If there were any question about the need for a Great Commission Resurgence and a study of our structure and programs it has been dispelled in the convictions and positions that have surfaced from many prominent voices. It is evident where resistance will come to recommendations from the GCRTF at the convention in June.
Many will be pointing out how the recommended changes will impact what we are doing as a convention—but isn’t that exactly the point! Watch for those who stand to lose entitlements of a system that hasn’t been moving us toward effective engagement of the lost. Dr. Morris Chapman found a receptive audience in speaking to the winter meeting of State Executives last month in passionately pointing out that the purpose of our denomination is not the Great Commission but cooperation.
Apparently it doesn’t matter whether we impact a lost world or accomplish anything else as long as we cooperate together. In fact, it was said that the formula for Cooperative Program allocations must not change. I now understand why for 17 years I and my staff have been meeting with the budget workgroup of the Executive Committee, presenting our required report on funding needs, but nothing is ever done. It is just a meaningless exercise of denominational bureaucracy.
A mighty move of God could open the world for harvest with thousands of missionaries poised to be deployed to the nations, but we could not do anything about it as Southern Baptists. More important than actually reaching a lost world is every entity getting their share. The priority is reflecting our cooperative commitment to all our programs as if everything we do is of equal value.
The above scenario is not altogether hypothetical. God is using global events to open unprecedented doors of opportunity to penetrate previously restricted and unreached people groups with the gospel. War, political disruption, economic uncertainty and natural disasters are turning the hearts of people all over the world to a search for spiritual answers that only Jesus can provide. Thousands of missionary candidates are in the appointment process but cannot be sent.
What our convoluted priorities are practically saying is, “It is better to let the lost multitudes never hear the gospel and go to hell, than change the way our denomination functions.” It is too bad that we have a system in which only two percent of our resources are given to reach a lost world that Jesus died to save. It is unfortunate our denomination can channel only 17 percent of Cooperative Program allocations to international missions because we have to sustain everything else we are doing. We can’t expect to cease a valid ministry, compromise programs that serve ourselves and our own churches in order to provide resources to get the gospel to those who have never heard! That, in essence, is what is being communicated.
One of my exasperations in working cooperatively with other convention entities has been the difficulty in nailing down the purpose of what is being done. On Mission Celebrations, which used to be World Mission Conferences, is a mission event hosted by local associations. IMB, NAMB, WMU and State Conventions all send personnel to speak in the churches, report on what we are all doing in missions, supposedly to enhance mission awareness. Pressing to know if there is an outcome that is supposed to result from this event, I am usually told that the event is an end in itself. Nothing is done that actually enlists and equips the church for missions involvement once the week is over.
Participation in Jericho Weeks at Ridgecrest and Glorieta rapidly declined when it became obvious that this mission week was more about profiling the cooperation of IMB, NAMB, WMU and LifeWay than accomplishing anything that would significantly advance missions. What about annual state convention meetings and associational meetings? Is there any outcome that made a difference, or do we continue to expend time, energy and expense on just being who we are?
Cooperation is about us; it is self-centered, self-promoting and maintaining everything every entity is doing without any concern for priorities or results. The Great Commission is not about us, our programs and sustaining what we have always done; it is about others. It is about a lost world. It is about consolidating our resources and focusing our energies to proclaim the gospel to those who have never heard, to win the lost and see the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord.
I wonder which is God’s priority. Yes, He is pleased with unity among God’s people. He is honored by anything we do cooperatively for His sake. But not to the neglect of His mission! Cooperation is the means through which we work together, not an end in itself. Why couldn’t our cooperation be for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission? Now that would be a quaint idea!
Dr. Rankin,
I believe your message resonates with many Southern Baptists, young and old alike. This really is the issue, which mindset will prevail: the priority of The Great Commission or the priority of the Cooperative Program.
Which is THE GOAL, and which is a tool to reach that goal?
I appreciate your fearlessness, and thank you for your years of serving our Lord through the IMB.
His…yours,
Ken
Self-preservation has been the motive of man since the garden. Perhaps revival will come and change the heart of man.
Thank you, Dr. Rankin, for writing the passion of your convictions!
What timely and needed words Dr. Rankin. I pray that I will repent and be willing to risk for the sake of the world…
I have agreed with much of what Dr. Rankin has said in his GCR series, but I think he’s off-base somewhat in this column.
I would encourage everyone who reads this post to actually read what Chapman said: http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32274
Nowhere in Chapman’s speech was it said that cooperation is more important than the Great Commission. The entire speech simply was saying that cooperation was important, and that it’s important if the SBC is to reach the world with the Great Commission. Why is that controversial?
