A Statement of Faith

To: Dr. Jon Sapp
Regional Director for the Eastern Africa Region
International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

I thought that before I began to write the enclosed document, it would be appropriate for me to answer the letter that you have written to me containing Dr. Rankin’s letter and the affirmation form. I want to try to include in this letter some of the things that we talked about in our two meetings here at the hospital, as well as some points that I will elaborate on more fully in the following document.

I would like to assure you that I have read and re-read both your letter and the one from Dr. Rankin and that I have prayerfully read and re-read several times not only the letter from Adrian Rodgers that serves as the preamble to the 2000 revised version of the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM), but I have also read and re-read and compared the 1925 BFM and the 1963 BFM with which I am most familiar.

As I told you in our meeting and as I hope you know from working with me these years, I fully respect the authority of the International Mission Board (IMB) and its position as the overseas mission arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

I recognize that these bodies and leaders have every right to know and examine my faith and practice as I seek to lead the lost of Rwanda to faith in Christ alone and to the holiness, righteousness and obedience that stems from that living faith.

As a follower of Christ, it is my job to be ready at any moment to be able to give to anyone who asks me the reason for the hope that I have (1 Peter 3:13).

However, this verse also asks me to do two other things. First and foremost, I am to set Jesus apart as Lord, my only Lord, and I believe this applies to His Word as well. I believe I must make up my mind to evaluate any outside voice or teaching or activity in light of what he has shown me in his Word.

And secondly, I am to do it in an attitude of gentleness and respect. That is what I hope to do in the following pages. However, I do not believe any organization or A Statement of Faith This is a superb letter from an IMB missionary, Stan Lee to a regional leader explaining why he cannot sign the BFMS. It is being made public with his permission, and gives you some insight into the caliber of missionaries being asked to compromise their convictions as authentic Baptists. church or government has the right to try to induce me to sign a pledge of affirmation to any man-made document.

My allegiance is to God’s Holy Word and that alone. I would have no problem pledging allegiance to “... God’s Holy Word, and will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against GOD.”

I have been doing that for a long time. But to pledge to any other document outside God’s Holy Word violates my beliefs as a Baptist and my integrity before God.

Now it may be that you or Avery or Jerry or the members of the Board or directors may feel that this sounds impertinent of me, a lowly veterinarian with no seminary degree, but I am reminded of one of my favorite scenes in one of my most favorite movies, “Chariots of Fire.”

Eric Liddell has learned that the qualifying heat for the 100 yard dash is to be held on Sunday, and he has informed the representative of the British Athletics Committee that he would not be able to participate due to his belief that the Lord’s Day must be set apart as Holy.

In response, the committee “invites” him to meet with them and the Prince of Wales to see if they can find a way to “help” him compromise his beliefs and run the race that he is scheduled to win as they could not go “hat in hand to the frogs” and ask them to shift the heat for them.

The Prince of Wales smiles and explains to Eric, “A matter of national pride you understand, Liddell.”

Eric replies that he thought it was an impractical solution and that he had intended to confirm with the representative that he would not be able to participate “even before you called me in to this inquisition of yours!”

One of the older lords in the meeting is angered by this response and says to him, “Don’t be impertinent young man!” Eric, in a rare flash of righteous indignation replies, “The impertinence, Sir, lies with those who seek to influence a man to deny his beliefs!”

I suppose that would be my response to those who seek to “encourage” me to sign a pledge of allegiance to the Baptist Faith and Message.

I received a letter today from Martha Colwell who tells me she has received a letter from you stating that you have met with us and assured us that signing this document is not the same as signing a creed.

Jon, you have known me for a long time, and I hope you realize by now that I do not allow anyone, pastor or priest or king, relative or friend, to think and decide for me what I will do and believe!

It really makes no difference to me the degrees a person may have or the office they may hold. I know that ultimately I alone will have to give an account of myself before God (Rom14: 12).

Therefore, I myself must be convinced that signing any document written by men apart from God’s Word is not compromising my beliefs in Christ alone as revealed in the Scriptures.

I am not convinced of that. This document and the way it has been produced and used to persecute and pressure those who seek to follow and honor Christ reminds me of the golden image Nebuchadnezzar created in Chapter 3 of Daniel.

Now I am sure that most of the people who fell down before the image did not really worship while they were down there. I am not even sure that was the king’s objective. I think that this pagan king’s objective was essentially the same as those who are pressing this issue— power and dominance. (I know men pretty well since I live where they live!)

