The Gospel Coalition

SESSION 11

SPEAKER: Jerry Tidwell, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Union University

TITLE: Missions and Evangelism: Awakenings and Their Influence on Southern Baptists and Evangelicals (Audio here)

THE GIST: As Baptists and evangelicals, we have been at our best when we allowed the Holy Spirit to blow to us and through us. He pointed out several myths surrounding the Great Awakenings and then some of the lingering results from their influence.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Myths Surrounding the Great Awakenings

1. There is agreement on the number and the dates of the awakenings. (Tidwell dates the First from 1730-55, the Second from 1790-1840, a Third from 1850-90, and a Fourth from 1960-80)
2. Removing barriers of offense to unbelievers will lead to a larger church membership.
3. The Awakenings were the result of a pushback against Calvinism.
4. Prayer meetings were the catalyst for the Awakenings.

Results of the Great Awakenings

1. The Awakenings led to a more fervent commitment to evangelism and missions.
2. The Awakenings led Baptists to cooperate with other evangelical-types of the day.
3. The Awakenings led to a greater need and desire for education for all.
4. The Awakenings led to anti-slavery views and a greater responsibility was felt for Indians.
5. The Awakenings waned, not because of persecution from secular society, but because of the religious establishment of the day.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

We have always been tempted to draw a crowd through human persuasion rather than conversion.

I used to think that the number of conversions proved the Awakenings to be a pushback against the Calvinism of the day. Actually, the historical record shows that, in the early years especially, the Awakenings occurred among the true Calvinists – the ones who were successful in beating back Hyper-Calvinists.

Isaiah, going to God on behalf of his people, does not say, “Woe is them!” but “Woe is me!” when he is confronted by the holiness of God.

SESSION 10

SPEAKER: Michael Lindsay, sociologist from Rice University

TITLE: Denominationalism in the Changing Religious Landscape in North America

THE GIST: The chief dividing line in American religion today is between believers and non-believers. The group of “nones” (those with no religious affiliation) is growing quickly. Institutional loyalty may be decreasing, but denominations play an important role in American religious life.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

There is a growing number of those who claim to have no religious affiliation.

Among these “nones,” one in five claim that religion is still important to their lives.

Americans increasingly dislike institutions, including organized religion. But institutions still matter.

The typical American congregation’s spending has increased 16% over the past 10 years. Yet, the average giving to denominations has decreased by 19% at the same time.

59% of evangelicals have changed denominational identities at least once in their life.

The Continuing Need for Denominations

1. Denominations offer accountability.
2. Denominations have convening power. (They allow leaders to marshall resources, share information, and deflect criticism.)
3. Institutional gravitas is needed in our era, because our world is complex. (Long-term sustainable influence comes through institutions – providing rules, roles, and records.)
4. Denominations reward the right things. (Awards attract the attention of the church, reorienting our behavior.)

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

We cannot all be outliers.

Power is most potent when it is taken for granted. (Institutions have this affect on us.)

Scan the horizon for opportunities and for threats; this is the pastor’s responsibility.

Pastors should visit their church members at their places of work. Knowing your people at work will help your people engage at church.

The SBC needs to be a nimble network, not a stolid bureaucracy.

SESSION 9

SPEAKER: Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Seminary

TITLE: The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention (Audio here)

THE GIST: Dr. Akin revised his “Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence” sermon delivered at Southeastern in the Spring of 2009, calling for unity around the Great Commission.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Unprecedented Moment for Southern Baptists

1. 95% vote empowering president of the SBC to appoint a Task Force to study the convention and bring a report on how we can be more efficient in Great Commission endeavors.
2. Geoff Hammond resigned as president of NAMB
3. Jerry Rankin announced retirement from IMB
4. Morris Chapman announced retirement from Executive Committee

