The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XX): A Review of J. P. Moreland’s ‘Kingdom Triangle’ (Continued Again)

My dilemma today was whether, with insufficient time to write, I could wrap up everything I want to say about Kingdom Triangle and do a decent job of making the points that beg to be developed.  As you can probably tell from the tone of that first sentence, the answer is No. 

As a result, I am going to deal only with Chapter 7, “Restoration of the Kingdom’s Miraculous Power,” in this post.  My treatment of his concuding chapter and my overall comments, including what I see as the strengths, weaknesses and wider contributions of this volume, will be registered on Monday.

Moreland begins Chapter 7 by providing a clear sense of the global status of Christianity in the early 21st century.  This is something that those of us in the Southern Baptist Convention desperately need to hear, if for no other reasons that, when you look at the SBC, the comparison is both profoundly humbling and chilling.

What do I mean?  In 1970, toward the beginning of the last authentic cultural revival in the U.S., there were about 71,000,000 Christians on the face of the earth.  By 2000, there were well over 700 million.  Thus, evangelical Christianity has multiplied 10-fold in less than 40 years.  But, relatively little proportionately of that has taken place in North America since the Jesus Movement wound down by the mid-’70s.

In that regard, in 1960 evangelicals in the West (Europe and North America) outnumbered those in the rest of the world two to one.  However, because of long-term revival almost everywhere else except in the West, the evangelical population had dramatically shifted to four to one in the rest of the world by 2000.  And, as we sit on our hands and ignore what the Lord is doing globally, it is estimated that it will be seven to one by 2010.

What do these figures tell me?  If American evangelical groups holding to cessationist theology continue to sit on the sidelines–refusing to get involved in the global revival–because of this theological difference, two things are going to happen: 1) Our churches are only going to get deader and deader; and 2) Our missiological efforts are only going to become more and more irrelevant. 

What is the likely intermediate-term effect? Within 10-20 years, if the cessationist “quenching” is not lifted from the SBC, though we will certainly still be around, very little of global Christianity will even care what we think.  We’ve got our shot right now to get into the thick of what God’s doing and our leaders are acting as if we hold all the cards, even though the opportunity to be a factor is rapidly getting by while we are doing nothing except getting narrower and narrower, to suit the desired doctrinal legacy of a handful of proud leaders.

The second thing from Chapter 7 I would like to highlight is Moreland’s noting that cessationism is currently waning dramatically, even here in the U.S.  In fact, a number of the most articulate spokesmen for continuationism in the past decade or so are former cessationists, who know the cessationist position very well and are not guilty of presenting a “straw man” version in their critiques.

Simply put, the cessationist position has “run out of gas” intellectually/theologically.  It’s arguments are tired and there is no fresh thinking coming forth from that camp, other than from those who are adjusting nuanced versions of cessationism in a continuationist direction in a vigorous attempt to resist the flesh-based spiritual deadness that is dominant in most cessationist circles today (e.g., Dan Wallace and Jim Sawyer, eds., Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?).

So, because they can no longer carry the day in the exegetical/theological debates, cessationists have resorted to circling the wagons and shouting “We are right (even if we can’t prove it anymore)!” even louder, plus holding a gun to people’s heads power-wise (e.g., the NAMB, IMB and SWBTS trustees policies/guidelines).  It’s a sad day when a viewpoint which cannot be made from Scripture alone, but which requires selective argumentation from post-biblical church history to make a reasonable case, is applauded by the very SBC leaders who claim to hold to biblical inerrancy and, presumably, sufficiency.

A third area in Chapter 7 which Moreland discusses that is worth our attention here is “Four Subgroups (i.e., cessationist; open but cautious; Third Wave; Pentecostal/charismatic) in the Christian Community” (i.e., having to do with how they relate to the Holy Spirit).  While I think he is right, in general, about these categories, I also think that, for the purpose of helpfully applying this to the SBC, we need to be somewhat more precise. 

In the SBC, there is also the category usually called “semi-cessationist” (though what it claims to believe would be much more accurately termed something like ‘doubtful continuationist,’ since they claim tongues still exist, but obviously do not ever expect to see any).  This group apparently sees denominational power politics as more important than exegesis and theology, though.  You see, they are just as hard-core anti-continuationism as the most militant cessationist.

At the other end of the spectrum, though, there are almost no Third Wave (other than Sam Storms and a few others) and zero true Pentecostal/charismatic types–at least who will admit it.  The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 has effectively ruled those groups out of bounds.

That leaves the “open but cautious” grouping to discuss.  This is clearly where almost the entirety of the 50% of SBC pastors who were found to be continuationists in the Lifeway survey last Spring are to be categorized. 

Although I freely admit that I cannot prove it from hard data, I strongly suspect that far less than 10% of this huge proportion has ever had anything resembling a charismatic experience.  Instead, their–our (i.e., I am in this camp)–continuationism is anything but emotional/experiential.  Rather, it is biblically expectant.  It believes that the Lord is still working in incredible ways through His Spirit, ways that frequently have nothing at all to do with tongues or private prayer language–although it certainly can.

The really interesting thing about this “open but cautious” grouping in the SBC is that it crosses theological borders.  There are both continuationists and cessationists who are “open but cautious.”  In that regard, those cessationists who want to walk in the Spirit with truly biblical openness to the Lord’s moving in their lives are now finding that they have much more in common with cautious continuationists than they do with their spiritually hardenened cessationist brethren.  The same is true for cautious continuationists who are not willing to throw biblical discretion to the wind in favor of becoming an experiential charismatic.

Where is all this leading?  At this point, it is not yet clear.  However, with 50% of SBC pastors continuationists and more and more arriving at an “open but cautious cessationist” position, if for no other reason than they do not want to see the Holy Spirit completely squeezed out of SBC life beyond the initial conviction of sin (John 16:8ff.), there would seem to be a very real possibility of an emerging coalition of the huge–and growing–middle ground on this crucial issue for the future of the Convention.  And, I would go so far as to say that, if this does not happen in the next few years, there is real danger that the public image–and reality, in many sectors–of the SBC will be of effectively a Spirit-less religious wasteland.

(I will pick up with the Conclusion chapter and my overall comments next time.)

Coming Friday: “Fridays are for Newpaper Articles”

Coming Monday: The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XXI): “A Review of J.P. Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle (Conclusion)”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XIX): A Review of J. P. Moreland’s ‘Kingdom Triangle’ (Continued)

I almost did not get to this post today for two reasons: 1) It is a flawless early Fall day in Central Texas, pleasantly cool under a cloudless sky… and I have many other things I would rather have used my day off to do than write; and 2) My son, Timothy, is in town, transitioning between jobs and, had he not had an appointment this afternoon, I might well have totally “bailed” on my readers and not even felt guilty–until tomorrow morning!

But, having put my nose to the grindstone, let me add three other things before continuing with the actual review of Kingdom Triangle: 1) I am not going to complete the review with this installment.  I am only going to finish working through the content of the book, but leave most of the major comments until Wednesday’s post; 2) While I was definitely concerned with the content of a couple of the quotes from Dallas Willard’s works which commenters cited last week, I think I know J.P. Moreland well enough to know that his close long-term friendship with Willard does not require him to accept everything Willard says uncritically.  After all, Moreland was a theology major in his ThM program at Dallas Seminary and Willard is a significant philosopher, but not a theologian.  So, since there is nothing in Kingdom Triangle that is heterodox, until shown that J.P. has bought into clearly false doctrine, I will continue to watch carefully, but not throw out the baby with the bathwater; and 3) Moreland’s reference to Who’s Afraid of the Holy Spirit?  An Investigation into the Ministry of the Spirit of God Today (Biblical Studies Press, 2005) was a breath of fresh air for me.  If I got nothing else out of this book, finding out that two cessationists for whom I continue to have great esteem, Dan Wallace and Jim Sawyer, have edited a work championing an adjusted cessationist position they call “pneumatic Christianity” is a great encouragement.  If nothing else, this book reveals that the “open, but cautious” wing of cessationism is not going to continue to sit idly by while their hard-core cessationist brethren continue to tighten the spiritual choke-hold on evangelical churches and schools to the point where the Holy Spirit is comprehensively quenched by their leadership and the followers are in such a position of ignorance in regard to the intended New Covenant role of the Spirit that they don’t even recognize the yawning absence.

