SPECIAL SECTION

PASTORS SPEAK OUT

Editor’s note: This special section includes responses from pastors regarding the 1997 Southern Baptist Convention held in Dallas this summer. Most of the articles are from the pastor’s column in their church newsletter.

David Roberts, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Dublin

Many of you have been asking me about the recent SBC Convention in Dallas, “the Boycott,” and our church policy toward Disney World. My response has usually been something like, “What SBC Convention?” and “You can go to Disney World anytime you want to, provided you’ve got an extra $2,000 lying around. It’s none of this church’s business.”

Let me explain my answers.

No, I didn’t go to the convention (and neither did any Texas pastor that I’ve talked to since then). I have said publicly on many occasions that nothing on the SBC level really interests me anymore. Since the fundamentalists stole the convention from traditional Baptists back in the 80s, there have been profound differences between me and those who lead the convention (well, it’s not just me, but the majority of Texas Baptists feel the same way). When you hear me talk about going to meetings and conventions and serving on committees, etc., I’m talking about the BGCT (state).

Most Texas Baptists still understand Baptist polity and cooperation. I am proud to be a Texas Baptist. On the national level…, well, they don’t want my kind around anymore than I want to be around them (you do realize, don’t you, that neither our BGCT President, Charles Wade, nor our Executive Director, Bill Pinson, had any part on the program. They didn’t even let them say “Welcome to Texas!”). No, I doubt if you’ll ever see me at an SBC meeting.

However, if I had been there, how would I have voted on the much publicized resolution to Boycott Disney? I would have voted against it.

There is a bracelet making the rounds at a lot of youth camps lately that has the initials WWJD on it. It is suppose to remind the wearer of the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” That question helps us make up our minds when faced with an important question. If I ask myself that question while debating the Disney boycott, the New Testament provides some interesting answers.

WWJD about same-sex partners receiving health benefits? He would have lunch with them!

WWJD about gays attending a family oriented theme park? He would sit down on a bench and share a coke and corny dog with them!

WWJD about a company that has betrayed its family oriented roots and the American family? He would befriend the leadership of the company and seek to change their lives! He would have dinner with Michael Eisner!

I know that my answers may not be very popular, but I think they are very biblical (Matthew 9:11, Mark 2:16, Luke 5:30, 19:5) In fact, the only time Jesus came close to anything resembling a boycott, He was dealing with religious folks in the courts of the temple. When it came to caring for and ministering to high profile sinners, He seemed to enjoy their company.

Hey guys, I am as disgusted with Disney as the next guy. They have let us down. However, I am also disgusted with companies that burn the rain forest, do research with fetal tissue, and sponsor the TV show “NYPD Blue.” I don’t like all those companies that try to appeal to my male hormones in order to sell trucks and athletic equipment. I don’t like businesses that sell alcohol or lottery tickets. In fact, there is a bunch of stuff out there that I think is wrong and is hurting my family. Is there anyway I can boycott all of it? I doubt it.

Why single out just one company? What about the question about our church policy towards Disney? Let me remind you that policy in a local Baptist church starts right there, in the local Baptist church. Baptists have traditionally fought any kind of thinking that said that policy started at the top (denomination) and worked its way down. It always starts at the local level. In other words, there is no ecclesiastical body anywhere that can tell a local Baptist church what they can or cannot do or what they can or cannot believe. We (the local church) decide that for ourselves. Some of you know that I recently stood up for my friend, former Round Grove Pastor, Steve Harmon, for stating to the SWBTS Trustees that having a woman as a pastor was a local church issue.

THAT’S A BAPTIST ANSWER IF I’VE EVER HEARD ONE, yet it cost Steve a job. Regardless of what you may think about women in the ministry, Baptists have always believed that those kinds of decisions are to be made by the local church, not by any denomination, convention or association.

