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Trends, Trials and Triumphs

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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

(July 27, 2010)-The following is a transcript of my final address to the IMB Board of Trustees last week in Richmond, Virginia.

A time of transition is a time to look back and reflect on the rich legacy of our past, to celebrate the present and to renew our vision for the future. Enough has been said about the past in IMB reports and commendations on the occasion of my retirement. I give God the glory for the growth and global impact we have seen; it far exceeds what any of us would have imagined just a few years ago. However, being in a position to have a global overview has given me some insight regarding possible trends, trials and the triumph of the future.

I am not a prophet and do not have the ability to discern the future, but being in a position to have a global overview of what God is doing around the world, I have been able to recognize the trends of a dynamic world of accelerating change that will radically impact how missions is done in the future. In the 1980s we had a Global Strategy Group that was responsible long-range planning. These were the visionaries and strategists who attempted to anticipate the future. Yet as they outlined goals for the end of the century, no one envisioned the possibility of missionaries in what was then the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. No one even dreamed that one day we might have personnel back in China. Our tendency is to become entrenched in current realities; the result is to become marginalized as global paradigms change.

As we forecast and develop scenarios based on what the world could look like in the coming years, consider these possible future realities:

Categories : GCR, IMB, Leadership, SBC, missions

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Make Disciples!

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Monday, July 12th, 2010

These final months leading up to my official point of retirement have been times of reflection on my personal pilgrimage and the amazing things God has allowed me to be a part of. It has been awesome to be in a position to have a global overview of what our sovereign God is doing around the world these last 17 years. However, the fondest memories go back to our initial years in Indonesia before God led us into a sequence of leadership roles.

We were assigned to church planting on the eastern tip of Java in an area of 5.5 million people, several hours from other missionary colleagues. Each year as we gathered for our annual mission meeting, each one would report on their work. It was a time of celebration as each missionary unit shared testimonies of the churches that had been planted, the number of new believers baptized and new mission points opened. Reports flowed into discussion as we shared methods and learned from one another.

I’ll never forget the year one of my smart aleck colleagues asked each church planter following their report, “How many disciples did you make this year?” It wasn’t an easy question to answer. I knew better than to suggest the number was equivalent to those who had been baptized. In fact, I’m not sure any of the typical church members gathering to worship in village house churches demonstrated Christlike character and kingdom attitudes I would identify as a disciple.

Categories : Discipleship, GCR, IMB, missions

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Did Anything Really Happen?

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Monday, June 21st, 2010

What’s wrong with this picture?

All afternoon messengers to the SBC attentively followed the debate, passionately concerned about the outcome of recommendations by the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. It was the highest attendance in eight years and a clear majority endorsed changes that should enable us to impact lostness across America and around the world.

Yet, that night as the time for the IMB report approached it seemed that half the convention center exited. Did they really not care to hear what was being done to reach unengaged people groups and celebrate the impressive response to the gospel being seen overseas? Are they unconcerned about what their missionaries are doing as they go out on their behalf to labor in threatening and hostile areas to fulfill the Great Commission? The next night’s attendance of those hearing the North American Mission Board report was the sparsest crowd of any session.

Categories : Executive Committee, GCR, IMB, NAMB, SBC, missions

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The Morning After—Reflections on the SBC

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Thursday, June 17th, 2010

The last three days have been a blur as a whirlwind of events were interspersed around marathon preaching and SBC business. Late night fellowship and breakfast appointments made for short nights. But who came to Orlando to rest? Being a part of historic convention developments were secondary to the joy of once-a-year uniting with friends, greeting former classmates and meeting multitudes of new acquaintances.

The rumors and intrigue sweeping the corridors stimulated more interest than reports and actions voted by the convention. What was going on for so long behind the closed doors of the Executive Committee in consideration of electing Frank Page as EC president? Would the GCR Task Force recommendations be derailed and divide the convention? Who would prevail among a diverse group of candidates to become the new SBC president? Would adoption of the GCR report really destroy the Cooperative Program?

Being my last convention as IMB president was a humbling experience as the accolades and commendation flowed profusely. While some are probably glad to see my tenure come to an end, most seemed genuinely appreciative of the leadership we have provided for 17 years. It is hard for me to put my finger on anything I have done. God has allowed me to serve at a time when He chose to move in providence and power to advance His mission around the world. I am grateful He has a niche for Southern Baptists, and that I could have the privilege of challenging and serving Southern Baptists during these years.

