Am I Having Fun Yet?
By David Flick

Happiness and joy should be an integral part of life for a Baptist preacher. Preachers of the gospel face a diversity of stresses in day to day ministry. God never promised that any of His children would live trouble-free and stress-free lives.  However, even with the stresses and troubles that occur, there should be joy in serving God. It should be fun to be a Baptist preacher.

I have an avocation that gives me an opportunity to freely express my opinions.  I serve as a moderator for an interactive Baptist discussion forum (WWW.BaptistLife.Com). I enjoy a good theological debate on an internet discussion forum. I enjoy discussing denominational politics. Internet discussion forums allow me to be on the cutting edge of what is being said in theology and denominational life.

Recently, a regular participant on BaptistLife.Com wrote an opinion that caused me to do some serious thinking.  He made an interesting comment  that drove me to ask myself, "Am I having fun yet?"

Rock: Southern Baptists are the biggest boys on the block. They have all the toys. When they don't get their way, well,  they take their toys and go home. Which would be sad if they were any fun at all to be around. But they are not. They are really are pitiful in alot of ways.

I am a Southern Baptist minister with thirty-six years of experience.  My career spanned three and a half decades. It spanned the entire period during which the Southern Baptist fundamentalists executed their hostile takeover of the denomination. Prior to 1979,  I can honestly say that I was "having fun" in ministry. I began pastoring my first church in August of 1966.  It was a small Native American Baptist mission . I entered the ministry still very wet behind the ears.  I began my ministry and was ordained before I completed college.  "Green as a gourd" and "dumb as a stump" would adequately describe those first years of my ministry.  Yet, with all that inexperience, I was having fun.  And lots of it.

Things took a major turn south in June of 1979.  I was, as were most pastors in the Southern Baptist convention, completely surprised by what Paul Pressler, Paige Patterson, W. A. Criswell, and several other fundamentalist leaders did.  I had the experience of being in the Summit in Houston when the first shots of the takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention were fired from the sky boxes. It wasn't until years later that I completely realized the significance of what had happened.

 In those days, I kept a somewhat detailed personal journal. My journal entry for June 14, 1979 reads as follows:

"Rose at 7:00am. Went to the Summit and was there all  day long. The issue of political activity in the convention arose and there was a very sharp exchange on the convention floor.  Well , the verbal part came from the convention floor platform. Dr. Wayne Dehoney "let it fly" at the people who were politicking. He pointed his index finger toward the  skyboxes on the north side and made some terse remarks. (Until then, I didn't even know that there were any messengers up there.) It got very hot there for a few minutes... "

I knew at the time that something was wrong.  But didn't know quite for sure what to think.  After I got home from the '79 convention, I began to reflect about what was happening to Southern Baptists.

I believe I can honestly say that life as a Southern Baptist ceased to be "fun" after 1979.  It was no longer fun to attend Southern Baptist Convention annual sessions. With the rise of secular politics in denominational life, things went from bad to worse.

Whereas, it was generally fun to watch the election of the convention president prior to 1979, it was no longer fun thereafter. The fundamentalists (who weren't called fundamentalists back then) took the fun out of electing a president. Before 1979 nobody ever went to a convention with knowledge of who was going to be elected president of the convention. After '79, the fundamentalists began announcing their candidates six months in advance. There were regional denominational caucuses all across the country.  The fundamentalists assumed a devious mean-spirited attitude toward all who disagreed with them.

Nominations for president of the convention were made extemporaneously.  There would generally be always be a choice of candidates unless it was the second year of the incumbent president.  Nomination speeches were enjoyable and pleasant, possessing positive attributes about the candidate. After '79, the nomination speeches by the fundamentalists were ridiculous glorified pieces of rhetoric designed to aggrandize the candidate  to being little short of vice-God.  They declared and, still to this day,  paint the candidate as being God's chosen person to save the denomination from certain doom, which is soon to be executed upon the denomination by the flaming "liberals."

After 1979 it was no longer fun to be a Southern Baptist  because the fundamentalists engaged in a plethora of ad hominem attacks on all persons deemed to be "liberals." They adopted a "Chicken Little" attitude, declaring  the denomination would face certain doom if the liberals were allowed to continue in places of leadership, particularly in the seminaries.  I grew so sick and tired of the "slippery slope" myths and "bad professor" stories that I wanted to barf every time I heard one.  It was no longer fun to be in the presence of people who spewed venomous, false accusations of "liberalism" in the denomination, the churches, and the seminaries.

By 1981, I was ashamed to be a Southern Baptist.  But where would I go? I loved the Southern Baptist denomination but hated the words, deeds, and actions of the fundamentalist takeover faction. For the first decade of the takeover, I said nothing and refrained from expressing my opinion.  I reasoned that my inexperience would prevent me from receiving a hearing. I wanted to remain in fellowship with many of my fundie friends.  I served in a state where fundamentalism is king among Southern Baptists.  Moderates, as they later came to be known, were considered to be lily-livered liberals who believe nothing but a bunch of "junk theology." The "fun" of being a Southern Baptist was totally gone by 1990.

But since I was born a Southern Baptist and want to die a Southern Baptist, I generally kept my mouth shut (publicly) about what was happening in the denomination.  It wasn't until in the early '90s that I began to be more bold in criticizing the rotten things going on in the denomination. I decided that if I'm going to be honest with myself, then exposing devious deceptions of the Southern Baptist fundamentalists had to happen. Integrity demanded that I stand for the truth.

Standing for the truth is costly business. It's not fun to have an anonymous coward send anonymous emails to the Executive Director of my state convention and all the Directors of Missions in the state.  It's not fun to have the Executive Director call me into his office and rip me to shreds for publicly criticizing Southern Baptists.  It's not fun when an anonymous coward sends anonymous letters to every pastor in my association, telling them that I don't believe in the resurrection of Christ, the deity of Christ, or the virgin birth.  It's not fun when some of those same pastors tell me that I'm in an "untenable position."  It's not fun for some of those same pastors tell me that I ought to be fired for criticizing Southern Baptists.  It's not fun resigning from my position under the threat of being fired.

I can't say that the last twenty of the thirty five years I served as pastor and Director of Missions were fun-filled years. I'm not saying that I didn't experience happiness and joy during those years, but I echo Rock's sentiments. Fundamentalists Southern Baptists aren't fun to be around. They are really pitiful in a lot of ways.  They are arrogant people who believe they have all the answers to all the questions.  They are suspicious of anyone who disagrees with them. Even to the point of declaring that they don't believe the Bible and they are unworthy "liberals."

I have been retired for a little more than six months now. Shortly after I retired, I became active with moderate Southern Baptists.  I no longer have to do it on the sly.  I no longer have to worry about what the fundamentalists will say about me.  I am actively involved in ministries supported by Moderate Southern Baptists.  Am I having fun yet? You bet I am.  It's been twenty years since I've had so much fun.

If I died tonight, I can say it was worth it all to join the moderate camp of Southern Baptists. They are people of integrity. They are people who love God. They are people who love the Bible but don't make an idol of it. They are a people who support missionaries without requiring them to sign a creed. They are a people who allow for diversity on the minor doctrines of the faith.  They are a people who have an attitude with lots of latitude. They are a people who will disagree agreeably. They are a people who love me warts and all. And it's fun to have friends like this. Tons of fun!

-- July 16, 2002

 (This article was written for  BaptistLife.Com Discussion Forums)