8 points of observation

1. Southern Baptists have a future if we return to our first love – Jesus Christ as our first passion and priority.
2. We must make clear our continuing commitment to the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Bible.
3. We must pursue a genuinely Word-based ministry that is theological in content and on-fire in delivery. (seminaries that teach exposition / pastor theologians who model exposition / preachers who go book-by-book / preachers who value calling as theologian / gospel-saturated ministry of the Word / engaging expositors on fire as heralds of the unsearchable riches of Christ)
4. We must unite around and affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a way to avoid liberalism or sectarianism. (Appeal to Al Mohler’s “Theological Triage”)
5. We must reflect the demographic and racial make-up of our nation. (We are mostly middle-class, white, declining churches in the South.)
6. We must have the courage to rethink our Convention structure at every level, clarify our mission, and provide a compelling vision that inspires our people to do something great for God.
7. We must have pastors who see themselves as a gospel missions agency, equipping people to see themselves as missionaries for Jesus, regardless of location or vocation.
8. We must devote ourselves to cooperation that is gospel-centered around a theological core, not methodological agreement.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

I am not optimistic about the Southern Baptist Convention. But I am hopeful.

Any appeal to Acts 1:8 to justify not getting more resources to the ends of the earth is wrongheaded and shameful.

Our confession is a solid foundation for a sound theology that avoids the pitfalls and quicksand of a straightjacket theology.

Reaching Muslims will require men. This will demand a radical reorienting of lifestyles, priorities, commitments, and perspectives. Business as usual as a denomination and as individuals will not be an option if a real Great Commission Resurgence is to take place.

The future of the SBC depends upon the types of leaders we choose to follow. The need of the hour is for agressive, visionary leaders who are daring to attempt great things for God.

We are slowly dying, but we refuse to admit that the patient is even sick.

Are we distracted by doing many good things but not giving our full attention to the best things?

Saying “everything we do is missions” is not true. Quit saying it.

We need to kill and bury all sacred cows.

Money follows vision.

We must treat the United States missiologically and do so with the same seriousness that our international missionaries treat their people groups missiologically.

SESSION 8

SPEAKER: Mark DeVine, Associate Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School

TITLE: Emergent or Emerging: Questions for Southern Baptists and North American Evangelicals (Audio here)

THE GIST: There are two streams in the Emerging Church – one that is doctrine-friendly and one that is doctrine-averse. From the doctrine-friendly, theologically orthodox stream of the Emerging Church, Southern Baptists can receive beneficial insights for church ministry. Likewise, Southern Baptists have much to offer the non-denominational Emerging Churches.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Two Major Streams in the Emerging Church

• Doctrine-Friendly (affirming historic Christian teaching)
• Emergent (whether doctrine-averse or doctrine-wary)

Benefits of the (Doctrine-Friendly) Emerging Church for Southern Baptists

1. An impressive zeal for church planting.
2. A missionary heart for urban contexts.
3. A missional mindset versus an attractional mindset.
4. A desire to be culturally conscious. (They understand the cultural diversification of North America.)
5. A patience in evangelism. (They understand the negative consequences of unconverted people thinking themselves to be born again.)
6. A delay in baptism and full incorporation into the church congregation. (They understand the covenant nature of church membership and prepare the way for biblical church discipline by guarding the baptismal pool.)
7. An emphasis on community. (Marked by transparency, honesty, doing life together)

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

The doctrine-friendly stream believes in “conversion-seeking evangelism” while the doctrine-averse stream believes in “belonging before believing.”

Church planting is not child’s play. Neither is church-replanting. If this is rebellion, it is an impressive way to rebel.

Culture profoundly affects the conveyance of meaning.

Culture should be studied with great care, with missiological purposes in mind, as it has been by missionaries in foreign fields for years.

“If we truly understood the true character of baptism, we might fear its reception more than its delay.” – Tertullian

If believers are deprived of the time and means of developing commitment to one another, how can they develop a commitment to the local church, much less a denomination?

The gospel is by divine design community-creating and community-nourishing.

Pastors should stay put in churches long enough to accomplish something.

The emphasis on community runs up against the refusal or inability to commit to almost anything, systemic in Baby Boomers.

SESSION 7

SPEAKER: Robert Smith, Associate Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School

TITLE: The Church’s One Foundation (Acts 8:26-40) (Audio here)

THE GIST: Acts 8 gives us a picture in miniature of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. As Christians are scattered, they went about preaching the gospel everywhere. Our task is to preach Jesus Christ from all the Scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

A Glimpse of the Great Commission’s Fulfillment

• Scattering from Jerusalem to Ethiopia (the ends of the known world at the time).

A Glimpse of the Kingdom

• Believers from all tribes and tongues. We should be ready to see people in the kingdom who don’t look like us.

