The Silence is Deafening

I wonder what it says about the SBC when it comes out that Florida republican Mark Foley is basically acting as a sexual predator and NO ONE in the entire convention has anything to say about it. Even worse, it looks more and more like the republican leadership knew that Rep. Foley was a potential child molester and did nothing about it and NO ONE in our convention has anything to say about it. When President Clinton cheated on his wife with a 22 year old woman, our convention spoke on behalf of our values. Dr. Paige Patterson, Dr. Al Mohler, and Dr. Richard Land all had something to say about sin. They stood up for biblical morality.

Contrast that response with the silence of the last week with the news about Mark Foley's sinful behavior and the cover-up of that sin. No article has appeared at baptistpress, focus on the family, or any state paper in the entire convention has a word to say about some egregious behavior. Why haven't Dr. Patterson or Land had anything to say? (Scott has told me that Dr. Mohler has addressed the issue over the radio, for which I am grateful. I wish he would comment on a more national stage given the silence of so many others.) Baptists have an entire webpage dubbed www.ivotevalues.com through the ethics commission. The commission has updated the webpage to reflect the candidate replacing Rep. Foley for the upcoming election, but has NOT ONE WORD to say about a moral crisis involving the leadership of the house of representatives. Is soliciting young boys for sex not a moral issue? Even the liberal bible scholars who accept homosexuality claim that the Bible forbids pederasty. Pederasty was the practice of older men using young boys for sex, just the sort of behavior that Rep. Foley was part of. Even the Baptist blogosphere has NOT ONE WORD to say about this issue. By the way, these young boys working as pages are the cream of the crop with American youth. These young men did not ask for what was done to them. The young men subjected to this vile and perverse treatment are the kind of boys that we are proud to have as part of our youth ministries.

Where is the spiritual leadership? Where are the pastors, seminary presidents and bloggers? The longer this silence continues, the more it will appear that Southern Baptists are simply an auxilliary to the Republican party. We have had plenty to say over the years about Supreme Court nominees, justice Sunday, the ACLU, the war on terror and liberalism in schools. Any party that would cover up for 50 year old men preying on teenage boys cannot stand with morality, values and Christ. Any party that would know about this kind of criminal act and sit idly by is basically serving up young boys to people who would use them. We have a legion of eloquent spokesmen who will defend the inerrancy of God's word with their life's blood. I wish that just ONE of those spokesman would read God's word and speak truth to power.

If we as a denomination cannot speak to this kind of sin, we have to ask ourselves--Who are we speaking for?

Preacher's Money, People's Money

During the Greensboro meeting I read an article on Baptist Press that continues to provoke a great deal of thought. You can read the article here, http://www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?ID=23433. Guidestone reported to the messengers in Greensboro that for over a decade preacher salaries have significantly outpaced inflation.

Over Labor Day weekend, I read a number of stories which describe a situation in which the average American's wages are simply not keeping up with inflation. Working people have seen their wages stagnate. You can read a few of the sources I found if you like. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/03/Columns/Workers_feel_the_sque.shtml
or http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/09/02/another_year_another_wage_loss/.

I even read a speech by Henry Paulson, serving as President Bush's Treasury Secretary. Mr Paulson. Mr Paulson said, But we still have challenges, and amid this country's strong economic expansion, many Americans simply aren't feeling the benefits. Many aren't seeing significant increases in their take-home pay. Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health-care costs, among others. You can read the rest of his remarks here, http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp41.htm.

Let me say that I have no problem with paying the preacher and paying him well. What I wonder about is whether preachers, generally speaking are not aware of the financial realities that many people in the pew face? I have a few beginning observations.

1. It looks like a fact that people's dollar doesn't go as far as it used to and working people aren't earning enough to stay ahead of inflation.
2. Men and women working seems to be what has kept a lot of families afloat financially and this trend doesn't seem to be changing.
3. The average pastor is not experiencing stagnant wages. In fact, the earning power of pastors seems to be higher than the average working American.

These three items lead me to a single question: can the average pastor understand what we're facing? Do growing wages among people in ministry create a disconnect between clergy and laity?