Categories : Executive Committee, GCR, IMB, NAMB, SBC, missions

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Are We There Yet?

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Monday, June 14th, 2010

It is the incessant question my kids would ask on a road trip—one that I am sure I asked my dad when I was a child. We would have barely started and perhaps stopped for gas. Someone would say, “Are we there yet?” not comprehending what the full journey entailed in reaching our destination.

There is a clear destination in regard to our mission task. It is for the gospel of the kingdom to be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to every nation. Jesus launched us on that journey more than 2000 years ago; He described what the destination would look like when we arrived—disciples made from every tribe, people, tongue and nation. Whatever your concept of how that journey is linked to eschatology, it is one we should be pressing forward to complete.

A lot of progress has been made toward that destination in recent years. Historians and researchers agree there was more advance in global evangelization in the last decade of the 20th century than the previous 200 years of modern missions since William Carey went to India. Yet we have seen global events provide unprecedented opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission since we entered the 21st century.

The IMB has been able to report impressive statistics of double-digit church growth rates and escalation in the number of baptisms on mission fields around the world. We have seen more than a thousand unreached people groups engaged with a Christian witness in the last 10 years. But the only real measure of our missions task is in terms of the remaining lostness yet to be penetrated with the gospel.

Categories : GCR, IMB, SBC, missions, spiritual warfare

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Anticipating the SBC

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010

During our years on the mission field we usually served in assignments isolated from other missionaries. It wasn’t because we couldn’t get along, but it was a part of a strategy to disperse the limited personnel as widespread as possible to share the gospel. Our family lived five hours from our nearest colleagues, so face-to-face communication was infrequent.

This was before the days of email and working telephones in our Third World country, so occasional newsletters and mail from others were relished as we absorbed information about what was going on throughout our mission organization. We often disagreed with decisions reported by our executive committee and readily dashed off angry, reactionary letters. It wasn’t unusual to get into a prolonged argument through mail with fellow missionaries over strategy or use of subsidy. There was competition and often a feeling of being short-changed in the disbursement of limited budget resources.

The feelings and strained relationship would build through the year until we all gathered for our annual mission meeting. Arriving at our meeting location, we would pile out of the car hugging and greeting those we had not seen for 12 months. Our children would run and play with MK friends, delighted to be with American playmates who spoke English. Singing praises together in our times of worship seemed to bring the Lord into our midst. We prayed and interceded for one another in intimate prayer groups as people unburdened themselves with transparent vulnerability; it was a fellowship that bonded us together in a common task and restored our spirits.

Conflicts? Disagreements? Feelings of being neglected, uncared for? They all dissipated once we were together. Issues that had generated angry letters became trivial in the context of our fellowship and communication. The shared passion of a common call superseded anything that threatened to divide us.

Categories : GCR, IMB, SBC

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Rhetoric or Obedience?

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Monday, May 17th, 2010

Jesus tells an interesting parable in Matthew 21:28-31 of two sons. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; and he did not go. And he came to the second and said the same thing. But he answered and said, “I will not’; yet he afterward regretted it and went. Which of the two did the will of his father?”

Jesus did not elaborate on this story or provide an explanation or application. Instead He posed the question to His listeners by asking them “What do you think?” and then left the conclusion lingering for them to interpret which son was obedient—the one who actually did the work or the one whose commitment to obedience was mere rhetoric.

It is a parallel of our response to what God has told us to do as His children. We have been told to go and work in the fields that are white unto harvest. We are to disciple the nations and claim the kingdoms of the world as the kingdom of our Lord. In all of the debate about a Great Commission Resurgence, we may define it different ways to apply to the lost where we live, to intensify evangelistic activity or send missionaries to reach the nations, but we have to acknowledge this is what our Father has told us to do.

Are we truly obedient in the task or is our obedience not much more than rhetoric? Southern Baptists like to think of themselves as a Great Commission people who give priority to missions. We talk about all the effective programs in the local church and among convention entities as “missions” and doing what our Lord has told us to do. But with baptisms in decline, little progress being made in penetrating the lostness of America and so many peoples around the world who have yet to be engaged with a Christian witness, are we not like the first son? We proclaim allegiance to the Great Commission, but we are not really engaged in the work.

