4. The ERLC Transition. One of the most important happenings at the Convention this year was the leadership transition at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Richard Land has led that ministry for a quarter-century. Over those years, Land became a key leader among the so-called Religious Right, taking a clear stand on such matters as the sanctity of human life and the importance of biblical/traditional views on sexuality and marriage. He was also a leading proponent of an “accommodationist” understanding of church-state separation. I would argue that Richard Land was the public face of Southern Baptists, particularly to non-religious people who only know us through the media. Of course, Land retired a few weeks ago and Russ Moore of Southern Seminary became the new president of ERLC.

There is little doubt that Russ Moore and Richard Land have far more in common than they do different. In fact, I would suspect that the left-wing journalists who seem elated at Land’s retirement and Moore’s appointment will become less enamored with Moore once they find out that he, too, is pro-life and affirms biblical sexuality and traditional marriage. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Moore has less of an “edge” than Land. Moore is also a champion of several issues that younger Southern Baptists identify with such as adoption and orphan care and combating human sex trafficking. As an added bonus, Moore is one of the best preachers in the SBC. My students were more excited about hearing Moore’s vision for ERLC than they were anything else at the Annual Meeting besides Danny Akin’s Convention sermon.

5. The Resolutions. Messengers passed several interesting resolutions at the Houston Convention. You can read them all at the SBC website. Many of them have attracted attention, and understandably so. For the purposes of this post, I will only mention two resolutions. First, our resolution related to the Boy Scouts, which has garnered the most attention from the press, strikes a good balance by criticizing the BSA’s new membership policy, but without calling for a universal exodus from the Scouts. Though I’ve been vocal in my opposition to the Boy Scouts’ new policy, I believe it would be premature to urge all Southern Baptist churches to pull back from sponsoring Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops.

Second, the resolution recognizing the 125^th anniversary of Woman’s Missionary Union, though unmentioned in the press, is noteworthy. No organization has done more to raise missions awareness among Southern Baptist churches than the WMU. We should be thankful for the WMU and their contribution to our Great Commission efforts over the years. Thank you, ladies, for all that you do.

6. The Calvinism Discussion. There was a tremendous spirit of unity in Houston among Southern Baptists with varying views of the “doctrines of grace.” The Executive Committee hosted well-attended panel discussion with members of the Calvinism Advisory Committee on Monday. By all accounts, the Committee’s published statement has been well-received by almost everyone. The comments made from the Convention platform were uniformly gracious and helpful. (This has not always been the case at previous Conventions.) We should be grateful to EC president Frank Page for his statesmanlike leadership in this discussion and to David Dockery and the rest of the Calvinism Advisory Committee for their willingness to lead by example on this issue.

Perhaps more remarkable, the “chatter” about Calvinism in the Convention hall, the exhibit booths, and in various meetings was generally very encouraging. Virtually everyone seems eager to move forward in a spirit of Great Commission cooperation. The only unfortunate moment was the surreal Baptist 21 interview with Louisiana College president Joe Aguillard. By and large, however, it seems that most engaged Southern Baptists agree with my argument that Calvinism is, and should remain, a tertiary matter in the wider denomination. Join me in praying that this sense of unity and good will becomes more pervasive among all of our state conventions as well.

7. SEBTS Students. For the second year, I taught the Southern Baptist Convention course for Southeastern Seminary. Over thirty SEBTS students enrolled in the course and attended the Convention; for almost all of them, it was their first SBC Annual Meeting. They had the chance to hear from new ERLC president Russ Moore on Tuesday night and meet with IMB vice president Clyde Meador on Wednesday afternoon. Many of the students told me they enjoyed being at the Convention, learning more about our various ministries and emphases, and meeting other Southern Baptists from hither and yon. They are excited to be Southern Baptists. And if they are our future, then I’m even more excited than they are to be a part of the people of God called Southern Baptist.

Led down to the “Cherith Brook,” Elijah had to depend on the special provision of God for the food he ate and the water he drank. Cherith, in Hebrew, literally means “to cut down.” God was telling Elijah, “I’m going to cut you down, to remove any strength you have in yourself, even the capacity to take care of your most basic needs, and to teach you to depend completely on me.”

Before God can use us, He must first break us. God was breaking Elijah as a way of preparing to use him, and he is often at work in the same way in our lives. Someone we trust betrays us; or we lose our job; or we have a sudden decline in health. In all of this, God is at work—removing our idols, those areas of false trust, false joy, and false hope. Because if dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage.

Paul said it like this: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that power of Christ may rest on me” (2 Cor 12:9). On the face of it, that is just crazy. We do not naturally boast about being financially weak (poor), or occupationally weak (unemployed), or relationally weak (alone). But Paul boasted in his weakness because he knew that God’s miracles and his glories are found there, not in our strengths.

So rejoice in your weaknesses! And on the flip side, beware your strengths, because those are the areas you are most likely to forget God.

Just think about it: when Elijah was a young man, he got his food by earning money and buying it. And God was providing through those means; but it’s easy to forget that and to think, “I’m the provider here.” So God took the job away, put Elijah by a secret brook, and provided for him by special providence—a raven catering service. It’s easier to see God in that. Then the brook dries up, and God takes care of Elijah through an outright miracle, multiplying bread and oil. That leaves no room for doubt as to whether or not God is the one providing. The greater your need, the greater is God’s glory in the provision.

