Baptist Pastors Urged to Maintain Focus Amidst Controversy
by Allie Martin
June 13, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The day before their denomination's annual business meeting convened, pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention were encouraged to keep an eternal and unselfish perspective when sharing the good news of Christ, and to not allow disagreements in the denomination to distract believers from more important issues. On that note, the pastors heard a word of advice from the widow of one of the SBC's most beloved pastors, Dr. Adrian Rogers. Speaking at the SBC Pastors' Conference on Monday (June 12), Dr. Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, said too many Christians today are like survivors of the Titanic who would not turn back in their half-empty lifeboats to save the drowning. Evans called for a new emphasis on saving the lost, saying pastors and church members must be willing to take risks to win some for Christ. Christians, he said, must refocus their energy and efforts on eternity.
"When you number your days and understand that I am in the world of the dying, on my way to the world of the living, all of a sudden making your time matter for eternity [is important]," Evan stated. "All of a sudden that person at the bus stop, that person at the gas station, that person at the laundry, that person who teaches my kids at school is a candidate for glory that I don't want to miss because I'm running out of days."
Evans said every church should examine its programs and priorities to see if what they are doing makes a difference for eternity.
Other speakers on Monday encouraged pastors to step outside of tradition to reach the unchurched for Christ. Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic, a Los Angeles church known for its use of art and music, said the church in America needs to serve the world. McManus shared his take on the role of personal evangelism in achieving that objective.
"You know the number-one question I get from Christians when they come from other churches? 'Where do I go get discipled? Well, how many years does it take?'" he shared. The California pastor says for most Christians, that is the wrong attitude. "If you've been a Christian more than three weeks, you don't need to be discipled any more," he said. "It's time for you to start discipling."
While Mosiac meets in a nightclub on Sunday mornings, Fellowship of the Woodlands meets in a high school in an affluent Houston suburb. Kerry Shook, pastor of that church, says Southern Baptists must be trained in the language of the unchurched.
"One of my pet peeves is that Hollywood spends so much time and effort and energy and creativity and resources into getting their message out. And frankly, folks, they've got nothing to say," Shook offered. "But most [of us] spend very little time and effort and energy and creativity and resources into getting our message out, and we've got the greatest message of all -- the gospel of Jesus Christ."
More than 70 percent of those who join Fellowship of the Woodlands come to Christ and are baptized at the church.
Distractions Causing Loss of Focus
Pastor Ed Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, delivered the closing sermon for SBC Pastors' Conference. Saying the SBC is in crisis, he alluded to current controversies involving the International Mission Board and a three-way presidential race that has many focused on the importance of churches and their support of the Cooperative Program, the mission-sending vehicle of the denomination.
Dr. Young said the denomination has gone down what he called "side streets" and has lost its focus. He referred to a sharp drop in young SBC members. "And the kids brought up in your church and my church, six out of every eight, when they're 19, have not been won to Christ," the Texas pastor shared. "And as far as we know and any studies we can give, they are gone to the kingdom of God."
But Young remains optimistic, saying the denomination can change course when churches reach out to children and teens and increase international missions giving through the Cooperative Program. In addition, he says a supernatural healing is needed because of the bitterness and backbiting caused by recent controversies within the denomination.
Young was referring to a recent move by the denomination's International Mission Board (IMB) to bar future missionaries who, while not publicly speaking in tongues, use a "private prayer language"; and to a revised IMB policy on baptism that has also caused discord among SBC members.
If Adrian Were Here ...
Finally, it was a poignant moment Monday evening as Southern Baptist pastors paid tribute to the late Adrian Rogers. On Monday night, his widow, Joyce, spoke briefly during the SBC Pastors' Conference, sharing about God's faithfulness during her husband's illness and death. She told the pastors that her husband would never have allowed certain issues -- a reference to those involving IMB policy -- to divide the denomination.
"Now he had other interpretations of doctrines that were important to him; like, he was an avid believer in the premillennial view of prophecy. But he never considered that that was a basis for fellowship," Mrs. Rogers said. "And I want you to listen to me carefully: Adrian Rogers would not have been a part of what is going on in some parts of our convention today, getting narrower and narrower about very highly interpretive issues."
Rogers said that while her husband stood for biblical inerrancy, he would not exclude people from missions if they disagreed with him on "controversial issues." She said, "I challenge you on his behalf to graciously work for unity in the body of Christ."
Dr. Adrian Rogers, a three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, died last November following a battle with cancer.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
