DownshoreDrift

I do not have any issues with people who believe differently than me as long as they grant me freedom in my beliefs. I have worked with all forms of cessationists and continuationists for years and these things are never an issue. I want to focus on Jesus Christ and the spread of His gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. I have no desire to get everyone to believe the way that I do or to bring conformity on this issue. I do not desire to win arguments about the validity of this teaching. I am not concerned with how many in the SBC believe this or do not. It is a tertiary doctrine and people can believe what they want concerning it, as long as they are basing their beliefs in God's Word and are grounded in Scripture. I can, have, and do respect differences on this issue and freely admit that no one has a complete corner on total understanding on every area, including myself.

My participation in this debate has never been about "winning" or trying to take over the SBC or spread my views. My participation has ONLY been about Christian liberty. I have only put forward a defense of the continuationist position to show that those who have a private prayer language are not just making stuff up or are deluded with aberrant theology. I have not convinced all, but I feel that I did what I was supposed to do. My main focus has been to stand in the gap and hold the door open for those who had or believed in a private prayer language, but were not able to stand up for themselves. I thought about the IMB missionaries that I know and the ones who are to come. I thought about future pastors and church leaders who have this perspective. I was driven with an awareness that if I do not stand against a tide of intolerance on this issue now, then I will have no right to decry the state of the SBC in ten years when cessationists who have gained power would have pushed the last remaining vestiges of continuationism out of the SBC. I have only written the way that I have because I feel that I have had an historical perspective on this, and I did not want to be on the wrong side of history and wake up to the fact that our freedom to believe what we felt the Bible taught on this issue and remain active in the SBC was gone.

But again, all that I have wanted was for the SBC to embrace all of its members in good standing who affirm our confession of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message, and who faithfully walk with the Lord. I pray that we will quickly embrace a perspective that says it matters far more what kind of person you are and how much you love Jesus than whether or not you completely agree with every jot and tittle of every side doctrine in the Bible as advocated by those who happen to be in power at the time. Can't we learn to major on the majors and find our unity in Christ? Didn't Jesus die for that? Can't we learn to love one another, even when we differ with each other?

I do not feel that I have brought division by making a stand. I feel that the IMB Board of Trustees are the ones who introduced strife and division to the whole SBC. They changed things, not those who opposed them. At the end of the day, PPL is hardly worth fighting for. God is much bigger than that and is able to defend His own teachings. But, Christian liberty on defensible doctrines is worth fighting for, and if we do not stand up for that, then we cut people off from a confidence that they can go to Scripture and learn from the Holy Spirit themselves. The implications of that position can be disastrous.

PPL is not the big deal. The big deal is this: Are we going to be a convention of churches that focuses on Jesus Christ and the participation of all of His saints in proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth, or are we only going to create a convention of theological elites who get to participate in God's mission, leaving all of those who see things a bit differently on side issues behind? God's mission is for all of God's people, and if people with a private prayer language are welcome in my church as members, then they are welcome, no they are expected, to fully participate in the proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth. That position is worth fighting for.

My next few "On the Road . . . " posts will begin to deal with the implications of the Mission of God upon the churches of the SBC and what needs to happen to see us all work together to carry that out in the most effective way possible. In other words, some things need to change, and I pray that the Convention in San Antonio is a step in that direction.