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Let's Talk
By Jaclanel McFarland,
Tri-Chair TBC

It is an honor for me to serve as one of the three chairpersons of Texas Baptists Committed. I am proud to be an active member of TBC and truly believe we would not have a free BGCT without the work of David, Charles and Charlotte and the many members of TBC.

I also want to thank those of you reading this who gave me the privilege of serving as first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas for the past two years.

It was an exciting time to be in a leadership position for Texas Baptists. I appreciate your prayers and support during my time of service.

As a Baptist lay person I treasure the historic Baptist principle we call the priesthood of every believer. I value the idea that as a lay person, I have both the privilege and the responsibility to think for myself and read the Bible for myself. I believe this principle, which puts the responsibility of ministry on lay persons, is one reason Baptists have grown and are a vibrant denomination. Therefore, it is sad to watch what is happening in the Southern Baptist Convention and see an emphasis on conformity and a deliberate effort on the part of SBC leaders to speak in a monolithic voice for all Southern Baptists. We are losing the right to talk, to think for ourselves and disagree as friends.

Dialogue Discouraged

In the modern SBC we are discouraged from having meaningful dialogue about biblical and moral issues. There is no room for honest disagreement and discussion anymore. The SBC passes resolutions (capital punishment is a recent example) and amends the Baptist Faith and Message to say women may not be pastors and refuses to even entertain the thought that responsible people who love Jesus and the Bible might disagree with their position. This is tragic because we learn when we talk to each other.

Did you notice the statements made by SBC leaders in Orlando about these issues? Hayes Wicker, chair of the SBC resolutions committee said when questioned about the resolution on capital punishment, "Everything we stand for is based on the infallible Word of God."

When asked about the prohibition on women pastors, Richard Land responded, "We don't really have a choice. I'm not in the habit of asking God why he does things...I just say, "Yes, sir."

The fundamentalist leadership of the SBC assumes their position and God's Word are always one and the same, and thus there is no possibility for honest disagreement and discussion. There is no openness to the idea that scripture must be interpreted. There is no openness to the concept of the priesthood of every believer or acknowledgment that we all have a right to read the Bible and think for ourselves.

The attitude of the SBC leadership is creating a climate where no one can talk without being attacked. This is tragic because it would be so healthy for Baptists to have open, free, respectful dialogue on issues like capital punishment, women in ministry or prayer in schools without the fear that someone would say "you don't believe the Bible."

Yet the fact is, I will be attacked by some for even suggesting that we talk about such things and that people who believe the Bible might view all of these issues from a different perspective than the leadership of the SBC. Unfortunately that is the reality in the new SBC.

Any hope?

Is there any hope of meaningful dialogue with the leadership of the SBC? No, none at all. Their attitude is carved in stone. As T.C. Pinckney, leader of the fundamentalist group in Virginia, and the man who brought the motion to create the committee to rewrite the Baptist Faith and Message, said in Orlando, "The Southern Baptist tent should be just as broad as God's word Ñ no broader, no narrower. Scripture, not cooperation, is primary."

What Pinckney means is that he does not want to cooperate with anyone who does not interpret the Bible just like he does.

I will not give my priesthood to T.C. Pinckney, Al Mohler, Richard Land or anyone else. I'll keep thinking for myself and interpreting the Bible for myself out of my relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope that as Texas Baptists we will learn to respect each other and dialogue with each other. Such dialogue benefits everybody and challenges us to rethink our positions and grow. I thought that was part of what it was supposed to mean to be a Baptist.

July 2000