A Big Tent for God's Mission

In 1957, Billy Graham and his evangelistic organization set out to do something amazing:  they wanted to hold one of Graham’s Crusades in New York City.  Recognizing the diversity of the city, and noting the relative lack of traditionally evangelical partners, Billy Graham’s organization decided to partner with all sorts of churches in New York:  Catholic and Protestant, liberal and conservative, black and white.

This did not sit well with some of Graham’s most influential supporters in the South.  Bob Jones Sr. denounced Graham as “saving souls only to send them to theologically corrupt churches…and students at Bob Jones University were forbidden to pray for the crusade’s success.”  Such division was enflamed further by Graham inviting Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to give the opening prayer one night.  Staunch Christian conservatives and evangelicals, traditionally Graham’s most loyal base of support, began to condemn him as a sellout.

 
Billy Graham, however, was not deterred.  On April 3, 1957, he told the National Association of Evangelicals, “Our New York Campaign has been challenged by some extremists.  I would like to make myself clear.  I intend to go anywhere, sponsored by anybody, to preach the Gospel of Christ, if there are no strings attached to my message.”

That is what Graham did in New York, and over ninety-seven days that summer, 1.941 million people attended the services, with over 56,000 decisions for Christ.  It was the largest evangelistic effort in the nation’s history, and one of the most successful.[1]

 

God’s people work best together when we focus on God’s mission, but when we start putting each other down and denouncing each other as being unorthodox or heretical, we find that that we start to fail as effective agents of God’s kingdom. 

The apostle Paul knew this when he wrote to quarrelling churches.  This is why he spoke so strongly for unity in the church, as he did in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:10-13) and Ephesus (Ephesians 4:1-6).  His advice to his protégé Titus included this bit of godly wisdom:  “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.”[2]

Arguing about differences of belief accomplishes nothing for God’s kingdom, because it distracts us from our purpose.  God’s call to his people is unite together around the Gospel message, proclaim the Good News in word and in deed, and do everything we can to help God’s kingdom advance into our world.

This is why I have chosen to most fully identify with the Baptist General Association of Virginia.  I still remember gathering with Virginia Baptists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in May 2002, soon after I started feeling a call to ministry.  We heard the vision of Kingdom Advance, a plan for mission and ministry that was all about what we agree on as Baptists.  In that room were Baptists from across the theological spectrum, yet we agreed on one thing:  God was calling us to continue the work of his Son, share the Gospel, bless the world, and serve others.

Three years later, I was ordained and began my own pastoral ministry.  For a decade, I have served two Virginia Baptist churches, and what mattered most to them was what mattered most to Virginia Baptists:  serving God and advancing the kingdom.  That’s just who we are, and everything else is secondary.

That commitment to God’s kingdom mission is why I’ve remained involved in Virginia Baptist life.  It’s why I’ve served two terms on the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, now the Mission Council.  It’s why I accepted a nomination this year to stand for election as second vice president of the BGAV.  And it’s why I am looking forward to this annual meeting, as I do each year:  because I get to hear how God has been at work through Virginia Baptists around our state and our world, shepherding people on the road of faith, healing the sick, feeding the poor, serving the homeless, raising up leaders, and proclaiming the Gospel. 

Yet the danger is always there:  the danger to quarrel.  The BGAV has always been a big tent for followers of Jesus in Virginia and beyond.  Our ranks are filled with people who exercise their God-given freedom to interpret the Bible and walk intimately with God, and that means we have a wide divergence of views on any number of theological issues.  And to be honest, that’s beautiful!  We can learn so much from one another, and help one another draw closer to God.

But our diversity has a shadow side – because it tempts us to take our eyes off of what unites us and turn them to what divides us.  Giving in to that temptation can do no good for the BGAV or, more importantly, the kingdom of God, because we’re not called to agree on everything.  We’re called to be on mission together for our Lord.
 
 
 

In a few weeks, messengers from across the Commonwealth and beyond will gather in Richmond for our annual meeting.  We will hear some amazing stories of God’s provision and power.  We will fellowship with one another around the table and in worship.  We will renew old friendships and meet brothers and sisters in Christ for the first time.  And, yes, we will discuss some things that we may not agree on.

My prayer is that we will not let those issues divide us, that we will not demonize each other or threaten to leave if we don’t get our way.  As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:5, that’s not the way of love…and we are to be people of love.

Let’s unite around our common love of Christ and our desire to advance his kingdom.

Let's work together in the service of our Lord.

Let’s be the big tent for God’s mission that Virginia Baptists have always been.

In Christ,

Adam
#BGAV15



[1] The Preacher and the Presidents, 72-75
[2] Titus 3:9




Print it in Moleskine MSK format

Comments