Things Work Out

Tonight I went over and had supper with the staff and the preacher that offended me this morning. He never apologized because I never let him know he offended me. I have this grand notion of the SBC as a place that all different people with all different fringe beliefs can come together in unity and serve Christ. However crazy that may sound, I think it's possible. It will take people living by the book they so dearly claim they want to live by though! I include myself in that. Tonight while at this get together, I went and sat down next to this man and just talked with him. I made small talk with him. I found out a little about his family and that he's a prof at a seminary. It's much harder not to like someone you know. It was so easy for me this morning to write him off even though he really had no idea of who I was. He really is a nice man that does love the Lord. I'm not excusing what he said from the pulpit this morning, what I am doing is following my own advice though. If I am griping about the example from the pulpit, I need to set the example away from the pulpit. What was said really hurt me, but insead of getting mad I should let it show me the need to be more sensitive to others.

Why Can't We All Get Along?

I was sitting in church this morning, listening to a preacher go on about how every one is wrong but the old-time Baptists. I'm very proud of my Baptist roots, but I'm proud of them for different reasons than the preacher this morning was giving. I'm proud that as Southern Baptist we are a very giving people as a whole. We have a cooperative program that works to bring the gospel to the four corners of the world. I'm proud that, even though we are a convention, we have churches that are independently governed. I find that very biblical! I'm proud that as a denomination, we've been able to hold differing positions on certain theological issues but still unite on what we agree on. I'm beginning to wonder if that is beginning to change. This morning as a whole in church (sunday school and worship) I felt attacked because I may not hold the middle of the road Baptist positions. That makes me sad. I hold no position that is heretical, and I for that matter do not believe that anyone that I disagreed with this morning is heretical. Why can those people not see the same thing that I do? I'm very worried that what I believed about the SBC is changing and I'm starting to wonder if I fit into this "new SBC." People will probably react to this post by saying, "you're overreacting." I don't think so. I'm also not saying that I'm gonna rush right out and leave the SBC. I don't want to leave the SBC, but what I do want is for people to respect each other. This morning the preacher referred to a type of theology as "foolish theology." I would love to ask him to one by one tell me the early church fathers that are "foolish." There is no reason to say things like that from the pulpit! I don't care if you believe it to be true or not! Scripture is not explicit enough for either theological camp to begin insulting one another from the pulpit. I now know why many people around the world hate Baptists! Some Baptists give us really bad names by providing bad example from the pulpit!