TEXAS BAPTISTS “PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL”
by David R. Currie,
Coordinator

Texas Baptists, meeting at their annual convention, took their cue from the Apostle Paul who wrote in PHILIPPIANS 4:13–14: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

TEXAS 2000, the effort to share the Gospel with every person in Texas by the year 2000, is the goal Texas Baptists are pressing toward. By electing officers committed to supporting the current direction and leadership of the BGCT, Texas Baptists kept their focus on ministry and rejected a turn toward legalism.

Charles Wade was re-elected president by a vote of 4,583, or 66 percent, compared to 2,308 for Rick Scarborough, who had run a campaign publicly criticizing the direction and leadership of the state convention.

Marvin Griffin, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Austin, was elected first-vice president with 68.4 percent of the vote.

Jim Kolb, layman from Green Acres Baptist Church, Tyler, was elected second vice-president with 66.8 percent of the vote.

Wade, Griffin, and Kolb were endorsed by Texas Baptists Committed and had expressed support of current BGCT leaders, institutions and emphases. I do not quote Paul regarding pressing toward the goal lightly. I use it deliberately. Texas Baptists are making a choice to keep “the main thing the main thing.” They are rejecting legalism, exclusion and division. They are keeping their focus on Texas 2000.

Toby Druin, editor of the The Baptist Standard, wrote a wonderful editorial last fall. Druin said: “Seventeen years ago the Southern Baptist Convention was embarking on Bold Mission Thrust, an ambitious plan aimed at, among other things, sharing the gospel with every person on earth by the year 2000. Some of the Bold Mission Thrust goals have been met, but others have fallen short because the convention lost its focus on the ‘main thing’ and has been embroiled in controversy ever since. The SBC has become a house divided, and only God knows what could have been accomplished in His name had we been able to put 100 percent into Bold Mission Thrust and battling Satan instead of ourselves.”

Toby Druin is exactly correct in my opinion. Tremendous damage has been done to the Kingdom of God by the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC. Toby Druin also was correct when he wrote that the “battle lines that will be drawn will force every pastor and church interested in being involved in the convention’s work to make a decision about which ‘side’ to support.”

This is not all bad. Because the decision is about the “Kingdom of God.” Are we as individuals and local congregations going to work to build up the Kingdom or tear it down? Every church will need to make that decision. Jesus forced his disciples to make the same decision.

The “spirit of fundamentalism” is very similar to the suspicious, critical, exclusive, holier-than-thou spirit exhibited by the Pharisees, the religious authorities who were sure of everything, and who constantly plotted against Jesus. If Jesus believed the Kingdom could be accomplished by the Pharisees, He would have cooperated with them. Instead, He fought them publicly and strongly. Should we do otherwise when the Kingdom is at stake?

It is interesting to read Mark, chapters 7 through 12, where Jesus talked about loving God and our neighbor as ourselves while in the same verses criticized the Pharisees in very strong language. Did He consider His words and actions to be “loving?” I would think so. Texas Baptists are “pressing on toward the goal” by rejecting the spirit of fundamentalism, just as Paul did in his own life.

We are pressing on by keeping the “main thing” our focus when others would lead us down another path. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is a Gospel of grace, love, and acceptance. I also am not ashamed to be a leader in the effort against fundamentalism and consider Jesus and His Word to be my mentor. If He considered it loving to fight the fundamentalists of His day, we should follow his example. The Kingdom is at stake. I am grateful Charles Wade, Marvin Griffin and Jim Kolb will be leading Texas Baptists to keep their focus on building the Kingdom and pressing on toward that goal.

February 1997