Preaching Christ

• The emphasis in the passage is that the Christians preached Christ.
• The people saw signs – the attestation of the proclamation. The proclamation of Christ is the antecedent to the subsequent results. Christ is enough!
• The emphasis in the Bible is on the oral more than the visual. Hear, O Israel… The still small voice… Be quick to hear… If anyone has ears to hear…

Preaching One-on-One

• Philip is called to leave the masses and preach to one person. God promotes us downwardly.
• The Spirit was working ahead of Philip’s arrival. The Spirit gives us understanding of Scripture.
• Philip preached Christ from Isaiah. He made a beeline to Jesus.
• The eunuch rejoiced at the news. Some can’t live with Jesus; we can’t live without him.

MEMORABLE QUOTES

We preach an unalterable, immutable gospel in a changing world.

Your theology must not just be a theology of the seat, but a theology of the feet.

Arianism is experiencing a revival today in our preaching. It’s not that we don’t believe in Christ, but we have limited him. Jesus is not in a box. He is still omnipotent, still works wonders, and is the eternal Son.

When life breaks down, Christ breaks through!

God’s delays are not God’s denials.

The work of the Spirit is never separated from the Word. It is always Spirit and Word.

SESSION 6

SPEAKER: Ray Van Neste, Associate Professor of Christian Studies at Union University

TITLE: Oversight of Souls – Pastoral Ministry in Southern Baptist and Evangelical Life (Audio here)

THE GIST: If pastoral ministry is going to thrive in our churches, we need to recover the idea of overseeing souls. For many, management is the central aspect, or preaching. But the heart of pastoral ministry is shepherding souls.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Pastoral Ministry as Oversight of Souls is Biblical

• Jesus as Great Shepherd (John 10)
• Pastors are to keep watch over the souls of their people (Heb. 13:17)
• Pastors are to exercise oversight over the flock of God (1 Peter 5:1)
• Oversight of souls includes both public and private ministry. (Acts 20)
• The people should be the pastor’s hope and joy. (1 Thess. 2)
• The goal of pastoral ministry is to present everyone mature in Christ. (Col. 1:24-29)

Pastoral Ministry as Oversight of Souls is Affirmed by Church History

• John Chrysostom – Leading the church… giving one’s life for the sheep.
• Alexander Maclaren – To the stranger, all the sheep are a like. The shepherd knows them apart.
• John Owen – The work and design of these pastors is solely to take care of your souls…
• Martin Bucer – “Concerning the True Care of Souls”
• Westminster Directory of Public Worship – Ministers should teach in public and private
• Richard Baxter – “I fear most those ministers who preach well, and who are unsuited to the private nurture of their members.”
• Martin Luther – “Ministers should have the heart of a mother toward the church.”
• Baptists in Amsterdam (1611) – “The elders ought to know the whole flock…”
• W.A. Criswell – “The example of the great pastors of the world is always one of personal contact with the people.”

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

We do not guard souls in order to preach; we preach in order to guard souls.

We must admit that simply knowing the contents of the Bible is not a sure route to spiritual growth. – Larry Crabb

Pastors should minister in ways shaped by their understanding that God will hold them accountable for the people they serve.

Pastors should say to their church members: “We will love you enough to chase you down should you choose to wander away. You can choose to break fellowship with us, but you will never just slip away and be forgotten.”

Rebuke ought not be delivered if it is too easy. It is the wounds of a friend that are faithful, not the cool correction of a hired hand.

SESSION 5

SPEAKER: Duane Litfin, President of Wheaton College

TITLE: The Future of American Evangelicalism (Audio here)

THE GIST: Duane Litfin offered a “Wheaton-eye” view of the current state of denominationalism, the recent developments in evangelicalism, and then offered three observations relevant to Southern Baptists. Baptists should see ourselves and participate as evangelicals without relying too much upon the evangelical movement. We must stay gospel-centered, Christ-centered, and Word-centered.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Recent Developments in Younger Generations that Affect Denominationalism

• Retreat from hierarchy
• Internet
• Lack of denominational loyalty
• Local church has become dispensable

Some Thoughts on Evangelicalism

• The geographical diaspora of evangelicalism is a useful metaphor for the movement itself.
• In the past thirty years, evangelicalism has sprawled to the point that it can no longer be easily defined.
• Evangelicals have no way of truly policing themselves.
• The issues that evangelicals are dealing with are more complex than they were during evangelicalism’s heyday. (Example: speaking of truth and error regarding the Bible now includes discussion of the nature of truth)
• Evangelicals often lack moral credibility when speaking to cultural issues.

