Editor’s note: Executive Director David Hankins gave the following as his report during the 2010 annual meeting, using Romans 1:1-5; 16 as his scriptural reference.
Mission statements are very popular among our churches. Taking a cue from business, we realize we need to articulate what it is we are trying to accomplish. Mission statements serve to declare, remind, and focus our aims and goals.
The apostle Paul planned on going to Rome to make it the western base of operations. In Romans 1, he sets out his plan and purpose, “set apart for the gospel of God.”
Allow me to remind us of our LBC mission:
LBC is a gospel organization created, guided and supported by gospel churches for gospel goals.
What are the implications of the gospel of God for Christians and what is its apologetic intent?
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The gospel of God is particular in its content.
Verses 2-4 conclude that this gospel is centered in Jesus Christ our Lord, who was prophesied, identified and ratified. All of Paul’s ministry hinges on the reality of Jesus as the promised Messiah, the heir to David’s throne, and resurrected from the dead confirming he was indeed the Son of God.
The apostle concludes that he is not ashamed of this gospel. There were those who wanted him to be ashamed. From the moment of his call to preach Christ, he had critics. Some from outside the faith, like the Jews, wanted him to abandon his gospel; some from inside the faith, like the Judaizers, wanted him to modify his gospel. But Paul insisted the content of the gospel he preached was not subject to compromise or alteration. It is centered in Jesus alone. (I Corinthians 2)
Allow me to illustrate using the book, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The story is about an Indian boy, P.M. Patel, who adopts the mathematical symbol for calculating the area of a circle (Pi) as his nickname. Pi is interested in spirituality. Even though he comes from a secular home, Pi simultaneously becomes a Christian, a Muslim, and a Hindu. When his spiritual advisors meet with him and his parents at the same time, there is quite an uproar. Pi replies, “Bapu Ghandi says all religions are true.”
We are being challenged on every side in our culture to abandon or modify the particular content of the gospel of God. There is a virulent strain of atheism but more threatening are those who claim to be theists but who want all religions to be true!
We must remember that the gospel is not style, but substance. Not a methodology, but a message. We are told to be ashamed of the gospel.
The first apologetic response to our culture: The people who call themselves Southern Baptists are committed to the principle that Jesus Christ is our only truth. Our work is not about success, market share, popularity or recognition. Some have been worried about our Southern Baptist image. Some suggest we ought to tone down our rhetoric on social issues. There is probably some wisdom in reminding ourselves as Baptists not to be unnecessarily obnoxious or to major on minors. But if you think that will make this culture like us better, you need to think again.
The gospel is still the sticking point: the scandal of particularity! As long as this is our view, count on criticism, mockery, opposition and resistance. But we cannot, and must not, compromise the gospel.
The gospel of God is powerful in its intent.
Paul declares in v. 16 that the gospel is imbued with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (v. 4) and will transform everyone who believes from “being dead in their trespasses” to being possessors of eternal life.
Therefore, the gospel is, per se, in and of itself, the power that produces salvation. The gospel (its particulars and its proclamation) embodies the action of God that makes it possible for those hopelessly lost in sin to become recipients of eternal life. It is the enabling act. All that God has chosen to do for the redemption of individual human beings is bundled up in the gospel.
Another way to say it is that the gospel (its particulars concerning Jesus and its proclamation-so that its particulars can be known) is SUFFICIENT! The gospel is sufficient for defeating the blinding by Satan, for defeating the effects of depravity, for convicting of sin, for testifying to the Savior, for drawing men to faith. It is sufficient so much so that anyone who hears it is made able to respond. It requires no means other than its preaching to be effective for salvation. The sinner neither needs nor receives some other prompting for a faith response.
On this point, the failure of some sinful hearers to be saved is solely because of their refusal to believe. John 3 tells us, “Those who believe are not condemned. Those who do not believe are condemned already.” There is no deficiency in the power of the gospel or in the willingness of God to save by the gospel.
The New Hampshire Confession of Faith reads:
“We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.”
No wonder the apostle was not ashamed of the gospel- it is the power to save!
As a result, I want to make a brief apologetic appeal to the churches:
1. In regards to technique, preach the gospel simply. While we ought to be concerned about unregenerate church membership, let’s not overreact and presume complexity in gospel teaching (that approximates passing an entrance exam) is necessary for a true response to the gospel or will prevent false professions of faith. The New Testament noted both those who had maximum exposure to the gospel and eventually abandoned it, and those who had minimum exposure whose faith was exemplary. Spurgeon said, “The power of the gospel to save does not depend on our precision or sophistication or expertise.”
