The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (VIII): “An Embarrassing Spiritual Double Standard in the SBC”

(Note: What I planned to post today proved to be too lengthy.  So, I will complete this subject with my post next Monday, August 27, 2007.  Thank you for your understanding and patience!)

There is a distressing double standard at work in the Southern Baptist Convention today and it manifests itself in various ways.  Recently, there has been a fair amount of debate regarding the obviously opulent–it’s no longer whether, just how outrageous–lifestyle of at least one Conservative Resurgence leader.  As bad as it is that some take advantage of their positions to live like SBC royalty, I don’t think that sort of thing, though highly embarrassing (at least it should be to the trustees who “rubber stamped” their benefits packages), is the worst part of the double standard.

What is?  The spiritual double standard.  Let me lay it out for you.

The scene was the 2007 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio.  We will focus on the unintended, but unavoidably stark, contrast between figures at the podium during the latter public sessions of the meeting.

On the one hand, the convention moderator, President Frank Page, was the very model of graciousness.  His demeanor and speech were characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, especially “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness… gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, HCSB).

On the other hand, a number of SBC entity heads stepped to the microphone and chose to abuse the time allotted to give their entity annual reports by, in one fashion or another, railing against the outcome of the Garner BFM2000 Motion, proclaiming that they would not recognize it in regard to the leadership of their respective entities.  Without saying so in so many words, it was clear that they view themselves as “above the law.”  Anyone present not in deep denial saw and heard from these powerful leaders “outbursts of anger” that Galatians 5:20 (HCSB) diagnoses as one of “the works of the flesh” which are “obvious” to the honest observer (5:19).

Amazingly, the scene in S.A. got even worse.  The brash fleshly “outbursts of anger” of those powerful leaders, unbelievably, were cheered by some, as if they were sitting in a pep rally for an athletic event or the nominating convention of one of the political parties.  Despite their fleshly displays, these men were still their heroes and nothing they could say or do would result in anything but adulation from these cheering ranks.  I was appalled, as were many I spoke to in San Antonio or have since.

Now, please understand: I am not angry as I am writing this.  But, I am deeply saddened for the SBC, especially after Thom Rainer’s recent article (and the “Amen” echo effect of several other leaders’ thoughts since), in which he/they decried the level of less than civil discourse on the SBC-related blogs, notably SBC Outpost, and withdrew his earlier endorsement of the new Outpost format.  Thom is generally an even-handed observer of the SBC, but, in this case, his perspective is very one-sided… and it is at least partly because of his “blind spot” regarding the double standard of which I am writing.

The spiritual double standard in question starts with any substitution of the flesh’s control for that of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.  The control of the Spirit in a person’s life produces loving service (Galatians 5:13), while the flesh’s domination of a person brings about vicious (5:15), divisive and angry (5:20-21) attitudes and actions. 

Worst of all, though, the people who coddle and defend such leaders who act in the flesh totally overlook the fact that “God is not mocked.  … [The one who sows to the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh” (Galatians 6:7,8, HCSB).  In other words, walking in the flesh not only is obvious to any who are willing to see (5:19), but its long-term consequences are “reaping the whirlwind.”

No, the only way to be “above the law” in God’s eyes is to be led by the Spirit (5:16).  But, sadly, to the immature and fleshly human eye, the one controlled by the flesh may be more impressive than the one controlled by the Spirit.  Hence, some people only remember (with favor, amazingly enough) Al Mohler’s angry populist rhetoric and yawned their way through Frank Page’s wondrous Spirit-led patience in the face of provocation.

You may ask why I brought up only Al Mohler’s name as a negative example here?  Well, let me quickly say that it is not at all because he is by himself in his display of fleshly anger.  You see, I don’t disagree with Thom Rainer’s article (or the others)… as far as it/they went.  It/they just did not go nearly far enough to be balanced.  Rainer singled out the blogosphere for this problem, but gave his fellow entity heads a “pass,” even though, if a child of any of my readers acted the way several of the entity heads did behind the podium in San Antonio, you would have grabbed them by the ear and rushed them to their room for “time out” (or paddled their backsides) until they were willing to come out and sincerely apologize to the whole group.

This is another part of the double standard.  In the blogosphere, I have heard several of the chief parties on both sides of the aisle (e.g., Art Rogers and Bart Barber) “come clean” and apologize for their displays of anger.  In addition, I–certainly not far behind Paul in the “chief of sinners” line–have made heartfelt apologies more than once, when I truly was guilty of sinful verbalization (though I also have been wrongly accused of things I did not do).  But, since the June meeting in San Antonio, there has been an eerie silence–an increasingly deafening silence–from the Conservative Resurgence leaders in regard to owning their own sin in this area.  You see, the prevailing SBC double standard allows them to be “above the law” and not have to admit their sin.

But, you say, how do I know what they did in San Antonio was sin?  Very simply: Mohler and the other entity heads in question were already heating up (anger-wise) on Tuesday night even before the vote, got even much more heated after the vote and were fully incensed on Wednesday morning, when the outcome of the vote was made public.  Very specifically, in the way Paul expresses things in Ephesians 4:26-27, that is “letting the sun go down on your anger,” which is sin.

And, although this applies just as much to any of us, considering the expected candidacy of Al Mohler for President of the Convention in 2008 in Indianapolis, it is worth asking: Why should the SBC elect someone who allowed himself to be angrily controlled by the flesh in making his seminary report in San Antonio?  Why would we elect someone to the highest office in the Southern Baptist Convention who gave the Devil a foothold in his life through his anger (Ephesians 4:27)? 

Honestly, why should we respect a man who does not display the spiritual sensitivity and wisdom to responsibly own his sin and humbly apologize to the Convention?  I know that I would very much respect such humble contrition, but not the macho stonewalling on this subject now over two months in duration. 

Who does Mohler–and his fellow entity heads–think they’re fooling spiritually?  Apparently themselves, because they’re not fooling God and the only part of the SBC they’re fooling is the CR rank-and-file, with whom they can do no wrong.

Maybe you’re thinking “Well, yes, leaders should not answer to a lower standard and be granted a ‘pass’ just because they are denominational power-brokers.  But, is it really fair to hold them to a higher standard?”  The biblical answer is “Yes, Scripture does indeed hold leaders to a higher standard.”

How do I support that?  Listen carefully: “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much.  And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more” (Luke 12:48, HCSB).  And: “It is expected of managers that each one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2, HCSB), which simply cannot be done in the flesh.  In other words, God clearly holds leaders to a higher standard and we must also.

The other immensely troubling part of the fleshly outbursts in San Antonio was that the demeanor of those leaders radiated arrogance–that they were smarter than everyone else and that they had no intention of giving back any of their power or control to the Convention.  Listen and be convicted by the words of Jesus: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and the men of high position exercise power over them.  It must not be like that among you.  On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:25-27, HCSB).

Once again, such attitudes of the heads of some of our entities reflect, tragically, that they are diametrically opposed to the proper biblical perspective.  As a result, we have nobody to blame but ourselves unless we ask–and answer–with all due seriousness the following question: “What can be done to reverse this fleshly, worldly double standard so firmly entrenched in the SBC, which currently allows certain celebrated leaders to operate spiritually at attitudinal and behavioral standards even lower than what would be expected of an immature layperson?”

To Be Continued…

Coming Friday:  ”Fridays are for… Newspaper Articles (my local weekly column)”

Coming Monday: The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (IX): “Reversing Our Embarrassing Spiritual Double Standard”