Now before anyone accuses me of breaking back into SBC stuff, let me head you off at the pass. I said that I would address the SBC here as it came in contact with my life and ministry.
Bob Roberts is one of our most forward thinking minds in the SBC when it comes to missional engagement. When he read Bob’s latest book, Glocalization, Marty Duren confessed that he did not know anybody in the Southern Baptist family that was thinking this far outside of the traditional box when engaging our world wide culture.
I have been reading Glocalization for a few months now. I have to read about a chapter at a time (sometimes its not that much) and then put it down to process everything in light of my church and how we are or are not engaging. Recently, I was invited to meet their Director of Global Engagement (Missions Pastor, for all you traditionalists out there, but more than that), Dennis Jeffares. Dennis is a 10 year veteran of the IMB and now directs Northwood Church’s engagement, where Roberts is the founding pastor.
A few months ago, I wrote a piece about my local association, Tulsa Metro Association of Baptist Churches entitled The Missional Association?, in which I explored the degree to which an organization such as this can, if fact, be missional. My conclusion was that the individuals and their local churches can be missional, but organizations can only facilitate or hinder that missionality.
David Phillips contacted me yesterday and told me to get over to Bob Robert’s blog and read his post. Lo and behold, Bob had taken on a similar thought process in regards the national convention and our Cooperative Program.
Some quotes that might pique your interest:
Our early Baptist ancestors got it. That’s why we had a church planting movement in the 1800′s – we didn’t call it that – we didn’t even try to label it – we were just in flow with God. We are what we are today because of spiritual ancestors in the 1800′s. We are not 16 million because of us – but because of them.
So as I’m sitting there, at the SBC last week a spiritual child and descendant of all these people, my heart began to break. What are we doing with all we’ve been given? How are we making the world different? How are we changing with the times so that we will be a convention that one hundred years from now will have more than a hundred million constituents? What would it look like if the SBC one and only mandate was to extend and live out the Kingdom of God in all domains in the entire world mobilizing the entire body of Christ? These are questions I focus our church on and our church planters on and other groups I work with. What if you focused 16 million people on that – but alas – others have tried to do the same thing, and it winds up being programs, and etc. and so on and so on and so on.
They can’t just send in their money and read stories of what other people are doing. Our greatest days that planted the greatest seeds were done without the Cooperative Program – it didn’t come on the scene until 1925 – long after our decades long movement had been going. It was a great program – it centralized things and allowed everyone to get to play a role. BUT, the world has changed. Everyone is connected, and everyone wants to play, and theologically as Baptist especially with our belief on world evangelization and congregational life we more than any group on the face of the earth we should do all we can to engage every Baptist to reach the world. The old paradigm of pray, give, and some go must change – and it is changing with new and younger pastors across the country – and as the early 20′s come into leadership it will change even more because they are more global and hands on than any generation we’ve ever seen. This is good not bad for us – it insures we’ll have a narrative and leaders – if we allow them to play ball.
The CP has become very expensive for local churches wanting to do missional things. It comes to feel like a tax, I don’t think we’ll ever see a Baptist tea party – I do think young pastors will just quietly ease out in favor of playing ball with other networks and groups that allow and even encourage local churches to engage aggressively.
All emphasis mine, naturally.
I could quote the whole article, if I were of a mind to, but I’ll just encourage you to read it for yourself.
By the way, you might be thinking that this guy sounds so much like some of us, that he is in some political alignment with us. Quite the contrary. You can find evidence of this in that Bob refers to the SBC as 16 Million people. I don’t anyone in my line of thinking that would do that.
When I met with Dennis Jeffares, it was the Thursday after the convention, and I was driving back to Tulsa. He had just returned from Viet Nam. He asked how things were at the convention, and I wondered just how deep I should go with this report. I gave the brief overview, and tried to gauge his interest. It wasn’t much. He then mentioned that he thought his pastor had gone and asked where it was held this year.
Yeah, this church is focused on active engagement of the lost world. The politics of the SBC are far from their concern, so don’t think that Bob wrote this as a political piece. Rather, he has taken the engagement strategy that has Northwood Church sending mission teams across the ocean passing each other in the air and applied it to our denomination. It just happens to resonate with me.
By the way, I tried to link the Glocalization book to the Lifeway website, in case you were interested in ordering it, but it looks like Lifeway doesn’t have it. Sorry. I had to link to Amazon instead.
