This particular topic has been laid heavily on my heart by God in the last few weeks. Every couple of days I open my Bible and see yet another passage about this particular subject. I believe that it is time for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention to end the war. I was born in 1984 when the heat of the fight began and I only know about it because of the books written. I have no first hand experience with the events that led to the breakup of the convention. For those of you college students of my age who have no idea what I’m talking about you need to read some books. They are out there. Most Baptist pastors and campus ministers avoid the subject of the breakup of the Southern Baptist Convention because it is a painful subject to discuss.
From reading other Baptist blogs, CBF and SBC alike, there seems to be an ongoing criticism between the two. Don’t we have other subjects and topics that are more pressing? Didn’t the CBF leave the SBC in 1989? That’s over ten years ago. Drop it people. I know that I am very guilty of criticizing the Southern Baptist Convention on this blog, because of some of my adventures and encounters. My goal with this blog is to express some opinions, but I need to keep them in perspective. This particular verse struck me when I was reading:
Mark 3:2-They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
This passage refers to an instance where Jesus healed a man’s hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. These particular people were waiting for Jesus to make a mistake or cause a controversy so they could jump up and criticize them. They weren’t there to hear his teaching, they just wanted to frame him so they could maintain their power. This makes me so sick and apparently Jesus felt the same way:
Mark 3:5-He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart…
This should make us all feel sick. If the majority of what we are writing about is the failings of other Baptists, then what purpose is this serving? Maybe it will make us feel better to get those feelings down on paper, but that is not what we should be all about. I completely understand being frustrated and hurt, because I have felt both. I just think we need to stop criticizing each other so much and just preach what we’re supposed to: Jesus Christ and him crucified. There are reasons for different denominations and breakups, but there is no need to dwell on them if we can prevent it. I just don’t want to be the one waiting around for the Southern Baptist Convention to say something bad about women in the pulpit so I have more fodder for my blog. This just bugs me. If Al Mohler wants to criticize women in the pulpit, then by all means let him. As far as I’m concerned I’ve heard it all and I’m not impressed. What would be really impressive is that moderates wouldn’t react to him and Al Mohler would go back to what he’s supposed to be doing. Let’s keep this in perspective. We need to preach Jesus, not the current hot issue going on. Bitterness isn’t healthy for anyone, and I’m tired of lugging that around in my heart. It can be so heavy.
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