- Greed
- Politics
- Arrogance
- Self-centeredness
- Self-reliance
These are the fruits of OUR spirit. They rest at numerous places throughout our convention. I would love to give several examples, but I will refrain. Look at where we are! Our thinking has 
brought us to extreme ineffectiveness and decline. After all, we have gone through over the past years we are still a divided lot. God is obviously not pleased. To my understanding, he has withdrawn His blessing from us as a national convention. We have become a convention that has been resistant to evaluating its own effectiveness; possibly, we have been in a mode to keep the status quo, regardless of the limits of our effective operations. Many of our churches are so inward focused that He surely is not pleased. And I believe that will continue until we repent and return to Him. We don’t need men’s thinking; we need to follow God as He leads.
Some of our past leaders have tried hard to focus us in the right direction. It is just extremely hard to accomplish spiritual work within an ingrained political system that seems to fail to consult the Lord on much of anything. It seems to me that the thing that we have failed to do is consult with God. If you believe that God has led us, then surely it is His wish that we exterminate ourselves.
Should we be so surprised at our condition? Looking at the Old Testament should give us all the proof that humans have a tendency to depart from God. We want to do things our way instead of His way. So what is needed? Another reorganization? I don’t think so.
The operative word is repent. True, gut-wrenching, honest to goodness, realization of our spiritual ineptness and complete confession that we have really messed things up. That is the first half of repentance. The second half is a change of direction. That is, stop the greedy, political, arrogant, self-centered, self-reliant thinking and get back to Jesus. I know that sounds trite. Everyone says it, but few actually do it.
What we really need is to see our own personal sin the way God sees it. I tried it and He really got my attention. Know what I found out? Repentance is really hard. But, it is the greatest thing once you realize that repentance becomes an ongoing discussion with God. Once you get in the repentance mode (humility is a key thought here), there is a freshness brought by the presence of God that can’t be found anywhere else. “Repent therefore and return that our sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19
It seems we have departed far from the Lord. We have grown to become dysfunctional at all levels of our organization, from the church level up. As God reveals to us the folly of our work, we need to continually repent of our own sins (some of which are listed above) and submit totally to Him who desires to lead us. In fact, I believe He is waiting to lead us. If we could only get back on the same page with God, I am totally convinced that He would begin to do some amazing things through the SBC—things that only God can do. Wouldn’t that be great?
Who will lead us to consult with God again? Who will lead us to a renewed and radical obedience to the Lord?
I suggest that we DoM’s cooperate to begin a joint effort to attempt to facilitate spiritual renewal for pastors and churches. We can’t bring revival, but we can plan some activity where God has a chance to work in the hearts of people.
So, let me suggest something. Stop and Repent. And then let’s work together to set out in a new direction—not one of our own making—but a new direction where God is leading us and allowing His power to flow through us to get His work done. Repentance has to start somewhere. Let it start with DoM’s throughout our country. Let us regain our passion for God and for His work. Let’s model it for our pastors and our churches, and let’s pray as we have never prayed before to plead with God for His divine intervention into our lives and the lives of our churches.
Dr. Larry Richmond, DoM
Gateway Baptist Association
IL
brought us to extreme ineffectiveness and decline. After all, we have gone through over the past years we are still a divided lot. God is obviously not pleased. To my understanding, he has withdrawn His blessing from us as a national convention. We have become a convention that has been resistant to evaluating its own effectiveness; possibly, we have been in a mode to keep the status quo, regardless of the limits of our effective operations. Many of our churches are so inward focused that He surely is not pleased. And I believe that will continue until we repent and return to Him. We don’t need men’s thinking; we need to follow God as He leads.Some of our past leaders have tried hard to focus us in the right direction. It is just extremely hard to accomplish spiritual work within an ingrained political system that seems to fail to consult the Lord on much of anything. It seems to me that the thing that we have failed to do is consult with God. If you believe that God has led us, then surely it is His wish that we exterminate ourselves.
Should we be so surprised at our condition? Looking at the Old Testament should give us all the proof that humans have a tendency to depart from God. We want to do things our way instead of His way. So what is needed? Another reorganization? I don’t think so.
The operative word is repent. True, gut-wrenching, honest to goodness, realization of our spiritual ineptness and complete confession that we have really messed things up. That is the first half of repentance. The second half is a change of direction. That is, stop the greedy, political, arrogant, self-centered, self-reliant thinking and get back to Jesus. I know that sounds trite. Everyone says it, but few actually do it.
What we really need is to see our own personal sin the way God sees it. I tried it and He really got my attention. Know what I found out? Repentance is really hard. But, it is the greatest thing once you realize that repentance becomes an ongoing discussion with God. Once you get in the repentance mode (humility is a key thought here), there is a freshness brought by the presence of God that can’t be found anywhere else. “Repent therefore and return that our sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19
It seems we have departed far from the Lord. We have grown to become dysfunctional at all levels of our organization, from the church level up. As God reveals to us the folly of our work, we need to continually repent of our own sins (some of which are listed above) and submit totally to Him who desires to lead us. In fact, I believe He is waiting to lead us. If we could only get back on the same page with God, I am totally convinced that He would begin to do some amazing things through the SBC—things that only God can do. Wouldn’t that be great?
Who will lead us to consult with God again? Who will lead us to a renewed and radical obedience to the Lord?
I suggest that we DoM’s cooperate to begin a joint effort to attempt to facilitate spiritual renewal for pastors and churches. We can’t bring revival, but we can plan some activity where God has a chance to work in the hearts of people.
So, let me suggest something. Stop and Repent. And then let’s work together to set out in a new direction—not one of our own making—but a new direction where God is leading us and allowing His power to flow through us to get His work done. Repentance has to start somewhere. Let it start with DoM’s throughout our country. Let us regain our passion for God and for His work. Let’s model it for our pastors and our churches, and let’s pray as we have never prayed before to plead with God for His divine intervention into our lives and the lives of our churches.
Dr. Larry Richmond, DoM
Gateway Baptist Association
IL
Posts
5 comments:
I wholeheartedly agree. It is so easy for us to see "them" as the problem, when we each contribute in ways small and large to a spirit of divisiveness and gossip. kudos for a well-reasoned article.
Bob Royall
www.insightforward.com
Thanks, Larry, for a thoughtful and prayerful message delivered clearly from the heart...to my heart. Repentance is the key, from humbled hearts that are desperate for the Lord and His ways. Here's one who is ready to renew my own repentance and to continue to call our pastors and churches to turn from our own selfish, competitive ways to go God's way of revival together.
Repentence is always the bottom line and is the most difficult position to get to because it goes to our origional sin! Question, " If God did not show up in our churches this Sunday, would we notice?" I fear the answer. Thank you Larry for calling us to the place where God always shows up.
Reposted with permission from Facebook comment by Pal Madden:
Perfect timing with this post. Comes right after I posted the following: Tip of the ICEBERG in Paganized Christianity. Consider why the church is returning home -- where the heart is, where it started, and where it belongs. Cut and paste this link for good follow up to Gilstraps post. http://www.ylifeonline.org/iceberg.html
We have felt a rigid orthodoxy would save us. We forget Jesus reduced rigid orth to two commandments to love God and neighbor. If we do that, orthodoxy automatically finds its place. - Perry Lassiter
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