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Tale of Two Buildings By David Flick While attending my first ever CBF General Assembly, I had occasion to make a goodly number of personal observations. I took along my trusty digital camera, intending to capture some pictures of moderate Southern Baptists. Oklahoman Baptists have no earthly idea what a moderate Southern Baptist looks like. They wouldn't know a moderate Baptist from Adam's off ox. Oklahoma Baptists think all moderate Baptists are rank liberals who believe nothing but a bunch of junk theology. Embarrassingly, I once believed the same. While scouting for pictures for my personal website, I took a few pictures of the Ft. Worth Convention Center, the site of the 2002 CBF General Assembly. The Convention Center is located in the south part of downtown Ft. Worth. Getting a clear view of the entire building is impossible. There isn't a spot where one can get a complete panorama of the huge building. The best one can do is get a partial view of the building from between tall buildings. The widest view, although not the best, can be seen from a parking lot to the east of the Convention Center. From the north, one can only get most of the front. From the west, the only available view is a partial one between a couple of tall buildings. I managed to squeeze off shots from the east, north, and west. While I was taking the one from the west, I found an unusual building. It was the Flat Iron Building. I have no idea what sort of business has offices there, but it was a very unusual building. Here is the photo of the Convention Center, looking from the west.
The tall building on the left is inconsequential to this story. The Convention Center (middle) and the Flat Iron Building (on the right) are important. If one has not seen the Flat Iron Building prior to viewing this photo, he would think it's just another seven-story office building in downtown Ft. Worth. From this view, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. However, if one were to view the Flat Iron Building from the north, here is what he would see:
The building is incredibly narrow. In the front, the building is just one room wide. The back end of the building is four rooms wide. It is nearly three times taller than it is wide. Essentially, its just a sliver of a tall building. I wondered what kept it from being blown over by one of those Texas tornados. If one could compare moderate Southern Baptists and fundamentalist Southern Baptists to these two buildings, he would get a fairly accurate picture of how things are in 2002. If one were to compare moderate Southern Baptists to the Ft. Worth Convention Center (the middle building in the top picture), he would judge them to be a theologically well rounded people with a big heart for missions. Moderate Southern Baptists do not place restrictions on their missionaries. They do not require missionaries to sign creeds in order to serve on the mission fields. They permit their missionaries to be free to preach the freedom of Jesus Christ. They remember the words of Scripture, "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32). They have not diluted the doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer. By contrast, fundamentalist Southern Baptists may be compared to the Flat Iron Building. They are extremely narrow from top to bottom. There isn't much of anything "well-rounded" about their theology. Fundamentalists Southern Baptists do not allow freedom for their missionaries. They require their missionaries and seminary professors to sign man-made creeds before they are allowed to preach Jesus and teach students. Leaders who occupy the top floor of the Southern Baptist Flat Iron Building pass rigid mandates down to all employees, missionaries and seminary professors. It's a trickle-down dogma sort of theology. In some cases, they tell us that pickles have souls. The leaders transform confessions of faith into full-blown creeds. They change the Southern Baptist confession of faith every two years or so. They are legalists on the order of the Pharisees who beleaguered Jesus. They insist that all Southern Baptists believe in their version of inerrancy of the Bible. They refuse to allow for diversity of views on inspiration of the Bible. They declare that everyone who doesn't agree with their views do not believe the Bible. They seem never to have heard the words of Jesus, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Their version of "truth" is narrow and totally lacking freedom. The doctrine Priesthood of the Believer is out the window. It's a tale of two Southern Baptist buildings. One is well-rounded and free. The other is narrow, shallow, and lacking in freedom. Moderate Southern Baptists are waxing strong. Fundamentalist Southern Baptists are on the wane. I'm casting my lot with the moderate Southern Baptists. Their future is bright. They are growing and expanding world wide. Their building will stand whatever controversies may come their way. They don't fight and feud with everyone who disagree with them. However, the future of fundamentalist Southern Baptists is questionable. They continue to fuss and feud with people passing down the sidewalk beside their building. The next strong wind of controversy just might blow their narrow building over. If not a wind, it will be a crumbling of the building from within. There is bound to come a day when the leaders on the top floor of the Southern Baptist Flat Iron Building will begin fussing and feuding among themselves. They will begin going for each other's jugulars. Since they thrive on controversies, and since the moderates no longer worry about controversies, they will have to create controversies within their own ranks. With Jerry Rankin's mandate for all IMB missionaries to sign the 2KBF&M creed, they have enough on their plate to hold them in controversy for the foreseeable future. Thank God I'm not a fundy dwelling in the Southern Baptist Flat Iron Building. Thank God I'm a moderate who dwells in the large well rounded building. -- July 1, 2002 (This article was written for BaptistLife.Com Discussion Forums) |
