For an eternity, it seems, many Baptist leaders have harped about “getting back to evangelism.” Immediate past-president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Bobby Welch, rode a colorful bus across the nation cheering on church workers to reach and baptize a million more in just over a one-year period.

The success of his “Everyone Can!” campaign will not be known until reports are tallied next year. But it is interesting to note that refocusing the convention on evangelism was one of the rallying cries of those who wrestled control of the convention more than two and a half decades ago. It sure seems to be taking a while.

All sorts of reasons are pinned on perceived shortcomings in evangelism from believers lacking enough boldness to the need for more affirmation of “the exclusivity of Christ.” But I want to suggest another possible roadblock between seeking souls and the Good News.

It is the arrogance of those who act like they are the owners and protectors of the Gospel. Thoughtful, honest searchers for truth are often repelled by rather than attracted to those with a quick, sure answer for every question that arises in life.

Whether it’s the quick-handed kid on the front row in the first grade or adults who position themselves as the ecclesiastical elite, there is something annoying about know-it-alls. But there is certainly no shortage of them.

Forget the complexity of the moral, political or theological issues that arise, there are plenty of religious pundits with clear and decisive insight. And it is amazing how consistently God agrees with their political ideologies and rigid doctrinal positions.

This is especially interesting when you consider that the issues on which many so-called Christian leaders pontificate are those given little to no attention in scripture.

Imagine the number of people out there who are led to believe that to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ requires them to also embrace an objectionable political position or a fundamentalist view of women, science and people of other faith traditions -- or, perhaps worse, to embrace a similar arrogant attitude.

A couple of years ago, a state Baptist newspaper carried a classified ad from a church seeking a pastor with — among other credentials — “the mind of God.” Surely the rural congregation wanted someone with “a heart for God” and just misstated it.

One couldn’t help but wonder, however, how many resumes they received from persons who considered themselves to be fully qualified. But the truth is, none of us has the mind of God and to pretend that we do discounts our having a genuine heart for God.

David Barlett, a professor emeritus at Yale Divinity School who now teaches at Columbia Theological Seminary, in an article on faith in The Sunday Paper, stated it well: “It enlarges my faith to know that there is so much that I don’t know. I believe in a larger God.”

Affirming God’s truthfulness is different from acting like we have all of God’s truth well packaged and ready for delivery. Such arrogance is anti-evangelistic because it places personal pride and power in the way of the Gospel message that calls us to reject both.