1. My nephew and his family are being commissioned here in Nashville for International Missions Board work in South America - I couldn't be prouder of them or more grateful for their faith & trust in Jesus.
2. The actual SBC annual meeting - also here in Nashville - is going to have to wrestle with the fallout from leadership who chose to ignore and/or dismiss sexual abuse in our churches... and chose to focus on a legal theory about racism rather than grappling with racism and our call as followers of Jesus to live as "one in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:28)
I’ve tried for weeks to write about this in a meaningful way - I literally have pages generated as I tried to get a handle on how to respond. And, of course, that all kicked into overdrive with the release of Dr. Russell Moore’s letter to the ERLC leadership... and then his letter to J.D. Greear… and SWBTS’ section in the Book of Reports… and the email from the former Executive Committee legal counsel…
...there’s frankly too much to take in. I can barely hold my own thoughts together, let alone attempt to wrap all of them into a neat package for my faithful readers. Instead, I’m going to simply put out a brain dump of personal thoughts, quotes from others, music from Common Hymnal, and Scripture.
My apologies for the length... it's actually shorter than what I started out with [he says with a wry grin].
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Mark:
May God light up the dark corners of SBC leadership. It is past time for us to renounce abuse and injustice not just with our resolutions but with our day-to-day lives - and the way we do "business" as a denomination. For the many pastors and lay people who are serving others powered by the grace and love of Jesus Christ, this power-hungry manipulation of truth in denominational leadership must end.
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Aaron Schwartz:
Those who have claimed there is a "drift" are right. A drift away from the love of Christ, in favor of name calling, condescension, and outright dismissal. If we are this committed to the Word of God (which I 100 percent am), then we must recognize the spirit of the Pharisees which has permeated our culture. They loved the Torah, memorized it, taught it, and even strapped it to their bodies. It wasn't a lack of love of God's Word for which Jesus rebuked them, but their lack of love for God's people. It even led them to misapply the Torah they loved so much in order to keep power.
Sexual predators should never be protected from the legal and employment consequences of their destructive and sinful behavior… no matter how winsomely they preach or how well-connected they are to those in authority. Success and talent are not a substitute for character… and it is not grace to cover up sin.
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I am a conservative complementarian gun owner Calvinist baptist who grew up SBC and will prolly die SBC, Lord willing.
If you think that convention wide action against sexual abuse is a lib attempt at hindrance at the gospel, you need help dawg
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The worst pain for a survivor is the institutional betrayal - losing everyone, finding out the abuse might have been prevented or stopped, and that you are powerless to save others.
SBC Messengers, hear are some things you desperately need to hear:
Everything that Dr. Moore laid out in his letter was preventable - the abuse, mistreatment, bullying, intimidation, defamation of survivors - it was all preventable.
It was preventable because this type of behavior has been long-known and reported on. Survivors and advocates have been sounding the alarm on these exact dynamics for decades...
It's not a secret. It has never been a secret.
If you are shocked by the content of Dr. Moore's letter, I understand. But take this time now to find out the history.
Ask how these leaders could behave this way and KNOW they would not be stopped or caught. What gave them the confidence to act in that manner?
The answer is that they could speak that way, take those steps, retaliate and control, because history had long taught them that it was safe to do so. That no one would care enough to speak out, vote against them, or stop them.
These leaders could behave this way because history has taught them they can operate with impunity. That survivor and advocate voices would be quickly maligned as "angry", "bitter", "unreasonable", and by sidelining those voices, they could do as they pleased.
SBC's theology of autonomy and representative-based structure is intended to create a system with extra accountability - where power isn't concentrated in a few, but rather placed on the consciences of all. But...
That only works if Messengers are seeking out knowledge of what is taking place, and insisting on mechanisms of accountability and transparency.
Unless and until that happens, history will continue to repeat itself.
But it can be done better, if you so choose.
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The church and the individuals in it have been complicit with horrific things that call for sanctuary. We are called to be a sacred place for the vulnerable. We have often chosen to be a safe place for the powerful and have deceived ourselves into believing that God would call that good.
