Celebrating Progress
April 26, 2010
This past weekend, Dr. Leroy Gainey, pastor of First Baptist Church, Vacaville, California celebrated his 20th anniversary in that role. Dr. Gainey is also serving in his 24th year on the faculty of Golden Gate Seminary as the J. M. Frost Professor of Educational Leadership. The celebration of Dr. Gainey’s ministry (shared by his wonderful wife Cheryl) has two facets which deserve special mention.
First, in 1987, Dr. Gainey was the first African-American elected to a full-time faculty position at a Southern Baptist Seminary. Second, Dr. Gainey was the first African-American to be elected pastor of a predominantly Anglo Southern Baptist Church in California. These two “firsts” mark the Gaineys as pioneers who helped shape, and are shaping, the definition of who Southern Baptists are.
Both the church and the seminary have become examples of multi-cultural ministry over the past two decades. The church is a thriving multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-generational congregation. During the celebration service, members from various races, cultures, and ages participated. They preached, prayed, sang, and testified about Jesus – and their pastor and his wife who so faithfully tell His story and live as examples of following Him. The seminary has also become a thriving mosaic of the peoples of the world. On our faculty and staff, and among our student body are believers from many nations, tribes, and tongues. We are a taste of what heaven will be like!
But, alas, this isn’t heaven. Learning to work together, worship together, and live together in a diverse community sounds romantic and idealistic. It is anything but! It’s hard work. It is challenging to overcome prejudices, practice patience, and participate in the give-and-take of true community. Those of us trying to do it, however, know it’s worth it. We are enriched by seeing God at work through lenses other than our own. We are inspired by serendipitous nuances of Christian faith revealed through other cultures. We are humbled by brothers and sisters who love us enough to learn to work with us, knowing how challenging that is because we are trying to do the same thing with them.
Your Christian community may not be as diverse as mine, but your future success will be connected to your capacity to expand your horizons in this area. If you live in the United States or in most developing Western countries, your world is changing. The people around you are becoming more diverse. Ask God for the grace to reach people around you with the gospel…and be ready to change as your church reflects the resulting diversity and depth those new believers (and the cultures they represent) will bring to your church.
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Risk Required
April 19, 2010
Jeremiah Johnson, 21, son of David and Diana Johnson (David directs our Arizona Campus), died last week as a result of injuries from a traffic accident. Jeremiah was serving in Mozambique with the International Mission Board and was returning from a preaching engagement. He and a Mozambique pastor were riding on a motorbike when it was struck by a pickup truck. The details of the accident were described as “freakish.” The truck hit a rock and bounced out of its lane and hit the motorbike. The driver stopped and transported both Jeremiah and the other rider to the hospital. It was, in every sense of the word, an accident.
When something like this happens, one response is to question the reasons for a young man being in a faraway place doing work like this. Our fear of something like this happening to one of our children can keep us from encouraging them to take risks to advance the gospel in difficult places. This is not arm-chair quarterbacking from me. All three of my children have served in dangerous places. We have felt the temptation to say, “no, don’t go” when our children proposed these trips. But like the Johnson family, we have applauded obedience and risk rather than allowed fear to determine our response.
While this is hard to write and may be hard for you to read, the gospel will not advance if safety, comfort, and absence of risk are our goals. The gospel will only advance into new people groups, often in dangerous places, if men and women (often young men and women, sometimes your sons and daughters) take it there. When they go, occasionally bad things will happen. Some will be attacked, accidents will happen, and – sadly – some will lose their lives in the process. These results are inevitable in our sin-broken world.
In spite of this high price, we simply can’t allow fear to control us and limit the gospel’s advance. The gospel imperative demands believers go to all nations – not just the safe ones, the hygienic ones, or the developed ones. We must go where it’s dangerous, dirty, and primitive. And, when some give their lives in this process, we will grieve – but not without hope or purpose. We hold each other, letting the tears flow, trusting God to sustain us when there aren’t easy answers to profound questions about our loss.
But don’t mistake grief for lack of resolve or loss of heart. When healing comes, we once again square our shoulders and move forward – determined to obey the Great Commission and stand solidly behind the frontline workers and their families who go the extra mile to do the same. Jeremiah was one of those champions. It was my privilege to help finance his trip to Mozambique. It is now my privilege to continue his legacy by calling out others to take his place.
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Tension About the Gospel
April 12, 2010
Early in the book of Galatians, Paul laments some believers were already turning away from the gospel (Gal. 1:5). This is significant because, if you accept an “early dating” of Galatians (and I do), this means first generation believers who may have been alive when Jesus was on earth struggled to maintain their commitment to the gospel. Fidelity to the gospel isn’t a 21st century challenge. It’s been a problem for Christians since the beginning of our movement.
Why?
Again, the description of early sources of apostasy is helpful in understanding our contemporary situation. Paul warned the Galatians to be on their guard against anonymous experts, prominent Christian teachers, and person claiming supernatural revelation which contradicted the gospel (check it out in Gal. 1:5-8). He warned these sources could undermine our understanding of the gospel and lead to error.
But then Paul got to the real problem. He concluded this short section of scripture by reminding us the real problem with upholding our convictions about the gospel is the relational tension our commitment entails. Paul succinctly summarized the problem by asking – “will we please God or men?” (Gal. 1:10). From time to time, when the integrity of the gospel is at stake that is the choice we all have to make.
It’s easy to affirm the gospel biblically or theologically or philosophically. It’s easy to be bold in a pulpit or on a webpage. It is much more difficult to hold to the gospel in a restaurant booth with a friend, while watching a ballgame with your brother-in-law, or answering a challenging question about your faith from your boss. In those moments of personal witness, it’s much harder to hold to the gospel. No matter how kind, how deferential, how gentle, or how loving your attitude – holding to gospel is still sometimes offensive. When it is, the tension can be difficult to manage.
But manage it we must. We simply can’t compromise the gospel to maintain the peace. While our presentation must be winsome – as winsome as humanly possible – our message remains controversial and confrontational. So, get ready for some pressure, some tension, and even some rejection as you hold to the gospel. Obedience demands it. Eternal destinies depend on it. Integrity requires it.
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Easter Observations
April 5, 2010
This past Sunday was Easter. While most of you celebrated Resurrection Sunday with special worship services, family gatherings, and traditional activities like egg hunts – some had other plans or celebrated in different ways.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle outlined how the GLBT church community views Easter – particularly as they re-interpret the resurrection. While it is good many homosexuals are pursuing a relationship with God, it is troubling they do so by re-interpreting the resurrection as a “coming-out story.” The resurrection is more than a metaphor for a new way of life. It is a historical event with specific meaning – confirming the reality of Jesus’ life and teachings. Refusing to submit to his instructions about life, including but certainly not limited to teachings about sexual practices, denies his Lordship and ultimately invalidates the meaning of the resurrection.
Some worshipped in other ways. The Apple IPad debuted this weekend. Particularly in the Apple-loyal, tech-savvy Bay Area this was big news. Lines formed, in some cases stretching around the block from Apple stores, to purchase this new device. One news source reported many of those in line were gawkers, just out to see what all the fuss was about. One purchaser explained his presence in line by asking, “What other reason is there to get up early on an Easter weekend?” It’s never too early to worship at the altar of more stuff!
Easter isn’t about “coming out” by actualizing your supposedly true self or having holiday time to allow you to stand in line for another gadget. Easter is about the resurrection – a dead man coming alive. It really happened, and it changes everything. I hope your Easter was a true celebration of Jesus’ life. And, more than that, I hope Easter reminded you of Jesus’ Lordship and your gratitude for new life found in Him.
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