Now, back to Kingdom Triangle…

Chapters 1 and 4 naturally fit together in this type of review.  Chapter 1 discusses “The Hunger for Drama in a Thin World.”  Chapter 4 traces the tragic decline “From Drama to Deadness in Five Steps.”  It was in these two chapters that I especially felt that Moreland exhibited more than a little of the “big picture” analytical skill that had many a young Christian reading every one of Francis Schaeffer’s works hot off the press back in the 1970s–even though they were anything but easy to understand. 

In the first chapter, Moreland is basically making the point that the primary worldviews in our culture today, scientific naturalism and postmodernism, do not allow for there to be true meaning in life.  Therefore, the best you can hope for is happiness–which is reduced to pleasure.  By contrast, biblical Christianity (properly understood, of course!) can provide the kind of meaning to life that allows for joy even in the midst of grest difficulty and suffering.

So, how did things get to where they are?  There might be a lot of ways to chart the shifts/declines.  But, Moreland chooses five that, as he explains them, certainly had a huge part in the “deadening” of our culture: 1) Moving from a proper understanding of knowledge to bare ‘faith’ (i.e., believing whether the object of ‘faith’ is truthworthy or not; 2) Moving from the goal of ‘human flourishing’ (i.e., the classic view of the virtuous life) to the satisfaction of raw human desire; 3) Moving from a sense of duty and responsbility to ‘minimalist ethics’ (i.e., the view that a person may do whatever one choose as long as it does not harm others); 4) Moving from a classical understanding of freedom (i.e., freedom is the power to do what one ought to do) to a contemporary sense of ‘freedom’ as the right to do whatever one wants to do; and 5) Moving from the classical absolutes-based understanding of tolerance (i.e., respect for the other person and their right to make their case, though you believe it wrong) to the morally relative understanding of ‘tolerance’ (i.e., beyond personal toleration, one should not judge the other viewpoint as being wrong).  What a mess–and so true!

As I said last time, the book’s title, Kingdom Triangle, is taken from its second part: “Charting a Way Out” (i.e., of the cultural mess that Part 1 so accurately describes).  What it develops is not really a triangle per se, but it is three closely related factors that are necessary for optimum personal and corporate growth for God’s people in this cultural wasteland: Chapter 5 handles “The Recovery of Knowledge” (i.e., both a proper understanding of what knowledge is and what to do with it).  Chapter 6 charts “The Renovation of the Soul” (probably playing off the title of Willard’s well-known Renovation of the Heart), in which he deals not only with the need for a maturing appreciation of spiritual formation in the wider evangelical community, but also the great helpfulness that solid Christian counseling can be in spiritual growth.  But, Chapter 7, “Restoration of the Kingdom’s Miraculous Power,” is easily the most controversial aspect of the book. 

I am going to leave a fuller discussion of this crucial chapter, as well as Moreland’s “Conclusion: Confronting the Crisis of This Age” until Wednesday.  But, in the meantime, I would like to close this post by tying together just one thread from all three chapters in Part 2 of Kingdom Triangle.

Moreland’s point in Chapter 5 that a proper understanding of knowledge does not require absolute certainty, but only proper reasonable evidence/assurance, is very relevant to where issues related to the Holy Spirit are in the Southern Baptist Convention today.  In that regard, it seems that evidence that the Spirit is doing anything beyond the dominant fleshly naturalism all around us is automatically suspect.  It is required to meet a higher “certainty” standard right now than any other knowledge under discussion and, even when it can do so, it is still not believed–ruled out by semi-naturalistic presupposition–by the cessationist camp.

What Moreland is trying to do in Chapter 6 is to get evangelicals to realize that there is more to Christianity than simply a rationalistic reading of the Scriptures, as important as that is.  This is so important to him that he is willing to take the calculated risk of opening himself up to the charges of mysticism and emotionalism by what he discusses and recommends.  At this point, I find myself in substantial agreement with Moreland for very good personal reasons.  Although I remained somewhat suspicious of the disciplines of spiritual formation and Christian therapy (based on integative counseling) well into my Christian life, interaction with the faculty at Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology while I was teaching at Talbot and my own experiences of being counseled while deeply depressed made a huge difference in the second area and being assigned to teach introductory spiritual formation courses at Criswell College won me over on the other front.  In regard to tying these two chapters together, I think Moreland’s desire is to show us that the Spirit can work in our minds and souls/emotions to make us much more holistically balanced people and servants of the Lord.

In regard to Chapter 7, much of what J.P. is trying to get largely cessationist American evangelicalism to realize is that we are currently missing the boat on an incredible global revival.  Christianity is, in fact, exploding in unprecedented ways in the Third World and, for the most part, we are ignoring it for the simple reason that the vast bulk of what is happening is theologically Charismatic or Third Wave.  Even worse, with the cessationist turn of the SBC’s IMB, it could be said that, denominationally, we are largely resisting what is bringing millions upon millions to the Lord all over the world–except in North America and Europe. 

Could this be a sign that the Lord is just about to the “Ichabod” (i.e., the glory has departed) point with the Western Church, if for no other reason than that we have quenched the Spirit for so long and to such a suffocating degree in our midst?  And, if that is true in general, how will the SBC, America’s largest evangelical denomination, escape from having a huge–if not the lion’s share of the–proportion of the responsibility for our continent becoming more and more parched because the Spirit is not welcome among us?

Fridays are for… Newspaper Articles

Here is my weekly article in the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian:

                     “I Admit I Was Jealous!”            

Last Sunday, we broke our church service off in the middle, left out building and finished the service at the Gaudalupe River.  In fact, I preached two points of a three-point sermon at the building and the third next to the River.           

What were we doing?  I was preaching on baptism because we had scheduled the baptism of several people—it turned out to be four, because one family did not show up, due to a misunderstanding about the schedule.             

How was this somewhat radical approach received by the congregation at large?  Well, as could be expected, not everybody made the several mile trek from Comal Country Church to the River, near Maricopa Lodge.  However, I do think at least half were there, filling up the standing area (where there is a kind of concrete “porch”) and a good bit of the hill leading down from the home of the lady who lets us baptize there.           

Most important, there was a wonderful spirit of love and celebration in the air.  It was not at all a spectacle of watching people go into the cool water of a river fed by a deep granite-bottom lake whose dam is only a little over a mile upstream from this location.  Almost everyone there was indeed genuinely touched by the professions of faith and initial steps of commitment of these four, three of which were children under 12.             

And, yes, I am freely admitting that I was jealous—I wished I could have been among those being baptized at that beautiful site.  You see, I got baptized in a heated baptistery at my home church in Mississippi shortly after I trusted Christ at the beginning of my senior year at Mississippi State University in the Fall of 1970.  But, my brother, Billy, got baptized in the Jordan River in 1973, while on a trip to the Holy Land, at the traditional location where John the Baptist baptized Jesus (see Matthew 3:13-17).  And, I have been at least a little bit jealous of Billy for that ever since!           

Now, here I am doing baptisms as part of my pastoral ministry here at Canyon Lake.  And, whenever I look at our location where we do our baptisms, I think of that spot in the Jordan River—and I wish I could have been baptized there… or here!           

Why does it strike me that way?  Some of it purely emotional, I’m sure.  But, I think it is because a baptistery in a church building is such a controlled environment.  And, I freely admit that I would rather swim in the ocean—or the Gulf of Mexico—or a lake than in a swimming pool.  A pool is not “the real world”—and neither is a baptistery!           