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Proverbs 21:15 ESV:
When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
Isaiah 1:13-17 NLT:
Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
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He Has Time
Something’s been stolen
Under the weight of the curse you’ve been broken
You’re not what happened
You’re more than the shame you were recklessly given
You silently scream through the tears you can’t keep from falling
Wishing they poured out enough to break through the hurting
Jesus runs after the broken ones
Weeping with those who weep, crowns them with purity
And years of shame shatter in Jesus name
You can’t shake the feeling
He’s not in a rush he has time for your healing Lean on his shoulder
It’s never too late and, your story’s not over
You wish you could go back in time rewrite your own ending
Then you find faith to believe it’s just the beginning
He is here and he has time
To take what’s wrong and make it right
Jesus runs after the broken ones
Weeping with those who weep, crowns them with purity
And years of shame shatter in Jesus name
Mark:
Opposition to discussing CRT (critical race theory) is a smokescreen that winks at racism (and doesn’t actually deal with CRT in any meaningful way.) Our brothers and sisters of color deserve better than a half-baked statement cooked up by six white seminary presidents. And if someone needs evidence for systemic racism, just look at the NFL finally backing away from “race norming”.
Our denomination has repented via resolution after resolution of the pro-slavery roots of our founding. Now we must stop taking steps backward in the name of false unity. We must stop pretending that the hard work of fighting for civil rights magically fixed the problem and we can simply rest on singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children" at VBS.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.:
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
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Matthew 28:19-20 ESV:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Revelation 7:9-10 ESV:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
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Skye Jethani:
I find it helpful to think of institutions as flywheels. A flywheel is a device that stores and dispenses energy. Consider a potter’s wheel. A person puts energy into the wheel by pumping a peddle with her foot. This irregular energy input is then stored in the wheel which dispenses the energy evenly over time by spinning the clay even after the potter stops pumping the peddle. Likewise, when we build organizations, governments, or institutions, they store up our values and dispense them over time—sometimes even over generations.
Consider the U.S. government. The founding generation “pumped” their values into the Constitution and created a system of government that respected individual rights, freedom of speech, religious liberty, and limited government. Over 200 years later, the system they created is still “spinning” and shaping the lives of over 300 million people. Of course, a flywheel can also store and dispense evil values over time which is why the Constitution had to be amended to end slavery, recognize African-Americans as full citizens rather than 3/5ths of a person, and give women the right to vote.
Once we see human institutions as flywheels, we can see why the current debate between personal and systemic evil is misguided. It’s not a matter of either changing hearts or changing systems. It’s entirely possible to have individual hearts healed and transformed by the gospel, and yet still have centuries of evil energy stored up within the systems we’ve created. Left unchanged, these flywheels will continue to dispense evil far into the future and hurt many people. Likewise, only changing evil systems isn’t sufficient if the people overseeing those systems are still pumping the evil and injustice of their hearts into the flywheel. Rather than fighting about hearts or systems, Christians who care about injustice and loving their neighbors should desire to overcome evil with good no matter where it resides.
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The Medicine
There's a sickness here that threatens to divide us
And we're all afraid to say its name out loud
But, Lord, I know that you can heal us of this virus
So, we need you, we need you right now
There's a darkness here that's dangerous and aggressive
It getting harder every day to shake its power
But, Lord, I know that you can free us from oppression
So, we need you, we need you right now
Cause we don't know what to do
So, we turn our eyes to you
We've run out of words to say
But if you come and have your way
You can save us from ourselves
Before our wounds hurt someone else
We need you now
What does it mean to have compassion for another?
How can I claim to love a God that I can't see?
If I can find the will to harm and kill my brother
Cause he neglected to look like me
I can speak the words of men and songs of angels
I can give all my possessions to the poor
But if your love can't move the mountain of my hatred
Somehow, I missed you, and I need you so much more
Mark:
As for concrete actions at next week’s annual meeting:
- First and foremost, pass a motion for an independent third-party investigation of the Executive Committee. In particular, how the behavior of leadership and legal counsel impacted the treatment of sexual abuse victims and agency staff (such as Dr. Moore).
- Elect a president who is not caught up in the continuing power plays of Paige Patterson (Mike Stone) and/or creating division from his current leadership role through mistakes like the CRT statement (Al Mohler).
- Pass a motion to re-examine the abuser-protecting churches who were much too quickly cleared by the Executive Committee in 2019… and to continue the process moving forward to make clear that harboring sexual predators is not acceptable in SBC life.
- Reject motions and resolutions that drive away our brothers & sisters in Christ.