It seems to me that pastors are, fortunately for them, ignorant of their church member's finances. This ignorance (which I believe to be well intentioned) may explain why every election year I go to church for 6 weeks to hear the message on voting republican on moral grounds. It may also explain why so many families in our church hear how the proper role of the woman is to be a homemaker, even though a second income seems to be keeping the average American family afloat. It may also explain the changing pastoral model to that of a business executive (pastor as CEO).

I suspect all of these things to relate to different economic realities being faced by the clergy and the laity. The part that concerns me is, that I believe both sides are trapped by economics. Laypeople continue to live beyond their means to achieve the American dream and find themselves stretched to the breaking point once a month at bill-paying time. For laypeople, the trap is of credit spending, refinancing, no planning for retirement, no planning for education and divorce. For the clergy the trap is just as severe. The clergyman is now growing affluent and perhaps out of touch.

So what am I driving at? I think it all boils down to the role of the pastor. I really admire the language of I Peter in describing the pastor over the CEO model that seems so pervasive today. I also admire the prophets who stood as champions of people who were exploited and marginalized. How does the pastor deal with affluence? How does the pastor lead people towards Christ without being bogged down in money and politics?

A Few Thoughts on the Year of Frank Page

A great deal of energy and time has been spent in the Baptist blogosphere about the election of Frank Page as SBC president. However, the big question remains unanswered: What on earth does his election mean? The important bloggers uniformly seem to believe that Dr. Page's election indicates a turning point in denominational life. I'm not sure I feel comfortable about such a conclusion.

Rather, what seems most evident is that the "average local church" is tired of electing pastors from churches that seem less committed to the Cooperative Program.(please understand that by "average" I mean in terms of weekly attendance and percentage of financial participation in the cooperative program rather than impact for the kingdom) In truth, it seems that smaller churches would rather elect someone who's percentage of giving is more like their own. I don't see a turning point in this respect. It appears is that without liberals to defeat, megachurches with low percentages of cooperative giving aren't going to field the most attractive candidates for rank and file messengers. So perhaps this election has more to do with money than it does a direction for the future? If anything, this may be telling the "inner circle" of people selecting candidates (if such a group even exists) will have to make sure that the candidate of choice is giving 10% of undesignated receipts before announcing a candidacy.

I am cautiously optimistic about Dr. Page's call for expanding the tent for participation in denominational life. But I have no idea what he means by this or how he will go about accomplishing it. Presumably he will be nominating a different group of people to serve as trustees. But I'm not sure what sort of criteria must be in place. It appears that the litmus test for service is now inerrancy and no alcohol. But even if a candidate gets over those two hurdles, won't a lot of other SBC leaders be bothered by these appointments?

Firstly, I'm not even sure what inerrancy means. I feel dumb having to admit this. Every preacher I've ever heard talk about it seems to be describing something different. The BFM 2000 describes it as, "It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy." But it doesn't say anything about how we need to read the Bible or how we arrive at doctrinal positions. For example, there are some brothers in SBC life committed to reform theology and other brothers with a more charismatic inclination who both claim to believe in the inerrant word. What happens if Dr. Page appoints people with those convictions as trustees?

Secondly, the serious questions raised by Pastor Ben Cole about cronyism will doubtlessly continue. I just don't see the SBC being ready to embrace reform theology, even with Dr. Mohler as such a gifted spokesman. Similarly, I don't see how with our IMB trustees trying to stop any charasmatic practices among our missionaries, that a person open to such could be appointed as a trustee. It seems like the pool of people to draw from will be similar. Perhaps a few different names, but I'm not sure what the difference is. What leaves me puzzled is how the important bloggers can declare victory? The fear I have for the convention is that some people feel like they've been shut our of their own chance at controlling the SBC and now want their chance to make decisions. If this election is just about another group of people trying to build their own little kingdoms, then I'm not really optimistic about the future of the denomination.