Let’s face it: A heated swimming pool or baptistery is not a very realistic introduction to the hard realities of living out faith in Jesus Christ in a world that is rapidly becoming spiritually darker all around us.  Instead, it is the sort of environment that says everything is going to be made as easy and painless as possible.           

But, that is not the way it is—or is ever going to be.  Living for Christ is the opportunity to be His faithful “ambassadors” (2 Corinthians 5:20) in a world lost and dying in sin without Him and His redeeming death on the Cross.  It is world full of people that Christians are to love because God loved them first (John 3:16).  But, it is also a world that is no longer truly ours, because our citizenship is now first and foremost in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and we are left here primarily to serve the Lord.           

Will I ever get over my “jealousy?”  I don’t know.  But, one thing I do know is that, in my desire to be where they are, I must remain just as passionate in my own life about the admonition I gave to each as they went under the water, then came back up: Now “walk (i.e., live moment by moment) in newness of life.”  That command must never become old hat for any believer!

Coming Monday: “An Applicational Review of J.P. Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle (continued)”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XVIII): A Review of J. P. Moreland’s ‘Kingdom Triangle’ (I)

I have written over 50 published reviews of books for theology or psychology journals or other Christian periodicals.  It is something I have enjoyed doing a great deal for two reasons: 1) You always learn more from a book when you are forced to organize your thoughts for others who are dependent on your thinking for their first impression of a book; and 2) When you’re a book lover and don’t have a lot of discretionary funds to spend on books, it’s fun to get free volumes!

When I heard that J.P. Moreland had written a book called Kingdom Triangle, I have to admit that I had a mixed reaction.  On the one hand, J.P., who I have known since 1971 (initially through Campus Crusade for Christ), is one of the most brilliant thinkers I have ever encountered in any field of study.  So, there was no doubt that he had something to say worth hearing.  However, I am not a philosopher–my brain just doesn’t work that way, which made me think that my eyes might well glaze over and my mind lock up from trying to grasp his points.  (That, in fact, is pretty much what happened in one doctoral seminar I took under philosopher Norman Geisler).

And, I am not going to lie to you.  Kingdom Triangle, though significantly more down-to-earth than J.P.’s other works I have waded through, in my opinion, still is not easy sledding at all, especially in several of the chapters (as I will explain later).  However, without question, it is worth whatever effort you as a reader have to expend.

Why do I say that?  Because this book does an absolutely magnificent job of both piercingly critiquing the spiritual state of affairs of our culture and offering a hopeful and completely biblically balanced plan for its treatment.  Frankly, I was amazed at the breadth of the intellectual and spiritual terrain that J.P. skillfully covers in about 225 pages.  It is a book that is remarkably dense in wisdom.

Let me stop at this point and backtrack to where most academic book reviews start, with an introduction to the author and an overview of the book’s contents.  The first will provide you with the personal “context” behind the book, much like understanding who the author of a Bible book is.  The second will give you “the big picture”–the skeletal framework–of Kingdom Triangle.

J.P. Moreland is a graduate of Dallas Seminary (ThM in theology), the University of California at Riverside (MA in philosophy) and the University of Southern California (PhD in philosophy), where he studied under the well-known evangelical philosopher and writer, Dallas Willard.  Moreland has taught at Campus Crusade’s International School of Theology, Liberty Theological Seminary and currently is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, where we taught together for several years.

Kingdom Triangle is organized as follows.  After the fairly standard prefatory material (including a Foreword by Dallas Willard), Part 1 focuses on ‘Assessing the Crisis of Our Age.’  Part 2 (as could be expected from the title of Part 1) develops ‘Charting a Way Out: The Kingdom Triangle.’  That is followed by a Conclusion chapter entitled ‘Confronting the Crisis of Our Age.’  There is also a brief Postscript and a very helpful Annotated Bibliography.

Within Part 1, chapter 1 is called ‘The Hunger for Drama in a Thin World.’ By “drama,” Moreland is speaking of a having a sense of significance and meaningfulness in lving life.  By his terminology “thin world,” Moreland means a world “with no objective value, purpose or meaning.  It is a world that is just there” (p. 26).  I will discuss this–along with each of the following chapters–in more depth in my next installment.

In chapters 2 and 3, Moreland critiques the views of scientific naturalism and postmodernism, the two dominant secular worldviews in our culture today.  I predict that Moreland’s analysis at this point will prove troubling to many evangelicals, who will, if honest, be forced to admit that the inroads of these viewpoints in purportedly solid evangelical circles is much more than previously realized.

The final chapter of Part 1 is ‘From Drama to Deadness in Five Steps.’  Here, Moreland shows how five changes in the way our wider culture looks at certain key conceptions have virtually killed off the “drama” (i.e., sense of purpose and meaning) that was formerly present. 

Part 2 is, of course, where the title of the book, Kingdom Triangle, comes from, with each chapter expounding one leg of the triangle.  Chapter 5 is called ‘The Recovery of Knowledge.’  It also very much has to do with changes in our thinking that need to be made if Christians are to love the Lord our God with all our minds.

Chapter 6 is ‘Renovation of the Soul.’  It deals with a range of issues, from the need for a robust evangelical approach to spiritual formation to the helpfulness of solid, balanced Christian therapy (a point with which I wholeheartedly agree, having profited greatly from such counseling in recent times in my life!).

Chapter 7, ‘Restoration of the Kingdom’s Miraculous Power,’ will probably prove to be the most controversial part of the book.  In recent years, J.P. Moreland, like myself, has become a continuationist.  In that regard, he has seen first-hand many mighty workings of the Holy Spirit.  In this chapter, among other things, he passionately seeks to persuade his many cessationist friends (as do I, since we both graduated from Dallas Seminary, a cessationist school) that the Spirit is indeed alive and well and doing great works all over the globe–though less so among significant segments of the North American evangelical sector.  And, as I will explain next time, I find his argument in this area quite compelling.

In closing this post, I would just like to briefly apply a couple of things about the dominant secular worldviews Moreland discusses in Part 1, that virtually jumped off the pages as I was reading, to the current state of affairs in the Southern Baptist Convention.  I admit the parallels I will draw are far more intuitive than based on substantial research.  But, I believe they represent possible serious concerns which should at least be carefully considered.

The first has to do with what you could call the semi-naturalistic wing of the SBC.  As cessationism is making its concerted move to establish an unquestioned dominance in our midst, through certain trustee board and state convention decisions, a tragic “quenching” of the Spirit seems to be an unconsidered, yet very real, consequence. 

Please don’t misunderstand: The cessationist wing of the SBC has not embraced full-blown naturalism.  They simply don’t expect much of anything beyond the purely naturalistic to take place, which turns out to be virtually practical naturalism.  So, as several readers of this blog have commented from time to time, you have to wonder if, before long, the Spirit will be welcome to do anything in our Convention beyond convicting unbelievers (John 16:7-11) and bringing them to initial saving faith in Christ.

My other application has to do with postmodernism.  Though the Resurgence leadership of the Convention would disavow any connection, or even similarity, to anything postmodern, there are a couple of areas in which eerie parallels do exist to some extent.  For example, the current CR push on narrower and narrower ‘Baptist distinctives’ sounds a whole lot like the “community truth” understanding of the postmodern mindset. 

Also, as Moreland points out, with the postmodern worldview, “The public square, along with debates about religion, ethics and politics, turns out to be about power (the ability to enforce compliance) and not about authority (the right to be believed and followed based on possession of the relevant knowledge)” (p. 65).  It is now being realized more and more by their fellow SBC conservatives that the Resurgence was every bit as much, if not more, about a select few leaders gaining–then hanging onto, by whatever means necessary–power in the SBC, so that they could force their positions on the denomination at large.  For a long time, they were very successful at doing so without what they were doing being noticed for what it is.  But, since there is more to biblical Christianity than raw brute human power, it was only a matter of time before it was noticed and called to the attention of God’s people in the SBC.