Dr. Rankin,
Thank you for posting this and being willing to take what may come from supporting the GCR. How sad it is that preserving the status quo is placed so much higher above the call for the nations to be glad. The fact that pennies are spent per person around the world compared to dollars in the US shows how selfish we truly are in keeping ourselves happy.
May be always keep the nations in mind as we make decisions regarding funding, programming, and effort!
Take notice, World! This blog entry was not written by some frustrated seminary student who thinks he has a better way. This was written by a very bold and experienced international church planter and the current head of the International Mission Board. I sat up, took notice, and would have shouted “Amen” (but I work in corporate America and I would have been “counseled.”) Dr. Rankin is exactly right in his assessment of the state of the SBC and we need to stop thinking like a stagnant corporation if the tremendous work by the GCRTF is going to be implemented. Jesus gave us the Great Commission, not the Great Committee, so let’s repent (thank you Jon Akin) and then get to work.
Great word and I agree with your comments. Now what can I, as a local Pastor, do to change the paradigm?
Like the vast majority of Southern Baptists, I agree that our mission MUST be the Great Commission. The issue is, how do we best accomplish our mission. Historically, Southern Baptists have understood that willing cooperation between local churches is the best way to accomplish the Great Commission. My concern with the GCR Interim Report is that it seems to circumvent the role of the local church in planting churches and assessing, developing and equipping church planters. Rather than promoting cooperation of local churches, it seeks to replace their function with national or regional entities.
That is the reality of the proposal as it has been presented. The inferrence is that local associations of autonomous churches have failed in their mission and must have their role usurped by denominational people who know better. I question that mentality. But just because I question it does not mean that I am self-centered, self-promoting or resistant to change. Please do not attempt to paint me with that brush.
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Thank you, Dr. Rankin.
We are praying for a great commission resurgence in our Christian lives, in our church and in all of our cooperation with the SBC. May God’s priorities for the lost in this world become our priorities!
Scott Kelly, pastor/church planter
Christchurch, Boulder County, CO
If the purpose of the SBC is NOT the Great Commission, then what purpose is there in cooperation? What are we cooperating for if not for the fulfillment of the Great Commission? The Church exists for God’s mission. One of the first things that I learned after I became a Christian is that the local church is NOT an end of itself. It is BOTH the end result and the beginning of missions.
The only true end result is the glorification and worship of Christ as savior and God the Father.
Thanks for the kick in the teeth, Dr. Rankin. Orlando should be interesting this summer.
Dr. Rankin,
Thank you so much for your willingness to speak out on this issue. What you have expessed resonates with leaders across our denomination from every generation. We cannot view our processes and programs as a mission, we must be on mission! Every process, program, structure, and policy must constantly be evaluated as to it’s effectiveness in accomplishing THE mission. Your article is a breath of fresh air from a denominational leader in this critical time in our history. Thank you for not simply coasting to the finish line but all out sprinting with your body leaning into the tape!
Co-laboring in Christ,
Vance Pitman
Pastor Drake,
I agree that Southern Baptists believe the local church is the center of the work toward the Great Commission – as it should be. And the GCRTF has certainly tried to make it clear that the local church is primary in the report, or at least that is the take away I get. My only question for you is – do you think the way things work now really represent the local church as the assessor and sender?
I have not seen it done that way, instead it has just been state conventions circumventing the role of the local church.
If the local association and state conventions have not done this in a way that is appealing to the churches and convention, how would you suggest the problem be fixed?
I am hopeful that the decentralization of NAMB will lead to NAMB being a servant to local churches aiding them in assessing and sending.
Just a thought and would love to hear your thoughts on how this could be done best.
Nathan
Thank you, Dr. Rankin! We are at a critical point as a convention…the nations await!
For the Glory of God.
Great article, Dr. Rankin. I agree wholeheartedly. We need to reorient ourselves to God’s purposes in the world. But, I don’t understand how the GCR is doing that. It just looks like some reorganization to me and I don’t really see how it will address the problems that you articulated. My fear is that we will hear a lot of rhetoric about the Great Commission at the convention and then whatever the GCRTF puts forward will pass because no one is against the Great Commission. That would be like being against mom and apple pie.
I agree with you that we need a GCR. But, how will the recommendations of the GCRTF get us there?
Thanks for this article and for your heart for the nations. I pray things will change in the SBC, but I’m not holding my breath.
This blog has been great so far and this article another excellent addition.