God loves to use the weak because he loves to show off His power. That’s why he so often works by revealing our weakness, not showcasing our strength. He does not want to put our talents on display, because although that might impress people, it will not help them. So he chooses the weak to shame the strong, the simple to confound the wise, and sometimes he humbles the strong—so that our boast would not be in our strength, but in Christ as our righteousness, strength, provider, and security.

The greater your weakness, the greater the chance for God to display His power. Remember, every miracle in the Bible has this in common: it starts with a problem. So if your life is in disarray, you are a perfect candidate for God’s miraculous intervention. Where has He made you weak? Can you rejoice in that weakness, look to God, and trust him through it? Will you learn the lesson of complete dependence? I can promise that if you do, nothing will ever be the same.

For more, be sure to listen to this sermon.

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.” – William Shakespeare

1.         Security

Children need an emotionally safe and nurturing environment in which to grow.  It is not fair and not appropriate for more powerful parents to manipulate or intimidate their children.  Children will grow to respect or resent their parents depending on how they are treated at home.  More importantly, they will model the behavior that they learned in their formative years.

2.         Protection

Parents must protect their children from hazards inside and dangers outside the home.

3.         Encouragement

Children bring great potential into the world.  They deserve their parent’s full commitment to help them develop their potential.  They deserve to be given opportunities and challenges that will help develop their imagination, creativity, and ability to engage in meaningful play.  Within reasonable limits, children deserve the chance to explore (try out new ideas), experiment (take risks), and be active (engage in new and meaningful work).

4.         Independence

Children cannot learn without making mistakes.  They should be coached within reasonable boundaries, but so long as they play successfully within those boundaries, they should be allowed to make up their own games and play at their own pace without unnecessary interference.  The goal is to give children freedom with responsibility.  Parents should not attempt to solve problems that their children can solve for themselves.  A child who continually is rescued from the frustration of trying and failing may never experience the joy that comes from trying and failing and trying again and succeeding.

5.         Discipline

Parents should communicate, unequivocally and often, their vision, values, and expectations for the family.  Such parents do not feel the need to threaten, beat, or bribe their children.  They are tolerant of disagreement but not of disobedience.  They give their children freedom, to the degree that it has been earned, and hold their children fully accountable for their actions.  The wise parent knows that the only lasting discipline is self-discipline.

6.         Balance

Productive children are happy children.  Children who are given clear instructions, adequate materials, a quiet place in which to play, reasonable deadlines, and guidance that is freely given and helpful, (but not stifling), are children who are both productive and happy.  But children also need unstructured time in which they may daydream, chat with friends, and exercise the social side of their nature.  The wise parent will provide a balanced environment in the home for children to learn and grow.

7.         Truth

Children deserve to be told the truth by their parents, even when the truth may be unpleasant.  Children trust their parents to be truthful with them.  They can tolerate bad news when it is delivered in a truthful and supportive manner.  But untruths or half-truths told by someone they trust can leave them bewildered, confused, untrusting, even cynical.

8.         Education

All children deserve the finest in educational opportunities.  Only in this way can the family hope to meet the perilous demands of today and face the uncertain challenges of the future.

Next, we’ll look at a season that can be traumatic but is possible to survive and finish well– parenting during the teenage years!

Danny Akin preaching the Convention sermon

Last week, Southern Baptists held their annual Convention in Houston, Texas. In general, I think it was a very good gathering. I returned to Wake Forest very hopeful about the direction Southern Baptists are heading, with one important exception (see below).

Every year, I try to offer some reflections on the SBC Annual Meeting from the perspective of one who is a scholar of Baptist Studies in general and a student of Southern Baptist life in particular. This will be the first of two posts to that end. What follows are my thoughts on the Convention. I will not offer any sort of systematic summary, but rather will focus on some of the happenings and themes that I wish to emphasize.

1. Declining Attendance. I will begin with the one negative, at least from my perspective. According to Baptist Press, approximately 5100 messengers were present for the Houston Convention. While I was not expecting 10,000 messengers, I’m quite surprised the attendance was so low. Consider the messenger counts (approximate) since 2005:

• Nashville (2005) – 11,500
• Greensboro (2006) – 11,500
• San Antonio (2007) – 8600
• Indianapolis (2008) – 7200
• Louisville (2009) – 8700
• Orlando (2010) – 11,000
• Phoenix (2011) – 4800
• New Orleans (2012) – 7800
• Houston (2013) – 5100

We are clearly in the midst of a participation free-fall. From 2005–2007, we averaged 10,500 messengers. This is down considerably from the hottest days of The Controversy in the 1980s and 1990s, but still solid average attendance. From 2008–2010, we averaged just under 9,000 messengers. Keep in mind Orlando was especially well-attended because of the debate concerning the Great Commission Resurgence. From 2011–2013, we averaged 5900 messengers. Keep in mind that New Orleans was generally well-attended because of Fred Luter’s nomination for Convention president.

I will not take the time in this post to tease out the possible reasons for this trend or to offer any possible solutions. (Feel free to offers some in the comments, so long as you play nicely.) I simply want to point out what many observers already know: the number of meaningfully engaged Southern Baptists is shrinking at an even faster rate than our gradually declining membership numbers. We are on pace to average only 3000–3500 messengers in the next three or four years.

