Something smells in BGCT Land Part 1

While Yisrayl Hawkins, head of the House of Yahweh religious sect in Abilene, was proclaiming the end of the world, Dr. Randel Everett was issuing a bold challenge to Baptists of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. As I understand it, by 2010, Dr. Everett wants Texas Baptists to have communicated the Gospel in a way that every person in Texas who is not a Christian (11 million) can understand. And, have reached out to assess and respond to the human suffering of those in Texas that are poor and without the basics of life.

I understand why Hawkins wants the end of the world to come, for he is most likely going to jail. The date has come and gone and we are still here. So, once again, the cult leader has been proven wrong, but still folks will look past his false prophecies and continue to follow him.

Dr. Everett's challenge is not a prophecy, just a challenge, but an interesting challenge none the less. Many have extolled the breath of this vision as being-- well visionary. But I must ask, why this, why now?

I am not opposed to either goal. As poorly as we do evangelism, our church has 6 waiting baptism--three of them Hispanic. As to goal 2, our small congregation gives thousands of dollars of food out each year through our food pantry free to those in need. In addition, through the Angel Food Network, we have assisted families across the Big Country buy affordable food for themselves and their families. Added to that, this ministry has allowed us to give away thousands of dollars worth of food to flood victims, returning soldiers, and families in crisis. Recently, we added a volunteer who has retired from the Department of Human Services after 30 years of God called service. Her responsibility is community ministries and she has come to our church for such a time as this for helping us identify and respond to social needs. Already in less than a year, thousands of dollars have been given to people for prescription medications, rent assistance, utility help, and basic life needs. Our Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger has not only been something we contribute to, but something that comes back to us in the form of a grant to help our social ministries programs in 2009.

Why now? Why this? Crescent Heights is a transitional church. That simply means we find ourselves where hundreds of church across Texas find themselves: the neighborhood is changing and our church as we knew it is dying. Everything we have tried for the last 40 years has not worked, or worked long. The dying has been slow and frustrating. With this transitioning, has come a painful transitioning in the budget. Fewer people, fewer dollars. But you wouldn't know it by what we attempt each year. This year our frustration took a turn that has proven interesting. Following the lead of Henry Blackaby (What the Spirit is Saying to the Churches) we have divided our budget into two categories: what we think we can provide through tithes and offerings; what we need God to provide. For the first time in a long while, our budget is on track with nearly all our mission commitments honored from the first of the year. All of this by praying for God to provide His part as we provide our part.

Now, such an approach strikes me as a way of thinking about this Bold Challenge of Dr. Everett's. However, when I think in those terms, I believe Texas Baptists may be bordering on presumption.

There is no doubt that God could bring the whole state to Himself without our puny help if He so chooses. There is no doubt that Biblically, God wants all of Texas to hear about Him and come to Him. There is no doubt that God grieves whenever a child goes to bed hungry in Texas, without the basic needs of life met. There is no doubt about any of this.

I don't believe there is any reluctance on the part of God to do what God has been doing for hundreds and thousands of years. So what are my reservations?

They actually run along several lines all having to do with this paradigm of our part, God's part. I am not saying this is the only way to think about something like this, but it is a way to get a handle on such a sweeping challenge.

First, our part. We are perfectly able right now to undertake part II of this bold challenge, except for one slight problem. Many of our Baptists don't have the heart for it. Our hearts are not broken but incensed at the poor. The poor combine all the groups we don't like as God-fearing Christians: those people that don't belong here; the mentally ill; and those who won't/can't work for a living. That is why we continually elect legislators who underfund Human Services to a damnable degree every time they meet. Only when they are driven by the courts or the courts of public opinion, does change finally come, and then it is with the foot dragging and grumbling of an obstinate teenager.

O.K. let's think about our part on the First Part: sharing Christ with 11 million unbelievers in Texas. Let me phrase these in terms of challenges not obsticles.

First, there is the challenge of culture. Over 100 different languages are spoken in Texas. I believe, we have small but vital works in most of these language groups. Some of these churches are more vital and alive than the English speaking churches that gave them birth. However, at least one ethnic group is a formidable challenge for several reasons. Hispanics now comprise over 40% of the Texas population. Not all of them are limited to Spanish, but many are. Basically, we are asking our Hispanic Baptist people to reach 40% of Texas. We can throw in a token amount of Anglos who understand the language and the culture, but mostly Hispanic Baptists are on their own. While work with and by Hispanic Baptists is old, it is still weak and uneven, with not enough good leadership to go around. 40% of Texas!

This doesn't even begin to address the other cultures of which we are less familiar.

Then there is religion. Sharing Christ in an understandable way is more than just going through the words. 100 language groups means a variety of religious experiences many of which have no real experience with Scripture or the concept of sin and the Savior. Communicating Christ in an understandable way to a Buddhist, or a Muslim, is not the same as sharing Christ with someone who has never been in church. Texas is now home to the religions of the world, and the home grown cultic religions of the United States. Can God break through and bring understanding--YES! But, this has never really been about God. The work of God is never about the willingness or the ability of God. The Work of God is always a saga about the willingness and the ability of people to be obedient: obedient to the will of God to do the work of God.

So, at this point, I think, we have ever so slight a problem.