I have to be honest and say that I am really torn on the recommendations from the GCRTF. There are things that I like. Areas that I think they did not go far enough. And frankly some things that I simply do not understand. There have been concerns expressed by people that I greatly respect.
Perhaps I am just being a mindless lemming, but I will probably vote yes. And there is one simple reason why—I trust Dr. Mohler. This is not to say that I do not trust others on the GCRTF or those that have voiced concerns. I simply trust Dr. Mohler’s wisdom. I trust that he has thought through many of the concerns, he loves the SBC, he loves Jesus, and he has a proven track record as a man with great wisdom. So, I trust Dr. Mohler.
Consider his most recent challenge to the messengers to Orlando…
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I am also torn and am glad I won’t be there to be able to vote! I think it’s a step in the right direction, but I think they have made a few key flaws that really leave me on edge with it.
For one, they did not include anyone from the north on their task force. The farthest guy north on the task force was from Pennsylvania and he pastors a large church. Frankly, he has no clue what it is like to pastor a small church in the north. There are no small church pastors from northern states on that task force and they really shot themselves in the foot because of that.
One of the things they are proposing is doing away with partnership agreements between NAMB and state conventions. However, the majority of staff in northern states are fully funded by those agreements. In other words, if they cut these agreements, it could mean that most staff at state convention offices in northern states will disappear. Almost all of Indiana’s church planting dollars would also be gone, as it comes from those agreements.
They have said that they want to funnel dollars to these northern states, but from what I understand of what our state director said, it will be project based and won’t include money for staffing. NAMB will assume control of all their missionaries (the states supervise most of them right now) and they plan on redirecting them to major cities to impact lostness there. And while that can be good to a degree, let us not forget that lostness is everywhere, not just in big cities.
One other big fear I have for this: I know of several churches in Indiana who have already said they will stop supporting the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon offerings altogether if this passes. They plan on directing all the money to SCBI designated as solely for SCBI and not CP. If this is a trend that catches on in northern states who are going to get “burned” by these changes, there will be some hard times in our Convention again. I wouldn’t be surprised if some churches go independent because of this to be honest.
As for me, I have mixed emotions. I think there is a lot of good in the report. I appreciate the focus on impacting lostness and trying to be more efficient at it. I just don’t think it’s been thought through enough and I’d hate to see them push something through without actually taking the time to listen to the northern states. I tremble to think of what it will cost the SBC if they don’t! I’m praying this gets tabled for vote next year personally.
Michael,
You express well one of my greatest concerns. I wish they would have included a few people from the North and from smaller churches on the Task Force.
That I think would have calmed many fears.