2. The Convention Sermon. If you will allow me to be a Southeastern “homer” for just a minute, one of the biggest highlights for me was hearing Danny Akin preach the Convention sermon. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; many of our finest preachers never have the chance to preach the Convention sermon. Akin preached a powerful message titled “Will Southern Baptists be Great Commission Baptists?” We posted the manuscript and video last week at Between the Times. I hope you’ve taken the time to read the manuscript or, even better, watch the sermon. A transcript will also be published in the SBC Annual from the Houston Convention.

Those of us who are part of the SEBTS family have heard Akin sound many of his sermon’s themes over the past seven or eight years, but it was a great encouragement to hear him make his case before the entire Convention. The response I heard was very positive, especially from everyday Southern Baptists who don’t pay much attention to social media. My prayer is that we will heed Akin’s words so that Great Commission Baptists isn’t just an alternate descriptor for a few of us, but is the vision owned by all Southern Baptists.

3. LifeWay and the North American Mission Board. I am supremely impressed with the leadership of Thom Rainer (LifeWay) and Kevin Ezell (NAMB). These men lead strategic ministries that are heading in a healthy direction. I’m especially encouraged when I hear younger Southern Baptists in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are energized by initiatives and emphases such as The Gospel Project, Ministry Grid, Disaster Relief, and Send North America. Several younger messengers told me that the highlight of their Convention experience was attending the Send North America luncheon.

It wasn’t that long ago that many of my generational peers were suggesting that LifeWay was specializing in curricula and products that a decreasing number of churches cared about. I don’t hear that complaint much there days. And then there is NAMB. I’m delighted that NAMB has gone from being a mostly dysfunctional ministry just a few years ago to being the denominational ministry that tends to elicit the most excitement from younger ministers (and many older ones, too).

On Wednesday morning, I will publish a second post with my reflections on the Houston Convention.

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This search is the response of each era to three questions, which correlate with the three dimensions of philosophy: “What is the nature of the world?” (theory); “How are we to act in it?” (ethics); and “What should my ultimate goal be?” (salvation). He further gives two reasons why everybody should study philosophy. First, “without it [philosophy] we can make no sense of the world in which we live” (p. xii). Second, “beyond coming to an understanding of oneself and others through acquaintance with the key texts of philosophy, we come to realize that these texts are able, quite simply, to help us live in a better and freer way” (p. xiv).

Ferry’s approach to intellectual history is unique. Jonah Haddad’s review of A Brief History puts it this way: “The uniqueness of Ferry’s response to the problem stems from his high view of philosophy and from his love for the discipline which has inclined him to offer philosophical reflection as the best possibility for living well and overcoming the fear of death.” In fact, the original French title of Ferry’s book was To Learn to Live.

In his chapter on “the Greek miracle,” Ferry makes his way quickly to Stoicism. As he sees it, the Stoic system of philosophy, and so living, demonstrates a “spirit remarkably close to that of Buddhism, [and] appeals for an attitude of ‘non-attachment’ towards the things of this world” (p. 47). Hence the Stoic doctrine of salvation “is resolutely anonymous and impersonal” (p. 52). On the ultimate question of salvation, then, Stoicism fails to deliver. It is to this question that Christianity brought out “the big guns” as Ferry puts it (p. 53).

In his treatment of Christianity, Ferry depends upon the apostles John and Paul, along with a healthy dose of Augustine and a sprinkling of Pascal. In Ferry’s view, Christianity is the philosophy of salvation through love. Although he is himself no believer, Ferry is fair-minded and even sympathetic toward Christianity. In fact, Ferry once wrote a book entitled The Temptation of Christianity (never translated from the French, La tentation du christianisme).[1] Yet Ferry cannot commit to the philosophy that depends upon faith in the God who created the world and gave impetus for human inquiry. As Haddad comments, “With near lament in his tone, Ferry admits that if only God truly existed he would be tempted to accept the viability of the Christian worldview (p. 263).” And Royal adds, “Ultimately, he believes, modern philosophy and the impact of modern science exploded the supposedly naive metaphysics on which Christianity is based.”

As for the Renaissance–Enlightenment period, Ferry notes that it was marked by revolutions (notably, the French and American revolutions) which spawned modern philosophy and, in turn, birthed republics. He seeks to demonstrate how “the modern world arose out of the collapse of ancient cosmology and a new questioning of religious authority, and eventually a scientific revolution unprecedented in the history of humanity” (p. 94). Thus Ferry begins with Copernicus (1453), Newton (1687), Descartes (1644), and Galileo (1632) and their most influential works (published in the dates given) to demonstrate this sea change. He then surveys the work of Kant, Rousseau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Descartes, who together established the modern world of the two World Wars and television (to state it colloquially). Yet the modern center did not hold.