What do these developments mean for the SBC?

1. Baptist polity is well-positioned to survive the decline of denominationalism. (We can preserve the benefits of denominational structure without the negatives.)
2. The SBC may be forced to become less insular. Already, the SBC has joined the broader evangelical world. You should view this development as an opportunity, not a threat.
3. Don’t depend upon evangelicalism as a movement. Movements come and go; Christ remains forever.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

Evangelicalism broke free from the ghetto of fundamentalism, remaining mostly fundamentalist in theology, while demonstrating openness to intellectual and cultural engagement.

Harold Lindsell’s book, The Battle of the Bible, was less a battle for the Bible and more a battle for the term “evangelical.”

The SBC was right to stand up and police itself, saying, “This is who we are, and this is not who we are.”

Our moralism and self-righteousness gives our opponents their ammunition.

As an outsider, I say to you Southern Baptists: participate everywhere you can with whoever you can, without compromising the truth.

Stay gospel-centered, Christ-centered, and Word-centered.

SESSION 4

SPEAKER: Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School

TITLE: Baptists and Their Relations with Other Christians (Audio here)

THE GIST: Timothy George delivered a message from Jude. He made a case for rejecting creedalism, while emphasizing the value of creeds. He balanced the need for the faith (objective, divine revelation), my faith (subjective, personal trust) and the church’s faith (corporate, public witness to the gospel).

BRIEF OUTLINE:

1. The faith.

• The essential message of Christianity. What God has done in Jesus Christ.
• Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed are expressions of the faith.
• We are against creeds that are above the Bible, irrevisable, or forced by civil sanction.
• So why do we need creeds? They are like guard rails to keep us on the right path.
• The faith has objective content and is divinely revealed by God.

2. My faith.

• The objective side of faith is not sufficient. We are to exercise saving, believing faith (trust).
• One of the primary traits of evangelicalism is personal conversion.
• Has the faith become your faith?

3. The Church’s Faith

• The faith and my faith taken in isolation from one another lead to dead ends.
• The Church’s faith is rooted in the objectivity of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ.
• We need to recover the Baptist catechisms, because they teach us about the church’s faith.
• The church’s faith is meant to be sung as well as said, prayed as well as proclaimed.
• The church’s faith is public. It cannot be kept to ourselves.

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“No creed but the Bible” is a pretext for “neither creed, nor the Bible.”

God give us creeds, but deliver us from creedalism!

Dependence upon God is where the faith becomes my faith.

As long as the faith remains detached, a mere system of doctrine kept at arm’s length, we are like Nicodemus, who discovers he must be born again.

The faith without my faith leads to arid scholasticism, joyless, dead orthodoxy. My faith without the faith ends up in sloppy sentimentalism.

Some people who hear about a Baptist Catechism think you might as well be talking about a pregnant Pope or a married bachelor.

Ecclesiology is the new frontier of evangelical theology in the 21st century.

SESSION 3

SPEAKER: Harry L. Poe, Professor of Faith & Culture at Union University

TITLE: The Gospel and Its Meaning: Implications for Southern Baptists and Evangelicals (Audio here)

THE GIST: The gospel holds the answer to the questions postmoderns are raising. The gospel includes several aspects that apply to different questions being asked by people in different generations. It is important that we preach an unchanging gospel, but that we not rely on a stock presentation of the gospel. We need to recover the full-orbed gospel that speaks to the questions people are asking.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Popular Evangelistic Methods in the Past

• Focused on methods. A “plan of salvation.”
• John Stott used a dialectic argument. (Christ’s Person, Our Need, Christ’s Work, Our Response)
• Bill Bright utilized the metaphor of “Law” to carry the gospel presentation. (“Four Spiritual Laws”)
• D. James Kennedy’s “Evangelism Explosion”  (Grace, Man, God, Christ, Faith)
• The Romans Road, Bridge Illustration.

What do these examples have in common? They presuppose that the person understands sin. But what happens when people no longer believe in sin?

How did Paul Write about the Gospel?

