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My experience with denominational meetings

In my experience, denominational meetings have been boring at best and irritating at worst. I was in seminary when the conservative resurgence began. For me, being a Southern Baptist has largely meant being a part of the bickering family. Family reunions have not been much fun.

This is not to say that we did not have some problems that needed to be addressed. Those who claim that we never had any theological problems and this was all political need to get out more. If you had traveled with me over the last 20 years, you would have a different perspective. I remember talking to a guy in Florida about this. He was a diehard moderate. (Note to non-Southern Baptists: moderate is Baptist-speak for liberal. No one in Baptist world will claim to be a liberal. As far as we will go is moderate. So, moderate, in Baptist world is the opposite of conservative.)

The guy in Florida I once talked to was a moderate. Make that MODERATE. Always curious, I decided to ask him some questions. I had heard there were moderates that didn’t believe the miracles of the Bible actually happened. I decided to ask him about this.

“Do you believe the miracles in the Bible took place?”

“Which miracles?”

I thought this was a fairly easy question.

“Pick one. The feeding of the 5000.”

“Was it 5000, or was it 4000? Because, if you say there were two miracles, you are just an idiot.” (You will see in a moment that he didn’t actually believe the feeding of anybody took place. But he was absolutely convinced that this feeding, which didn’t take place, only happened once. There seems to be a bit of a problem in logic here. How could you be sure that a feeding that never happened didn’t happen twice in slightly different ways, once with 4000, and once with 5000? I decided not to chase that rabbit.)

“Okay, the feeding of 4000 or 5000—did it actually happen?”

His answer was quick, and matter-of-fact: “No.”

I wasn’t in an arguing mood, I was in a curious mood, so I decided to see just where this was heading. “What about the rest of the miracles? Did they actually happen? Let’s set aside the resurrection for the time being, and only talk about the other miracles. Did they happen more or less as they are recorded in the Gospels?”

“No.”

“So, not counting the resurrection, you don’t think any of the miracles recorded in the Gospels actually happened?”

“I don’t think it matters.”

The conversation spiraled downward from there.

I don’t think it makes any sense for me and a guy like that to be in the same denomination. It doesn’t make any sense for us to put our money in the same bank and pay missionaries from that account. We won’t want to hire the same candidates as missionaries. It doesn’t make any sense for us to try to work together toward the cause of theologically educating the next generation of preachers. We are just too far apart.

I have had enough conversations like this to convince me that we have had some theological problems. It is not all political.

However, I don’t think the problems are near as common as some would have us to believe. The story above is quite rare. We are like a family that has burned down the house when a mouse trap would do. It is no longer thrilling to be a part of the army called Southern Baptists. To be Southern Baptist in my generation has not meant what it was in my parents’ generation. It has not meant, “Like a mighty army, moves the Church of God.” It has meant being a part of the family that was bickering one day and sleepy the next. We have paid too high of a price for theological purity.

“Too high a price?” You protest. “How could you ever pay too high a price for theological purity? What matters more than the truth? If we don’t stand for the truth, we don’t stand for anything! If you don’t stand for truth, you will fall for anything.” I’ve heard it all before. It is possible to pay too high of a price, even if you are going after a good goal.

There was a tragic accident in El Paso Airport a few years ago. We have horrible winds out West. Perhaps you’ve seen those westerns where the dust was blowing and the tumbleweeds were tumbling. That is pretty much our reality every spring.

A baggage handler on a Southwest Airlines plane was loading bags on a windy day. The wind blew his hat off and he reached down to grab it. Just as he did, a gust of wind pushed it beyond his grasp. He took another step, and the wind puffed again. He kept chasing his hat.

Let me ask you a question. Is it a good thing to pick up your hat if it falls? Of course it is. Is it a good thing to chase your hat if the wind blows it across the tarmac? Of course.

At some airports they have taken the safety precaution of painting a large cone onto the tarmac. When a plane is at the gate, this cone will set just in front of the engines. It is a danger zone, and it is quite large. This is the area from which those massive jet engines draw their air. Anyone standing in this area when the engines fires up runs the risk of being sucked into those engines.

On a windy day in El Paso, a baggage handler’s hat blew into that area. That mighty turbine sucked up his body and blew out the remains on the other side. What a tragedy. It is a good thing to go after a hat. But, it is possible to pay too high a price to retrieve a hat. It is possible to pay too high of a price to pursue a worthy goal.

I thought about that day a few weeks later as I walked by that gate. You could still see the blood-stained tarmac that used to be a man’s body. All that was left was a huge stain of blood behind the place where that engine stood. It is possible to pay too high a price in pursuit of a worthy goal.

I am a theological conservative who recognizes we had some problems in our denomination that needed to be addressed. If liberalism took root and grew, it would ruin our denomination. Those who were concerned were right in being concerned. But, from where I sit, the cure was as bad as the disease. We are like the doctor who said, “The surgery was successful. Unfortunately, the patient died.”

I dream of a denomination where denominational meetings are not boring. I dream of a denomination that is not about bickering and fighting and politics. I dream of a denomination that is about being on mission for God together. I dream of a denomination where young people will gladly lay down their lives to serve the cause of the body of believers. I dream of a denomination where I couldn’t wait to attend the next meeting and find out about the latest victories. I dream of a denomination where I couldn’t wait to learn the latest strategies. It is true in some places. Why not here? Why not now? Why not us?