Categories : GCR, IMB, SBC, missions

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What Are They Thinking?

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Thursday, May 13th, 2010

With the recent release of the final recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, as with previous interim reports, this was followed by a parade of denominational leaders bashing the vision and expressing resistance to the proposed changes. Most not only state their disagreement but go on to project disastrous consequences if the Southern Baptist Convention affirms the report.

From one perspective or another the basis of these arguments are that a GCR will change the way we do things. It will change the Cooperative Program, it will change the state conventions, it will change the roles of our SBC entities. Well yes, that’s the point!

What are they thinking? How can we have a Great Commission Resurgence without doing something different? Did they expect the task force to meet all year, analyze the trends and come back to say there’s nothing more to be done but to pray more, witness more and give more? We have been doing that for years, but baptisms continue to decline, stewardship continues to diminish and God’s blessings for growth and outreach continue to be withheld.

All would acknowledge being a committed advocate for the Great Commission, but are they saying let’s don’t do anything different that will actually enable us to fulfill the Great Commission? Let’s not change our 165-year legacy in order to channel the resources and cooperative work of the convention to actually reach the nations and win a lost world for Jesus Christ?

Categories : GCR, IMB, NAMB, SBC, missions

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Responding to the Challenges from the GCRTF

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Monday, May 10th, 2010

I can’t imagine anyone who cannot embrace and get excited about the final recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. The task force has done a thorough and commendable job in recognizing what needs to happen among Southern Baptists if we are to see a renewed impetus in reaching the lost and a higher priority given to discipling the nations.

The recommended changes are far from radical. The task force was wise in recognizing what is palatable to the Convention and its entities and how far to go in drafting recommendations that were adoptable. They also correctly discerned that a corrective course and refocus on Great Commission priorities would not occur by voting on a few actions and tweaking our structure; it will come about over the course of a new generation continuing to maintain a new direction in cooperation and use of resources.

State conventions should be pleased that the recommended phase-out of cooperative agreements with NAMB has been extended to seven years. However, it is not unlikely, given GCR encouragement, NAMB will move more quickly to reduce these funding partnerships with mainline states, eliminating funding for roles not directly related to evangelism and church planting. Well before seven years, I suspect pioneer states will find themselves much stronger with far more NAMB personnel and resources at their disposal without having to provide a portion of the support.

The effectiveness in which NAMB is able to lead the SBC to engage the lostness of unchurched major urban centers and the least evangelized parts of North America will be dependent on the extent they use their newly empowered strategies to mobilize and facilitate churches, associations and state convention partners, involving them in the task.

Categories : Executive Committee, GCR, IMB, NAMB, SBC, missions

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Alternative Future #3

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Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Please read the previous three blogposts (links are provided at the bottom of this post) for context of this post in a series on alternative futures. This final post in this series projects a third “alternative future” should the SBC courageously adopt a vision as a missions people committed to boldly doing whatever it takes to reach a lost world.

Inspired by the report and recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, the Southern Baptist Convention will not only adopt the proposals, but this overwhelming endorsement of missions as the focus and purpose of the convention will initiate an overhaul of entity structures and funding strategies in the years to come. Decisions made in response to the GCRTF will be seen as laying the foundation and incentive for more radical actions in the coming years that literally change nature of the SBC.

Basic programs and budget for the Executive Committee, ERLC and seminaries will be determined and assured. It is possible that SBC seminaries will be both consolidated and dispersed. A common administration will eliminate duplication and competition in theological education and coordinate expansion of programs throughout the country beyond the current high-cost, institutional campus-centered paradigm. Having guaranteed the basic budget needs of these entities, all other funding will go to sending missionaries around the world and supporting church planters throughout North America. Giving to the Cooperative Program will escalate as churches see the increase in funding going directly toward reaching a lost world.

A higher trust will emerge as churches are affirmed in designated giving to cooperative causes beyond their own local programs. In partnership with IMB and NAMB they will be free to join in direct missionary support. This personalized involvement, not only in sending missionaries but in strategic engagement in the task as well, will unleash the resources to send out those being called to missions. The number of international missionaries will grow to 10,000 and within ten years we will be unable to identify a people group that doesn’t have access to the gospel.