He really did not care if they worshiped or not. He wanted control. He wanted power over his people. He wanted them to worship in conformity to what he had decided was right.

I also believe that, for most of the people who fell down, there was no real commitment to this image. I mean they all knew the king, though a great man, was still just a man after all and not a god.

They probably rationalized something like this: “I am sure the king did not really mean for us to take this seriously. The language of his decree seems to indicate that when we hear the music, we are to bow down and worship whatever seems right in our eyes. I am not a king or a leader or a theologian. I am just a simple man. I really don’t know what is the right thing to do, so I will just go along with everyone and trust our leadership to take me in the right direction. I’m sure it will be all right.”

But there were some Israelites who did not see it that way. I am sure there were many Israelites there who used this kind of rationalization to save their jobs and their skin.

But these three Israelites did not do that. If they had, we would never have heard about them for the Bible never tells us about those who go along with the crowd and compromise their faith to save their jobs and their position and their lives.

The Bible only tells us about those who resist the pressure of the crowd and think for themselves and do what is honoring to God. These three got into trouble the same way we missionaries have been brought to trouble, by small-minded contentious little men whispering lies in the hallways and back rooms of power in the SBC. (Dan. 3:8-12)

We do not know who these men are. The Bible does not mention them because they are not important, but they cause the king’s wrath to fall on the three Israelites.

He gives them another chance to sign… (excuse me)… to bow before the image his hands had created and warns them that if they do not sign…(sorry)…bow, he will have them thrown into the fire and “then what god will be able to deliver you from my hand?”

I love the Israelites’ response! (Daniel 3:16-18) “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

I would say that I do not know if the powers behind this will be allowed to remove me from Rwanda. God called me there and has used the SBC as a means of placing me in the place he has called me to serve him.

You know our history. We have had many terrible events and problems and trials that have attempted to remove us from our place of service but have failed.

It may be that the Lord will abandon us to the wishes of these men. I do not know; but whatever he allows, I will not allow anyone to influence me to abandon my trust in Him and my faithfulness to the truth he has taught me.

I have to say that I am very disappointed in the way this has been approached, not only by the leadership in the SBC who seem to have great mistrust of us but also by the leadership of the IMB.

To me, respectfully as I can be, it seems that we are not “leading Southern Baptists” in mission or faith or righteousness; but, in fact, we are following their lead.

As I understand Scripture, when a person or a group of people has something against a brother, the first move to reconcile those differences comes from the offended brother or group.

It is their responsibility to go to the brother, who has offended them, openly and forthrightly, and show their brother where he has wronged them and give him the opportunity to explain himself. Then, if they are unsatisfied, they may go to him again so that witnesses can hear and judge the matter.

If they are still unsatisfied, they are to take the matter before the church as a whole; and only if the brother refuses to listen to the judgment of the church is he to be treated as a tax collector or a pagan. (Matthew 18:15-17)

But we, who have placed our lives and our careers and our futures and our children and even our grand-children and everything we love and cherish on the line for the opportunity to bring benighted souls into the light of Christ, have been treated with contempt and accused like tax collectors and pagans.

We have been accused, not face to face, not openly and forthrightly, but rather in secret, by men and women who, shamed as they obviously are by their actions, remain in the dark breathing out their accusations in whispers and innuendoes, threatening to cut off support but refusing to step into the light and be known.

Dr. Rankin has aided these spiritual terrorists by asking us to promise to live and work and minister in accordance with the Baptist Faith and Message, …which has been re-written 3 times in my lifetime! … rather than in accordance with the living, inerrant, eternally unchanging Word of God and with the wishes of the Lord Jesus Christ who knew us and called us and bought us with his own blood and called us into his service (although I know Jerry Rankin does not believe in a mystical missionary call!).

You can share with Jerry that Stan Lee says that he is very disappointed in him. I also disagree with him that this will put to rest those questions and problems.

People who criticize in secret will not be satisfied if every missionary places his or her hand on his or her heart and pledges allegiance to the Baptist Faith and Message.

Terrorists are never satisfied. Give a mouse a cookie, and he will not be satisfied. He WILL ask for a glass of milk!

Signing this will NOT protect us from charges of heresy behind our backs, and it will NOT disarm those who are trying to divide the SBC. It will ARM them by showing them that servants of God love their ministries and their responsibilities and their authority MORE than they love the Lord who called them. (Job 1:9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.)

