THE MEMPHIS DECLARATION AND OTHER POST-MODERN NONSENSE

Today I reviewed the Memphis Declaration again. It is cynical nonsense. It is hard to say that because of my high respect for some of the signatories. Some of them are good people who, I believe, have been deceived. Others should know better. Some have been bouncing around the Convention for a long time. One has a very serious criminal conviction in his past. I pray that he has repented and I would never dare underestimate the power of the grace of God to forgive and reclaim his life. If he is reconciled to God I would welcome him with open arms but there's also a time to "let a man prove himself". I will never mention his name but he certainly knows who he is and others know too.

Some of the signatories have gone through great crises in their personal ministries and they probably feel that their brothers in the Convention didn't do enough to help them in reclaiming their ministry. That is probably true because they are very committed Christians for whom I have great love and respect. I would only caution that getting involved with a group of schismatics who are parading as unifiers is not the answer.

The Declaration is a very cleverly worded, self-righteous statement that finds little good in the Southern Baptist Convention. It was obviously prepared by a group of self styled watchdogs of the Convention. They have repented of all the sins of our Convention (shades of some church members I have known). In fact, in reading the Statement you would have a hard time concluding that Southern Baptists are anything more than a group of hypocritical rascals and charlatans. They have repented for everything from our "triumphalism" to "arrogance" to a lack of love for those "without Christ" to a lack of "reason" and for our "wickedness". According to the statement, we have misplaced priorities, disrespect for the sovereign grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and have been inattentive to the governance of our Convention. The Statement is basically anti-convention and anti-resurgence. If they want to repent of their own sins, that is their own business but to "repent" for other Baptists is beyond the pale. We don't need any priests. Jesus is our Mediator and High Priest.

The tenor of the whole document is that we should invite the liberals who left us to come back and assume the reigns of our Denomination. Of course, they left of their own accord and the various organizations that they formed are not prospering very well. The graduates of their dinky divinity schools that they have formed are not in great demand. It is like a shrill, distant vituperative chatter that pronounces doom upon the Southern Baptist Convention from those who are just sure that they can run the Convention better than those who have been elected to do so. It is all a part of the crazy quilt of post-modern theology that is more anti-denominational than anything else. It always elevates "love" above truth.

POLITICS

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are attempting to capitalize on this Post-Modern thought to drag more Baptists into the Democratic party. They have announced the "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant" for January 30 - February 1, 2008 in Atlanta. At the news conference they were flanked by liberal Baptists from various liberal groups in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Bill Underwood of Mercer University said they would attempt to draw attention away from "the Baptists who have the microphone" meaning conservative Southern Baptists. He said: "North America desperately needs a true Baptists witness." Strangely, no Southern Baptists leaders were invited. The group worries that the Southern Baptist Convention has been "negative" and "exclusionary". This in spite of a Zogby Poll that shows that Southern Baptists have a favorable rating equal to that of other denominations. Of course Bill Clinton's wife, Hilary, happens to be running for President. What a coincidence!!

A KINDRED SENTIMENT

In a February 7 Baptist Press Release, Douglas Baker voiced a kindred sentiment when he said, "It is not enough to trot out the usual statements about the importance of inerrancy and expository preaching". Well, whoever said it was? I have never heard anyone in Southern Baptist life say that. Inerrancy describes our view of Scripture and expository preaching describes a kind of Biblical preaching that is strong in Biblical content and application to the hearers' daily lives. It is the most effective preaching that great Pastors have used for years in the building of great churches. Baptists who have heard that kind of preaching over the years are not easily confused by every wind of doctrine. Baker goes on to declare that "much of what is commonly called the Southern Baptist Convention may well not survive this century". He contends that "theological dust ups" between religious factions are so akin to political conventions that they "rightly dismiss denominations as simply playgrounds for wannabe politicians". The group think of post-modern theology was expressed by Paul Cain of the Vineyard movement back in 1989 when he warned the post-modern generation that they must beware of "old order brethren". At the Vineyard Prophetic Conference Cain said, "You can become the Word". Most Southern Baptists would agree with the prologue of John that Jesus is the Word.

