Our Motion for the Missouri Baptist Convention On Sexual Abuse

Mike Leake

2018-annual-meeting-1080x675It’s no secret that Southern Baptists have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. I would love for us to be in the news for our great work of Disaster Relief, other mercy ministries, or the work of our children’s homes. But these have been overshadowed, and rightly so, by the darkness of some of our institutions. It would be wrong for us to not labor to shine the light into every dark corner.

The gospel calls us to walk into the light. We believe that Jesus is strong enough to conquer and cover our every weakness. This includes ways in which we’ve blown it as a gathering of like-minded churches. We want to walk in the light for the sake of Christ and for the sake of every image-bearer. We want to labor to be the hands and feet of Jesus who provide healing to survivors. In any place where we’ve done harm we want to repent. And we want to always pursue growth in these areas. It is to this end that we offer this motion at the Missouri Baptist Convention. 

I’ve formed a group with a few other like-minded pastors throughout the state of Missouri. We’ve been working on this motion and will be, Lord willing, bringing it to the floor during our Missouri Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. It’s not perfect. It’s not saying all the things we want to say. It’s a beginning step (though there is already great work being done by our MBCH). But we do believe this will be something which our state leaders can get behind and lead Missouri Baptist churches in being healthier in this area. This is the motion—it could still see a couple minor tweaks before brought to the floor but this will be the gist:

I move that the newly elected President of the Missouri Baptist Convention appoint a task force to examine the issue of sexual abuse for the purpose of developing and recommending a plan to the Missouri Baptist Convention to facilitate the ministries of MBC churches and the MBC entities. The task force shall examine the Convention’s history relating to sexual abuse prevention and caring for sexual abuse survivors and whether there are any patterns of intimidation of victims or advocates or resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives.

Furthermore, this task force should recommend avenues for education and better understanding of this issue for the Convention and develop a plan with concrete action steps for more faithful ministry regarding sexual abuse prevention and survivor care in the Convention going forward.

This task force shall be comprised of nine individuals who are active members of MBC churches, including but not limited to at least one individual from each of the following categories: Sexual Abuse Survivor–if willing to serve, MBC Executive Director, MBC Executive Board Member, Metropolitan Area Pastor, Rural Area Pastor, and a Female Layperson.

This task force must provide an initial report to the messengers gathered for the 2022 MBC Annual Meeting with a view to a final report to the messengers gathered for the 2023 MBC Annual Meeting.

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If you are a Missouri Baptist we would appreciate your vote on this important motion.

One Reason I’m Not Faithful in Evangelism

Mike Leake

photo-1566392663107-b5650bf034abI’m waiting in line at Wendy’s. The car in front of me must have ordered the entire left side of the menu because this is taking forever. Off to the side there are three freezers. An employee, young woman in her twenties, clipboard in hand, unlocks the freezer. She props open the door, shuts off power to the freezer, and goes inside. Great safety precaution.

I watch the freezer fan slowly come to a halt as a young man, running as quickly as one can run with aggressively sagging pants approaches her. She lights up when she sees him—or maybe it was his pack of cigarettes’. The man, who had been followed by another couple now form a huddle in the slowly warming Wendy’s freezer.

In short time, each member of the circle was fully equipped with their own cancer stick. And then I saw something which both angered me and turned my stomach. The saggy-pants fella lifts up the Wendy’s gals smock and I see that she’s pregnant. They are all joyously rubbing her belly, filled with delight, and cigarette smoke.

I’m minimally bothered by the fact that our future cheeseburgers are being infiltrated by second-hand smoke. I’m incredibly upset thinking of all the potential health risks that this mother is taking with her child. It all seems to me to be an incredibly unhealthy situation for this child. I mumble to myself, “Idiots.” 

But as I drive away, nuggets in hand, I slowly begin to realize how different my heart is from the heart of Jesus. It’s not that justice and righteousness don’t include making sure that children are taken care of from womb to tomb. It does. But there is something about the joy within that smoke circle that I cannot get around. This baby-daddy is clearly proud of the little life he has created. He’s “baby-daddy” to me but something much more special to this young lady—and certainly within the eyes of Jesus.

The Way of Jesus

And this is why I’m not very good at evangelism. I start at the wrong place, so often. I see a scene like this one and think that my job is to get them to stop making foolish decisions, clean up their lives a bit, put down the cigarettes and pick up a Bible. I’m convinced Jesus didn’t start here. He spoke to where they were.

I do not know for sure how Jesus would have engaged this couple. I think we get a clue in his interaction with the woman at the well. He entered into her world. He engaged her with where she was at in that moment. So I imagine that Jesus would have used their moment of joy to propel them into a deeper joy.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the impression from reading the Scriptures that Christ would have disregarded a good deal of things in order to love them. I know some hear that and think that I am implying that a holy God “whispers at sin” or something like that. What I’m trying to say is similar to what Bonhoeffer said when he said “[Jesus] allowed no law to act as a barrier to his fellowship with his disciples.”