Unfortunately, those who now control the SBC must have been sleeping that day in Baptist History class, for they act like they can dictate our theology and philosophy (and that’s why most Texas Baptists want nothing to do with them!). But to answer the question you really asked, no action taken at the SBC Convention can have any binding effect on our local church. Period.

So what should you and your family do about this boycott thing?

Vacation—Well, if your idea of a vacation is to go into debt for the next twelve months, then go to Disney World. As far as me and my family, vacations are suppose to be a time to relax, change scenery and make memories. I don’t have to spend three months’ salary to do that. What good is a vacation if it just creates more stress trying to pay for it? Most parents spend lots of money on fancy vacations saying that they are doing it for their kids. In reality, most kids would just rather have mom and dad home a lot more during the other 51 weeks of the year.

Movies—Any movie that is viewed in your home (by children, teenagers, or adults) needs to be carefully considered. Our choices for entertainment, including those offered by Disney, are full of inappropriate language and scenarios. Instead of just worrying about the possibility of a 5-year-old picking up on a sexual innuendo in “The Lion King,” let’s express some real concern about a 13-year-old hearing and seeing two people talk about having sex on the TV show “Friends.” I think the negative impact will be far greater on the teenager than on the preschooler. The point is, what we see in the movies and on TV needs to be monitored not just when we are 5, but when we are 13, and 18, and 25, and 47, and even 63.

Business—Some people won’t buy milk at a store that sells lottery tickets. Some people will not eat out at a place that sells beer. Some people will not watch ABC News because they are owned by Disney. That’s fine and good. (I canceled my AT&T Visa card because AT&T called me once a week during dinner!)

We all have a right to make a statement about our beliefs. We all need to be willing to take a stand for our convictions. However, before you completely remove yourself from this world, let me remind you that we are to be salt and light. If you keep the salt in the saltshaker and the light in the closet, how will the rest of the world even know we are here? (Matthew 5:16)

Jerold McBride, Pastor, FBC, San Angelo

The SBC is determined to destroy the WMU! This year in Dallas, the Southern Baptist Convention competed with the Woman’s Missionary Union’s annual meeting by sponsoring an “alternative” meeting for women which targeted pastor’s wives.

If any group should be involved in Woman’s Missionary Union it should be the wives of our pastors. The alternative meeting drew 3,000 and only 500 attended the WMU gathering. An indication of the ignorance of current SBC leadership concerning WMU was voiced by Jeana Floyd, planner of the new meeting and wife of Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC Pastor’s conference. When asked if she were concerned that her meeting might compete with the WMU meeting, she said, “I didn’t even know they were meeting at that time.”

The WMU has met for decades at that time. But fundamentalists, who now control the SBC, are unhappy with the WMU because it refuses to be “hard wired” into the SBC, in the words of Adrian Rogers, an arch fundamentalist leader. It is a sad day when denominational politic and power take precedent over missions. But thanks to Texas Baptists and many like them in other states, the missionary work of Woman’s Missionary Union will continue to prosper!

Gary D. Baldwin, Pastor, FBC, Fort Myers, FL former pastor in Arlington, TX

The Baptist heritage has been, and should always be, MISSIONS and EVANGELISM!!! I was reared in a church that gave 24% of every dollar that was donated to the church to missions through the Cooperative Program.

I went to a Baptist college. Baptists help underwrite much of the cost for my ministerial training on both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. As a pastor I led five Baptist churches each to more than double their mission giving and evangelism efforts. Baptists believe in sharing the gospel and doing missions. That is our strong point. We have never been known in religious circles as doctrinally profound people. Outreach and service have always been what characterized us.

In the early 1970s Baptists visualized, planned and began implementing Bold Mission Thrust, a strategy to share the gospel with every person in the universe by the year 2000 A.D. With the media technological advances, this was within the realm of possibilities.

However, in 1979 at the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston, Texas, Baptists were hijacked. Our heritage and our vision were stolen. The Great Commission, which Jesus Christ left all His followers just before the Ascension, was replaced with a cry for doctrinal unity.

