kingdom but is must never be equated with God’s Kingdom. As we work within what God is doing in the SBC, we must keep our eyes on Christ. We must make sure we keep good perspective.

It is an incredible reminder to think that one day we will stand before the great throne of God, bowing with the elders of faith, raising our hands in worship of the Triune God. It is an incredible reminder to think of that day - when the words ‘Southern Baptist’ will be but a distant memory, when trustee boards, elections, conventions and CP giving structures will pale in comparison to worshipping God. What a day! What a joy! What a promise! One day we will be with God and he will be with us.

Back to the Original Question

Great Commission Resurgence - these are the three words that have filled the mouths of countless Southern Baptist Pastors, leaders and denominational workers with fierceness and debate over the last couple of years. Personally, at first sight, after reading Danny Akin’s message about a GCR, I was intrigued and interested at how something like that might happen. I felt wrapped up in with the discussion about falling baptisms, plateauing memberships, dying churches and a generation of leaders walking away from the SBC. I had seen firsthand close friends choose to leave the SBC-fold for other evangelical churches. I had felt the sense of desperation churches have encountering a culture opposed to the gospel. I knew the need for this type of renewal among our denomination. I felt, and still feel, a deep longing for revival among our SBC churches. I felt confident that God was going to use us as Southern Baptists. All of these feelings out-weighed my concern about Dr. Akin’s understanding of state conventions and associations. And when Al Mohler presented the motion to form a GCR task force I felt that it was at least worth a shot. Now I am wondering when we will get back to the original question.
Through 2009 - 2010 I struggled, prayed, debated and discussed the proposals of the GCR. The more I learned and the more I studied the less comfortable I felt about the proposals being presented - especially the items of Great Commission Giving and the future of NAMB’s work with our state conventions. I quickly found the call for a Great Commission Resurgence was becoming a call for a change of SBC structure - with a side serving of call for revival, repentance and church-awakening. (Many will disagree with me on this point. I make this point because the focus of the GCR report could never be moved from the structure issue by the nature of the report itself and the will of the Task Force) While I felt deep respect for the members of the task force and the goal (which I share) of having a revival of Great Commission awareness and growth in our church, I was becoming more and more concerned that we were missing the point. I was becoming more concerned that we were not dealing with the original question of the Great Commission.
It is here that I feel deep concern for the future of the Southern Baptist Convention. The influence of the GCR Task Force and its recommendations are being felt from the Executive Committee to NAMB to our State Conventions and Churches. Though I may not fully agree with all of it, we are going to continue to feel its impact. There are many aspects of the GCR that I rejoice about, despite my sincere disagreements concerning some of the recommendations. I rejoice about the specific calls given to churches and leaders concerning revival, Great Commission awareness and denominational service. I rejoice with the concern for reaching the nations with the gospel. I rejoice with the renewed effort to utilize the tools of Southern Baptists. Yet, I fear, we are giving into the belief that structure and policy change will somehow bring renewal to the work of Southern Baptists.
Changing the structure of convention work, removing the cooperative agreements, reducing staff at NAMB and changing CP percentages will never bring revival. We can streamline, shake up and move around the entire Southern Baptist Convention and still Great Commission fulfillment will not be guaranteed. We need to make sure, as things in our convention begin to change, that we do not rely on organization re-structuring to bring the presence of Holy Spirit.

The weight of the Great Commission rests in the presence of each local church. Each church, each family, each member - each Southern Baptist is called to fulfill the work of God’s kingdom. The GCR document made this clear in its recommendations. We need to make sure this translates into our local churches. Changing structure can’t revive us. Changing percentages can’t revive us. Reducing employees can’t revive us. The compelling vision is the vision we have had since the very beginning - Hebrews 12:1-2 - the compelling vision of keeping our eyes on Christ. The work of Southern Baptist has always centered upon the work of the gospel. My challenge for Southern Baptists is to re-focus on this compelling vision of Christ himself. Don’t think for one moment that changing our structure can change our relationship with Christ. Don’t skirt the issue of our Spiritual-apathy by focusing on changing our structure. We can fight the Southern Baptist fight and still find ourselves not fighting the ‘good fight’ of Christ. Let’s get back to the original question of Great Commission revival!