What do you think are the greatest challenges confronting the SBC?
As a convention, we are divided, fractured, and splintered. If Calvinism is mentioned, an alarm is sounded and we all stand to attention, pick sides, and take up arms. It is not my responsibility to determine what makes a good “Southern Baptist,” but the issue itself is not going away. It seems that there is a lack of clarity over what defines us. The great question that I see on our horizon is the unequivocal need to clearly articulate who we are.
This articulation will allow us to define expectations. Questions such as, can we, (are we willing) as Southern Baptists to unite under an umbrella that includes a wide spectrum of systematic theologies? If so, how big is the umbrella? Is there a percentage expected to be given to the Cooperative Program? What role should the Cooperative Program play? Should denomination leaders pass a “litmus” test in order to serve? This process will bring pain but currently we are going through the motions carrying on as if all is kosher, holding bitterness and resentment towards others. Rather than deal with our differences openly as gentlemen, we get in theological huddles and thank “God” we are enlightened. The conversations on the convention podium are nice and unifying but they do not correspond to the conversations in the hallways.
Quite honestly, our denominational politics has great similarity to the children’s game musical chairs; everyone wrestling to have a seat and not to be the proverbial last one standing and left out of the loop. Our churches, in many ways, are experiencing a Great Commission Resurgence. Unfortunately, on the denominational level it looks more like a Great Convention Restructuring than any type of resurgence. Now more than ever, we need a denominational statesman to emerge who has extraordinary leadership capacity. He must force us to honestly admit and converse on the issues before us.
Allow me to make a rather drastic statement; the divide between us may be too wide. One must admit that the visions for the future of the Southern Baptist Convention are drastically different within the various circles of influence. It is time for Southern Baptist to be honest and mature and acknowledge these differences. I pray that over the next few years, we can find an umbrella all Southern Baptist can agree to cooperate under. But if we can’t, then let’s shake hands as Christian gentlemen and go our separate ways. Let us not forget that our denomination is man-made and our God doesn’t need us to accomplish his will. We are privileged to cooperate together for the glory of our God!
Should we agree to a theological and practical umbrella then let’s get to work together to accomplish what God has placed before us. I have no idea how one would bring about a process to accomplish this objective, but we must have complete transparency and unity around a mission that is championed by all. This process must be grass roots driven from the bottom up rather than from the top down. It is my humble opinion that our denomination has been and will always be a grass roots movement and not one directed by elite. Currently, we are damaging our witness and handcuffing our Kingdom potential. Rather than having a movement we have an institution and quite honestly it’s an institution that no one is really happy with. My greatest concern is that more young leaders are going to lose trust in our convention and leadership, resulting in a slow but intentional pulling away from denominational life. The characteristics of this practical break are twofold; first, leaders will shy away choosing to focus only on their local church and individual partnerships. One can see this already in the attendance to denominational meetings at both the state and national level. Secondly, leaders will direct their churches to reallocate money currently given to the Cooperative Program. This will result in a slow death for the Southern Baptist Convention.
What do you see as the greatest opportunities opening to the SBC?
We are living in an epoch where there is openness to the Bible. There is a hunger for the Word of God and this hunger brings great possibility. The future of the Southern Baptist Convention will be determined by our pulpits. I believe with all my heart that if we regain a belief in the authoritative Word of God and create passionate and powerful pulpits that expose congregants to the truth of the text, then revival will follow. God will do exactly what he said he would do. He will bring life! Now more than ever, we are famished for the Bible, and illiterate of its truth. When we preachers proclaim its eternal and majestic precepts leading to genuine holy living among believers we will shine forth light in a culture of darkness.
I also think that social networking has created a brand new avenue for the Gospel. I anticipate the next generation of leaders will tap into this resource and create powerful methods of using social media to spread the love of Christ.
What are your thoughts about a possible SBC name change?
Wow! As I ponder this dilemma I am reminded of a story told about Marie Antoinnette during the French Revolution. While her country was going through a great famine and struggling to find food, the question was given to Mary as to what to do. She responded, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” or in English “Let them eat cake”. She was completely oblivious to the situation surrounding her.