Mark:
Any man who would allow a stained glass window created of him to be installed in a seminary chapel should not be taking a role in leading our convention, even if it is from behind the scenes of the CBN.
The issues reported by SWBTS over his departure (with a donor list and other items that belong to the seminary) are just icing on the cake.
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In the aftermath of the Conservative Resurgence, the SBC made a mistake. We spent more time taking victory laps than really leading. We let our history become mythology. We turned men into heroes, and then we turned our heroes into gods...
What we really needed to do was be about our mission and hold each other accountable.
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1 Corinthians 5:12-13 AMP:
For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders (non-believers)? Do you not judge those who are within the church [to protect the church as the situation requires]? God alone sits in judgment on those who are outside [the faith]. Remove the wicked one from among you [expel him from your church].
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We must be people of Scripture. We must pursue accurate teaching, stand on sound doctrine & walk in obedience to Jesus. But I believe some of the whirlwind we’re reaping is over past sins committed against fellow believers in the name of and behind the guise of doctrinal purity.
Religious conservatism without Christlikeness proves itself no better than religious liberalism because it inevitably results in arrogance and abuses of power, hurting many and causing the enemies of God to blaspheme.
There was sin in the camp of the Conservative Resurgence. That is not my opinion. That has proven to be a fact. A return to the Scriptures is & was vital but it was done without holiness and with what played out as slack jawing hypocrisy. We need to repent & do this differently.
Mark:
My life has been profoundly shaped by my history as a Southern Baptist layperson and pastor. Funding through the Cooperative Program helped create the Centrifuge camp experience where I surrendered to vocational ministry, the two summers I spent with the Home Mission Board doing summer missions, and made my seminary education affordable. So many faithful Southern Baptist ministers and volunteers poured the love of Jesus and the truth of Scripture into my heart and mind... and I was privileged to serve six different SBC churches as pastor or youth pastor over the last 35+ years.
At the same time, Southern Baptist life was my first exposure to virulent racism: the godly Sunday School teacher who sat on her front porch and calmly explained the "curse of Ham" to me, surprised by my rejection of this horrible false doctrine; the church I served that had an "unwritten rule" that the Family Life Center would close if local African-American students came by to play basketball; the fellow youth minister whose incredibly successful 5th quarter events were shut down by the deacons because the wrong color of students were being saved and baptized.
The longer I served as a pastor and church planter, the more I realized how many people have been affected by sexual abuse... and how often those behaviors and choices were swept under the rug. Resignations for "personal reasons"; avoiding asking or answering difficult questions during reference checks; pressuring victims to keep quiet "to protect the church".
Enough is enough. Our pious political games must end. We must be a people who do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8) We must be a denomination who "give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, rescue the weak and the needy; [and] deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalm 82:3-4 ESV)
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The Kingdom is Yours
Blessed are the ones who do not bury
All the broken pieces of their heart
Blessed are the tears of all the weary
Pouring like a sky of falling stars
Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning
Brave enough to show the Lord their scars
Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden
Open to the healing touch of God
The kingdom is yours, the kingdom is yours
Hold on a little more, this is not the end
Hope is in the Lord, keep your eyes on him
Blessed are the ones who walk in kindness
Even in the face of great abuse
Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed
Serving with unguarded gratitude
Blessed are the ones who fight for justice
Longing for the coming day of peace
Blessed is the soul that thirsts for righteousness
Welcoming the last, the lost, the least
Blessed are the ones who suffer violence
And still have strength to love their enemies
Blessed is the faith of those who persevere
Though they fall, they'll never know defeat
6 comments:
Good post, Mark.
We are in a mess of our own making.
Thank you, Mark... your leadership of South Gate BC to open the doors to THREE other churches continues to inspire me. It's that kind of servant heart towards churches with different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds that gives me hope for the SBC.
It hurts deeply when church leaders lose their way. The ripples extend out and impact every member. I don't understand all the issues going on in the SBC, but I know how hard it must be for you. My denomination is currently in a divisive crisis over the issue of gay marriage, with no good outcome in sight. I'll be praying for your leaders next week.
Wow, great post. I got to visit a church in The Netherlands where one of the stained glass window was commissioned by a ruler to place him at the Lords Supper. That one makes the one here look not as bad 😎
Thank you, Dave & Daniel. Appreciate you both so much.
Thank you.
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