Coming Friday: “Fridays are for Newpaper Articles”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XVI): “Show Us What You’ve Got! (1 Corinthians 4:20)”

The reason I am writing on this topic today instead of my original plan of starting my review of J.P. Moreland’s important new book, Kingdom Triangle, is simple.  I’m preaching through 1 Corinthians on Sunday mornings and have arrived at the latter part of chapter 4.  Also, my brother is in town and I am short on time (which means I need to carve out a tad more prayerful ruminating before posting on Moreland’s book).

While I have taught 1 Corinthians repeatedly in New Testament introduction and survey courses, as well as occasionally as a specific elective, I have to admit that I had not paid anywhere close to the kind of attention to this passage that it deserves.  In fact, in regard to where things are in the Southern Baptist Convention right now, the latter part of 1 Corinthians 4 is, if anything, even more important for our careful current consideration.

Perhaps you are already aware that the topic of 1 Corinthians 1-4 is factions within the church, why they exist and what they indicate from a spiritual standpoint.  For example, earlier in the letter (3:1-4), Paul had noted that the existence of fan clubs (e.g., of Paul, Apollos, Cephas [Peter], etc.) in the church at Corinth revealed the fleshly, immature nature of many–if not most–of the believers in Corinth.  Sadly, it seems to me that this is similar to the “I’m of Paige” and “I’m of Al” type personality cults present in the SBC today and is reflective of the same kind of fleshly immaturity.

Now, here’s how I would principlize (i.e., draw timeless truth principles from) 1 Corinthians 4:6-21, a section in which the impact of good old garden variety pride is seen as the culpit behind much of the problem of factions and related fleshly immaturity:

I. It’s prideful for Christians to go beyond the statements of Scripture in the way they “value” leaders (4:6).  We don’t know what passage or passages which Paul may have had in mind here.  But, suffice it to say that you will never find any place in the Bible where you are given justification for playing favorites in regard to leaders.  Rather, all leaders are simply God’s servants and each only plays “the role the Lord has given,” as Paul declares earlier(3:6).  To look at leaders otherwise is biblically “out of bounds,” no matter what any of us thinks.

II. It’s prideful for Christians to treat leaders who are not your favorite as second-class citizens (4:7-13).  In Corinth, these arrogant believers were acting as if they had already “arrived” spiritually and, in the process, were viewing Paul and the other apostles whom they did not virtually worship as dirt. 

Is it not fair to note that, in the SBC at present, even after the expose of extravagance and waste at NAMB under Bob Reccord, there still appears to be a small handful of SBC leaders riding very high?  Even more disturbing, though, is that there are some among us who seem to think that, if it is their favorite leader, there is nothing wrong with being significantly overpaid.  Of course, if it was anyone else but that person, the calls for an immediate investigation would be loud and long! 

Now, what is it that predisposes people to look at things that way?  Paul says it’s pride–pride displayed in playing favorites in regard to one particular leader.  It’s not any more complicated than that.

III. It’s prideful for any Christian not to imitate godly leadership (4:14-19a).  In Paul’s case, he exhorted the fleshly, immature Corinthian believers to stop ignoring his teaching about proper Christian behavior.  He said that the reason they were doing so was that they were “inflated with pride,” thinking he would never come back to Corinth to be able to hold them accountable (4:18).

This is one of the biggest problems in the SBC today.  Because there is: 1) no way built into the Constitution/Bylaws to make sure that trustees hold entity heads accountable for their actions; and 2) no way for the SBC to truly hold entity trustees accountable, almost the entire trustee system of the SBC suffers from being “inflated with pride” corporately.  Because this Bylaws trustee ”loophole” is massive enough to fly a 747 through, it allows for this sort of arrogant lack of accountability.  As a result, the trustee system, which sounds fine in theory, is rife with arrogant abuse in actual practice.

IV. It’s prideful for Christians to think that talk is more important than the power of the Holy Spirit (4:19b-21).  As has often been said, “Talk is cheap.”  However, actions–especially selfless actions that only could come from the Lord–are precious… and absent in the lives or ministries of those shot through with pride. 

Yes, there are some whom the Lord has gifted so amazingly (see 1 Corinthians 12-14) that they seem to still be able to wow many people in spite of their huge egos.  However, in the vast majority of the cases, the proud “talk a good game,” but the evidence is not there spiritually to back up their words. 

Here is a classic question which we need to pose to the SBC at large as we seek to properly evaluate our own spiritual lives, as well as the longer-term fruit of the Conservative Resurgence.  What about our work and ministries could not have happened completely as it did without the Holy Spirit’s power?  If your honest-to-God answer is “Almost all,” or even “I’m not sure,” you–we–are in deep trouble spiritually.

You see, the Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16) makes it very clear that, in Jesus’ physical absence, his own are supposed to be at least as dependent on the indwelling Holy Spirit (the other–just like Jesus–Comforter) as they were on Jesus.  Also, Galatians 5 tells us in no uncertain terms that, if a believer is not consciously walking in the power of the Spirit, he or she is acting in the power of the flesh.  This much is perfectly clear: if you are not, at this moment, clearly under the control of the Spirit, the only other possibility that exists is that you are under the control of the flesh.  Biblically, there is no neutral or middle ground option.

So, as I close, based on these principles derived from 1 Corinthians 4, and especially verse 20 (“For the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power”), it does not seem out of line to ask all of us–but especially the agressive cessationists who are attempting to force their views on their brethren in the SBC with steamroller force–a crucial question based on Paul’s challenge to the Corinthians: To mimic the old ad campaign–”Where’s the beef?”  In this case, what it gets down for all of us is to value talk about the Holy Spirit a lot less and value actual spiritual fruit that can only come from the ministry of the Spirit a lot more.

No, I’m not asking for striking miracles at all, just consistent widespread evidence that you have not “quenched” the Spirit completely in your life and ministry.  In other words, we need to all at least demonstrate that the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23), not “the works of the flesh” (5:19-21) dominate our lives, even–perhaps especially–when we let down our guard behind closed doors.  We need to reflect that we are “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) by the way we conduct every aspect of our church lives, marriages, parenting and business relationships (as Ephesians 5:18-6:9 envisions, based on the Greek structure of the text).

Bottom line: Each one of us needs to take dead seriously Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians to “Stop talking and show us what you’ve got!” spiritually.  And, if any of us think that is too much to ask, sadly, it must be said that means you’re not even willing to exert what it takes to do even the minimum the Lord expects in living the Christian life as he designed it.  After all, the fruit of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit are basic concepts of a Spirit-empowered lifestyle that anybody even a year old in the Lord is able to understand and practice. 

Thus, can there be any biblically and theologically legitimate excuse why all of us–except the newest baby Christians–are not living that way moment-by-moment, day-by-day?  If you think there is, I am very sad for you, because, whether you have any awareness of it or not, you have been blinded by the same kind of pride Paul convicts the Corinthian believers of in 1 Corinthians 4:6-21.

Coming Wednesday: “An Applicational Review of J.P. Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle (I)”

Fridays are for Newspaper Articles… and a Couple of Timely Comments

 I’ll get my comments out of the way to start:

First, the following is the statement released by the Board of Trustees at Southwestern Seminary in support of Dr. and Dr. Patterson:

Jesus calls Southern Baptists, and indeed, all Christians, to reach a lost world with His Gospel. Additionally, we are to model Christ in the way we live our lives and in the way we treat one another. As Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, we believe that the incessant public attacks on Dr. and Mrs. Paige Patterson and other Baptist leaders of late are harmful to our mission of reaching the world with the Gospel. What the world, both Christians and non-Christians, sees is not Christ-like. Indeed, some of the actions are contrary to what the Bible teaches. Therefore, the Trustees at SWBTS would like to make the following statement of support for Dr. and Mrs. Patterson.

The Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) take seriously the responsibility given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ and the Southern Baptist Convention to provide oversight and guidance to SWBTS. Therefore, we want Southern Baptists to know the following:

1. The financial records of the seminary are examined (audited) annually by an independent auditor. To date, no audit has indicated any financial mismanagement or impropriety. Indeed, the administration of the seminary works diligently to assure that financial integrity is always maintained, and that is what the audits reveal. Southern Baptists can have assurance that contributions given to the seminary are spent wisely according to the leadership of the Lord and according to the donors’ requests. A contribution given to SWBTS is a wise investment in God’s kingdom work!
2. The work of the administration, faculty, and staff is evaluated at least annually according to policies that are designed and/or approved by the trustees. The president is included in the evaluation process, and all trustees have the opportunity to contribute to the evaluation process of the president. The president has welcomed these opportunities of evaluation, and he hears and respects the counsel of the trustees.
3. The president has always been open with the trustees and answers their questions fully. We cannot conceive how anyone can be any more open and honest than is Dr. Patterson! Dr. Patterson understands the trustee process and recognizes that he provides leadership to the seminary under the Lordship of Christ by the authority granted to the trustees by the convention. The trustees likewise recognize that they serve the Southern Baptist Convention under the Lordship of Christ. Just as Dr. Patterson is accountable to the Lord and to the trustees, so the trustees are accountable to the Lord and the Southern Baptist Convention.
4. Our Baptist forbearers were wise to set up the trustee system that Southern Baptists have in place. It works extremely well! The relentless attacks on Dr. Patterson are also a subtle attack on the trustee system of oversight that the convention employs.
5. We join with other Southern Baptists in urging that public attacks against Dr. Patterson and other leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention that hurt the spread of the gospel to an unbelieving world cease for the sake of those who are headed to utter destruction. There is a place for constructive criticism of the leadership of our agencies, and Southern Baptists have set up a trustee system to primarily allow for that need. Scripture does tell us to speak the truth, but it also says it is to be done in love and gentleness, with the goal of redeeming a brother in Christ. Above all, there is a watching world that needs to see Christ’s love in all of our words and deeds.
6. The trustees of SWBTS have found no reason to question the integrity of Dr. Patterson. Indeed, we find him to be a man of exemplary integrity. We are thankful for the leadership of Dr. Patterson and heartily commend him for the work that he has done as president of SWBTS. We also look forward to many years of his continued leadership.

In my humble opinion, this is an amazing statement, both in what it says and what it does not say.  In what it says, it affirms unconditionally the leadership of a man who, if it were almost anyone else, would have long since been forced into hiding by even a small fraction of the revelations that Ben Cole has demonstrated and documented in these past months.  Talk about denial!  This is a classic example of group denial, if I ever saw one.

Also, while the SWBTS trustees claim that Paige Patterson is a man of great integrity, it seems to have eluded their grasp that such integrity would require a seminary president to provide the appropriate enrollment figures, even when they make you look bad, and his salary/benefits figures, even if they make you look greedy and overpaid.  Why?  Because SBC regulations say he must do it–and he didn’t, and, on the latter front, enlisted two other seminary presidents to follow suit. 

Where’s this wonderful ”integrity?”  Or, is “integrity” just a quality you roll out when it is easy or pleasant for you to do so?  In my understanding, “integrity” is most important in our lives when is is the hardest to display it.  That’s how and when you really know what someone is made of, so to speak, character-wise.

Finally (on this subject), doesn’t it seem incredibly odd that the single most powerful man in SBC circles for the past decade and a half or more, Paige Patterson, would require this kind of “circle the wagons” vote of affirmation from his trustees?  After all, this is almost entirely as a result of what a few inconsequential bloggers have written (since it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the anonymous letter, which I was told, with great force, over and over–and over and over–and over and over–was not worth the paper to print it off and that nobody would pay any attention to it).  There would appear to be only two possible explanations for such an otherwise wildly disproportionate response: 1) Dr. P is a lot more thin-skinned than I would have ever thought and he desperately needs the trustees’ adoring affirmation; or 2) There is a whole lot more truth in the numerous allegations than they are willing to publicly admit, which has led to the trustees now following Dr. P’s previous examples of stonewalling. 

When the dust settles on this, though, absolutely nothing has changed, no matter what their crafted words (and exclamation points, as Wade Burleson notes) say: The trustees still answer to Dr. P and he is accountable to no one, when it is supposed to be the other way around.  He is supposed to answer to them for everything he does and does not do and they are supposed to answer to us–the SBC–for everything they do or don’t do.

Second, the story of the day on SBC Outpost is that Dr. Robert Jeffress, the new pastor at First Baptist, Dallas, has supposedly stirred up his first stink by his comments about evangelicals supporting Mormon Mitt Romney for President.  Please realize, of course, that there are SBC leaders currently “playing footsie” with Romney and sounding as if they believe his “values” are more decisive than his faith (i.e., Mormonism).  I see this as nothing other than thinly veiled pragmatism, thinking Romney has a better chance to win than a clearly Christian candidate (e.g., Mike Huckabee), and they would rather stand with a winner than lose on principle.

For the life of me, though, I cannot see why what Jeffress is saying is anything but simple principled common sense!  If there were absolutely no Christians running for President in 2008, then–and only then–would the ”values” issue ever need to come into play.  Relatedly, I think the poo-pooing comparison to the JFK “Catholic scare” in 1960 is short-sighted.  Here’s why: Mormons are much more aggressive religiously than Catholics–other than those who were wielding the sword in the Counter-Reformation, of course!  The legitimacy that having a Mormon President would provide could indeed go a long ways toward turning at least the US into “the kingdom of the cult,” to rip off the title of Walter Martin’s classic work.  So, if we admit that Mormonism is a cult, and how incredibly subtle and dangerous–and already rapidly multiplying–a cult it is, why would Christians ever consider supporting a Mormon for any elective office?

Now, here is my weekly article in the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian:

                          “I Finished the Race”            

The title refers to the five kilometer race I ran in last Saturday morning.  Frankly, it was not as difficult as I had expected.  However, the swing factor in my favor was that I trained in more rugged terrain of the Hill Country and ran in very gentle hills northwest of Dallas.  Anyway, my original goal had been to break 50 minutes for the approximately 3.1 mile course.  My time turned out to be 42 minutes and 56 seconds.           

So, what do I do now?  Well, I’m not going to “rest on my laurels”—as if I have any, other than finishing (and a tad faster than expected!).  I’m going to start looking over the next few days for other races, hopefully closer by geographically, so that I am not as worn out from traveling as I was during the day on Sunday.  While the race didn’t seem to bother me that much (due to the flatter terrain and my having trained pretty adequately), the lack of sleep due to anticipation the night before and the inability to catch up on rest in one night certainly did.           

Honestly, I’m hoping to find a race I can enter in the next few weeks.  “Why?” you say.  “Isn’t that being a glutton for punishment at your age?”           

That is not an irrelevant question.  At 58, I’m not getting any younger.  But, other than my weight, which I hope the running is going to help me with considerably over the next period of time, I am in very good health.  I’m happy to say that the numerous athletic injuries I sustained in high school and college were merely a host of ankle sprains and concussions.  Fortunately, ankles that flop easily from loose cartilage and questionable gray matter between my ears will not prevent me running.           

But, beyond the hope of weight loss, there are two other factors that are motivations for me to find another race in which to compete.  First, there is the “getting back on the horse and riding” factor.  Yes, that usually comes into play when you were thrown from the horse, so to speak.  In this case, the rough equivalent is not enjoying the memory of the pain of coming down that last stretch to the finish.  Anyway, the longer I wait, the harder it’s going to be to “get back in the saddle.”  So, I’m going to try to minimize the waiting—or, at least not let time stretch out.            