And I have learned that whenever you love anything—even World Evangelism —more than you love Christ, that is EXACTLY where Satan will place his finger and push hard.

Mark my words. I may lose my job over this (It is very possible!), but I will maintain my integrity and my commitment to Christ, and my Lord will open wider and more fruitful avenues for service because I did not love the gift he gave me —my call to Rwanda —more than I loved him.

But those who compromise and use semantics to find a way to straddle the fence with these people will lose not only their integrity but, after having preached to others, they themselves will be disqualified for the prize. (1 Cor.9: 27).

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:35-36)

No doubt you will notice that the affirmation page that you sent me is being returned to you unsigned. By now, you should know why I particularly wanted to explain in this letter the reasons I have problems with the two parts of this form.

There are two major problems with this document that I hope the following pages will make clear.

The first part asks me to compare the BFM to my own beliefs and to judge whether or not I am in agreement with it or not and to note any differences. The problem I have with this is that it asks me to be the judge.

It asks me to set the BFM up against my own faith and message and to measure them and to pass judgment whether or not mine measure up to theirs or theirs to mine.

But my understanding is that Christ has not called me to judge others but to judge myself. (2 Cor. 13:5-6)

The committee responsible for the 2000 BFM is responsible to God for what they believe, but it is not my job to judge them or to compare them with myself. (1 Cor. 4:1-5)

My job is not to sit in judgment on another person’s servant (Rom. 14: 4,10) but to discern what is good and what is best and to remember that each of us will give an account of himself before God. (Rom 14:12)

That is why I am spending the time to write this document. There are obviously people who feel that they are called and appointed by God to judge others, and I will let them decide. They can take what I have written here and know that I fully intend to live and conduct myself in line with what you read in these pages. Then they can compare what I believe to what they have written; and, if they are that brave and sure of themselves, they can pass judgment on my beliefs.

I am not afraid, and I am not ashamed of what God has taught me from his Word.

The second part of the affirmation I have already spoken about. I believe it is improper and inappropriate (and it shows a high disregard for the Sovereignty and power of God and his Word) to require Baptists to sign a pledge to any man-made document that is obviously deficient since it has been revised so many times.

God’s word has not changed. Though man concocts new ways to sin and deny God his rights and glory and honor, the Word of God is still current and never needs revision or updating.

It is truth, and that truth applies to all people in all cultures and at all times. God is never taken by surprise by the workings of man’s mind or his evil intent. Therefore, I see no need for any other standard for faith and service and witness. God’s Word has always been enough for me, and it will continue to be enough for me.

Jon, I have appreciated your conduct in this situation. Though I do not agree with your decision to affirm this creed, I know you are in a very tough situation; and I wish I could help carry your load.

But, all that I can do for you is to try to be an example of one who owes allegiance to no earthly organization or document but only to God through Christ and His Eternal Word.

I have only two things to ask from you.

You said that you might pick out statements from various missionaries to read to the Board relating to this problem, and you said that you would do that in such a way that they would not know which missionary had said what.

My request is, that if you choose to use something in this letter or the documents that are attached, that you would not use them without stating that they are the statements of Stan R. Lee of Rwanda.

I am not ashamed of what I have written, and I want them to know that. I am not a fan of criticizing people behind their backs. It is not manly, and it is not Christian.

The other thing I would ask of you is to remember that I am an invaluable asset for you in the Eastern Africa region.

I was never trained to serve the Church or to seek a living from God’s service. I have a skill and a profession, and I have been trained to make my living at it.

As such, you can count on me to always tell you the truth. I will not tell you things just to keep my job or to butter you up for some position.

It is immaterial to me whether I serve Christ in Rwanda or in Texas as long as I know within my heart that I am pleasing to him.

It is not easy to find a man like that in these last days. I trust that you will remember that.

It reminds me of a line in another movie and play that I love and watch over and over: “A Man for all Seasons.” It is the last scene, and Sir Thomas Moore is standing on the scaffold just before being beheaded.

He makes his final statement. “I have been commanded by the King to be brief, so brief I will be. I die the King’s own man, but God’s first.”

It may be that this will turn out to be the end of my missionary career, but I want you to know that if I go, I go as a true Baptist and a true servant of the SBC, but Christ’s first.

ALL FOR CHRIST,
Stan R. Lee, D.V.M.

April 2002