There are competing proverbs about those who are vocal in their criticism of the establishment. The two that come to my mind have distinctively different cultural backgrounds that color the wisdom they profess.
The first is the old proverb, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” This comes from the western mind and tells us that if we complain loudly enough, we will get our way. I have never liked this saying. It seems to encourage people to complain and I am flooded with complaints most of the time. I walked in to the Sanctuary Sunday and was immediately and loudly accosted by some people who were personally too cold. Now, some of you might be sympathetic, being cold natured yourselves. I am hot natured, but try to sympathize with everyone. The temperature in the Sanctuary was 74 degrees, and they wanted it warmer. *sigh* I smiled sympathetically and nodded.
The next proverb I heard comes from China. It says, “It is the nail whose head sticks up that gets hammered down.” Wow. What a different culture. The oppression in China is very evident in this quote. I don’t like this saying any more than I like the other one. It tells us to keep quiet about what we believe, because it will cost us dearly to speak up.
The Bible is replete with the admonitions to submit to various authorities. Paul even says that secular authorities are over us in Romans 13:1-5.
Peter and John refuse to submit to earthly authority when they tell the Sanhedrin that they will have to judge for themselves if submission to them takes priority over submission to God.
How does all of this fit together for the SBC?
As you might surmise, I have a few thoughts.
1. If you believe that a certain conviction is from the Lord, then you must stand for it. He is THE authority.
2. God never promises that standing for His calling will be painless for you. In fact, just the opposite is true. You may expect more kindness from fellow Christians, but you will be disappointed. Mostly because they, like you, are imperfect.
3. The bottom-up structure of the SBC tells us that we, the member churches of the Convention, are the authorities within the SBC, and our officers, et. al., are to submit to us as a whole.
4. We are not whole, but divided, over many of the issues within the convention: inclusion and exclusion; Cooperative Program and Missional mindset; traditional, contemporary and emergent church structures; charismatic backgrounds and non-charismatic backgrounds; missionary service policies; Calvanism and anti-calvinistic dispositions. No one in leadership can answer to all of us simultaneously.
I am of the mind that we need to elect leadership that will serve the Lord in a trustworthy manner and bear judiciously the weight of the office to which we elect them.
For the most part, I think we have exactly that. Anyone who thinks I am anti-establishment needs to read the full context of my writings. I am not.
I am for something, though. I am for the highest standards of character and service. This is not an implication that others are people of flawed character. It is simply a statement that I believe we should find the highest we can possibly find, and, under the Lord’s direction, ask them to bear the burden of leadership within the convention.
They must be people who recognize the proper authority and submit to it.
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Gary Snowden
on Apr 27th, 2006
@ 1:37 pm:
Art,
This was a great post and a timely one at that. I especially appreciate your reminder in point 3 that the SBC is a bottom-up structure with ultimate authority resting not in the convention but the individual member churches. On my day off from church responsibilities I’m assisting with a new convention in our state that affirms that the convention’s purpose is to serve the churches and not the other way around. Servant leaders who display the maturity to put kingdom interests ahead of self-interest are what the hour demands.
Kevin Bussey
on Apr 27th, 2006
@ 4:03 pm:
Art,
Great post as always. I would have told the person to put on a jacket. :)
Jason Sampler
on Apr 27th, 2006
@ 5:17 pm:
Kevin,
Why don’t YOU put on a jacket when you come to New Orleans in a few weeks to work with Edgewater ;)
Kevin Bussey
on Apr 27th, 2006
@ 7:38 pm:
Jason,
We are pumped about it! But I know better than to wear a coat from my days in Mobile. The weather is hot and hotter.
Jamie Wootten
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 8:02 am:
Art,
So what is your conviction from the Lord about what the sanctuary temperature ought to be? ;)
That’s one issue that seems to have no room for cooperation.
Kevin Bussey
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 8:14 am:
Jamie makes a great point! How can anyone argue with you if you say you prayed about the temp and what it is on is what God laid on your heart?
art rogers
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 9:49 am:
Anything under 75 degrees is fine with me.
Unless you are talking about hell. Then you want it on 95 degrees or higher. ;)
D.R.
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 10:54 am:
Jason, I don’t know if I told you but I am trying to get a group together to come down there in AUGUST! Talk about hot. Do you remember that fateful first semester and part of that subsequent second one in Lipsey. Adam and I living it up in our cool room, while you sweated it out with Kelly downstairs? Ah…the memories.
D.R.
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 10:56 am:
Hey Art,
What do you think about Mohler throwing his hat into the ring of conventional politics and starting a new blog on SBC issues?
art rogers
on Apr 28th, 2006
@ 11:28 am:
I think every Baptist voice involved in public discussion of the SBC and its issues is a good move.
It takes a willingness to put one’s ideas out there – where they can be criticized – to do that. We already know that he is his own man and is willing to defend his convictions publicly, so he will do well.
I can only guarantee that not everyone will agree, but that’s the point, isn’t it?
Tim Sweatman
on Apr 29th, 2006
@ 12:41 am:
Art, you liberal! Don’t you know that anything above 72 is striaght from hell itself? Why else would it feel so hot? ;^)
Tim Sweatman
on Apr 29th, 2006
@ 12:56 am:
On a serious note, Art’s analysis is correct as usual. We are divided on a number of issues. There’s no way to deny that. But what if instead of each faction trying to force its own views on the convention as a whole we exercise a bit of humility and love instead? What if we agree to disagree about certain issues without dividing? What if we intentionally focus on the many things we agree about and on the goal that practically all of us share? What kind of Kingdom impact could the SBC have if we do these things?