The other factor is simple, but profound—to me, at least.  I really like the sound of those words: “I finished the race!”  After all, that means I stayed the course.  I did not give up.  In the race last Saturday, I ran every step of the way.  So, I did not even let up.  I can honestly say that I hung in there and gave it my best.  That is a wonderful feeling!           

Of course, it is nothing but a bare glimmer in comparison to what the Apostle Paul meant when, at the end of his life, he proclaimed: “I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  My race was only 3.1 miles and lasted less than 43 minutes.  The “race” of Paul’s ministry for Jesus Christ covered most of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Basin, from as far east as Arabia to Rome, the capital city of the Empire, and lasted well over 30 years.           

So, Paul still stands as one of the great “spiritual marathon” runners of all of church history.  He was completely faithful to the gospel message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) until the end of his life—the end of “the race.”  What an example!             

Frankly, the chances are between slim and none that I will ever work my way up to run a marathon race.  I will do well to move up to do a 10K.  But, if I train spiritually with great commitment and focus, I may be able to imitate Paul and become a spiritual marathoner.  What an incredible thought—hearing the Lord say to me: “You have finished the race.  You have kept the faith.  Well done, good and faithful servant!”  Now, that gets me motivated to get in much better shape spiritually!

Coming Monday (a change in planning!): The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention (XVII): “Show Us What You’ve Got! (1 Corinthians 4:20)”

Coming Wednesday: “An Applicational Review of J.P. Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle (I)”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XVI): “I HAVE a Dream (Conclusion)”

In my last installment, I laid out my “dream” for the Southern Baptist Convention under the control of the Holy Spirit.  This is in stark contrast to the current widespread evidence that the SBC is controlled by the flesh in most sectors most of the time.

Lest it be thought that I am looking down my nose spiritually at anyone here, though, let me hasten to say yet again that I am painfully aware that I spent much of my Christian life, and most of my fairly extensive ministerial career–16 years as a pastor and 15 years as a full-time professor and/or academic administrator–also under the control of the flesh.  You see, as a cessationist–even though I became progressively more “open” theologically from about 1990 on–it was hardly my first inclination to depend on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. 

If anything, I–like quite a few I have talked with on this subject in recent months–was afraid of the Spirit.  To depend on the Spirit sounded fine theologically, but, in practice, it felt “out of control”–which, of course, meant that I–my flesh–still had to be in control, pushing the Spirit’s power and guidance to “the back burner,” at best.

Even now, I feel great embarrassment–undoubtedly from some residual pride that should not be present in my life–in admitting my own previous long-term (sub-)spiritual state.  But, if anyone can now learn from my fleshly mistakes, perhaps something positive can come to pass from my ongoing failure to face up to this issue–which is at the very heart of the Christian life.  At least, it is my humble hope and prayer that such is the case.

Back to my “dream” for the SBC–You may have noticed that, when you lumped it all together, what I laid out last time sounded a whole lot like revival.  That was intentional–but, quickly let me add that it has little resemblance to the standard brand “stick a sign in your church’s front lawn” variety of revival meetings at all. 

No, I’m talking about the First Great Awakening kind of true Holy Spirit-given-in-answer-to-fervent-prayer kind of revival.  And, as far as I know, there hasn’t been a wider revival of this type in the US of A since the “Jesus Movement” of the later 1960s through the early 1970s.

And, yes, I do know quite well what that last great revival was like.  I was saved in mid-September, 1970, as one of the “first fruits” of the Jesus Movement revival sweeping across college campuses of the Deep South.  At Mississippi State, the coalition between Campus Crusade and the BSU exploded evangelistically in a year and a half from a relatively small handful to over 200 people meeting daily at noon in the Chapel at the center of the MSU campus for an hour of prayer, then going forth and knocking down walls, so to speak, all over campus with the gospel.

Initially, I thought that’s the way living as a Christian would always be–spiritually dynamic and exciting!  But, then, I went to seminary and was trained as a cessationist intellectual.  I really thought I had it all figured out, including how to have completely orthodox intellectual belief about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit without much of any active trust in the practical day-by-day empowerment of the Spirit at all.

Sadly, as I look around me at the power moves recently made–and about to be made–to cement the control of cessationist theology in the SBC– in complete contradiction to the Lifeway survey results of only a few months ago, I might add–I observe the same smug attitudes, apparently oblivious that they are going out of their way to “quench” the Spirit as they do so.  Can there be much doubt why revival in our midst tarries?

Now, I am only going to say a little more before closing this final installment about my “dream” for the SBC–and for our wider American culture, also, since it would be selfish to the max to seek spiritual blessing for ourselves alone!  I am only going to briefly discuss what could bring about revival from the “grassroots” up and what could bring about revival from the top down, with the ”dream” that both will take place.

From the grassroots up, revival would have to proceed similar to the Laymen’s Prayer Revival just before the Civil War.  Many began to pray passionately and concertedly and the Lord began to move in striking ways.  That was true to the extent that some historians believe that many in the Southern armies were saved as a result of the wider outworking of the Laymen’s Prayer Revival. 

So, it will require truly repentant hearts (maybe a good dose of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which Frank Page did his best to get the SBC to take seriously in June, to little avail)–possibly expressed in fasting and prayer?–who will fervently seek the Lord’s glory by the moving of the power of the Spirit among us–and continue to do so until He moves!  As James reminds us, using the example of Elijah, “a man with a nature like ours,” “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (5:16, 17).

All that remains is to briefly discuss what top-down revival might look like.  This would be like the way the First Great Awakening proceeded, largely under the leadership of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield in the Colonies, with Whitefield and the Wesleys the leaders in its more or less related British expression.

What would be needed for such a top-down moving of revival to take place in the SBC?  It would require the repentant prayerful longing of leaders like Paige Patterson and Al Mohler for such revival, which would require that it supersede their personal political agendas and ambitions for a historic “legacy” of their own in the SBC. 

I must say that, to me, the most incredible thing about all this is that, if Patterson and Mohler did indeed truly humble themselves to seek the Lord’s revival moving among His people, without question they would be exalted (1 Peter 5:6) far more in the long run than what will come from their current spiritual state.  As things stand, while they will assuredly receive the accolades of those to whom they are religious “pop idols” (e.g., Matthew 6:1, 5), there is no spiritual guarantee that they will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when it matters most.

And, lest anyone think I want that, let me say this in closing: I would like nothing better than to have a revival sweep the SBC–and the entire US- in the next few months led by clearly Spirit-empowered people like Paige Patterson and Al Mohler.  They are both greatly gifted by the Lord and, if they are willing to humble themselves before Him and walk in the power of the Spirit, who knows what amazing things the Lord might see fit to do?

Coming Friday: “Fridays are for… Newpaper Articles”

Coming Monday and Wednesday: “An Applicational Review of J.P. Moreland’s Kingdom Triangle (I and II)”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XVI): “I HAVE a Dream (Continued)”

Last time, I recalled Martin Luther King’s incredibly influential August, 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.  As I noted, what he said was not what he had prepared to deliver on that occasion.  Rather, he bowed to the request from the crowd to “Tell us your dream, Martin!”  Fairly obviously, what he did say turned out to be more significant than any other speech made during those formative years of the civil rights movement.

It has now been well over 40 years since King passionately articulated his “dream” for a color-blind American society.  However, the tragedy of racism not only still exists, but, in some pockets of our society, it remains as laid in concrete as it ever has been. 

Why is that the case?  Shoving aside current shallow cultural explanations and getting to the theological heart of the matter, we find sinful human nature.  And, frankly, from a biblical standpoint, no further basis for racism is needed than that.