CONFESSION

These people have no time for such things as Confessions of Faith. The Baptist Faith and Message, since 1925 has declared that the Bible is "truth without any mixture of error". That Statement was based on the New Hampshire Confession of 1833. It is not exactly a new concept. The Baptist Faith and Message of 1925 was adopted in the wake of the fundamentalist tidal wave that was unleashed by the Presbyterians at Princeton University in 1910 when faculty members at Princeton lead the General Conference of the Presbyterian Church to adopt the Five Fundamentals. Baptists were never excited about them even though they had no quarrel with them. They saw it as a very limited confession. They disagreed with the Fundamentalists over other things such as baptism and church government. Liberalism had also made its way to America and was undermining many American Churches and Institutions. Southern Baptists felt a need to make our position clear concerning our Baptist Faith. It has never been binding on any local church but it was guide for the institutions and agencies of our Convention. It has been slightly amended but it still serves that purpose.

ORTHODOXY

The Memphis Group condemns us for not reasoning with those who disagree with our Articles of Faith that are "not essential" to Christian Orthodoxy. Who decides what is essential and what is not essential to Christian Orthodoxy? Those who think that we are narrow are as intolerant as anyone with those who disagree with their views. Kenneth Sublet put it this way, "If one of the bits of 'human material' (communicants) decides to disseminate some truth totally based upon the Bible, they are divisive, counterproductive and must be eliminated. Those who would try to do it emotionally are no less violent than those who would burn your body in an oven".

The Memphis Declaration leads off by the condemnation of something they call "triumphalism". What kind of a thing is that? I have been as deeply involved in the conservative resurgence as anybody but I have never witnessed anything like that. We all recognize that we only triumph in Christ. Are we to cast aside II Corinthians 2: 14? Are we to ignore Colossians 2: 15?

The tenor of the entire document was hostile to the Southern Baptist Convention. I would like to suggest to the authors of the document that we may have some problems here and there but there is plenty in the Southern Baptist Convention that gives us cause to rejoice.

BAPTISTS WILL BE BAPTISTS

Yes, we Baptists sometimes have disputes. They can take place in a Sunday School Class, in a Local Church, in an Association or a Convention. We are very individualistic. It is not uncommon for individual Baptists to have an opinion. Someone has facetiously said that "wherever there are two or three Baptists gathered together there are four opinions". It is because we have a congregational form of Church Government. We are not hierarchical. We are not presbyterial. Because of our congregational form of government we are a democracy whose head is Jesus Christ and we look unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith. Every Church, Association, State Convention as well as the national Convention are all autonomous one of the other. Each Baptist entity has the right to decide what their basis of cooperation will be. The Southern Baptist Convention operates its agencies and institutions in accord with the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000 and we have a right to do that.

WORTH DYING FOR

Southern Baptists today embody the same principles for which Baptists of yesteryear have been willing to die. In 1603, the year that Roger Williams was born, King James ascended to the Throne of England. He didn't like the Baptists. He referred to them as "dissenters" and "non-comformists". He vowed that they would conform or he would "harrie them out of the land". The Baptists didn't conform and he harried them out of the country. A group was meeting at Gainsborough under the leadership of John Smyth and Thomas Helwys who are considered the Fathers of Baptist beginnings in England. They rejected papal authority. They rejected the divine right of kings (for which Helwys died). They insisted on believers' baptism and a regenerate church membership. They insisted on the congregational form of government and Scriptural authority in all matters of religion. They insisted that baptism was a testimonial and that the Lord's Supper was a memorial. They believed in religious liberty for all. The group at Gainsborough had divided because of their size (since their meetings were unlawful in England) and some had begun meeting at Scrooby Manor. Both groups migrated to Amsterdam where they worshipped with the Ancient Church for a time. But, that Church was embroiled in a controversy over the daring dresses that the Pastor's wife wore. So they moved to a small place out from Amsterdam called Leiden (also spelled Leyden) where they founded the Pilgrim Church under the pastoral leadership of John Robinson. This group also contained two laymen who would become famous in America. They were William Bradford and William Brewster. After a time they became discouraged because of financial reverses and the fact that their children were marrying into the Dutch and leaving the English language. Finally, 37 of them journeyed back to Scrooby where they boarded a small ship called the Mayflower. Pastor Robinson went to see them off and he intended to join them later but he never joined them because he died in 1625. This group on the Mayflower were called Pilgrims. Some on the Mayflower joined their group on the way over and before they landed they formed the Mayflower Compact. No one knows exactly what was in the Compact since it was lost soon after they landed at Plymouth but those who remembered generally agreed that the document provided that they would be ruled by law and not by men. Those same principles that inspired and motivated the earliest of Baptists in England are still important to Southern Baptists today.