Conclusion

In truth, my vision of holiness and love is cloudier than that smoke-filled Wendy’s freezer. I see one piece of a puzzle and think that it displays the whole thing. Given my addiction to inertia, I tend to start conversations on the points which make me comfortable. This is not the way of Jesus.

The way I viewed these image-bearers felt righteous. After all, smoking isn’t healthy for a pregnant mom. Freezers aren’t meant for smoke breaks. This circle of chain-smokers bore many of the marks of immaturity. And yet on this day I outdid them in immaturity. To know the gospel of Jesus and then view other humans and the world in a way that is antithetical to the gospel is the height of immaturity.

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Photo source: here

Open Letter to Dr. John Yeats and the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board

Mike Leake

To Dr. John Yeats and the MBC Executive Board,

As you no doubt know, the messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee overwhelmingly directed the SBC Executive Committee to fully cooperate with a third-party investigation into a range of the SBC Executive Committee’s handling of sexual abuse issues. A key directive from the messengers of the SBC was that the SBC Executive Committee shall waive attorney client privilege in order to help facilitate the investigation. 

At this point, the SBC Executive Committee has refused to obey the express will of the SBC. Instead, the Executive Committee has sought to control the narrative, to hide in executive session, and to flout the will of the SBC messengers. This is unacceptable and is an affront to the thousands of messengers who spoke clearly at the SBC Annual Meeting and turns Baptist polity on its head.

Because of the unprecedented actions of the SBC Executive Committee in refusing the express directive of the SBC messengers, many SBC entity heads, ministry leaders, and state conventions have likewise taken the unprecedented step of speaking out against the actions of the SBC Executive Committee. 

Missouri Baptists have always been leaders in our great Southern Baptist convention of churches, so we ask that the MBC Executive Director and the MBC Executive Board to publicly repudiate the recent actions of the SBC Executive Committee and to call on the SBC Executive Committee to, immediately and without reservation, vote to waive attorney client privilege. 

Much is at stake in these difficult times, and we pray and trust that the MBC Executive Board will stand on the side of the SBC messengers, that is to say, on the side of truth and transparency.

Signed,

Mike Leake, Lead Pastor, Calvary of Neosho

Scott Gordon, Pastor, Claycomo Baptist Church, Kansas City

Mike Bergman Pastor, First Baptist – Adrian

Dan Born, Pastor, Believers Church, Hannibal, MO

Dustin Lair pastor at Community Southern Baptist Church (CSBC) Fair Grove, MO

Jamie Cartledge, Worship Pastor, Claycomo Baptist Church

Brian Baker, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Marceline

Wood Marshall, youth pastor, First Baptist Church of Gallatin

Rev. Sam Byers Primary Teaching Pastor Elsberry First Baptist Church

Darin Smith, Pastor, Tower View Baptist Church, Kansas City

Tony Jones Pastor First Baptist, Rich Hill

Chris Baker, Centralia First Baptist Church

Rich Starnes, Member, Visio Dei Church, Jefferson City

Pastor Nick Drake, Richland Baptist Church, Kingdom City, MO

Robert Hudson, Pastor, Littleby Baptist Church, Rush Hill, MO

Joshua Meranda – Associate Pastor of Worship, Open Door Church, Columbia, MO

L. P. Cook, Lead Pastor, Union Hill Baptist Church, Holts Summit

Ryan Nix MBTS Student, Pastoral Intern, The Master’s Community Church Kansas City, Mo

Tim Fenton, Deacon, Believers Church, Hannibal, MO

Dr. Mike Hubbard, Pastor, Genesis Church, Eureka, MO

Chris Creech, Worship and Children’s Pastor, Genesis Church, Mexico MO.

Bryce Kristofferson, Pastor, Centennial Baptist Church Mexico, MO

Aaron Campbell, pastor, Mercy Hill Church, Jackson, MO

Mike Shupert, Pastor, Illmo Baptist Church, Scott City, MO

Keith Sisney, Pastor, Norfleet Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO

Kurtis W. Estes Pastor, First Baptist Church Salisbury

Ben Schnipper, Associate Pastor of Youth & Discipleship, Union Hill Baptist Church

Kevin Larson, Lead Pastor Karis Church, Columbia, MO

Brian Simmons, Family Pastor, FBC Carl Junction, MO

Ryan West, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Steele, MO

Shannon Cobb, Lead Pastor, Splitlog Baptist Church, Goodman, MO

Joe Voga, Pastor, New Harvest SBC Church, Agency, MO

Justin Francis, pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church in Doniphan

Scott Conover, youth pastor, First Baptist Marshall, MO. 

Andrew William Steinbeck, pastor, Foley Baptist Church, Foley, MO

Ronni Kurtz, Emmaus Church, Kansas City, MO

Rocky Lindley, Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Salem, MO.