The modern center gave way to (or was overthrown by) postmodernity. Ferry defines this for us when he writes, “we call ‘postmodern’ those ideas which, from the mid-nineteenth century, were to set about dismantling the humanist creed of modernity, in particular the philosophy of the Enlightenment” (p. 143). Post-modernity, as Ferry shows, is in large part the intellectual father and child of Nietzsche. It serves as Nietzsche’s father because it is the ideas just referenced that Nietzsche took on, and yet it also is his child because “with Nietzsche…postmodernity arrived at its zenith” (p. 143). So the postmodern ethos of power politics, relativism, and living for the moment stems from Nietzsche. Ferry does not, however, uphold Nietzsche as the answer to philosophy’s three great questions (p. 193). For the answer to these questions we ought to look to ourselves, to humanity.

In the present era, as Ferry sees it, we must search for salvation in our humanity. The history of thought has moved us inexorably to this point and in so doing points us toward salvation. Haddad summarizes well: “This is so, because according to Ferry, our ‘salvation’ lies in the evolution of the human person and their ever-increasing knowledge of themselves and their world. When we embrace this knowledge we will be able to embrace the reality of death, to love well, and to live for wisdom.” Ferry is a humanist in the idealist sense that we will be saved when we become truly human, and to become truly human means to truly discover ourselves.

In response to Ferry’s book, I first wish to note that I appreciated the book and found it stimulating. Ferry has the unique ability to distill intellectual history into a few pages, and do so without losing as much as most authors would. His prose is elegant. His analysis and evaluation of Christianity is even-handed and as sympathetic as one can expect (unlike other freethinkers, such as Richard Dawkins, whose towering sense of self-approval is matched only by his breathtaking theological ignorance and fundamental inability to represent Christianity in an even-handed manner). Even his thesis that “philosophy searches for salvation” is refreshing because, even though philosophy cannot save, throughout history it has been treated as a functional savior.

Second, although philosophy cannot save, it is, in one sense, a salvific enterprise. The academic enterprise can be compared to a tree.[2] In this analogy, the roots of the tree are “faith” or the direction of the heart. The work of philosophy always is underlain by faith commitments, either to God or to idols. The base of the trunk is biblical studies and biblical theology, which serve as the foundation and trajectory for the growth of the tree. The main body of the trunk is a Christian worldview, which in turn has two main branches, namely, systematic theology and Christian philosophy. Growing from those two main branches are further branches, which represent the special sciences, the various disciplines each of which have their own creational integrity. In this view of things, Christian theology and Christian philosophy stand side-by-side in the search for truth. Neither discipline seeks to build its knowledge independent of God’s revelation. Both disciplines arise from the biblical narrative and its attendant Christian worldview, and therefore find themselves in a healthy and fruitful dialogue and partnership with one another.

Christian philosophy is therefore “salvific” in the sense that it can be part of a Christian person’s sanctification. Philosophy, at its best, is the attempt to describe systematically the structure of God’s creation (the nature of being, of knowledge, of beauty, etc.), drawing upon God’s self-revelation found in the created order and in the Bible, and using the tools of critical thinking and argumentation. It seeks a comprehensive view of the created order as creation (not merely as “nature”), and draws upon Scripture. Although Scripture does not give a comprehensive or detailed analysis of creational realities, it does provide the framework and many clues for understanding them. Bartholomew and Goheen write, “In our experience, sometimes people get so excited about philosophy—believe it or not—that they forget that it is Scripture which is God’s infallible word. Indeed, in our opinion a healthy Christian philosophy, like a healthy Christian theology, will take us back again and again and deeper and deeper into the Bible. We also believe that because the Bible is God’s Word for all of life that philosophy too must bow to its authority.”[3]

So Ferry is close to the truth and yet far away. Philosophy assuredly is a religious exercise. It often has functioned as a search for salvation, and sometimes explicitly has been named as such. In addition, Christian thinkers have practiced the discipline of philosophy in order to discern the structures of God-given reality (metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics) and in order to articulate biblical teaching on difficult topics (e.g. Trinity, Incarnation). Philosophers have provided us with categories that are profoundly helpful for Christian intellectual inquiry and for practical living. Therefore, as long as we practice philosophy as those with “faith seeking understanding”, we will find (Christian) philosophy to be a fruitful exercise. Thus, philosophy will always have an important role to play within the Christian faith.

However, philosophy cannot and does not stand on its own two feet. Or, to revisit the ecological analogy above, the “trunk” of philosophy is fed by the “roots” of faith. Ultimately philosophy is a function of existential and cultural realities, and at the heart of those realities is religion. The direction of one’s heart always is operative in the shaping of one’s philosophy. When we encounter non-Christian philosophies we can always note the idolatries operative in them, but interestingly it is exactly at the point of their idolatry that their most profound insights might be found (e.g. Freud’s insights on sex, Machiavelli’s on power, or Marx’s on money). The complex task of Christian philosophy is to appropriate those insights without at the same time downloading the idolatrous ideological environment in which they were conceived.

So for better or for worse, philosophy is a deeply religious exercise. Apart from Christ, it is an idolatrous exercise. But in the service of Christ’s kingdom, it is a valuable and fruitful discipline.

If you haven’t yet watched Akin’s sermon, you can now watch the video below. We hope you are as challenged and encouraged by it as the folks in the Convention hall were.

SBC President Fred Luter

I know that this post will seem pedestrian for some of our readers who are seasoned Southern Baptists. Nevertheless, many of our readers are either students or folks from other ecclesial traditions. If the previous sentence describes you, then know that this post is written primarily with you in mind.