Dr. Rankin,
Thanks so much for your words, they are very timely. I can’t speak for all young pastors, but I can speak for myself, as well as give a summary of the opinions of those I have heard comment on the matter. There is a deep desire within our convention to do SOMETHING. Some are bent on maintaing a false status that they feel adds something to our denomination. Others are ready to cut through the red tape, run through the bureaucracy, and take the gospel to the nations. But, praise the Lord, there is also another group who have reached the point where it doesn’t really matter what happens to the SBC, it can change or stay the same, but we are gonna be about the Great Commission, minus the red tape, minus the politics, and minus the fluff.
There are those who understand the value of cooperation, but are going to the nations with or without cooperative program support. There are those within our “denomination” who feel that even if they have to be tent-makers, raise support directly from their church, and/or learn to live with a whole lot less than the modern “western” lifestyle, they WILL be about the Great Commission. As a side note, they also are not that concerned with how the GCR report goes in Orlando. They are praying for a God-sent, authentic revival within the SBC because they love their heritage, but they are not going to allow a committee report to dictate what God has sent them to do.
Brothers, we have to ask ourselves what it is that we are trying to save. I pray that one day we realize that we have nothing to lose! (Think about it). Please don’t hear me ranting against our denomination, but the Great Commission, and our obedience to it, does not hinge upon the GCRTF report. Let’s exalt the name of Christ to the ends of this planet.
Blessings!
Cooperative Program gifts are down and the young “unloyal” member and Pastor have been blamed. One need only read this to determine the primary reasons. SBC Pastors and members are smarter than we are given credit for and we have no desire to charitably fund someone’s office denominational job. That is especially if it is to the detriment of our missionaries, and it is. It’s poor stewardship. The NAMB has been ineffective for decades and everyone knows it. Nobody knows what the Executive Committee’s purpose is. God doesn’t care if the SBC exists or not; only if we are useful to His Kingdom do we have a purpose for cooperative existence. I have one life to give to my Savior; when it’s all said and done what we’ve done to help a denomination survive isn’t part of rewards/losses at our evaluation. Pleasantly surprised to read this today.
My only question is, is that according to the latest budget of the CP…the IMB gets 50% of the allocation already. How can Jerry Rankin say “It is unfortunate our denomination can channel only 17 percent of Cooperative Program allocations to international missions because we have to sustain everything else we are doing.” These figures don’t match.
I apologize for letting this comment stream get carried away without a response, but this was a travel day and I have been out of touch. A word to those following, I am just getting warmed up and will be moving to what I see as some very practical and realistic solutions for getting us back to truly prioritizing the Great Commission beyond just rhetoric. Future posts will offer a win-win for phasing out the cooperative agreements, some suggestions that I feel are essential for NAMB, and how I feel we can double the Cooperative Program!
Matt Wethington, you have asked the winning question–what can I as a local pastor do? The reality is the fact that you and every other pastor and church are the only ones that can do anything. I am encouraged by what I believe the GCRTF will say to the convention and I am confident it will be met with an overwhelming acceptance. However, the convention and denominational entities do not have the capacity for making radical changes except as the local church, led by bold, visionary pastors, assert their authority. I am hopeful that the momentum generated by the GCR will provide incentive for churches to re-create the local association, re-invent the state convention and re-focus the SBC. That’s the only way anything significant will happen. It will not come from the top and denominational bureaurcrats who have a lot to lose.
Keith, you are apparently victimized by the same deception as most Southern Baptists. For every dollar your church allocates to the cooperative program, the state keeps an average of 66%; 34% is sent on to the SBC and the IMB gets half of that which is only 17% from your church’s CP giving. I guarantee that most of the people in the pew think half of what they designate to CP goes to missionary support.
Dr Rankin, I still don’t understand. If that is true, then there is a deception at a high level in our denomination. This info is straight out of the SBC Annual:
TOTAL BUDGET ALLOCATION $205,716,834.00 (100.00%)
WORLD MISSION MINISTRIES $ 149,741,283.47 (72.79%)
* INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD $ 102,858,417.00 (50.00%)
* NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD 46,882,866.47 (22.79%)
THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION MINISTRIES$ 45,586,850.41 (22.16%)
* SWBTS 9,869,277.53 (4.81%)
* SBTS 10,234,743.04 (4.98%)
* NOBTS 9,067,137.17 (4.41%)
* SEBTS 8,540,412.74 (4.15%)
* GGBTS 3,713,996.94 (1.81%)
* MWBTS 3,640,562.61 (1.77%)
* HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES 493,720.40 (0.24%)
ETHICS & RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION $ 3,394,327.76 (1.65%)
GUIDESTONE FINANCIAL RESOURCES -0- (0.00%)
SBC OPERATING $ 6,994,372.36 (3.40%)
LIFEWAY CHRISTIAN RESOURCES -0- (0.00%)
Jim Drake, Alan Cross and others–I don’t think the GCR will speak to the details which are the legitimate concern of many. They can only speak to structure and processes of the convention. They have no authority to speak to state conventions or local associations. However, any solution better open the door to serve, empower, enable and facilitate the local churches. NAMB will never have enough missionaries to plant all the churches that are needed in America. Their strategy better be one to mobilize, train and equip churches to reproduce and multiple!