Yes, there is room for diversity of worship in the Southern Baptist Convention but there are still some basic tenets of the faith that are not negotiable among Southern Baptists and they are embodied in the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000. That is what the resurgence was all about. Many of us paid a high price for the things that we stood for and we have little time for those who constantly want to trash us for what we did - especially those who don't even remember where we came from.

Mary Branson's Book

I have read a number of Blogs concerning Mary Branson's book which purported to expose bad management and reckless spending by leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention, primarily at the North American Mission Board. In my opinion it is a vengeful, vindictive and vituperative piece of trash that belongs in the City Dump rather than on book shelves. It is designed to do nothing but hurt. It is obvious to this Southern Baptist that the primary objective was to sully the name of Dr. Robert Reccord. It is a combination of wild, reckless and irresponsible accusations coming mostly from disgruntled former employees who had an ax to grind. Many of the "Bloggers'" statements have been ill informed, uninformed or misinformed. No, "Bloggers" will never be a "force to reckon with" in the Southern Baptist Convention until they get their facts right and so much of what has been said about NAMB was not factual.

Most of what was written was vicious and designed to hurt and the "lead attack hound" was Joe Westbury of the CHRISTIAN INDEX who at one time worked for NAMB and who gives new meaning to yellow journalism. The situation at NAMB was unbelievably bungled by the Officers of the Trustees some of whom, in my opinion, have their own agendas. It is time for trash to be challenged and the truth needs to be told. That is the reason that I have posted the main body of a letter that I wrote to the Editor of the CHRISTIAN INDEX on my Blog (The Christian Advocate). The CHRISTIAN INDEX is the chief offender in this situation.

By the way, NAMB did not bear all the expenses of Bob's trip to England. Food and lodging were covered by a friend of NAMB and NAMB only covered travel. Bob had been working with Outreach Incorporated of San Diego in developing a strategy to help churches in using The Chronicles of Narnia evangelistically. He had given input on the making of a film concerning the life of William Wilberforce called AMAZING GRACE. He was one of the evangelical leaders invited to view and assess the finished product. It was a very, very good thing and I am delighted that the world of film making was seeking input from a Southern Baptist Leader. I only wish Hollywood did the same.

So, some have problems with a "media campaign"? That is what the RTVC was all about. It was to introduce Southern Baptists and our message of salvation through Jesus Christ to the Nation and the World. Any pastor who doesn't understand the need for promoting the work of the Kingdom needs to go back to school. It doesn't matter how good your program is if it is not promoted and no one knows about it, it is going to fail. I even heard of some who complained of "limousine services" that were used by Bob Reccord. Of course, people who travel know that hotels and airlines often furnish limousine service for passengers to the airport or from the airport to the hotel (many of these "limousines" are vans or buses with Limousine written on the side of the vehicle). As a pastor I used them many times but the accusation insinuated something else that was totally false. That is the kind of garbage that needs to stop. Yes, some agency heads in the Southern Baptist Convention have to rent large rooms and suites at the annual meetings of the Convention because they have to have room for important meetings while they are there. It is not a luxury.

Before the "Bloggers" complain too much about the lack of "transparency", you need to check Article 14 of the Business and Financial Plan of the Southern Baptist Convention which provides that any member of a cooperating Southern Baptist Church can receive any financial information concerning the operation of any agency or institution in the Convention. I know it works because I have received such information from every entity in the Southern Baptist Convention. The truth is that the Southern Baptist Convention is more "transparent" and accountable than any denomination on the face of the earth and, while we are not perfect, a lot of these petty criticisms can do nothing but hurt a great Convention that is doing a great job in the kingdom of our Saviour.

Excerpt from letter to CHRISTIAN INDEX

For instance, Westbury's April 27 article about Bob Reccord's resignation asserted that there had been "repeated use of a corporate jet" and that it had been "documented". That was totally false. There is no corporate jet at the North American Mission Board. The Board had leased some "air shares" on a small, single engine, four place Cirrus plane so that staff members could reach their engagements in remote areas of the Convention that did not have adequate airline service and get back in a timely manner. In the wake of 9/11 air travel was very time consuming. There had already been discussion about cancelling that contract because of safety concerns. To compound the deception, Westbury quoted a source as saying that it had been "documented" when you knew that it had not been. Then there were ridiculous spin-off articles that also took pains to sully the name of Dr. Reccord such as two that appeared in the November issue of Baptists Today by Hannah Elliot and Mike Ebert. This is a magazine that is supported by the CBF. Strange bed fellows!