I am not arguing against preparation, thoroughness or seriousness. And I am certainly not arguing for carelessness, ignorance, manipulation or techniques that never get around to presenting the gospel. I am simply reminding us that our level of preparation cannot guarantee a response nor can it prohibit one.
The power is in the gospel, not us. Let’s not become so cautious that we raise barriers that restrict the preaching of the gospel or that keep us from passionately calling for an immediate response of faith.
2. As regards to theology, preach the gospel freely. Preach it indiscriminately, confidently, and without mental reservation, knowing everyone is a proper candidate for the gospel and may be saved. You have no other message and you need no other message. And sinners have no other hope.
The gospel of God is pervasive in its extent.
Paul says, this gospel of God, which is centered exclusively in Jesus Christ, and which is the power of salvation, is designed to reach the whole world. We are to call people from “all the nations” (v. 5). In verse 16, he says to “everyone.” First for the Jew. Then the Gentile. This has theological, familial, and methodological implications for Paul. (And is a key to interpreting Romans).
Southern Baptists are committed to the principle of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. The value of being a part of this denomination is that not only do we have a heart for reaching the nations, we have a plan for reaching the nations. It is consistent with Paul’s practice-first to the Jew; then to the Gentile. We could apply this geographically to mean first at home then abroad.
As a result, allow me to address a state convention apologetic. Before I articulate the apologetic, I want to make a couple of preliminary observations to keep my comments in context. One, I know the churches that network with our state convention have a whole array of gospel ministries they accomplish that are not under the auspices of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. We are thankful for every gospel endeavor our constituent churches make and pray for their prosperity.
Secondly, our state convention has a partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention that we cherish and is mandated by our constitution for the work beyond our state borders. A valued part of LBC’s mission is to contribute to the success of the SBC.
Having said these things, I want to assert the following:
The primary assignment for the LBC is assisting Louisiana Baptists in evangelizing, congregationalizing, and discipling the residents of the state of Louisiana.
Two current emphases in SBC life make it important for the LBC to state clearly our objectives. The first is an attitude of some Baptist leaders to devalue the work of the Baptist state convention and to call for a virtual defunding by Baptists of our work in the state. I strongly disagree with these sentiments. The second emphasis is the realigning of the funds of the NAMB away from places like Louisiana to the underserved areas of North America. I affirm this initiative as long at it is accomplished thoughtfully and fraternally.
In response to the current climate, I want to state the intentions of the LBC:
First, we will continue to act faithfully on behalf of LBC churches to assist them and strengthen them through our ministries and strategies;
Second, we will continue to be diligent, thoughtful, frugal and accountable in the ministries assigned to the LBC by the churches;
Third, we will maintain and improve our ministries designed to evangelize and plant churches in Louisiana, especially in the underserved population centers, most notably New Orleans. I mention New Orleans because it is our largest and most famous city and because of NAMB’s lessening of their historic role in that great city.
Fourth, although we will endeavor to allocate more Cooperative Program resources away from Louisiana, we will not do so in a wholesale manner that is a de facto defunding of our necessary and valuable gospel ministries in our state. Our strategy continues to be a reallocation by growth, not a reallocation by elimination.
Maintaining and increasing the LBC’s primary focus on reaching Louisiana will be demanding. Consider these challenges:
1. Pray for a revival of holiness and consecration in each of our churches.
2. Continue to encourage each church to adopt an Acts 1:8 strategy of evangelism and missions.
3. As encouraged by the SBC’s recent Great Commission Resurgence Report, elevate local church Cooperative Program percentages that will benefit both LBC and SBC ministries.
4. In light of the reallocation of NAMB mission funding away from Louisiana, encourage local churches to give more generously to the Georgia Barnette Offering for State Missions. In 2012 Baptist work in Louisiana celebrates its 200th anniversary. I am challenging us to set a $2 million goal for our state missions offering in 2012.
The LBC is a gospel enterprise. We will never neglect the needs of the nation or the world but we hear God’s call to reach Louisiana. As Paul wrote in Romans 1, “as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel”. We are ready to preach from Oak Grove in the northeast to Oak Grove in the southwest, from DeSoto to Destrahan, from Starkes to Slidell, from Vernon to Vidalia, and from Bossier to Bastrop.
God has commissioned us to do it. In the gospel, he has enabled us to do it. All that remains is for us to be obedient to do it.