I recognize that by making this parallel I set myself up to be kindling for the blogosphere’s fire, but I feel we are in a somewhat similar circumstance as a convention. The culture around us has become post-Christian. Our churches have lost the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word of God. Our people have a pagan worldview colored and “christianized” by a couple of nice sermonettes. Our pastor’s no longer understand their prophetic role, choosing to be culturally relevant and accepted rather than Biblically faithful. The hip churches that are looked upon as bastions of success are known for putting a bed on top of a building, or cussing in the pulpit, or blatantly saying that they choose to focus on “positive” aspects of God rather than “negative aspects such as judgment and condemnation.” In the midst of this madness we are fighting about a name change! We can pay marketing gurus vast amounts of money to pitch a name that will be well perceived, but what is so desperately needed today is not that we be “better perceived” by a depraved culture, but better received by a Holy God.
Let’s be honest, our impuissance in sharing the Gospel has nothing to do with our brand and everything to do with our heart. We need the Spirit of God to move on our churches and bring a renewed emphasis on the authoritative Word of God. The Sprit of God moving through the Word of God will result in sold out, surrendered, missional living. This new perspective will allow us to see the world through the mind of Christ, with hearts broken for their salvation. Anything less is, to quote Shakespeare, “a much ado about nothing.” We need revival. In my humble opinion, a name change is inconsequential if Christ has removed his lampstand.
What is the key to being a faithful/effective/successful pastor?
Honestly I have no idea what I am doing. Biblically, my call is to be a faithful preacher of God’s Word. I am just thankful that God doesn’t give me a progress report or annual evaluation. It would not be pretty. I also think it is imperative that one be a lifelong learner.
It is a common joke around Thorington Road that I really knew what I was doing before I got here. There is value in that. I have seen our ministries grow and expand as I have been willing to grow and expand. Honest criticism and accountability are vital for that. A successful pastor will have people around him that tell him the truth. Unfortunately, I see far too many young pastors make the mistake of Rehoboam in that we place people around us that tell us what we want to hear and inflate our egos. Although painful, I have grown to I appreciate those in my life that care enough for me to warn me of dangers and pitfalls.
Ultimately, an old preacher in a small, rural, country church once told me that a great pastor simply loves his people. Everything else is mute unless we as pastors love our people.
What is one key mistake that you see pastors and/or church staff members making that causes them problems in their churches?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but my mistake(s) seemingly always stem from my independence from God’s Spirit and his control. I daily struggle to surrender my will and desires to his authority. Ministry can become easy when things are smooth and that ease makes us/me think that success is based on my abilities, intellect, and charisma. It is in these moments I am most vulnerable to the nature that wars within my soul. I am a recovering narcissist who often believes that the cosmos was created to entertain me. Humility is a trait that God is branding into me. My use of branding is representative of the farming community I grew up in and cattle branding that I witnessed. The process hurts and leaves scars. Constant dependence on the Spirit of God is the remedy for my pride. It is this area that I have much growth left to attain.
Who are two or three of your “heroes in ministry”?
As a young(er) man, many of my heroes were the hip, cool, and trendy leaders that spike their hair, wear cool clothes, and say radical things with shock value. As I have matured, this view has changed drastically. The men that I admire are those men with staying power; Men who have been faithful to the Word of God and passionately served King Jesus. Technology has allowed me to feed on the preaching of men from the past such as Vance Havner, R.G. Lee, W.A. Criswell, Richard Owen Roberts, Leonard Ravenhill, Adrian Rogers, and many others. These men are role models for me in the way they handled the Word of God and preached it with what the former generation called “unction.”
One of the greatest blessings that God has placed in my life is Godly men who have invested in me. Three specific men have poured their life into mine and the fruit born from those investments are of priceless value. My home pastor Randy Kuhn saw something in me and chose to see beyond my immaturity and personal failures and taught me to love and cherish the Word of God. Dr. Jim Bryant, a college professor, walked with me as my theology developed and put up with some serious theological flaws and continued to show me a better way. In recent years, Dr. Rick Lance has influenced me to become a better leader; his example of statesmanship and grace through a difficult season has been monumental in my evolution as a leader. I would consider these men to be heroes as well.
What is the toughest lesson you have learned in ministry?
There have been so many I don’t know where to start. Candidly, the toughest lesson I have learned is an ongoing lesson. I am my own worst enemy. During seasons of intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, it seems that positive momentum is generated within our church. In contrast, in seasons where I am distracted and distanced from a powerful prayer life and close fellowship with Christ, the momentum and fellowship at our church suffers the consequences of my sin.
This realization has been fundamental in understanding what God desires from me as a pastor. I have been trained with multiple theories, ideologies, philosophies, and paradigms, but the influence that I have as a pastor is a direct repercussion of my personal holiness. Purity of heart leads to clarity and intimacy of fellowship with God. I am convinced that the most critical area of a pastor’s life is his personal holiness. This lesson is critical for me and one that I will continue to learn until the Lord returns.