The truth is that Bob Reccord did a fantastic job. He was given the responsibility of amalgamating three Baptist entities: the Home Mission Board, the Radio and Television Commission and the Brotherhood Commission. It is well known that the RTVC and the Brotherhood Commission were heavily in debt and facing bankruptcy. The North American Mission Board had to absorb that debt. Then, in 1999 the Stock Market began to slide and in 2000 the Country began to go into a recession. The return on the Board's Reserve Funds went down. Many of the State Conventions could not participate in some of the Board's programs because they themselves were in financial straits and most State Conventions had to terminate workers. In the midst of the recession came the 9/11 attacks on our Country. NAMB was on the job there but it was expensive. No matter, NAMB was doing what it should have done and it received wide praise for its response. When the Country was beginning to get back on its feet financially, we had two hurricane seasons that were off the charts. This Country had never seen such disasters before. NAMB was there in Florida nad in New Orleans. Those huge disaster relief efforts were all coordinated by the North American Mission Board and they were costly. Intelligent people understand that but the Index chose to chasten Bob Reccord because Reserve Funds were somewhat depleted but they were being rapidly rebuilt at the time of Bob's resignation.

By the way, we wonder when Joe Westbury is going to disclose how much money he was paid by NAMB for "contract writing". Some people know that figure but Joe is the one who should disclose it in the name of fairness and integrity. Of course, he is no longer doing contract writing for NAMB but about everything that he has written about the Board lately smacks of a vendetta. Many folks feel that Westbury is angry because he did not get a job at the Board that he wanted. So why not be open and honest about it? The Index has worried about the integrity at the Board; what about your own integrity? Moreover, why was Bob Reccord himself never interviewed?

Your February 16, 2006 article made much of the fact that the Goal of 2,500 Church Plants was not met but I would suggest to you that 1,636 Church Plants is not to be sneezed at. Since when has it become a sin to miss a Goal? That happens quite often in Southern Baptist life. The 75 Million Campaign of the 20's did not reach its Goal but historians, with one accord, credit that Campaign with saving the Southern Baptist Convention and its institutions from bankruptcy. I remember well the Campaign of "A MILLION MORE IN '54". We didn't reach that Goal but it was still one of the greatest advances in Southern Baptist history. The fact is that Church Plants at NAMB have averaged 277 more per year than during the last 8 years of the Home Mission Board's existence. Again, your articles represent a lot of nit picking, second guessing and repetition of gossip.

The Index was totally irrational concerning the Elevate Conferences. Bob Reccord knew what many Denominational workers know and what thousands of Southern Baptist pastors know. The contributions of churches to the Cooperative Program have fallen from 11% in the 1980's to 6% today. The younger generation does not have the same commitment to Cooperative Program giving that the older generation that is moving off the scene had. Dr. Reccord realized that we must do something to bring our younger professionals into the support of our mission causes. That was what Elevate was all about. It targeted young professionals from 18 to 30. The purpose of the Conference was to teach young professionals how to be an effective witness for Christ in their work environment. There were 3,850 young adults who attended those Conferences. I read accounts of the Conferences in such publications as the Florida Baptist Witness, Crosswalk, and other publications. The Conferences featured such outstanding Christian leaders as Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, former President of the Arkansas Baptist Convention; Peggy Waymire, Josh McDowell, Janet Parshall, Kurt Cameron, and many other outstanding Christian leaders who have impacted their workplace with the Message of Jesus Christ. I have read numerous comments from people who attended the Conferences and there was nothing but glowing reports concerning the impact of the Conferences on the lives of young professionals. Yet, the take of the Index was that the Conferences "lost money". Since when do we expect to make money on ministries? NAMB is not a "for profit" institution.

Sure, the one in Oklahoma was very poorly attended because that was the week that Katrina hit. The next one was cancelled. The Nation had never seen a disaster like Katrina. After that, it was "all hands on deck" for Disaster Relief. Our Disaster Relief efforts were hailed all over the Nation. They were all coordinated by the North American Mission Board and yet, Joe Westbury had to find a way to criticize that. He contended that we didn't "capitalize" on it. We weren't supposed to be "capitalizing" on Disaster Relief. We were ministering in the Name of Jesus to people who were hurting. The states came forth with their Disaster Relief Units and the Mission Board purchased millions of dollars in supplies. Southern Baptists served 14.5 million hot meals primarily paid for by NAMB. They provided 103,000 hot showers. Approximately 8,000 children were kept in child care. 16,000 debris sites were cleared. But, that seems to account for nothing as far as the Index is concerned. Disaster Relief contributions to NAMB increased from 3,5 million dollars to almost 26 million dollars and that was through the efforts of Bob Reccord. Intelligent people thought that even Joe Westbury would understand that but apparently we hoped in vain.