Many moved from following the directive of our LORD, “go and make disciples of all nations,” to fighting over the issue of who believes the Bible the most, which was only a mask for grabbing at power and control of buildings, budgets and personnel.

Baptists left their roots of MISSIONS and EVANGELISM for the practice of partisan politics within the guise of doctrinal cleansing. Remember, what is called political debate in the convention or the courtroom is often no more than verbal abuse within the family setting. Baptists moved from the priority of sharing the gospel of Jesus to assassinating one another for places and positions of power.

When the vision which God has given is gone and the Spirit of God which is holy has moved away, we find Baptists fighting with their best secular friend in all the world, Disney. No longer do I hear Baptists speaking of a great vision for reaching the universe.

I do not hear of a profound strategy to share the gracious gift of God with the lost masses. I do not hear Baptists speaking of “loving their enemies,” “going the second mile,” nor “turning the other cheek.”

I do not hear the stories of the Prodigal Son who can come home. I do not hear of the Good Samaritan who helped those who were hated by their fellow countrymen and left to die by the religious priest and Levite.

I do not hear Baptists speak of “eating with Publicans and sinners” as Jesus did. No, the love which Jesus showed and shared and passed to his disciples seems to have been replaced in too many Baptist circles since 1979 with the same old concern for orthodoxy and doctrinal purity of those white-washed sepulchers of Jesus’ day.

I am quite familiar with the texts of Leviticus 18 and Romans 1 which clearly state the biblical instruction for what is considered “alternative life-styles.” I absolutely adhere to the instructions given in those passages. I also adhere to the passages that teach “love your neighbor as yourself” even when that neighbor is a “Samaritan.”

I simply think that Christians should be thankful that secular companies provide medical insurance for employees and their families. Surely, there is not a Christian who really does not want a fellow human being (made in the image and likeness of God) to be covered by medical insurance. I thank Disney for the Nights of Joy when Christian musicians come and tens of thousands of youth go to Disney World to hear the gospel of Christ shared through music.

I am one who still proudly wears my mouseketeer cap with the big black ears. I thank God that many Americans and even those from other countries have healthy, safe, clean amusement parks to visit. No, those parks aren’t heaven, but dear friend, neither are our churches. Baptists, my heart is broken for you! I want to go back to my roots, but they have been cut away from me. I long for the days of Bold Mission Thrust and all I find is fighting with Mickey Mouse. Baptists, where have you gone? Please wake up to the loving call of our Eternal Father.

Winston L. Coones, Pastor, FBC, Nixon

I don’t agree with the present leadership of the SBC and I haven’t for the past nearly two decades. But there is one thing I can’t accuse them of, inconsistency, at least on one issue. The leadership of the SBC has always been consistent in their arrogance and egotism in relating to those who disagree with them.

This latest fiasco concerning the resolution to boycott Disney is just another demonstration of their arrogance and egotism to attempt to control by threat and intimidation. With this resolution at the SBC they are saying to the sinner and to the world that the only thing they understand is threat and strong handed tactics.

My experience, however, is that no one was ever forced or intimidated in to the Kingdom of God. I certainly was not! People will be persuaded by the grace and mercy of God. That’s the way it has always been in spite of the consistent arrogant and egotistical maneuvering of so called Baptist leaders.

Dan Curry, Pastor, South Oaks Baptist Church, Arlington

Southern Baptists made the news again last week as we met in Dallas for the Southern Baptist Convention. The close proximity made attending the convention easy for me and so I made a commitment to attend as many sessions as possible. This year, as in years past, there were some positive moments and negative moments for me

. The issue which caused me the most grief was the approval by the convention of the resolution to boycott the Disney corporation. I am very much aware of many worldly evils in the Disney corporation and the Disney affiliate corporations including ABC and Miramax. However, your world does not understand this resolution against a company who for over forty years has been one of the only corporations doing anything pro-family. They are still the leading corporation for family entertainment.