Sadly, though, racism is not just a reality in the unsaved world.  Many evangelical churches (not a few Southern Baptist), notably–but hardly exclusively–in small towns in the South–remain racially segregated, and full of racists, 40 years after all public schools in their areas were integrated. 

How can we explain that widespread phenomena?  The clear theological explanation is “the flesh,” the part of redeemed mankind that, when allowed to control the believer’s life, continues to think and act like a non-Christian, no matter how long the person has been saved (1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Galatians 5:17, 19-21).

Now, my “dream” is not at all about racism per se.  However, racism indeed is one strong piece of evidence among a number of others pointing to a much broader corporate control of the flesh in key portions of the Southern Baptist Convention.  And, as the field of medicine reminds us, “Don’t treat the symptoms and miss the underlying disease,” the SBC must face the theological reality that racism is simply one symptom of the flesh being allowed to run the show in a whole bunch of our brothers’ and sisters’ lives.

Before beginning to lay out the “dream” (or vision) the Lord is in the process of clarifying in my heart, I feel that I need to make my biblical case for why my “diagnosis” of our biggest problem is the control of the flesh.  To do so, let’s briefly think our way together through Galatians 5:19-21.

Paul as much as tells us to watch carefully for these attitudes and related behavior, because, whenever you see them, they are unmistakable (“obvious,” 5:19, HCSB) evidence that the flesh is in control: “sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing… (5:19-21, HCSB). 

For the sake of simplicity and clarity, it is fair to say that we have here two categories of fleshly attitudes become actions.  They are: 1) the licentious; and 2) the legalistic. 

The licentious works of the flesh are those in which the person simply lets their “lusts” go wild or they go to previously unthinkable misguided religious extremes.  In this category would be: “sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery… drunkenness, carousings…” (5:19, 21).  These are the actions of the flesh that are the ones we get upset about when some professing believer–especially some pastor or leader–flips out into this gross kind of behavior.

Sadly, almost completely overlooked in our circles are the legalistic works of the flesh.  These are the attitudes-actions that are related to trying very hard to look religious on the outside while just as much controlled by the flesh on the inside: “… hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy… .”  Anything here remind you of meetings you have attended or heard about in SBC circles?  If you are honest enough to admit it, I salute you.  Many are still deep in denial in this area, which is an “obvious” (5:19) gigantic spiritual problem for any who will but open their eyes.

What is the answer to this problem?  As Paul says in 5:16: “I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  How is this done?  Simply by walking (living step-by-step) by faith (5:5-6).  When that is taking place, this is the attitudinal “fruit” that is manifest in your life: “… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-c0ntrol” (5:22-23, HCSB).

But, the other side of the coin is very much worth considering here.  When you are not walking by faith (5:5-6, 16), this is what the attitudinal fruit tragically morphs into: being unloving, without joy, devoid of peace, impatient, unkind, bad, unfaithful, harsh, and out of control.  And, that, my friends, is also nothing more than the flesh at work.

As I prepare to lay out my “dream,” a key question for all of us is: Are we willing to recognize and label “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” for what they are, no matter whose words or actions they are?  If just that (i.e., calling attention to “obvious” actions in the flesh or in the Spirit)–and nothing else–were done consistently, the SBC would soon be on the road to my “dream.”

You see, I do have a wonderful dream in which the Holy Spirit is allowed to take control of the Southern Baptist Convention, from the top down and in every nook and cranny.  That will happen if every believer among us walks by faith daily, in complete dependence upon the indwelling power of the Spirit.

In my dream, the leaders of the Conservative Resurgence are humbled by the Spirit, are able to admit their shortcomings and overreaches for the sake of power, but are completely forgiven by the denominational masses, in order that they might undertake reaching the proper goal of the Resurgence: Spirit-led revival based in life-transforming application of the inerrant Scriptures.  That would be their “legacy,” and it would be far greater–and godlier–than anything yet seen in the long history of the SBC.

In my dream, there is no need for a reform movement.  Prompted by the Spirit, the leaders recognize that their arrogant pride has put them in opposition to God (1 Peter 5:5).  So, they humble themselves (5:6) and gladly make the appropriate changes that are the only bedrock reason why a reform movement is currently in existence.

In my dream, entity trustees, operating in the power of the Spirit, exercise their duties with proper accountability (i.e., answerability) to the SBC.  Also, in the power of the Spirit, there would never again be cover-ups or “smiley faces for the camera” by the lieutenants of those making bad, or power-hungry, decisions or trustees in the know.  There would be candor and the legitimate assuming of responsibility for their part of whatever takes place.  And, in a Spirit-led SBC, there would be complete forgiveness for their lack of courage.

In my dream, Spirit-led Calvinists would “agree to disagree agreeably” with Spirit-led slightly adjusted Arminians.  the same would be true wiht Spirit-led neo-Landmarkists and those who are not sold at all on that set of Baptist distinctives, but can love those they disagree with anyway, because of the Spirit.

In my dream, the presidency of the Convention would no longer be a political role only for the most powerful of our entity leaders or the pastors of the largest fraction of one per cent of our local churches.  Rather, the president would be a spiritual role for whatever godly person the Lord prayerfully sets forth, not just a political ally “who is one of us.” 

In my dream for the SBC, people would not become entity trustees because of nepotism, croneyism or for motives of shoring up political control of an entity.  Rather, they would be selected on the basis of their Spirit-led walk with the Lord and their desire to serve the Lord first, then the spiritual interests of all Southern Baptists, without regard to factions/power interests.

In my dream, the trustees of our two mission boards and Southwestern Seminary would rescind their policies or guidelines against those who speak in tongues or have a private prayer language.  They would be convicted and realize that these policies/guidelines are “quenching” the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).  Instead, if they are still cessationists, they would move to a point where they could openly, but cautiously, trust their brothers and sisters with this gift not to abuse their positions as missionaries, instead of denying them any opportunity to follow their calling through the SBC.

In my dream, there would be true integrity in the reporting of numbers within the SBC.  Led by the Spirit, we would freely admit the true number of “people showing up weekly” numbers in our local churches, as well as the actual overall membership active in the SBC.  If the Spirit was in control, there would be no hesitancy to own up to the actual enrollment numbers of a seminary that, if known, might hurt the prideful reputation of an illustrious president, as well as the actual salary/benefits numbers for several seminary presidents.

In my dream, local church pastors would not view their current pastoral position as another stepping-stone to the next bigger, more prestigious congregation.  Rather, with the Spirit leading (e.g., Acts 16:6-10), the fleshly “caste system” that looks down on smaller churches and their pastors would be a thing of the past.

In my dream, SBC pulpits would be known for powerful Spirit-led preaching which is always capped off by piercing careful application.  Not only would many be led to the Lord, but there would be no more long-term carnal Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) just occupying pews on Sundays, but never growing in Christ.

In my dream, all church members would be “salt and light” in their communities, sharing Christ as a way of life and an opportunity for great joy!  Our congregations would truly be “in the world, but not of the world,” instead of the current reality for so many of our people: “of the world,” but not “in it” in any meaningful sense.

In my dream for the SBC, giving would go up substantially, but not because of pressure to give.  Rather, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the great joy of underwriting the Lord’s work all over the world would far outweigh the fleshly reasons many of us spend so much of the financial resources with which God has richly blessed us.

And, the best part of my dream is that it is realistically doable.  Honestly, the only action it requires is for each one of us to walk moment by moment in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16), by faith (5:5-6). 

So, as I close this installment, the key question is: Are you willing to get your act together with the Holy Spirit?  After all, if you do not choose, moment by moment, to walk in power of the Spirit instead of the flesh, why should anybody else in the SBC?

Coming Wednesday: “I HAVE a Dream (Conclusion)”

Fridays are for… Newspaper Articles

Here’s the weekly column I write for the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian:

                           “Running the Race”            

By the time you read this, I will have run in my first race since 1983.  Those of you who have seen my 250 pound plus ex-football player frame are probably wondering, “What are you thinking?  Why, you could have a heart attack or a stroke and die!”           