We will never have enough international missionaries to reach the whole world. Currently we have one for every 1.6 million people. That ratio is one for every 8 million in South Asia! How many of us would want a responsibility of that scope in America? We have been trying to mobilize churches because if 45,000 churches, 16 million Southern Baptists, 12 associations, 42 state conventions become strategically involved in reaching a lost world the task is doable. However, we have been chastised, reprimanded and demeaned because if churches get involved in missions overseas they will divert their financial resources to those projects instead of supporting the Cooperative Program. Many denominational leaders have insisted the church is suppose to evangelize and minister locally but support the denomination to do it for them beyond their local community.
Keith, those figures are only for the portion of CP that makes it to the Southern Baptist Convention. As I said earlier, an average of 66% is kept by the state convention. Local churches send their CP allocation to the state convention where between 45% and 80% is kept and only the remainder is passed on to the SBC where it is divided according to your charts.
I’m not a Baptist but I’ve been following the GCR issues. I’m predicting an end to virtually any cultural significance of Southern Baptist Convention on the North American continent. And given current trends and habits good riddance. The GCR Task Force is completely burring their heads in the sand about evangelism problems right here. It’s always safer for ministry leaders to promote foreign missions rather than deal with their own issues.
According to the Barna Group 80% of Evangelical youth are leaving their faith in their 20’s.
Prominent Southern Baptists such as Dr. Richard Land and Dr. Ronnie Floyd speak of unmarried 20 somethings as if they have some sort of mental or emotional disorder. This send a clear message that unmarried people are not welcome within many Southern Baptist churches.
In a culture which delays marriage now in to the late 20’s the Southern Baptists have been amping up, not lightening up, on the Abstinence Until Marriage dogma.
Power point sermons and shallow theological books such as “The Purpose-Driven Life” have almost obliterated any kind of Biblical literacy Baptists might have had. And the GCR thinks they can send these people out in to the world to preach a Gospel message?
The is a rising tide of anti-Christian bloggers pushing the anti-Christian evidence and asking harsh apologetic questions. Sadly the current batch of ministry leaders are intellectually ill-equipped to deal with with much of it.
Baylor University has completely lost faith in the Baptist Conventions, unanimously selecting Ken Starr from Pepperdine as their President. Pepperdine is probably the most liberal of all theological Universities within the churches of Christ. Ken Starr publicly admits he enjoys consuming alcohol, and Pepperdine alumnus Dr. Neil Clark Warren operates eHarmony which considers the matter of premarital sex to be a “personal opinion” and even set up a clone for the Gay and Lesbian community.
Thanks for sharing your Baptist opinions…please turn out the lights on your way out.
-Scott Nemeth
It is obvious from the nature of the report and the comments that many local associations and state conventions are broken–and I am all for fixing what’s broken. I agreed with Dr. Akin’s original wording in the GCR chapel message. Many parts of our convention are bloated bureaucracies. I am consistently in favor of examining our processes to insure the most effective, efficient use of the resources God gives us. Once again, the question is–how do we fix it? I do not believe that we fix it by the ways that the report proposes. As written, the proposals will produce the following unintended consequences.
1) CP giving will decrease rather than increase
2) Church plant failure rate (already unacceptably high) will increase
3) Congregations will be forced to choose between funding local associations on their own or contributing to CP.
I have detailed some of the reasons I believe this will be the case at http://brushforkbanner.blogspot.com. In the coming days, I hope to show how the perspective of small, successful churches is very different from the perspective of large churches–the perspecitve from which the report was created. The vast majority of Southern Baptist baptisms, discipleship, and CP giving come from small churches. And the vast majority of church planting comes from small churches who partner together within their local associations.
Please don’t take my questions and concerns as “resistance to change”. I do not, nor will I ever question the sincere motives of those who wholeheartedly support the report. I hope that respect is reciprocated througout this process.