Once again Southern Baptists have taken our focus off lifting up Jesus, to casting stones at the sinners in our world. I am sorry for any damage this may have caused you in being a witness in your world.

As for me, I do not plan on participating in this boycott. I do intend to try to do something positive and at the same time take a stand in the areas where I believe we must take a stand. Let me encourage you to do the same. Write the Disney Corporation and share with them the decisions, policies and productions you find offensive. In order to be heard, please include a word of praise for the productions and other entertainment venues you find acceptable and pro-family.

Mark Newton, Pastor, Baptist Temple, San Antonio

The Church of The Nazarenes met in San Antonio last week to hold their convention. Twenty-four thousand Nazarenes spent the week conducting business while at the same time involving themselves in community service. The San Antonio Express-News carried pictures and stories of members of the Nazarene impacting our city. The cause of Christ was portrayed in a positive manner and surely lives within our city were affected in tremendous ways.

This week, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will hold their annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. In and around Louisville, the following mission activities will occur: A missionary home for an inner-city African-American congregation will be built; painting and community clean-up will occur at the public housing neighborhood and community gardens; creative arts will be taught to inner-city children along with back-yard Bible clubs; six new homes will be constructed in a Habitat for Humanity building blitz.

Last week, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Dallas. Business was conducted and some evangelism took place in the streets and neighborhoods around the convention center and Mickey Mouse was attacked. What a glorious testimony for Southern Baptists! While Southern Baptist Convention messengers basked in their pious, pompous spirituality, the world scoffed and laughed. The most tragic event from the Disney fiasco is once again the hordes of lost men and women who laugh at the established church and Christianity as a whole. Those who are spiritually empty and striving to find hope, salvation and compassion walked further away from Christ disillusioned and lost.

Now let me clarify, I do not condone the Gay Pride Days at Disney, nor do I choose to watch the ABC TV sitcom, Ellen. I also do not agree with benefit programs for partners of gays and lesbians, however, hundreds of companies do this as well.

But is a boycott of Disney the answer? I THINK NOT. Think of some of the ramifications. If you choose to boycott Disney, then get rid of every Disney movie in your home. Remember, every one! Also go ahead and cancel those reservations to Disneyland or Disney World. Next time you go to the mall, don’t you dare get caught in the Disney store.

The new Disney movie, Hercules, will soon be on the screens but don’t take the grandkids lest you break the boycott. Good Morning America, Regis and Kathie Lee, and All My Children - so long, goodbye. Dinner Theatre should have the largest participation ever during our practice on Monday nights because ABC Monday Night Football will be off limits to Southern Baptists. Southern Baptist Convention Messengers—you really thought this one through, didn’t you?

If you are intent on boycotting something (which never really works anyway), why don’t we boycott something that matters? The Texas Lottery is robbing our citizens of millions of dollars. Those who most need the money to buy food for families and formulas for infants are throwing away their paychecks every week in hopes of winning Cash 5 or the big lottery.

On and on I could go. The Disney boycott may very well be the most ignorant message Southern Baptists have ever sent out and in recent years there have really been some ignorant messages, but this tops them all!

Thank you, Church of the Nazarene, for your ministry to our city. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, keep up the good work when you meet each year in your annual convention. Southern Baptist Convention, wake up before the laughter of other Christians and the cries of the lost totally overtake us. God help the Southern Baptist Convention and grant Baptist Temple wisdom as we continue to find our place within the fractured denomination.