What is your approach to preaching?
Preaching is the passion of my life. For me preaching preparation is not a propositional checklist to work through. Preaching is life immersion into the text. Preaching flows from our fellowship with God through his Word. More important than our scholastic abilities, hermeneutical prowess, and homiletical articulation is the power of the Holy Spirit over our task. I am committed to expository preaching. I preach through entire books, but I do feel that at times one can be thematically expositional. Currently, I am preaching a series through the first two chapters of Act.
I was blessed to have the opportunity to be introduced to the Biblical languages and I feel that any preacher truly desiring to grow as a good handler of God’s Word should discipline himself to learn the Biblical Languages if given the opportunity. It has made a tremendous impact on my ability to understand and process God’s Word. I begin in the original text. What is the context? Who is writing? Who is hearing? What are circumstances surrounding the production and reception of the text? What does this text mean? Is my interpretation consistent with the totality of the Biblical text? What was the purpose of the text? How do I transition this truth into today’s language? What cultural parallels can be found to illustrate the truth? What modern story or illustration will allow my people to connect with this text? Finally, in light of God’s exposed truth, what does he expect us to do? What are the walking away points?
How do you help your congregation focus on missions?
We do the traditional Southern Baptist things. We are still paying off Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong. We have ministry connections from out of our church that we give financially towards. I have found it very important to put the faces of those we support in front of the congregation. With modern technology, we have so many resources at our disposal, so there is really no excuse not to put the mission in front of the people. People give to vision not programs. Therefore, it is critical to champion a mission minded worldview. We show successes.
Ultimately, only the Word of God transforming a heart through the power of the Holy Spirit can create a missionary culture. I try to consistently show from God’s Word his expectation for us to live as his ambassador’s in this world. We have a long way to go.
What are the most significant doctrinal issues that the church will struggle within the next few decades?
I have been blessed to have the opportunity to spend time with many of our Southern Baptist greats who fought valiantly to honor the Word of God during the Conservative Resurgence of a few decades ago. We should be thankful for the soil they tilled to provide my generation an opportunity to serve a denomination where the integrity of God’s Word is upheld.
Saying that, I have become more and more convinced of a new battle for the Bible. In my humble opinion I believe the most important doctrinal issue in my era is the sufficiency and practical authority of God’s Word. Is the Bible all we need? Have we outgrown it? Are our churches built on the foundation of God’s Word? Do our churches allow the Word of God to have complete authority over the life of the church or are we using human methods to build great empires? In many cases evangelism has been replaced with marketing and the leading of the Holy Spirit has been replaced with demographic and socioeconomic surveys interpreted for us by pop-psychology. Ultimately, the question before us is whether or not the Bible is sufficient for everything and authoritative over everything. Do we treat it as authoritative or do we use it as a nice moral storybook from which we derive cute therapeutic devotionals. The answer to this question will determine the path of our churches, communities, and ultimately I believe our nation.
How do you balance ministry and family responsibilities?
I’m still waiting for someone to write the authoritative book on this one. My wife is an Assistant Professor at a local university here so her schedule is booked like mine and we have two wired full-octane little boys. I have always taken Friday off and it is known around our house as “Daddy Day.” It is so much fun! We play all day. My wife and I are striving to find a date night at least every two weeks. I know that every week would be ideal, but one thing that helps out is that we do everything as a family.
Another aspect that helps is that we have fought very hard to have a very simple church structure. My week is not filled with meetings. We have no Sunday night service and we try to load up one Sunday afternoon a month with meetings. This helps tremendously. At least three Sunday afternoons a month our family spends the afternoon together. We nap, watch TV, nap, and whatever the boys want to do. This time together is wonderful for us as a family.
As most things in my life, this area is one in which I need to continue to grow.
What do you do for fun?
I am a homebody and don’t like to get out much. My favorite thing in the world is to have my wife and two boys hang out at the house while I read and watch football. For full disclosure, my boys like football as much if not more than me; My 20 month old walks around the house pointing to the TV screaming “football!” I am really a boring person. Recently, I have gotten my oldest son (4 and a half) into watching Star Trek and Star Wars so I am passing on my geekiness to them.
What are your two or three favorite TV shows? Movies?
Anything football, baseball, Sportscenter, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Swamp People.