Much of what happens in individual SBC associations all across our country is in the spirit of cooperation without a real goal in mind. Dr. Rankin is right in saying that the Great Commission has taken a backseat to I guess a supposed fellowship that frankly is not spreading the gospel fast enough. This is because churches, not necessarily associations (though I don’t rule them out) have ceased to be evangelistic. Sure some are…but they are in the minority. What we have on a national level in SBC politics is only a reflection of what we truly are on a local level. Revival really is what we need. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was anyone to blame but myself? But really it all begins with me and you as individuals. What part of the Great Commission am I disobeying because of some excuse I’m telling God. Whether that excuse is whether or not I keep my job…for the gospel sake…I’d rather lose it.
But I think the BIG question after the annual meeting is going to be. “Ok, now what?” I agree with what Dr. Akin, and others, have suggested. Many have been saying the same thing for quite some time now. However, have we so “Catholosized” our denomination that we have to have the recommendation of a board in order to engage our nation and the world. I assure you brothers, the problem within the SBC is not going to be remedied in a committee meeting. We have a heart problem!! As a result of our heart problem, we have become a bloated, bureaucratic entity that is operating not only un-biblical, but anti-biblical in many ways (we can discuss the neglect of the local church all day long if you’d like.)
What if the folks within our denomination hit their knees in prayer and fasting….not for a rise in co-op giving, not for a “Million More in 2004″ campaign, not for a “Together We Grow,” not for a better church-growth strategy….but for a white-hot passion for the glory of God to fill our hearts and to spill out into the nations, regardless if we are counted as the “largest evangelical denomination” or not? Brothers, I’ll argue that this won’t take place simply because we restructure some office space. SBC or no SBC we need revival!! Perhaps one day we the denomination will come a little lower on our list of priorities.
I appreciate your candor & perspective, Dr. Rankin. I just have a problem with the pro-GCR crowd defining the Great Commission, as found in Acts 1:8, by leaving out “Jerusualem & all Judea” – Know my heart, I believe in International Missions, having taken over 25 overseas trips in the past 15 years. My wife & I went through the process to become FMB missionaries, only to have the door shut because of heath concerns for a newborn child. God calls us all to support & go to “Samaria & the uttermost parts of the earth”. But to think that the money we use in associations & State Conventions is not mission money too, but just to support a “bloated beuracracy”, is at best naive, & at worst, blind. The GC says “Both/And”.
Alan Cross and Jim Drake,
I understand your concerns about the GCRTF report. My question is, given the fact that you believe there need to be changes, if you were on the Task Force, what recommendations would you make? Please offer alternatives. I am sure the TF would consider them.
I love that Dr. Rankin said this:
“The reality is the fact that you and every other pastor and church are the only ones that can do anything. I am encouraged by what I believe the GCRTF will say to the convention and I am confident it will be met with an overwhelming acceptance. However, the convention and denominational entities do not have the capacity for making radical changes except as the local church, led by bold, visionary pastors, assert their authority. I am hopeful that the momentum generated by the GCR will provide incentive for churches to re-create the local association, re-invent the state convention and re-focus the SBC. That’s the only way anything significant will happen. It will not come from the top and denominational bureaurcrats who have a lot to lose.”
This is the key. It must be grassroots driven and there must be re-creation from the bottom up b/c it cannot come from the top down. The GCRTF can only do so much and they cannot mandate what happens at grassroots levels, NOR SHOULD THEY!
One of the issues that keeps coming up is the viability of some state conventions/local associations with the discontinuing of the cooperative agreements. This is a concern if the goal is for each of these entities to continue to function as they have. This is going to be an opportunity for us to re-invent ourselves at every level for better effectiveness in mission.
Dr. Rankin,
I am posting under an “assumed” name and email for security purposes, so I will understand if my comment is deleted.
I usually am able to refrain from posting comments in response to blogs, but your post has me saying “AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN!!!” and I cannot help myself. In my years with the “company” I have often been amazed at how we tend to pat ourselves on the back while really giving very little to M work around the world in comparison to how much we keep and use for ourselves. But for an M to make this point seems self-serving and ungrateful. I do know that many people really sacrifice to support world evangelism. But I am amazed at how many more “believe” they are sacrificing while merely skimming a few pennies off the top to support M work.
When you look at the total amount received by the company each year, it seems like a huge amount. But when you realize that we are using about $300 million to work among the vast lostness of the world while keeping the rest ($1 billion or so?) to maintain our church building programs, elaborate music, youth, senior adult, associational, and convention programs, fancy literature, etc., it reveals our true commitment to world evangelization. I know that sounds divisive and “not nice” but I believe it is the truth. It seems that everything we SBCers do (for ourselves) in the States must always be 1st class; but then we just assume that the overseas work will get by on a little bit of nothing.