As you may know, the SBC Annual Meeting was held in Houston earlier this week. Every year, our network of churches meets in an annual Convention for two days. That meeting is part business meeting, part worship service, and part connecting with Southern Baptists from other parts of North America. At our Convention we hear reports from our denominational ministries, conduct necessary business (we are a quasi-democratic, non-hierarchical group), and pass resolutions on various topics.

If you want to learn more about the Houston Convention, I would refer you to several resources. Some of you may want to carve out some time to watch portions of the Convention. The Convention was live-streamed and archives of the sessions are available at the Annual Meeting website. You can also find this year’s program and a link to archived sessions from past SBC Annual Meetings. The video archives are the best place to get a handle on this year’s Annual Meeting because you can watch it for yourself.

Those of you who are connected to social media will probably find Twitter to be very helpful. The hashtag for this year’s Convention was #SBC13. While Twitter is by no means any sort of authoritative interpreter of the SBC Annual Meeting, it is probably the best place to get a “play-by-play” sense of the Convention. Many of our well-known pastors and denominational servants were active on Twitter during the SBC, alongside hundreds of “normal” pastors, students, and other observers.

If you like to read blogs, I would point you to a few that you might find helpful. Hopefully, you already known that we posted several video summaries here at Between the Times from Danny Akin, Bruce Ashford, Chuck Lawless, Ryan Hutchinson, and myself. (Look back over our earlier posts this week.) Also, come back next week to hear further reflections from Ed Stetzer, yours truly, and perhaps another guest contributor or two.

I would also point you to SBC Voices, a website that includes both its own blog (with a variety of contributors) and a “SBC Watchlist” that provides links to the “most influential” SBC blogs (including Between the Times). If you spend a few minutes perusing SBC Voices, you can find your way to other blogs that offer insights from every perspective under the sun. Dave Miller, the head honcho at SBC Voices and the immediate past Second Vice President of the SBC, also liveblogged the Convention at SBC Voices.

Outside the SBC realm, several other blogs offered perspectives on this year’s Convention. Christianity Today’s blog Gleanings offered some periodic updates from a centrist evangelical perspective. (By the way, read CT’s interview with Frank Page about his important new book Melissa: A Father’s Lessons from a Daughter’s Suicide.) CNN’s Belief Blog weighed in on some of our resolutions from a mainstream media perspective. World Magazine’s Daily Dispatches blog offered updates from a conservative evangelical perspective. The State of the Union blog at The American Conservative offered some thoughts from a traditionalist conservative perspective.

In terms of traditional journalism, the best place to look is Baptist Press, which always provides the most exhaustive coverage of the SBC. Of course, Baptist Press is our official denominational news organ, so it is “insider baseball.” Associated Baptist Press offers coverage from a moderate Baptist perspective. (As an aside, I found ABP somewhat less caustic in their coverage this year than in recent years.) Religion News Service covered the SBC from a non-sectarian, but generally informed perspective. The Associated Press published several SBC-related articles from a mainstream media perspective that were picked up by numerous other media outlets.

I’ve intentionally not addressed the Convention itself in this post. All I want to do here is point you to resources. Next week, after I’ve had a weekend to rest and reflect a bit, I’ll offer my personal thoughts on such topics as our resolutions, the transition at ERLC, the numeric decline in messengers, Danny Akin’s Convention sermon, and the Calvinism discussion.

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(Six Marks of a Great Commission People)

 Romans 15:14-24

Introduction: 1) At the Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans in 2012, messengers approved by a slim 53% margin using the name “Great Commission Baptists” as an alternative or complementary designation for our convention of churches.  The recommendation came from a blue-ribbon committee and inspired spirited debate on the Convention floor.  Some saw this decision as helpful for describing who we have become and hope to be in the future. Others felt the whole issue was an unnecessary waste of time.  For them, the name “Southern Baptist Convention” has served us well in the past and it will serve us well in the future.

2) For me, the issue is not will we be called Great Commission Baptists.  The real issue is will we be Great Commission Baptists.  Will we, as we move forward in the 21^st century, be a Convention of churches that bear the marks of a Great Commission people, serving faithfully King Jesus as He reclaims that which rightly belongs to Him?  Or, we will find ourselves sitting on the sidelines, fading off the scene in distraction, division and disobedience?  Will we pine for better days in the past or will we plead with our God to give us our best days in the future for His glory and for our good?

3) The great missionary to the Lisu people group of China, James Fraser, was moved to hope and work for a better day after reading a small booklet entitled Do Not Say.  It inspired him to forego a promising career as an engineer and concert pianist, and to give his life to see an unreached and unengaged people group hear the name of Jesus.  What were the words that changed the course of his and the Lisu people forever?  They are simple and clear: “A command has been given: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”  It has not been obeyed.  More than half the people in the world have never yet heard the Gospel.  What are we to say to this?  Surely it concerns us Christians very seriously.  For we are the people who are responsible….If our Master returned today to find millions of people un-evangelized, and looked as of course He would look, to us for an explanation, I cannot imagine what explanation we should have to give….Of one thing I am certain – that most of the excuses we are accustomed to make with such good conscience now, we should be wholly ashamed of then.” (Mountain Rain, 4).  These words, written by a missionary in China, compelled James Fraser to leave England and run to China where he gave the rest of his life that the Lisu people might exalt the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, who redeemed us to God by his blood.  They scarred him for life with the marks of the Great Commission, marks I want in my life, marks I want for the people I love called Southern Baptists.