Third, it seems like the SBC has 2 giant sacred cows right now. Sacred cow 1 is the Cooperative Program. Dr. Page rode to the presidency on the back of this one. Every member of my Sunday School class believes in giving to Lottie Moon and it bothers us to think that we might not have missionaries doing their work overseas. Sacred cow 2 sure sounds like the conservative resurgence. In all the items I read, it seems like you can't lead the SBC and criticize either of these things. At this point in my post, I must also affirm that I think the Cooperative Program is a wonderful tool given to the SBC to fulfill the great commission. I also think that resurgence was a good idea, but I don't pretend to understand even part of what went on. (Please don't think I'm attacking the sacred cows, I'm just observing that in today's SBC it appears that some things aren't open to discussion.) However, from the pew I'm in, it looks like the CP is just a plan and the resurgence is just history. Maybe the things we ought to be doing are figuring out what the SBC is for today and where God is taking us for tomorrow?

I suppose that if you believe in backroom deals, that maybe Dr. Page's election is a turning point. From where I'm standing, I don't see how the election in Greensboro is any different from the election of Dr. Jim Henry in the 90s. What it seems like more than anything is that our denomination stands for a program and will vote to protect it. The most important and unanswered question left from Greensboro is: who are we and what are we about? There was a lot of language about big tents, no tests of fellowship and not narrowing the criteria for participation, but I have no idea what this means. I'd really appreciate any feedback anyone might have.

The Reason I'm Blogging

38. He also said in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes, and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39. the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40. They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment."
41. Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42. And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43. Summoning His disciples, He said to them, "I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to the temple treasury. 44. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed-—all she had to live on."
Mark 12: 38-44

I am no different from many other Southern Baptists this week who have watched our annual meeting unfold through fresh eyes. The pastors who have found the time to blog. (I have to respect them as they are so busy every day anyway) I have been moved by the efforts of men like Pastor Tim Sweatman, Pastor Marty Duren, Pastor Art Rogers and Pastor Ben Cole. Their committment to keeping us rank and file Southern Baptists informed about the direction and future of our denomination has inspired me to contribute towards their effort in a small way.

Perhaps the biggest theme I've taken away from the bloggers has been "shared ministry". After Greensboro, it seems like our convention is taking tiny steps toward opening things up for more people to be a part. I am especially grateful that the messengers in Greensboro decided that a "good ol' boy" network isn't the direction God is leading us. As I reflected on what I was reading about the annual meeting, I could not help but be reminded of this passage in Mark's gospel and made it my Bible study this week.

Jesus seems to be contrasting the religious elites of his day with the sacrificial act of the poor widow. The religious elites did not escape the notice of Jesus with their craving for influence and fortunes built on the backs of others. On the other hand, the widow didn't escape Jesus' notice either. The widow lives out a faith unstained by the desire for wealth or power. There is no resolution to this story. We don't know what happens to the widow. What we are left with is the image of a woman who risked everything in living out her faith and earned the admiration of Jesus Christ himself. My desire is to live with that kind of shameless love for Jesus. I pray that Southern Baptists everyone more closely resemble the widow than the scribes who spend their time looking our for number 1.

Morris Chapman Calls Us

His remarks in the executive committee report today seem right on target. Brother Chapman reminds us that we are a people who are all about kingdom business. If we loose sight of Jesus and His work on the cross, then we really don't have anything worth saying.

"A continuation of the constant politicization of this convention and its churches will come at the price of turning conservative brother against conservative brother, of losing church members who love Jesus, love the Bible, love the church, love the convention, love the Kingdom of God and love world missions and at the price of losing the favor of God upon us"

I pray as a denomination, we can hear what Brother Chapman has to say. In every way that matters, conservatives have restored the SBC to its roots. Now perhaps we should be focused on fulfilling Christ's commission?

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Southern Baptist Convention elected Frank Page as its new president Tuesday, a pastor who had said that it would take a "miracle"
for him to win and was seen as an outsider pick.
Page was the choice of a group of pastors, many from a younger generation than the current SBC leadership, who have complained that the denomination suppresses disagreements over styles of worship and doctrinal details.
Taking just over 50 percent of the vote on the first ballot, Page beat out Ronnie Floyd, a successful megachurch pastor from Springdale, Ark., and Jerry Sutton, pastor at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., and currently the SBC's first vice president. Page is pastor at First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C.

I pray we can all come together under Dr. Page's leadership to do meaningful kingdom work.