I keep hearing how bad the economy is, and our team’s strategy budget was cut by more than 40% this year because of the shortfall. But then I keep hearing my church-going family and friends talk about their new iPhone, new computer, new car, new carpet, etc. etc. It seems that half the 13 year olds in the States have an iphone so they can text each other and play games. Meanwhile, I am wondering how we will keep our team’s $50 mobile phones operating. But most people don’t seem to see the disconnect. Do people really consider one less Starbuck’s coffee each week a “real sacrifice” for missions?
Recently, I was studying the account of the widow’s mite and I couldn’t help but think how we give a little from our vast wealth and consider ourselves heroes as if we have made some kind of sacrifice for missions. Meanwhile, millions languish on the path to hell because they still wait to hear.
It also amazes me when I arrive at some distant hamlet after much prayer, planning, and effort riding buses, trains, and whatever other conveyance necessary only to find that they already have Coca Cola there! This is a place that the Gospel has never been because it was considered too distant, too difficult, and too expensive to get a trained, language-equipped believer there. But a company working to bring profit to its shareholders has somehow found a way to deliver their product before we could come up with the personnel, financial resources, and vision to get there with the Gospel. Shame on us. There are people dying and going to hell who don’t know who Jesus is but who do know what a Coca Cola is.
The priority that our convention places on international missions is reflective of what we really believe about the Great Commission. We brag that we give 50% (or 51%) to international missions, but fail to mention that this pool of money has already been drained for our own at-home interests before it is divided again. Most people in the pew (and probably in the pulpit) have no clue that such a small percentage actually gets to the mission field. Or maybe they do know but believe that’s the way it should be.
If I am told once more than we don’t need money to reach the lost, I think I might fall over. I know that money is not what saves and that it isn’t what we should depend upon. But when someone wearing a $300 suit, driving a $40,000 car, living in a $200,000 house, eating $25 meals, and holding a membership to the local Golf Club that costs more than he gave to missions in the past 3 years tells me that money isn’t important and shouldn’t be our focus, I just want to cry.
Forgive me. I am not as eloquent as you. I am truly grateful for all that has been given for the cause of missions by Southern Baptists. But, let’s get real!!!
God Bless those who give cheerfully and generously. God forgive those who don’t. I need his forgiveness every day! Praise the Lord, He forgives for free!!!!!!!!!!!!
[...] Read this and weep — if you do not weep. [...]
Dr. Rankin said,
“However, we have been chastised, reprimanded and demeaned because if churches get involved in missions overseas they will divert their financial resources to those projects instead of supporting the Cooperative Program. Many denominational leaders have insisted the church is suppose to evangelize and minister locally but support the denomination to do it for them beyond their local community.”
YES! This is exactly right! Our church has helped plant churches in North India over the past couple of years and we have been very involved in disaster relief. But, because it didn’t go through the CP, we have actually been looked down on. It is a long story, but it has been ridiculous. We were even connectd with the IMB for the N. India work amd tried to work with NAMB and other Southern Baptists for disaster relief, but it was too difficult and slow. I applaud all that Southern Baptists do and would love to participate, but they don’t want our participation. They only want our money so that they can do the work themselves. That is what I have found.
As to real solutions for the GCR, you must go grass-roots with pastors. Work with state conventions and local associations to identify the churches that are initiating Great Commission ministry and are being effective. Get them together regionally. Invite other pastors and church leaders into consultation. Have UMB and NAMB representatives present not to sell their programs but to help the local church engage in mission. We have thousands of meetings a year but few of them actually do anything to connect pastors and churches together with the mission. I am fully confident that if the SBC did what I am saying, you would see several thousand churches mobilized in a year to participate in a GCR. The SBC entities would line up to facilitate the work of the churches and let initiating churches lead. If we had 5 churches connect with us or of we could connect with them, it would be amazing. We could accomplish a great deal. That is the GCR that I would like to see, not just a restructuring of entities.
Very well said, Dr. Rankin, very well said! We just sent a young lady to Thailand for 2 years. Have an IMB missionary from Russia speaking here in July. Annually we make trips to Mexico. The world awaits and so does our country. We need to go whether others will cooperate with us in that or not! Cooperation does not trump obedience!
Jon,
There are several programs / entities within our convention that do little to accomplish the Great Commission. Some do far more to promote an American political agenda than the Gospel. There is much fat that can and should be trimmed. There is also a tremendous amount of duplication of effort that needs to be eliminated.
