Texas Baptists Committed is dedicated to reaching people for Christ through local churches; promoting and defending historic Baptist principles; spreading an understanding of Baptist heritage and distinctives through education; and cooperating with the mission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its related institutions.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

(Originally published on November 19, 2008)

I cannot remember a time before I knew and loved the poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. Frost ends the poem with the words, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

For some reason (probably how Mother raised me; Dad helped also), that poem always touched a deep part of my soul. Very simply, I was raised to think for myself. That manner of living life was modeled for me well, even in a small West Texas town of 230 people. Thinking for oneself means taking "the road less traveled by."

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is now taking “the road less traveled.”

After the Fundamentalists took over the Southern Baptist Convention, they turned their attention to imposing their narrow, exclusionary agenda on state conventions as well. A few state conventions tried to stop it in some ways, but it was only in Texas and Virginia that those efforts succeeded.

During those years, I traveled to many states, encouraging Baptists to resist Fundamentalism for the sake of the Kingdom. More often than not, they labeled me a “troublemaker” who didn’t understand that their states would be different - unlike others, they could co-exist with Fundamentalists while maintaining their freedom. Such naivete ignores the very essence of Fundamentalism - which is a craving for control. Freedom is foreign to Fundamentalism.

Last week, there came more proof that there is no such thing as "working together" with Fundamentalists.

The Georgia Baptist Convention kicked out First Baptist Church, Decatur, because it called a woman - Julie Pennington-Russell - as pastor. Julie, one of my favorite preachers, did a wonderful job as pastor of Calvary Baptist in Waco before going to Decatur. Georgia Baptists thought they could "work with" Fundamentalists. Now they're controlled by them. And now they're denying affiliation to those - like First Baptist, Decatur - who refuse to knuckle under to their control. Well, so much for the bedrock Baptist principle of local church autonomy.

But Georgia isn't alone. The North Carolina Baptist Convention voted to stop allowing churches to give to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship through the state convention, starting in 2010. The motion to deny this basic freedom to North Carolina Baptist churches was made by Eric Page, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Columbus. In making this motion, Page explained that refusing to take a "strong stand" would promote “tolerance” of a group with which most North Carolina Baptists disagree. He further stated that it is time to “put an end to tolerance.”

Yesirree boy, that is the modern Baptist spirit - “my way or the highway!” It used to be that we could disagree and still work together on the things that unite us - such as our love for Jesus and our passion to share the Good News through cooperative missions. But that's not the way of Fundamentalism.

In Texas, however, we are taking the “road less traveled.” Last week, I wrote about my genuine excitement over our election of a diverse group of officers for the BGCT.

But let me assure you of this, Texas Baptists - we will be diverse, cooperative, and effective only as long as traditional moderate, mainstream Texas Baptists stand up and keep our convention free. We need to focus on maintaining cooperation with, and respect for, each other, regardless of our disagreements.

Let Fundamentalists take control, and even the most minimal degree of tolerance and, more importantly, FREEDOM will become only a distant memory. Just ask the Baptists of Georgia and North Carolina.

I totally believe that, in the heat of the battle in the 1990s, we Texas Baptists could have voted to disallow any cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. But that would have not been the right and Baptist thing to do. So we did the Baptist thing - in a spirit of cooperation, mutual respect, and liberty, we voted to allow all of our churches to give as they choose to give to larger Baptist cooperative mission organizations. We voted to follow “the road less traveled” and try to work together despite our differences. Some did not like this “freedom given to all” and started another state convention. May God bless their work.

What I hope and pray that we now have in Texas Baptist life is a convention of churches who all LOVE the BGCT, and its ministries and institutions. . . a convention of churches who will work together to further God’s Kingdom in every way possible, accepting and loving each other despite our differences regarding mission endeavors outside of Texas.

It is the “road less traveled,” but I believe that it is also the road of the future - the road of effectiveness and cooperation and shared leadership and respect. Let others define themselves by what they are against. Let others beat their chests about their refusal to tolerate diversity and disagreement. But let us define ourselves by our visible love for Christ and God-granted liberty, along with a focus on what really matters - showing people that Jesus loves them and giving them an opportunity to respond to His call and accept Him as Lord and Savior.

I seem to remember that Jesus had a few problems with folks who thought they had God all figured out. I think He still has problems with that attitude today. Remember - "For now we see through a glass, darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12) Unfortunately, many prefer control over freedom and cooperation - it's easier to let others tell you how you should think, how you should interpret Scripture, how you should do missions. Control is certainly the road with the heaviest traffic.

But I prefer the “road less traveled.” How about you?