4) Paul puts before us six identifiable marks of such people in Romans 15:14-24.  I will quickly highlight them for our careful consideration.  What are the undeniable marks of a Great Commission people?

I.   They keep their focus on the most important things while still doing many good things.       15:14-16

1) Paul was confident that the church at Rome was doing many good things.

He notes in verse 14 that they were 1) full of goodness, 2) filled with knowledge and 3) able to instruct (or “admonish”) one another.  They had good lives and good theology.  What they believed and how they lived mattered and matched up, and if either got off course, they were able to instruct, admonish, and correct one another.

2) “But” (“Nevertheless”, HCSB), Paul could write them “very boldly by way of reminder.”  I think Paul knew “the good” is always the greatest danger to “the best”, the most important.  So in grace he reminds them of that which they already knew, of his and our calling to be “ministers of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.”  “Gentiles” is an inadequate translation in this context.  The word is ethne, the same Greek word translated “nations” in Matthew 28:19.  It does not mean political or national boundaries.  It means “peoples” or “people groups,” persons with a distinct language, culture and identity.

3) Today we know there are almost 16,600 distinctive people groups in the world.  We also know according to the “Joshua Project” that over 7,100 are unreached.  The International Mission Board tells us of the almost 7 billion people on planet earth, 3.7 billion do not have adequate access to the gospel.  1.27 billion have never and will never hear the name of Jesus in their lifetime as things now stand.  That means most of them will be born, live, die and go to hell and they never even one time hear a clear presentation of the gospel.  That means there are places in the world where you and I could be dropped by helicopter or parachute and we could walk days, weeks and months, and we would never encounter a church and we would never meet a Christian.

4) Southern Baptists do many good things and we should.  But, we must keep the focus on the most important thing.  After all, the Baptist theologian Carl F.H. Henry was right, “The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”  John Falconer would add, “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.”  Southern Baptists must keep their focus on lands filled with darkness.

II. They see the ministry of bringing the nations to Jesus as offerings of worship to

the Triune God.                  15:16, 19

1) I believe missions and theology must always be seen together.  They must stay “joined at the hip.”  There are several reasons I believe this.  First, the greatest missionary who ever lived was also the greatest theologian who ever lived.  His name was Jesus.  Second, the greatest Christian theologian who ever lived was also the greatest Christian missionary who ever lived.  His name was Paul.  And, he was a missionary before he became a writing theologian!  His theology is missionary theology!  In fact, it could be argued that Paul was a theologian because he was a missionary.  Indeed a major purpose of  Paul writing Romans was to get them to help him get the gospel to Spain.  It is clear the early church’s theology arose out of missions.  The epistles were written in the midst of church planting.  Missions gives birth to theology and good theology gives birth to more missions.  Third, you cannot be a good missionary then, without also being a good theologian. And, you cannot be a good theologian without also being a good missionary.  Missions and theology are mutually reinforcing.  And, any theology that does not issue forth in a passion for missions is not a truly Christian theology.  Fourth, keeping missions and theology together will help us see that the proper motivation for doing missions is “gospel gratitude” and not “legalistic guilt.”  Fifth, keeping missions and theology together will help us see missions as a service of worship to our triune God.  Listen to Paul’s argument.

2) Because of the grace of God given to me by God (the Father), I am a minister of Christ Jesus (the Son) to the nations “serving as a priest of God’s good news” (HCSB).  I serve as a priest in this act of worship so that the offering of the nations may be acceptable to Christ, an offering made acceptable and sanctified (made holy) by the Holy Spirit.  Missions is a work of worship started by God and accomplished by God through his believer priests.

3) Missionary service is like priests bringing offerings to God in worship all for his glory.  This is why John Stott says, “The highest of missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God…), but rather zeal – burning and passionate zeal – for the glory of Jesus Christ…. Only one imperialism is Christian…and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his empire.” (Romans, 1994, 53).

4) The triune God is made supreme in our offerings of the nations in worship because each member of the Godhead is exalted in His role of salvation.  The Father in grace initiated it, the Son in the gospel provided it and the Holy Spirit in power (v. 19) has accomplished it.

5) Missions is worship and worship provides a motivation and power no amount of guilt could ever provide.  World missions is God’s work and our worship.  John Piper says it best, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.  Worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t.  Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.  When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.  It is a temporary necessity.  But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions.  It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory.  The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God…. Missions begins and ends in worship.” (Let The Nations Be Glad, p. 17).

III. They are a Christ-centered people who boast only in Jesus and not themselves.

15:17-19

1) In Galatians 6:14 Paul said, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”  In this missions manifesto in Romans 15, Paul says very much the same thing.  He can be proud of his work for God but only in Christ Jesus (v. 17).  He will only speak of “what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the nations to obedience – by word and work” (v. 18).  This was accomplished by the “power” of signs and wonders [as the gospel advanced into new territories] by the power of the Spirit of God which enabled him to “fulfill the ministry of the gospel of Christ” (v. 19).