When I first began to read the report, I was in full agreement. Our main denominational problem is a pride problem. The local church is the locus of all denominational activity. Decentralization is the key. AMEN! But beyond the opening paragraphs, those words proved to be just empty rhetoric.
The undeniable truth is that local churches plant successful local churches. Denominational entities rarely do. Historically, the wonderful thing about being a Southern Baptist, is that even small, mission-minded churches with very limited resources can plant churches. And, for the record, the churches planted by small churches partnering together have a FAR better success rate that those planted from outside entities.
A true Great Commission resurgence MUST begin in the local church. It must begin with local churches fixing local associations that are broken. Large churches such as those represented by the members of the GRCTF can exhibit great leadership in this by strengthening and participating in, rather than ignoring or circumventing, their local associations and state conventions. As local associations are fixed by local churches, broken state conventions also need to be fixed. But it must begin in the local church.
Having a GRCTF is a wonderful idea. I voted for it and would vote for it again. But if I had been asked to serve on it (highly unlikely considering the fact that I pastor a small church in a pioneer state) I would focus on trimming bureaucratical fat within our national entities. I would eliminate programs or entities that primarily have a political focus. I would make every attempt to make recommendations that were in accordance with the report’s introduction.
[...] can read his full post HERE. I would also encourage you to bookmark it and check back [...]
As we discuss this report, passions rise and rhetoric can easily become distorted. It is disengenuous to claim that money that stays within state conventions and local associations is somehow selfish and opposed to fulfilling the Great Commission. To those who characterize it as such, while simultaneously maintaining multi-million dollar facilities and payrolls, please stop.
Dr. Rankin,
Incredibly candid and accurate. Thank you for your courage. I posted a link to this on my site: http://chrisaiken.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/latest-from-dr-rankin-regarding-the-gcr/
Praying for God to move mightily!
All this speaks of folks who are devoted to their church, to the SBC, to the State Conventions, to SBC entities, and other such groups. It doesn’t say a lot about those devoted first and foremost to Jesus.
Alan Cross does. He hears the call and goes and plants churches. He has folks in his church and in his circle who are gifted that way.
Amen.
There may have been others in some of the comments, too, but the point is that, when the SBC and the Task Force and all that really put their allegiance in Jesus, perhaps they’ll be able to recognize others in their midst who have, too. Until then, they’re going to be like the Board of Directors of a hospital that has 2/3 of its patients DIE. They’ll fiddle with the budget and then try to figure out how to bring in more patients.
Like that’ll solve anything….
Question: Of the millions of cooperative dollars received each year by the IMB, how much actually goes to directly fund international missionaries? How much goes to actually fund the support structure (read: IMB offices, personnel, meetings for trustees)?
Should not a streamlining and restructuring occur within the IMB itself to free up monies to actually go to fund more missionaries and fully fund ministries of those currently deployed?
I read a recent study (which used convention provided statistics and reports) that demonstrates that only a few cents on each dollar given from an Oklahoma Church actually make it to directly funding an IMB missionary on the field. Is that not wrong?
At the same time…yep, let’s restructure and streamline the rest of the convention’s standard operating procedure.
Dr Rankin, what you’ve written makes me much more interested in staying a Southern Baptist.
Amen Dr. Rankin.
Before pulpits and pews, pastors and preachers,
before deacons and elders and Sunday School teachers,
before flowery Lord’s tables and cross adorned steeples,
there existed a mission for all of God’s people.
Before programs and services, proper methods, proper times,
before music and preaching, our sometimes silly pantomimes,
before “Sunday morning church” and “Wednesday night prayer,”
there existed a mentality, “Anytime, Anywhere.”
Before statements of faith and superfluous vision,
before gallivanting doctrine and convenient religion,
before I follow Calvin or Luther, Peter or Paul,
there existed one Lord with a mandate for all.
Before baptist or catholic, various sects and denominations,
before division and distinction, seemingly appropriate separations,
before the ninety-five theses or even the edict of Milan,
there existed one standard which the church was built upon.
Go and make disciples we still hear our Jesus say,
baptizing them in haste, for tomorrow is today,
in name of the Father, and the Son, and Holy Ghost,
teaching them to obey for He is with us to the uttermost.
So before saying church member, church deacon, church teacher,
church pastor, church apostle, church planter, church preacher,
we advance the words of Christ, the only true visionary,
declaring now and forever more, I AM A GREAT COMMISSIONARY!
