That quote is most commonly attributed to Yankee great, Yogi Berra. I am choosing to borrow that expression to express my thoughts on the recent GCR Task Force lunch meeting in Rogers, Arkansas, and the status of the GCRTF in general.
Let me begin by saying that Pastor Ronnie Floyd’s church, The Church at Pinnacle Hills, was a gracious host to this meeting. The meal was excellent and the fellowship was good. I was able to attend this meeting with good friend and fellow SBC Today-er, Wes Kenney. I also ‘ran into’ old friends from Missouri and Oklahoma and met new guys with whom I had only previously interacted online.
The meeting was, as others have described it, interesting. The four 
person panel selected to represent the task force included, Pastor Ronnie Floyd, Pastor Johny Hunt, Pastor Al Gilbert, and Dr. Al Mohler. Rather than report for you a ‘blow-by-blow’ discussion of the event as it took place, I encourage you to visit the website (pray4gcr.com) and listen to the audio of the meeting (here) or watch the videos of the meeting (part1 & part2).
The highlights, as I saw them…
Pastor Floyd’s statement that we need to move the headquarters of our convention from a focus on a central building or a city back to the local churches. AMEN!! We are a convention of local churches which have chosen to cooperate together for the purposes of greater ministry, including discipleship, evangelism, and missions. Our conventions, both national and state, as well as our associations exist to serve the local churches, regardless of size or ‘influence,’ not vice versa.
Pastor Hunt’s statement that the Great Commission Resurgence needs to be a personal GCR. Pastors must take to heart and live out this truth among the people we have been called to disciple and equip for these very ministries. Again…AMEN!! As a pastor, I am called of God to not merely teach but to exemplify the life God commands and commissions us to live.
Dr. Mohler’s personal testimony and thankfulness for the impact Southern Baptists have had on his life through the Cooperative Program. He stated that every significant event in his life as a Baptist had been made possible through the cooperative ministries and giving of the people in our churches. And, yes, I once again say… AMEN!! While the CP and our commitment to ongoing cooperation throughout our convention is taking a serious beating (more on that in a moment), I am thankful for the privilege we have as Southern Baptists to support our state convention ministries, seminaries, ERLC, North American missions, and international missions through the Cooperative Program.
The involvement of so many, by task force accounts 400-500 pastors, trustees, and laity, in the question and answer session. The openness of the task force to listen to input from various Southern Baptist voices is a source of hope for me concerning the future recommendations they will bring to our meeting in 2010. I hope that the remaining meetings they have will include further luncheons like the one I attended.
The lowlights, as I saw them…
The vague, general answers given to a number of the questions that were asked. When a gentleman asked about what role local associations would take, the panel replied with ‘get churches to get their people to pray for the task force and to get messengers to Orlando in 2010.’
That leads me to this other thought. Maybe the GCRTF was not fully ready to take their show on the road. Maybe they are not fully settled on exactly the scope their work will take. At the point of the luncheon, they had only met one time. Their second set of meetings followed on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
This fact may have contributed to the confusion I saw in the panel seemingly being dismissive of the importance of the Cooperative Program as part of our Great Commission identity and then lamenting that seminary students who are in the IMB pipeline are unable to go because our CP and Lottie Moon giving is down. This strange dichotomy prompted me to ask a question seeking clarification of the matter. Is the Cooperative Program still a significant means by which we as Southern Baptists will support our combined ministry efforts (including seminaries, ethical & social issues in our world, LifeWay, and our mission entities) to which our churches should be encouraged to give (even increase giving), or should it be disregarded or seen as passe’ in favor of…something else? Unfortunately, I do not believe my question was adequately answered (an opinion not expressed solely by me).
There were a myriad of other questions voiced at the meeting, some of which had no bearing or relevance to the meeting or the task of the task force. When will we as Southern Baptists figure out when and where discussions which need to take place should take place? Too many of us have our pet issue and just can’t wait to give voice to it anywhere and everywhere. This crusaderism (is that a word? Must be the Yogi’s influence) needs to stop. And so, I will stop on this thought, too.
Yet, here is where I will hearken back to the title of this post… It ain’t over ’til it’s over. I pray that as the task force continues to work together the questions people ask will have more clearly defined and cogent answers. I pray that the focus of the task force will be laser-like, as Dr. Mohler expressed. I pray that the highlights will remain the highlights and the lowlights will be diminished. Let us all remember to pray for the members of the GCRTF and the future ministry of our local churches in cooperation as the Southern Baptist Convention.
Sola Gratia!