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Brian R. Giaquinto
on Jun 21st, 2007
@ 11:16 am:
“The CP has become very expensive for local churches wanting to do missional things. It comes to feel like a tax, I don’t think we’ll ever see a Baptist tea party – I do think young pastors will just quietly ease out in favor of playing ball with other networks and groups that allow and even encourage local churches to engage aggressively.”
This is a very telling statement, and I believe that we are already seeing it happen. The declining CP percentages are proof.
Art Rogers
on Jun 21st, 2007
@ 9:30 pm:
Brian,
I am sorry for the late response. I was hoping that others would jump in and discuss, but as I noted before, controversy is a more popular read. I guess we’ll have to give the transition a little time.
I couldn’t agree with you more. This has been both my observation and my prediction. It is the problem that Jimmy Draper predicted and the Younger Leader initiative was created to combat.
Is it enough?
I don’t think it is. Getting together once a year at the SBC with a cool band and missional speakers is not a long term fix. I love it, but the majority of the engagement guys are already engaged and the SBC is not on their agenda. They are too busy being engaged.
My real concern is that there may be no real fix for this issue. Guys engaged in missional leadership are not guys who prize denominational loyalty in the first place. Engagement comes first.
Just look at the Missional Leaders Supper with Bob Roberts, Ed Stetzer, JD Greear, etc. There were only a handful of younger guys there. The vast majority were older guys who didn’t get what was being offered – besides the great food.
I asked a question of Bob Roberts, about the importance of building infrastructure as it relates to evangelism. I knew what Bob would say – I asked it for the benefit of the other guys in the room. The older guys.
He gave a great answer, but I am not sure they got it.
Regardless of the division over tertiary issues, let me ask this question: Can we survive the engagement issue?
Kevin Bussey
on Jun 21st, 2007
@ 10:01 pm:
Art,
I didn’t comment earlier because I commented on Davids and on Bob’s about this plan. His plan could get me excited about the future.
Art Rogers
on Jun 21st, 2007
@ 10:08 pm:
Kevin,
Well thanks for commenting on this anyway. I appreciate your patronage, as always, my brother.
Joe Kennedy
on Jun 22nd, 2007
@ 1:46 am:
I didn’t comment because I’m just now reading Glocalization, and I’m only in chapter 2. Then I’ll read Transformation. I like to work backward.
A Simple Student @ SWBTS
on Jun 22nd, 2007
@ 1:15 pm:
“I do think young pastors will just quietly ease out in favor of playing ball with other networks and groups that allow and even encourage local churches to engage aggressively.”
I have not read Glocalization so please disregard my ignorance :) I am in my 20s. This statement might come to fruition. I too agree that something needs to happen on the local level where people are more involved with missions worldwide. however, i want to say one thing: i don’t think that the blame lies with imb m’s or even leadership. the ones that i have had the experience of being around (maybe 50 or so) are clamoring to have the north american church engage lostness across the world. they come and plead with our churches every chance they get. they give them tangible ways to be involved. i think that our problem is less that people are going to officially leave. the problem is that people have already left by not participating/engaging in the first place!
Art Rogers
on Jun 22nd, 2007
@ 2:20 pm:
The good folks at SWBTS and around the SBC ought to be listening to this. I wonder why they aren’t?
It seems that presuming that anyone who disagrees is a liberal, moderate or a charismatic is easier than adjusting your own perspective.
David Phillips
on Jun 22nd, 2007
@ 3:30 pm:
Art,
Here’s the problem with Bob…He gets involved outside of the denomination. He works with people who have the same views on the essentials. He is influenced by people other than the right reverend people at certain seminaries.
I sent Dr. Frank Page a copy of the book. I got a nice thank you note back, but nothing in regards to his thoughts on the book.
That’s why the oligarchy doesn’t care and he doesn’t matter to them. Of course, they don’t matter to him either, and that’s great. Bob is bigger than the SBC and all the better for it. It’s ashame that our denomination can’t be inclusive enough to listen to him.
Sad indeed…
Art Rogers
on Jun 22nd, 2007
@ 5:57 pm:
David,
The fact is that Bob is like all of us, but not many understand this – or want to understand it. I don’t need the SBC. I choose the SBC.
One day, if things continue to narrow, I will choose other things.
As are you, I am choosing to partner with Bob and Northwood in missional engagement. I am doing this in addition to the SBC. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Our cooperation is of benefit to the SBC. The SBC has been of benefit to me as well, and I hope and pray that it continues to be that way. When it gets one sided, people begin to leave.