Ryan West Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Steele, Missouri

Joel Booth, Middle-Row Congregant, Calvary Baptist, Hannibal, MO

Kenneth James McCune. Member of Spring Creek Baptist Church, Rolla, Missouri (Former IMB missionary)

Shyre McCune, Spring Creek Baptist Church, Rolla, Mo. Retired NAMB.

If you are a Missouri Baptist and would like to be included in this letter, please comment below with your name and title/church (if applicable) and we will add your name. Or, copy, sign, and send this letter as an individual to information@mobaptist.org and  jyeats@mobaptist.org.

When Biblical Truths Are Ratioed

Mike Leake 1 Comment

The_Simpsons_Movie_Homer_Simpson_being_chased_by_Angry_MobTo be ratioed means that the reaction to something you’ve said is overwhelmingly negative. It’s a term which began on Twitter for the times when the ratio of replies (negative) out number the likes of a tweet. Basically it means what you wrote kicked a hornet’s nest.

This past week there was an article by Kevin DeYoung and a video by Matt Chandler which created a bit of backlash. This is the tweet with the Chandler video. And this is the DeYoung article. I don’t think you can say that either were technically ratioed, but it was interesting to me to see the pushback on this video and article.

Matt’s video was calling believers to give one another the benefit of the doubt and stop being jerks to one another. DeYoung’s was an exposition of Romans 12:15, noting that the call to “weep with those who weep” is not a one-sided exhortation void of wisdom. As an example we don’t rejoice with the Taliban for taking Afghanistan and we don’t mourn with those who are saddened by godliness. I would wager that ten years ago both of these would have hardly caught our attention.

In my estimation both Matt’s video and DeYoung’s article they are basic biblical truths. But they were both ratioed—and maybe deservingly. Let me explain.

Biblical Truth Wrongly Applied, Stinks

When I teach on Job, or train others in something like biblical counseling, I inevitably make the point from Job’s friends that good theology (biblical truth) wrongly applied, stinks. If you apply a biblical truth at the wrong time then it can be more harmful than helpful. Job’s friends were sharing things which were theological true but they did not fit Job’s situation.

Likewise, what Matt Chandler said about biblical community is good and helpful and healthy, at least it would be in a context where narcissistic abusers haven’t been platformed for a few decades. But we aren’t in that context. The last ten years we’ve witnessed our little slice of evangelicalism be decimated by scandal after scandal. We were told for years to give the “benefit of the doubt” to these leaders. After all, they were heading up growing ministries in difficult locations. The kingdom was advancing. We’d do well to overlook some of these flaws and not listen to the critics. But in many instances, the critics were correct.

So we cannot listen to Matt’s words the same anymore. That is a consequence of decades of spiritually abusive leadership. It’s a consequence of our platforming those with competence over character. We’ve lost the benefit of the doubt.

In the same way, DeYoung’s article at face value isn’t wrong. But we live in a day and age of the subtweet. What pastoral situation is motivating DeYoung to write this? Is it all of the talk we’ve been seeing about empathy? Is it possible to read this without considering some of the backlash that TGC/DG has been experiencing? It’s possible that it’s just an innocuous article which DeYoung penned after doing his quiet time on Romans 12. But we’re not living in an age when that “benefit of the doubt” is going to be granted.

A Way Forward

Biblical truths should not be ratioed. We are in real danger when exhorting others to principles of basic Christian community incurs backlash. Now you might be thinking that I’m going to exhort those who are kicking against these biblical truths to repent and stop reading articles through their perceived hurts. I’m not. I’m actually going to use one of the beloved phrases of Mr. Leader Man to place the onus for change where they say it ought to be.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership”. That’s what we’ve been told for years. I think that certainly applies in this instance. So I’m going to say that leaders need to labor to rebuild trust…even when trust which others have broken. We have to have a long season of being people of integrity. We need to earn back the benefit of the doubt. And until then, we cannot afford to speak as if we’ve earned such a thing. Our words will continue to be poorly received. 

As a leader I have to be aware of the environment in which I minister. I have to know that the cover has been lifted and the hurt is being exposed. We’re not ministering in a season of scabs and scars but of open and festering wounds. Bruised reeds we should not break.

Yes, there is something to be said for those who are triggered (whether the triggering happens easily or after much circumstance). I am a leader, but I’m also a limping leader. I have my own hurts (some festering). And I have to take responsibility for my triggers and be sure that I’m responding in a godly fashion. But I’m putting more of an onus on leaders. We have to take responsibility for this season we find ourselves in, and we must work to regain the trust which was abused and now forfeited.

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As a side note, nothing I’m saying here is specific to Matt Chandler or Kevin DeYoung. I’m merely using this situation to make the point that we can’t speak as we did 15 years ago. We’ve lost that. It may take years to build back, but it’s worth every bit of our effort.