And, had this race taken place a year ago, you would have been right.  At that point, I was not taking good care of myself at all.  But, a lot has changed since November, 2006, when I had some sort of episode that may well have been a mini-stroke.  That was a major physical wake-up call for me!           

You see, I started exercising almost every day.  In the beginning, I could barely huff and puff my way over a couple of our fairly steep Hill Country up-and-downs at a slow walk.  But, I kept going.  And, over the months, I lengthened my daily route and picked up the pace.           

Then, a few months ago, I got faced with the idea of taking part in a 5 kilometer race.  Frankly, I had no problem with the distance at all.  I had worked my way up to walking a 4.6 mile per day course.  The approximately 3.1 miles in a 5K was a “piece of cake” length-wise.           

But, if I was going to be in such a race, I wanted to be able to run it, not just walk—even if it was a very brisk walk.  So, I made it a goal to get myself in good enough running condition to do just that.           

That was easier said than done.  Carrying the amount of weight I do, there is quite a bit a pounding on your thighs and knees.  Fortunately, as an athlete, I never sustained any injuries with lingering effects to those parts of my body.  So, my only problem was getting past the soreness from getting used to running again after all these years and forcing myself to keep going through a little over three mile run.           

I am thankful to say that, in the last couple of weeks before the race, I finally arrived at that point.  My legs had stopped throbbing and were no longer sore.  And, I had developed enough stamina to keep running from the start to the end of the three mile course.           

Now, there is a part of me that really wants to put things on cruise control at this point.  After all, I have gotten myself into good enough shape to be confident that I will be able to run the entire race.  And, by training in the hills, I should do fairly well on this relatively flat course.             

But, there is another part of me that wants to keep pushing these last few days until the race and be prepared to not just finish, but actually run a fairly decent time.  Specifically, I can run my three mile course in 54 minutes and I’m aiming to finish on Saturday under 50 minutes.           

Is that realistic for me?  It very much remains to be seen.  But, I’m going to give it my best shot and see what my 58-year-old body can do.           

How does this outlook translate into the spiritual realm?  Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words about the attitude with which Christians should approach running the race that is the Christian life: “Run in such a way that you may win.  Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.  However, they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).           

If you are a Christian, are you “in shape” to run the race that is living for Christ every day?  The Lord definitely expects you to be.  If you’re not, it may require a process of starting to read the Bible a little daily, then more and more, and praying a little every day, then more over time, and telling other people about Christ consistently, and the like, in other important areas of the Christian life?  But, like my improvement toward running this 5K, it can be done.  And, while all I will get out of this race is some satisfaction, you can have the incredible spiritual joy of hearing the Lord say: “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

Coming Monday: The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XVI): “I HAVE a Dream (Continued)”

The Holy Spirit and the Southern Baptist Convention Today (XV): “I HAVE a Dream (Introduction)”

On August 28, 1963, some quarter of a million Americans, mostly Black, gathered near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on what turned out to be one of the most significant occasions of the civil rights movement.  The primary reason that was the case was because of a semi-extemperaneous speech by the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Because it was not the message he had planned to deliver, the title by which it has been known ever since, ”I Had a Dream,” is derived from the request made by someone in the crowd who shouted “Martin, tell us about your dream!”  And, King complied.

Looking back, I had very little awareness of this speech at the time.  I was 14 years old and near the end of exhausting pre-school two-a-day football practices as a raw freshman at Raymond (Mississippi) High School.  And, to the extent that I did hear anything, it would have been negative.  You see, I lived in a racist community and went to what was, for three more years, a racially segregated high school.

In other words, to the extent that I knew who Martin Luther King, Jr., was, I viewed him as a trouble-maker.  He was working to change the only way of life I had ever known and, so, I–and virtually the entire White population of the town in which I grew up–were in opposition to what he was saying and asking to happen.

However, in retrospect, it is profoundly humbling to admit that, even though I still do not agree with some of his political perspectives and alliances, King’s “vision” of racial equality in his “I Had a Dream” speech was right, not least for the church (Galatians  3:28).  In that regard, I have been deeply honored and greatly blessed to know the Black brothers and sisters I met through Campus Crusade for Christ at Mississippi State, to block for my quarterback, Tony Evans, on our flag football team at Dallas Seminary and to learn much from, and be convicted by, a humble gentle physical and spiritual giant of a man named Dwight McKissic.

What made the difference in me?  Jesus Christ, period.  I did not become a Christian for another seven years after King’s speech.  Certainly, a huge amount changed legally and politically in the Deep South during that time.  But, changing the deeply-held attitudes of people is much harder to do.  And, the numerous pockets of “red-neck” racists that exist to this day all over the South–and the rest of the country, if we’re honest–attest to that.  And, realistically, I might well still be one of them if not for the grace of the Savior and the mighty early spiritual change that He worked in my life (I say “early” because there have been later spiritual changes of great consequence also, as I will bring in further along). 

Why is racism so resistant to change?  Theologically, it is because of human nature–unregenerate human nature.  Unsaved people naturally want to “lord it over” others (Matthew 20:25-28).  It’s as simple as that.  So, foundationally, the only thing that makes many people behave civilly toward other races is the law.

Sadly, it is indisputable that there are many churches filled with regenerate people who are still racists.  How do we account for that theologically?  It’s called “the flesh,” the part of a saved person that still acts like a non-Christian (1 Corinthians 3:3-4), is in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17) and totally controls the life of any Christian not walking by faith (5:5-6).  It is the flesh which produces the “hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger” and the like (5:20, 21, HCSB) which are such classic racist emotional responses.

When will these racist churches–not a few of which are Southern Baptist–really change (i.e., more than surfacely–for public appearance)?  Only when the Holy Spirit gets control of the vast bulk of the individual believers who are their members.  It’s going to take nothing less than that to effect real change in this area.

Well, my “dream” is not in regard to racism.  I am merely using it as an example of how the flesh holds back the transforming work of the Spirit, particularly, in this case, in the SBC. 

Instead, my “dream” is about what the Conservative Resurgence could have accomplished spiritually in the SBC by now–and, I believe, still can–had it not been so significantly dominated by the flesh.  I will lay it out in my post next Monday.  Although it will not be nearly as eloquent as King’s “dream,” it is my humble hope that this prayerful (Psalm 37:4) “dream” will at least force us to think about the eye-opening difference that the Spirit can make in the attitudes and actions (contrast Galatians 5:19-21 and 5:22-23) of all those who call themselves Southern Baptists, not least of all our leaders.

Now, as I close this introductory installment, I would request just one thing of each of you who is reading these words.  Would you be so kind as to join me in seeking to prayerfully envision what a Southern Baptist Convention filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18ff.) would look like? 

Now, please don’t misunderstand: In making such a request, I am not at all denying that there are indeed many Southern Baptists who consistently exhibit “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).  But, I am indeed bemoaning the fact that thoughtful observation makes it “obvious” (5:19) that the flesh (5:19-21) is running rampant in many of our churches and in the corridors of power of the SBC to the point where we have gotten so used to many among us “stifling the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), even “grieving the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30), that we think nothing of it.  It has gotten so bad in some quarters that the idea of allowing the Holy Spirit to exercise control (Ephesians 5:18) over our individual lives, families, businesses and ministries is viewed as being more or less a religious fanatic or nut case. 

Why has this taken place?  Foundationally, because we continue in a long-standing spiritual “drought” of the Word of God in this theological area–a virtual vacuum of clear basic biblical preaching and teaching on the totally essential (i.e., not at all optional) role of the Holy Spirit in moment-by-moment Christian living.  Even moreso, in those instances where the teaching has been present, the practical application of it has not been “deep and wide.”

To be continued…