When Westbury talked about the decrease in Reserves, he didn't tell the whole story plus the fact that he used the wrong figures. Not only, had NAMB merged two entities that were heavily indebted with the Home Mission Board but they had gone through a Market downturn that cost them revenue on their Reserves. There was also a huge 91% increase in the cost of Health Benefits for employees. The Retirement Fund was not actuarial. That had to be adjusted and it was expensive. There was also a great deal of expenditure trying to do something with Family Net (the old RTVC) but in his effort to discredit Bob Reccord, Joe Westbury chose to use the figures that would best serve his purposes rather than to tell the whole truth. No, figures don't lie but liars do figure. So, why does Bob Reccord get blamed for fixing that which others had messed up? A very good deal to purchase Family Net fell through because of the Index article. It cost the Board millions. This is just a small part of the wreckage that the Index has caused.

Sure, some positions had to be cut. That was the purpose of the merger. When you have two entities facing bankruptcy something has to be done. No one is ever happy when lay-offs occur but sometimes it can't be helped.

What we have seen is a vicious effort by some former employees who were angry because their positions had to be cut who were putting pressures on their Pastors and on the Christian Index to go after Bob Reccord. One thing needs to be understood very clearly. The North American Mission Board does not belong to the employees. It doesn't belong to area pastors around Atlanta. It doesn't even belong to the Georgia Convention. It doesn't belong to the Christian Index. It belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Atlanta area has no more claim on it than any other area in the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Communications Budget has dropped from 9 million dollars to 3 million dollars, a saving of 6 million dollars. Yet, you criticized Dr. Reccord for "out sourcing" even though the "in house" employees could not do what was needed. The overhead of the three merged agencies has been reduced from 25% to 12%. When Bob Reccord was called to the White House to discuss Disaster Relief because of the tremendous job that Southern Baptists were doing in that area, he met Dr. James Dobson and was interviewed by Dobson on his radio program. As a result of that interview, 200,000 more dollars came into NAMB for Disaster Relief and yet he was castigated for it. He was also attacked for speaking to groups that are not "Southern Baptist". Well, how in the world are we ever going to reach this Nation for Christ if we don't do anything but speak to other Southern Baptists" but Bob Reccord never compromised his message in the least. This year, over 7,300 recorded decisions have been made at Promise Keepers when Bob Reccord has spoken and given an invitation and yet he is accused of not believing in evangelism. He was blamed because churches are not baptizing more people but the programs have been out there. The encouragement has been there. The Nehemiah Church Planting strategies have been funded on our six seminary campuses plus one in Canada to the tune of 7 million 300 thousand dollars by NAMB. Finally, however, the baptisms of our Convention depend on what local pastors and local churches do and Bob Reccord cannot be blamed for that.

You didn't explain that the number of career missionaries declined because many of them took early retirement because of a change in and restructuring of benefits. Many of the state conventions were having to lay off personnel so they could not fund their part of the missionaries' salaries. Bob Reccord can't be blamed for that. Since 1997, NAMB has increased State Cooperative Budgets by more than 12 million dollars and yet he is criticized because the States were not able to furnish their part of the funding.

Any intelligent person who has the facts in hand and looks at the overview of what NAMB has done could hardly come to any conclusion but that Bob Reccord is a genius in what he was able to put together and accomplish. He thinks outside the box. He is an innovator. He is willing to try new things to accomplish the mission of the Board.

In the late 90's we were all delighted that the re-organization had taken place and that an unapologetically conservative President was at the helm of the North American Mission Board. He was a man who understood, believed in and had a heart for evangelism. But all of that meant nothing to the "hounds" who were thirsty for blood. Unless the general body of Trustees take things in hand and correct some terrible things that have gone wrong, the ministry of the Board may well crash. Dr. Roy Fish is a good man but he should realize that he has been named simply to give some kind of credibility to a little wrecking crew that has bungled everything at the Board. He did not even attend the last meeting of the Trustees and I doubt that he has the slightest clue as to what has gone on at the Board.

There is much more than I can cover in one letter that needs to be said to Southern Baptists but this is one Southern Baptist who is going to do everything possible to see that Southern Baptists understand what has happened.

Sincerely,
Robert Tenery (signed)