2) Paul knew that a Great Commission people would be a J. C. people, a Jesus Christ people.  In Romans 15 alone he will refer to Christ 12 times.  Paul knew that being Christ-centered would radically impact how we think, how we speak, how we act, how we live.  He knew it would implant the missionary spirit in our soul and infect us with a Great Commission germ!

3) Henry Martyn was a missionary to India and Persia.  In God’s mysterious providence he took him at age 31.  A prolific writer, Martyn well said, “The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions.  The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.”

4) Count Nicolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, a great Moravian missionary would add in this context, “I have but one passion: it is Christ.  It is Christ alone.  The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceworth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.”

5) Could it be, by God’s grace and work of the Spirit, that Southern Baptists would become so Christ centered and passionate for Jesus that we might actually become known as the “Jesus people”, the “Christ Convention.”  Now that is a name worth having!  There is a people known in America and around the world who sound like Jesus, act like Jesus, and love like Jesus.  It is as if they were intoxicated with Christ and an extension of His very life!  That is a reputation I would gladly bear.  That is a reputation we should aspire to have.

IV.  They never lose sight of the centrality and nature of the gospel.         15:16, 19-20

1) The book of Romans is a gospel book.  Indeed its theme is captured in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.”  Here in our text Paul mentions the gospel 3 times calling it the “gospel of God” (v. 16), “the gospel of Christ” (v. 19), and simply “the gospel” (v. 20).  Paul knew the power of salvation was not in him or any man.  The power of salvation is in the gospel made real in the lives of sinners by the Spirit of God (vs. 16, 19).

2) This fact begs a question: “what is the gospel?”  Is it something similar to what Mark Twain said about the church: “The church is good people standing in front of good people telling them how to be good.”  Unfortunately and tragically, I fear too many people, even in our churches, have a definition not too far from this.

3) Several years ago, my wife Charlotte and I had the wonderful privilege of going to the home of Billy Graham and spending several hours with him.  It was a blessing in every way.  During our visit I told him that I had heard him say on a number of occasions that he believed on any given Sunday, 50% of those attending church were lost.  I asked him if he still believed that.  His answer startled me.  He said, “No.  I think the number is much higher than that.”  When I asked him why this was the case he simply said, “Because they have not believed the gospel.”

4) So again I ask, “What is the gospel?”  Let me answer the question from several complementary perspectives.

- A twitter summary: “The gospel is the good news that King Jesus died and

paid the full penalty of sin, rose from the dead and saves all who repent of

sin and trust Him.

-A clear contrast: Every religion in the world can be located under one of two words: do or done.  Christianity is a done religion; we are saved by what Christ has done for us.

-A striking declaration: “The gospel is the good news that God killed His Son so He would not have to kill you.” (Isa 53:10).

-A wonderful promise: “The gospel is the good news that the person who has Jesus plus nothing actually has everything.”  And, “the person who has everything minus Jesus actually has nothing” (Mark 8:36).

5) Charlotte and I met a pastor named Sam a couple of  years ago when we visited South Sudan.  His parents and siblings had been murdered when he was a boy, but by God’s grace he had come to Christ.  He pastored a church plant that met under 3 mango trees.  He only owned 2 sets of clothes, a pair of sandals and a Bible.  We purchased for him 2 oxen, a plow, and the hut he now lives in.  By our standards he is very poor.  By God’s standards he is very rich!  That is the nature and the power of the gospel!

V. They are consumed to get the gospel to those who have never heard the name of Jesus.                 15:20-24

1) It is not uncommon among well meaning believers to hear things like “the light that shines farthest shines brightest at home” or “missions begins with our Jerusalem and then moves to the ends of the earth” or “people are just as lost in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana as they are in Algeria, Oman, and Laos.”  Such statements, though well intended, reveal a fundamental flaw theologically and missiologically.  Missiologically the issue is not one of lostness but access to the gospel.  Theologically, it misses the clearly laid out strategy of the apostle Paul and is a misreading of the Great Commission text of Acts 1:8.

2) Paul says in verse 19 he has fulfilled his gospel ministry from Jerusalem to Illyricum (modern Albania).  In verse 20 he says it is his ambition to preach the gospel where the name of Jesus is unknown, fulfilling a prophecy found in Isaiah 52:15.  Then in verses 23-24 he makes an amazing statement.  He will now head to Spain, passing through Rome on the way, because “I no longer have any room for work in these regions.”  The HCSB reads in verse 23, “But now I no longer have any work to do in these provinces.”

3) Paul, are you saying everyone who needs to hear the gospel in these areas has heard?  Response: “I’m not saying that.”  Paul, are you saying all the churches that need to be planted in these areas have been planted?  Response: “I’m not saying that either.  What I am saying is there is now a gospel witness there but there is not a gospel witness everywhere and I, we, must be consumed with a passion to get the gospel to the “elsewheres,” to those places where the name of Christ is not known.”  Here is a divine blueprint for global evangelism and world conquest.  Here is a missions strategy that should guide and direct Southern Baptists.

4) Now, if this vision is to move forward I believe without any doubt at all it will be because men step up and pastors lead out.  In 2009 I discovered that in our “Journeymen” program, there were 331 journeygirls and 126 journeymen serving overseas.  In West Africa there were 50 journeymen total: 48 females and 2 males.  And in 2012 I discovered that among all IMB personal who were single, there were 533 females and 167 males serving our Lord overseas.  This is shameful men.  This is unacceptable pastors.  We who lead the Body of Christ must chart a different course that sees each local church as an outpost for Great Commission advance; as a Camp Lejeune for training missionary marines!  The gospel demands this!  Christ deserves this!

