Response to a Comment on My Last Post Re: Troy Gramling.
[Read the last post HERE.]
My friend Chris West posted a comment to "Four Reasons to Vote NO re: Troy Gramling As President of the SBC Pastors' Conference," and I felt that his statements/questions were important enough to merit a post of their own.
Chris' comment:
Chris,
Re: "I'm not as well informed in SBC politics as I could be,"
-Most people aren't: that's why it's important to discuss these things, so that those elected to influential positions within the SBC will be held accountable to members of Southern Baptist churches.
Re: "How do you know this guy is going to be nominated?"
-Usually, because Southern Baptists desire humility in their leaders, which precludes people from campaigning for these positions, the person nominating someone to leadership will announce it to the Baptist Press or to a state paper. In this case Pastor John Cross told the Florida Baptist Witness, that he would nominate Gramling.
Re: "Do you know who the other guys are that will be nominated."
-I have not heard any other names mentioned as potential nominations, and that was part of my intention for this post. As of yet, I have seen very little mention of Gramling's nomination on blogs or Tweets. If a majority of SBC pastors are unaware of specific objections to Gramling, there will be no reason for another candidate to be nominated.
Re: "why would you vote for him if he's not that into the manifesto."
-"Manifesto" usually (though not always) seems to have negative connotations for conservative Christians: i.e., "Communist Manifesto," "Humanist Manifesto," "the Unabomber's manifesto published on the Internet," etc. The Baptist Faith & Message is intended to be a statement summarizing what the great majority of Southern Baptists believe concerning the Bible's basic, clear teachings. As such, it is useful in determining who Southern Baptists should approve as leaders, teachers, and missionaries supported by the Convention.
Re: "But, if I'm going to vote against something I'll have to vote for something. Is there a candidate that you like?"
-As mentioned above, I know of no other candidates at this time. I will not be able to attend this year's Convention (because it is too close to Abby's due date), so I cannot directly nominate anyone. There are, however, many possibilities for nominations, and almost any potential nominee would be superior to Gramling (in the sense that I think Gramling's vision for pastoral ministry- as evidenced in the activities of his church, mentioned in my former post- is so devastating). For example: Mark Dever certainly has experience in helping to organize pastors' conferences; Johnny Hunt is finishing out his last term as SBC President, so he would potentially be available as President of the Pastors' Conference; Pastor Al Jackson of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, AL is a leader in international missions and pastoral training and would be a great candidate. The list could go on.
My friend Chris West posted a comment to "Four Reasons to Vote NO re: Troy Gramling As President of the SBC Pastors' Conference," and I felt that his statements/questions were important enough to merit a post of their own.
Chris' comment:
I'm not as well informed in SBC politics as I could be, so I'm not trying to pester you. How do you know this guy is going to be nominated? Do you know who the other guys are that will be nominated.My response:
I'm with you, logically, why would you vote for him if he's not that into the manifesto.
But, if I'm going to vote against something I'll have to vote for something. Is there a candidate that you like?
Chris,
Re: "I'm not as well informed in SBC politics as I could be,"
-Most people aren't: that's why it's important to discuss these things, so that those elected to influential positions within the SBC will be held accountable to members of Southern Baptist churches.
Re: "How do you know this guy is going to be nominated?"
-Usually, because Southern Baptists desire humility in their leaders, which precludes people from campaigning for these positions, the person nominating someone to leadership will announce it to the Baptist Press or to a state paper. In this case Pastor John Cross told the Florida Baptist Witness, that he would nominate Gramling.
Re: "Do you know who the other guys are that will be nominated."
-I have not heard any other names mentioned as potential nominations, and that was part of my intention for this post. As of yet, I have seen very little mention of Gramling's nomination on blogs or Tweets. If a majority of SBC pastors are unaware of specific objections to Gramling, there will be no reason for another candidate to be nominated.
Re: "why would you vote for him if he's not that into the manifesto."
-"Manifesto" usually (though not always) seems to have negative connotations for conservative Christians: i.e., "Communist Manifesto," "Humanist Manifesto," "the Unabomber's manifesto published on the Internet," etc. The Baptist Faith & Message is intended to be a statement summarizing what the great majority of Southern Baptists believe concerning the Bible's basic, clear teachings. As such, it is useful in determining who Southern Baptists should approve as leaders, teachers, and missionaries supported by the Convention.
Re: "But, if I'm going to vote against something I'll have to vote for something. Is there a candidate that you like?"
-As mentioned above, I know of no other candidates at this time. I will not be able to attend this year's Convention (because it is too close to Abby's due date), so I cannot directly nominate anyone. There are, however, many possibilities for nominations, and almost any potential nominee would be superior to Gramling (in the sense that I think Gramling's vision for pastoral ministry- as evidenced in the activities of his church, mentioned in my former post- is so devastating). For example: Mark Dever certainly has experience in helping to organize pastors' conferences; Johnny Hunt is finishing out his last term as SBC President, so he would potentially be available as President of the Pastors' Conference; Pastor Al Jackson of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, AL is a leader in international missions and pastoral training and would be a great candidate. The list could go on.
Update 5/12: Since posting yesterday, I've learned that on May 4th the Florida Baptist Witness reported that "Vance Pitman, pastor of Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nev., will be nominated president of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference" [read the article HERE]. I know nothing about Pitman other than what's written in the article, but I'm guessing that those nominating him perceive him as the more conservative candidate.
Labels: apologetics
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 11:39 AM
1 Comments:
Very helpful. Thanks for the heads up. You're right...manifesto might not have been the best choice of words.
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