sprucegoose: Southern Baptists Tell Missionaries, "No Tongues"

About Me

Location: MInneapolis, Minnesota, United States

I am now a simple Grandpa who's life is made richer as each grandchild is born. My wife and I have raised five children and the 30 year love labor of raising them has begun to yield sweet fruit..... And then there are fruits of 30 years in ministry ... I am a satisfied old man full of the joy of the Lord.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Southern Baptists Tell Missionaries, "No Tongues"

On Nov. 15th the trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention voted to bar all new missionary candidates who practice a "private prayer language." They are forced to choose between a missions commission and their private conscience. Where are the anti-legalists when we need them? Sounds a lot like shepherding.

The guidelines are not "retroactive." This leaves some missionaries in place that actively encourage glossolalia.

Mind you, there are no problems from the mission field. That is not the reason for this ruling. It is entirely church politics. 27% of the world's Christians are Pentecostal, charismatic, or neo-charismatic according to the World Christian Database. And this has happened in the last 100 years. The Pentecostal movement is celebrating it's 100 anniversary this year. There are still a few "post-Asuza street fathers" living. Their contribution to this world wide awakening cannot be under estimated.

The November meeting also voted to only accept those missionary candidates baptized in churches that teach "believer security" (a tenet of Calvinism) and baptismal immersion.

While I support baptismal immersion, I am not dogmatic about it. If your infant baptism works for you, then walk in your faith. I do also believe a convert cannot be separated or tricked into reprobation. But I do know some reprobates who did not consider the fear of the Lord, holiness, and personal responsibility and thus found themselves unable to repent and return to God. Some seem or appear to have died never finding a place of repentance.

Just tellin' like it is. God is good. Amen?

Source: Christianity Today, February, 2006; "Head Lines", page 21

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Bruce, what do you mean by "shepherding"? I don't get it. Even if it's sarcasm, please fill me in. Sorry, I don't get it.

Amen, God is good... all the time.

Baptismal immersion. I think it's a good rule they did there. Since we're talking about missionaries, it is great that they should promulgate immersion sealing while they're out in the four corners of the globe. It would be another thing if that would involve speaking diligently, condemning the non-immersed while they're "on-the-job".

Believer security. That's just dumb!... to have a rule like that. It is almost like an unprovable doctrine, that, when summed up IN A RULE, takes focus from the undergirding faith principles on either side of the issue. Moreover, then, it distorts wisdom, at best... where it's needed most: in the field. I believe in the "once saved, always saved" thing generally, yet like the Bible says, "the fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom". TULIP is good stuff, though it's primary profit is being ostensibly in magnifying the Lord, especially in effect personally. And it's last place of profit seems to be in evangelism... because it's not milk for one thing! It consists mostly in a perspective of developed faith, even developed faith inquiry. Granted, I must add that I believe what John Piper says: if you get Election right, few other doctrines slip by.

No tongues. This is just rebellion. I have an urge to want to be nice and say it would be one thing if they banned prophetic (only) tongues, but that even more blatantly contradicts the obvious admonition: "Do not forbid speaking in tongues".

wikipedia says SBC is the largest Protestant denomination. ...See: the world is over. ...excuse my digression.; 2:33 AM, April 11, 2006