Hi Scott, It would help if the Task force could tell us some specifics for which we could pray. Thus far I’ve prayed that the Task force be granted wisdom to give us guidelines on how the SBC can better reach the world for Christ. What specifically are they doing and seeking to do? selahV
SelahV,
Howdy to you as well!
If I understand the focus as they mentioned it, and in accord with our structure as a convention, the GCRTF has been given the responsibility to examine our convention structure and bring a report of recommendations to the 2010 annual meeting. They are carrying out Axiom 9 of the GCR Declaration. Therefore, the only actions they can carry out would relate to our national entities, etc. They may well bring recommendations for state conventions, associations, and local churches to consider, but they have no authority to instruct these cooperating groups to do anything (it’s our autonomy you know! :-) ).
That being said, this was my problem during the meeting as well. Right now we have more questions than answers…from church leaders, convention leaders, the task force, and every other Southern Baptist, too!
We need to continue to pray for them to have wisdom and courage to do what is right in moving us to be more convictional as well as missional in fulfilling our Great Commission calling.
Sola Gratia!
Pardon my cynicism but it would be helpful if the group would stop having secret meetings and at least let a reporter in on background. I’m not optimistic since two-thirds of the group are megachurch people and come from churches not ordinarily bothered with openness and transparency.
The dodgeball you got at the public panel was a game at which SBC leaders are altogether too adept.
Nice to see that the guys had a nice photo op, though.
It is appearing to me that this task force already had an agenda before it was formed and the appointees to the taskforce are ones that are going to be in agreement with this agenda. Not saying what they are doing is wrong just seems a bit shady and I agree about opening meetings
I don’t really have the fear of closed-door meetings, because ultimately whatever they do will have to be voted on by the convention. My lone fear is similar to yours. There are so many large-church pastors in the task force that have less need of the cooperative program, I am afraid that they will diminish its importance.
Shameless plug, you can read my thoughts here http://bit.ly/aeq7t
I am also always amazed at the ability of any open forum to easily get off track and become a grandstanding session.
Scott:
Excellent insight. I do have a question and comment.
“Pastor Floyd’s statement that we need to move the headquarters of our convention from a focus on a central building or a city back to the local churches.”
Sounds good, but what specifically does it mean? Did Floyd give any other detials, or is it a more of a conceptual talking point. Translation = Let’s not forget the churches who build this place (SBC & Lifeway Towers).
I suspect the GCR Task Force has not formulated a real game plan. It is a work in progress. Likewise, the audience’s questions indicate a perception that everything is up for grabs. I doubt that. My prayers, and expectations, are focused on a task to “get it done right.” I say that because other mainline denominations are under assault of a different kind – on a fast track of getting away from biblical doctrine. We may have only one real good shot at the bulls-eye. Otherwise, the expectation of dynamic change will quickly fade after Orlando.
I certainly have no idea what the task force will recommend. I don’t even have any idea myself what recommendations I’d support if I was on the task force myself.
There has been much talk about “what is wrong” with the SBC and/or the makeup and mode of deliberation of the task force. Setting that aside, I have not heard any proposal from any precinct of SBC life suggesting what they think the task force should recommend.
I don’t think the task force has an easy job. There does not seem to be any “low hanging fruit” just waiting to be harvested.
In response to Roger’s Post…I would suggest that the GCTF would focus on two areas:
1. What are our priorities in our cooperative work. If the convention as a whole embraces a set of priorities then that will tell our convention entities where the dollars need to be allocated. That same list of priorities could then be embraced at the state level and may serve to better focus and conserve dollars at the state conventions.
2. How can we make the pie bigger. So far the call from leaders like Rankin have been to “get rid of bloated bureaucracy.” Such a call is an insult to the faithful men and women who are serving this convention in ministry areas to which they feel called. The answer isn’t to say that an IMB missionary is more important than a Evangelism consultant at the state level. The answer isn’t to cut the pie differently but to make the pie bigger. The answer is to challenge our people and churches to forward more dollars and servants toward our priorities (which should reflect the Great commission). Someone posted that the average SBC attendee only gives something like $28 per year to IMB work. That’s ridiculous. I am not convinced that our people wouldn’t give but that we are not communicating the need effectively so the dollars are given or spend in other places. The SBC could double its missions giving if it would stop a once per year offering for international missions at a time when folks are trying to spend money on other things and start promoting Lottie and Annie all year long.
All that said, if all this task force comes up with is a proposal for restructuring or an effort to redefine the cp giving then not only will they have missed a great opportunity and could potentially split the convention.
If after all this, the CP only gets a new name, new logo, new slogan, then we have much bigger problems. However, I am confident that ALL components/programs of the SBC will be considered.