• He mentions those aspects assumed by his listeners, and then he begins to answer the question of his readers (the “Gentile question”) by turning to the aspects of that gospel most relevant to that question.

8 Basic Aspects

1. Fulfillment of Scripture, of all God has promised, is a major part of the gospel.
2. Christ’s death for our sins.
3. Christ’s resurrection.
4. Gift of the Holy Spirit
5. Christ’s deity and incarnation.
6. The Second Coming and Judgment.
7. The God of Creation
8. Christ’s exaltation as Lord

Do we find Paul’s version of the gospel in the Gospel accounts of Jesus?

• Yes, even if words and terms differed due to the audience.
• We see Jesus after his resurrection reviewing his teaching over the years: fulfillment of Scripture, death related to forgiveness, resurrection, gift of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus’ full humanity and deity.

Sharing the Gospel Today

• The gospel addresses all sorts of questions besides “How do I get forgiveness?”
• We must not reduce the gospel, but proclaim all its aspects.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

Jesus is the answer, but Christians do not always attend to the question, so they can explain how Jesus is the answer. It is much easier to rely on answers previous generations gave to earlier questions.

Evangelistic presentations are a sign of failure. They show that Christians no longer talk about their faith in their everyday life. If a Christian has believed the gospel, why would they not know what to say if asked about it?

Christians must not confuse a particular way of presenting the gospel with the gospel itself. Such confusion would be like a church member confusing a sermon with the Bible.

The gospel answers the deep spiritual answers of every culture, but a gospel presentation focuses on a particular issue or question.

The gospel is not only the message of how to get saved, but also how to be saved. The gospel is for evangelism and discipleship.

SESSION 2

SPEAKER: Jim Patterson, Professor of Christian Studies at Union University

TITLE: Reflections on 400 Years of the Baptist Movement: Who We Are. What We Believe. (Audio here)

THE GIST: Baptist history is messy, which means that you can’t reduce it to a single integrating theme (like “freedom” or even “distinctives”). Our history is interwoven with narratives of other groups and movements. We must avoid excessive pride and triumphalism when we commemorate our history. Our forebears were fallen, just like us.

BRIEF OUTLINE:

Tracing Baptist History

1. A Patristic Background. (Baptists have been Trinitarian. We are indebted to the early church councils.)
2. Dissent. (John Hus and other Medieval Reformers. Dissenters were forerunners to the Baptist movement.)
3. Magisterial Reformation. (Justification by faith alone / Priesthood of all believers / Authority of the Word)
4. Anabaptists. (Believers’ baptism / No state church / Regenerate church membership)
5. 17th Century Baptist Beginnings (Separatist ecclesiology / Religious liberty)

Developments of the Early Baptist Movement

• General / Particular Baptist controversies (Arminianism versus Calvinism)
• Confessional statements to set doctrinal statements
• Associations developed to strengthen denominational life and identity
• Focus on vital Christian experience (John Bunyan, for example)
• Debates over music.

18th-Century Growth

• General Baptists drifted toward Unitarianism and Particular Baptists drifted toward Hyper-Calvinism.
• Educational institutions established
• Transatlantic revivals led to new movements
• Birth of international missions movement (William Carey)
• Religious liberty continued to be a main focus.

19th-Century Controversies

• Missions and anti-missions
• Restorationist movement
• Slavery and the formation of the SBC
• Landmarkism (J.R. Graves)
• Downgrade Controversy

Trends since the late 19th Century

• Increasing Theological Diversity
• Continuing revival tradition
• Institutional matters
• Increasing pragmatism

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

The Word of God outweighs all tradition.

Baptists in the 17th century fought over Calvinism, music, and the purpose of associations. I’m glad we have escaped all that!

Andrew Fuller called for a theology of the cross, what God has done and how we are to respond – not a theology of glory, which leads to endless theological speculation.

From Charles Spurgeon’s first sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle: I would propose that the subject of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist… I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist… But if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply: “It is Jesus Christ.”… Christ Jesus… is the sum and substance of the gospel; who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life.

Historical amnesia leads to a loss of interest in theology and indifference toward denominational distinctives.

Our distinctives are important, but not so much as ends in themselves, and not nearly as urgent as the gospel message that we proclaim in common with those in the wider body of Christ.