Missionary
Terminations Show Sad State of SBC Leadership
by John Pierce,
Executive Editor, Baptists Today
 Respect for denominational
leaders was as much a part of my upbringing as
attending Sunbeams, Vacation Bible School,
Training Union and M-night. However, the absence
of honesty, concern for others and other basic
Christian principles among current Southern
Baptist Convention leadership is appalling.
The recent
termination of long-term, faithful missionaries,
who refused to cower to strong-armed
fundamentalist tactics, is a sobering reminder of
the poor state of denominational leadership.
The system now at
work in Southern Baptist life combines
power-wielding fundamentalists — insistent
upon control at any cost — with fearfully
compliant denominational executives who place
self-preservation above personal integrity or
spiritual conviction. The result is heavy-handed,
inconsistent management decisions from an
accomplice trying to convince himself and others
that their abhorrent actions are somehow
justified.
International
Mission Board President Jerry Rankin has given a
classic example of how this corrupt process
works. He began by affirming the integrity of all
SBC missionaries and assuring them they would not
be subjected to the controversial 2000 revision
of the Baptist Faith and Message doctrinal
statement.
Rankin, like most
knowledgeable Southern Baptists, knows the
doctrinal scrutiny these missionaries faced
during their appointment process and the
procedures already in place for dealing with any
theological problems if necessary. But pressure
began to arise from some SBC powerbrokers looking
to further solidify their complete control of all
things Baptist.
To appease them and
to stay in their good favor, Rankin reversed
course in January 2002. He appealed to all IMB
missionaries to sign an affirmation of the 2000 BF&M
and disguised his threat as a request.
Rankin was evasive
about both the source of pressure and the
consequences for those missionaries who out of
conviction would not sign.
Informed Baptists
didn’t need Sherlock Holmes to tell them,
however, that Rankin was being pressured by the
same theological watchdogs who have assumed
control of every SBC committee and board over the
past quarter-century and have busily sought to
oust anyone from Baptist life who doesn’t
toe their narrow line.
Rankin worked hard
not to expose their heavy-handed tactics while
publicly appearing supportive of the mission
force out of which he came. For more than a year,
he gave a mish-mash of responses as to why he had
waffled from his earlier commitment.
Rankin and his
handlers intentionally misled the Baptist public
— who prayerfully and financially support
their beloved missionaries — by continually
using the word "request" to describe
the weight of his letter.
In Feb. 2002, Rankin
told some Baptist editors that the BF&M
"is not a litmus test or creed" and
that the consequences of not affirming it were
undetermined. Well, the clear intentions of those
advocating and advancing this process have now
been fully and tragically brought to light.
The result is
exactly what many of us said would occur when the
doctrinal statement was adopted in June 2000 and
what SBC leaders fell all over themselves trying
to deny. The document is being used as a creed
— an instrument of doctrinal conformity --
in order to determine the loyalty of
denominational employees to the political agenda
of the SBC fundamentalist machine.
Those now ruling the
Southern Baptist street corner got another notch
in their guns on May 9 when they assaulted a good
batch of missionaries. And a weak denominational
executive helped pull it off in order to keep his
job — at least for now.
(But there are no
guarantees. Ask Ken Hemphill.)
Don’t think for
a minute that the IMB debacle is an isolated
case. It is a sadly familiar model of
denominational leadership in the SBC.
It worked well in
Georgia earlier this year to get rid of a
highly-respected, competent state newspaper
editor. Look around, you will see it repeated.
This deliberately
destructive approach is worse than the old
"good cop, bad copy" interrogations.
For there is nothing good in the way these
missionaries were treated
Regardless of their
evangelistic effectiveness, skills in
cross-cultural communication and years of
faithful service, they have now been forced out.
Their only sin was an unwillingness to affirm a
document that they had been assured is not a
creed
This is not
Christian leadership. It is unchristian behavior
that does not deserve our respect or support.
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