Dr. Rankin,
I am so surprised to read what you have written in this blog! I just got through reading the 6 core components delivered by the GCTF and noticed that 3 of the 6 were focused on increasing giving to the Cooperative Program, but not in correcting the stewardship of the CP. In my heart I was feeling everything that you have written and I thank you so much for standing up and speaking out while there is still time to save the SBC! I am a young 33 year old pastor and I am watching the SBC sink before my very eyes it seems and I am seeing virtually everyone in leadership at the SBC continue heading in the same old direction. I don’t think we should crash land a plane that can be adjusted and put back on course. I am a nobody. Nobody knows my name. No one is calling on me to preach at conventions or lead in any area of the convention. God has not placed me in a role where I can help adjust the plane and get it back on course. You, Dr. Rankin ARE in a position to grab the throttle and help get us back on course. Thank you for speaking out and telling the truth.
For many years now, one of the key elements in SBC leadership has been the need to control. What I have heard is that if churches and members have the correct doctrine, then evangelism will follow. Hence the need to control the beliefs and doctrine of those who are members of our group (convention) and the need to make certain that those whom we send out as missionaries have the correct doctrine. This often means that they must have a substantial seminary background in order to present the gospel accurately and adequately. What this says to me is that we no longer can trust the Holy Spirit to mold and shape the life of a new believer, but must present him with a system of beliefs that will insure he has the correct docrinal views.
Historically churches cooperated with each other in order to do a better job of missions at home and abroad. The theory (still valid today) was that they could do more working together than they could working independently. The SBC has proved that over and over again. But as with most institutions, the larger an entity growa, and the longer it exists, the more it turns inward and takes on a directon of self-preservation, often forgetting its founding purpose, or placing that in the background. Add personal agendas and egos to the mix, and you have the quagmire in which the SBC finds itself.
My prayer is that in all of the drama and activities taking place within the Convenion, that the Holy Spirit will take control and lead us through this morass to a renewed commitment to missions all over the world, and that our focus on that goal will brin us together in prayer and renewed efforts to bring a lost world to Christ
Dr. Rankin,
I appreciate the concern you have for the IMB, the Great Commission and funding missions for the future but when is the IMB going to take a hard look at itself and admit some responsibility for some of its own difficulties? Since I’ve been a missionary I have belonged to 3 different regions (Western South America, South America Region, and now America People’s Affinity) yet have basically remained in the same area of South America. How many millions upon millions of dollars have been wasted restructuring, installing fiber optic cables, moving offices from country to country, changing stationary, decals, making fancy new logos, advertisements, moving missionary leadership from country to country and the list goes on.
I also don’t understand the continued push to send thousands of missionaries more when Southern Baptists cannot even support the missionaries that are currently serving with the IMB? Why does the IMB have to be so big? Big is obviously not always better. Are we the only ones trying to reach the world with the gospel? Is it up to us only?
Just so that I’m on record saying this; I support the IMB, I have been fortunate to have been able to be an employee of such a great “Company” and I believe in the need to reallocate missionaries from more reached areas to less reached areas. I am also a supporter of Jerry Rankin. I believe that God is going to continue blessing the IMB but I believe that God is perhaps disciplining not only the IMB but the SBC as well. Are we willing to face that fact? Is the IMB and us IMB missionaries willing to own up to our own shortcomings? I hope so for the sake of the gospel.
Now that everyone is being open and honest I felt liberated to speak a little of my mind.
God bless,
Ricardo (Rick) Martinez
martinezfamily@pobox.com
REAP Ecuador
Americas People Affinity
[...] Dr. Rankin’s Post [...]
James Hunt, you definitely want to stay Southern Baptist. Exciting days are ahead. I am confident that God has blessed and raised up SB in numbers and resources, not to take pride in a being a great denomination but to be His instrument to reach a lost world. If we can turn-around doctrinally and restore our convention to the fundamentals of faith, we can make a radical shift to be aligned with what God wants to do with us in the world!
71% of the total IMB budget goes to missionary support and benefits. Currently a little more than 13% supports a bare-bones staff that manages and supports 5,400 personnel, accounting for financial resources being dispersed to more than a hundred cost centers, providing housing, vehicles, visas, member care, children’s education, medical care etc. as well as keeping Southern Baptist aware of how God is at work around the world. Simple calculation shows the remaining 16% is for funding ministries and work budgets of the missionaries.
Pastor Jim Drake completely nailed it. Whether GCR Task Force members realize it or not, his view (and mine) is much more prominent than they might think. We know that things are broken. But, restructuring and creating different bureaucracies is hardly the way to fix it. Plus, you alienate much of the SBC that has no idea what you are talking about or what this is all about.