In my last post I held out Dr. Rankin to be a good model of open, honest leadership that confronts situations with truth and love. What about us? How does the responsibility to fulfill the mandate of Christian Leadership apply to us in this situation?

First, we must confront the situation. Many among YSBC (see previous article, Target: Young SBC) have already become disaffected and have no desire to meander into the hurtful actions that they saw happening in their parents’ SBC. Still, whatever the actions of past generations, as leaders we have the responsibility to confront the issues of the day. We do not have the luxury of bowing out of the controversy. That means that we must speak out in every venue that is available to us. We must speak to our peers locally, we must speak to our church body and we must speak to the Convention. How we communicate – through mail, email, phone or face to face conversations or even blogging, is a matter of who we are. That we have these conversations is a matter of what we are: Leaders.

Second, as we deal with the issues, we must speak the truth, but we must temper it with love. We do not have the prerogative to use the bully pulpit, afforded to us as leaders, to intimidate or belittle. I write and re-write every article and every comment I post now to choose my words carefully. It is never acceptable to be harsh with people, but now more than ever, we must be responsible in the tone of our conversation, always insuring that it reflects Christ’s affection for His own body. It is this mark that is the sign of authenticity to those who are listening to the various voices all around. They will know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. Patiently bear one another in love.

Finally, we must point to a particular direction. In this sense, I mean that we must be in Greensboro, and we must bring others. By speaking in a loving and honest way to the Convention, we can hope to affect change. Many have yet to commit to being present at Greensboro. Let me encourage you to do so. Make your room reservations and follow your church’s procedures to be sent as their Messenger.

You may think that, since the recommendation to remove Wade Burleson from the Board of Trustees of the IMB has been called back by the IMB BOT Executive Committee, there will be no reason for you to go. Let me give you a few thoughts.

1. The Executive Committee of the BOT does not have the authority to rescind the vote made by the entire Board. Its promise is just that: a promise. When the Board meets again in March, there will be an opportunity for the Board to accept a substitute plan, but until this occurs, nothing has changed.

2. The issues that led to this crisis have not dissipated. There are still the issues of caucusing, undue influence of agency heads over the trustees and staff of other agencies, overly restrictive policies enacted by a missionary board that go beyond the Bible and the BFM2000, and, of course, the actions of the Board of Trustees that disparaged the character of Wade Burleson, yet have never been apologized for nor has responsibility for them ever been taken other than the aforementioned promise. You may not be seeing any avenues for addressing these situations currently, but I can give you my word that your presence will be important in doing so.

3. Finally, there will be a Young Leader’s Conference at the War Memorial Auditorium on Monday night, June 12. This conference will take place under the auspices of the SBC in an effort to unite us all across generational lines. We will be there from 9:30 pm until 11:30 pm (Eastern Time), and a fair amount of that time will be spent in meeting each other and enjoying the good food provided. You will want to be there for this – I assure you – not just for the food and the company. Wade Burleson is our keynote speaker and the rest of the program will be electrifying, including the band.

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