Being Pro-Family, Pro-Revival and Pro-Prayer
by David Roberts,
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Dublin

I have been invited to the Baptist General Convention of Texas November 11–12. I received my invitation in the mail form a group called Southern Baptists of Texas.

I am a Southern Baptist and I live in Texas so I read the invitation they sent me. (Although I’m a little bit confused as to why a group of Southern Baptists who live in Texas needs editorial advice from someone in Indiana.)

The invitation appealed to me because it said, “Pro-family, pro-revival, and proprayer people are needed… for the annual meeting.” Hey, that’s a fair description of me. I am proud to say that I am very much in support of the family (it’s one of my favorite sermon topics), definitely believe we need a great revival to blow across this state, and I love to pray. I even encourage other members of my church to pray. If I’m pro-anything, it is family, revival and prayer. I’m glad this group called Southern Baptists of Texas knows me so well and wants to be sure that I’m in Fort Worth in November.

This group has even offered me a gym floor to sleep on. That was very thoughtful. Not every Texas Baptist can afford hotel rooms and this is a great way to get more of us “pro-family, pro-revival, pro-prayer” folks there. This gym is even “comfortable.” The invitation points out that there are “separate shower facilities available for the sexes.” That is good to know, especially since everyone there will be pro-family!

However, there are two things about this invitation that puzzles me. First, Southern Baptists of Texas have invited me to be a messenger from my church. Can they really do that? I thought my church had to approve of me being one of its messengers. Perhaps there is some kind of rule I don’t know about that says the SBT can also invite messengers on behalf of my local church.

The second thing that puzzles me is the line about electing “new leaders to set the direction of Baptists institutions, agencies, and ministries.” What happened to the old leaders? Did I miss some important news or something? The folks I voted for last year are, like me, pro-family, pro-revival and pro-prayer. Last time I checked, they were still around and still eligible for another term. I also happen to like the “direction” of our agencies, ministries and institutions. I think it has already been “set” and is about as pro-family, pro-revival and pro-prayer as any direction I can think of!

So while I will accept the invitation by Southern Baptists of Texas to be in Fort Worth, I’m afraid I will do so at the pleasure of my church, and I will vote for pro-family, pro-revival, and pro-prayer candidates who support the current leadership of the BGCT. As far as the gym is concerned, I am still thinking about it.

October 1996