Charlie Johnson, Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Lubbock

“I am never more embarrassed, ashamed, and aggrieved as a Baptist than when my beloved denomination meets every year, chiefly because the unbeliever in our city who knows nothing about our church other than we are Baptist, knows no better but to conclude that we, too, at Second Baptist, are in full cooperation with the intolerance, cruelty, mean spiritedness, and condemnation that have become the primary features of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Jerold McBride, Pastor, FBC, San Angelo

Our most enjoyable SBC week since the fundamentalists took over was spent on the coast of Georgia, 1021 miles east of Dallas where the convention was being held. What I had erroneously billed as a dog and pony show turned out to be a Mickey Mouse event. I agree with Toby Druin, editor of The Baptist Standard, that Jim Henry’s way would be a better way than a boycott. Jim suggested that it would be better to show the Disney people that Christians may not like their behavior but still love them as people made in Christ’s image and have something better to offer.

.00079 percent of Southern Baptists do not speak for 15.7 million fellow Baptists. The longer the fundamentalists are in control, the more embarrassing it is to be identified as a part of them. As any other Bible-believing Christian, I do not approve of any form of homosexual life-style. I also do not approve of selling alcoholic beverages, sexually oriented advertisements, etc. But if I resorted to boycotting, where would I buy groceries and to what newspaper could I subscribe? Even our local paper runs some rather provocative night club ads!

But we are dealing with a peripheral matter. This Disney issue is but a symptom of the SBC’s fundamentalist mentality that loves to dictate and control others. Any real Baptist will have none of that! This is one reason some young fundamentalist pastors have such tenures. They are taught they are the rulers of the church. To object to this mind set is to be excluded from any place of service. There was a time when I served on the SBC Committee on Committees and a SBC commission, but not anymore. I dared to speak up against the destructive forces of fundamentalism.

Every one of the 19 Texans elected to SBC posts that I know are identified with the SBC fundamentalist crowd. The two Texans elected first and second vice presidents are strong fundamentalists and could not be elected to any such position in the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Other evidences of a convention gone awry were the insistence on a 6,000 year old world created in six 24-hour days and the SBC seminary president’s signing yet another covenant.

I am glad I am a Texas Baptist and a member of the First Baptist Church of San Angelo. Both believe in the priesthood of the believer and neither of these are under the control of the SBC!

Mark Waters, Pastor, Western Hills Baptist Church, Fort Worth

Throughout our relatively short history, Baptists have managed to allow disagreements and splits to divide them into numerous groups. Just a small sampling includes: General Baptists, Particular Baptists, Regular Baptists, Separate Baptists, Foot-Washing Baptists, Non-Foot-Washing Baptists, Two Seed in the Spirit Pedi-Predestinarian Baptists, American (Northern) Baptists, Southern Baptists, National Baptists, Cooperative Baptists and The Alliance of Baptists.

Perhaps we could now add Disney Boycotting Baptists and Non-Disney Boycotting Baptists. If anyone asks (they probably won’t), you can tell them that I am a member of the General, Separate, Occasional-Foot-Washing, Cooperative Alliance of Non-Disney Boycotting Baptists. (By the way, I do wash my feet regularly. Only twice, however, has someone else washed them as part of a worship service.)

Based on the feedback I have heard, many of you were just as embarrassed and disgusted as I was with the recent Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas. Regardless of one’s position on Disney or homosexuality, the message radiating from the SBC annual meeting is diametrically opposed to the spirit and attitude of Jesus. They tout biblical inerrancy, yet treat people in a manner which is alien to Jesus who is the center of biblical revelation. Many SBC leaders are contemporary examples of the first century scribes, pharisees and other religious leaders who opposed and sought to destroy Jesus.

This past week, therefore, my relief about not having to attend the SBC was equaled by my joy about being able to attend the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Louisville. Thank you for providing the time and money to allow me to go to the CBF meeting. There I found Christian warmth and fellowship which reminded me of the bond we share at Western Hills.

I guess you can forget the General, Separate, Occasional- Foot-Washing, Cooperative Alliance of Non-Disney Boycotting Baptists. I am just a Christian who gladly affiliates with the CBF, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Tarrant Baptist Association, and most importantly, Western Hills Baptist Church.

September 1997