VI. They see themselves as a missionary people with each one doing their part to see the mission completed.            15:24

1) Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”  Wrongly understood this statement can send us on a spiritual guilt trip.  Rightly understood it can be liberating.

2) Paul wants to go to Spain to take the gospel to those who have never heard the name of Jesus.  What does he want from the church in Rome?  “To be helped” (“assisted”, HCSB).  He wanted them, as William Carey asked British Baptists in 1792, “to hold the ropes.”  Paul knew, Carey knew, and we should know, not everyone goes to the nations.  But, we are all called to pray, give, and go if called. We are all called to help.  We are all called to do our part.  Getting church planters, evangelists and missionaries to the underserved areas and unreached peoples is the holy responsibility of us all.  No exceptions.  No exemptions.  However, given our drop from 5,600 missionaries to less than 5,000 in recent years, it appears that instead of “holding the ropes” back home, we have “let go of the ropes,” and the consequences are being felt around the world.

3) Oswald Smith (1889-1986) was blunt and to the point, “If God wills the evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God.”

4) At Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary we have a motto and a vision.  It goes like this: “Every professor a Great Commission professor.  Every classroom a Great Commission classroom.  Every student a Great Commission Student.  Every graduate a Great Commission graduate.  Every pastor a Great Commission pastor.  Every church a Great Commission church.  Every Christian a Great Commission Christian.  Each one doing their part until the mission is complete.”

5) Some practical questions to consider:

- Do I model Great Commission Christianity before my children and

grandchildren?

- Do I pray that God would call my children and grandchildren to be

international missionaries?

- Do I have a missions savings account for my children/grandchildren?

- Do I have the work of my Lord in my will?

- Am I generous, even sacrificial, in giving to my church, Annie

Armstrong, Lottie Moon?

-Have I adopted a people group Internationally and here in North America?

-Have I gone on a short term trip to see just how lost the world is?

-Am I involved in Church Planting?

-Do I pray regularly for the nations?

6) In a recent edition of Revive magazine of LifeAction ministries, Tom Elliff,

President of the IMB, expressed the dire need for God to send revival in

order to “get the job done.”  He said, “So what is the answer?  It’s for God’s people to respond to the Great Commission.  It is here that we find the utter necessity of revival.  During periods of revival, there is a resurgence of interest in missions, and willingness to commit a lifetime to mission service.  Every great missions movement in Christian history was born out of some type of spiritual awakening among believers.

Today, we see evidence that God is stirring hearts.  A new generation has interest in going to the ends of the earth, giving their lives to reach the most remote corners of the world.  But the sad fact that is so distressing to me is that there are now far more people who are willing to go than there are resources being made available to send them.  God must stir not only those willing to go, but also the hearts of those who will help them go financially, as well as the hearts of moms and dads who will let them go, and the passions of people who will pray for those who are going.

In my own organization alone, we ended last year with over 600 very qualified individuals who applied to give their lives to global missions, that we could not resource to send.  Here’s the simple truth: Apart from revival in the church, the pool of people willing to be sent and the pool of people willing to send them is insufficient and shrinking.  Only the Holy Spirit can stir up the supply needed in our churches to meet these great needs.

What a tragedy it would be if we lost our opportunity to play a significant role in God’s plan to save!  How tragic to forfeit such vast opportunity because of our unwillingness to surrender to the lordship of Christ.” (p. 15).

Conclusion: Just a few months before he died I had lunch with my spiritual hero Adrian Rogers.  He shared with me his concerns that Southern Baptists had become distracted and even divisive over petty and non-important issues.  When I asked him what the problem was, as he saw it, he used a striking analogy that I will always remember.

He said that during the Conservative Resurgence those of us who believed the Bible to be the infallible and inerrant Word of God were on the battlefield shoulder to shoulder fighting a common enemy.  We won that battle but then retreated to the barracks.  Now we are no longer shoulder to shoulder but face to face.  And, since we are used to fighting, we are no longer fighting the enemy on the battlefield, we are now fighting our brother in the barracks.  We have turned our brothers into our enemies.

He then said what Southern Baptists need to do is get out of the barracks and back on the battlefield where the real enemy is, the real enemies of sin, Satan, death and hell.  I believe Adrian Rogers is right.  Our real enemies are not Calvinists or Traditionalists, those with different worship styles or dress codes, those who prefer Southern Baptist or Great Commission Baptists.  No, our real enemies are sin, Satan, death and hell.  Southern Baptists must be Great Commission Baptists taking the battlefield under the bloodstained banner of a crucified and resurrected King whose marching orders are clear and whose promise to be with us as we go is certain.  Let’s once more declare war on the evil Satanic empire whose doom is certain, answering the call to arms of the Captain of our Salvation.

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered.  It is a “war-time gospel command” to be obeyed.  By His grace and for His glory alone may Southern Baptists be an obedient people.  May Southern Baptist be Great Commission Baptist until the day we see coming in heaven a rider on a white horse!  Then and only then will we know our mission is over.