Marcus Orr

I just finished reading Dr. Chuck Lawless’ Open Letter to Young Southern Baptists. I found it posted at Between the Times. You can also read the letter at Dr. Lawless’ website. Dr. Lawless honestly notes some of the difficulties facing the denomination while encouraging young Southern Baptists to support the Cooperative Program, remain focused on the Great Commission, and become engaged in SBC life. I found his letter very encouraging. It is definitely worth reading. There are many exciting things going on in the SBC and I’m glad to be a part of our denomination. I just wish that more of our folks knew what the SBC is about.

I wasn’t raised in a Southern Baptist Church. I came to the SBC as a teenager out of an independant, fundamental, baptist church and knew very little of the Southern Baptist Convention. Even after joining a SBC church, I still wasn’t aware of what the Convention did. I didn’t know a lot about the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board or any other of the agencies or programs of the convention. Very little if anything was mentioned of these efforts in church services. I just wasn’t aware of what the SBC did. It took a seminary education at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to make me aware of what the convention has to offer. I believe that more of our folks would become involved and contribute if they were aware of SBC activities.

We could learn a thing or two from our independent baptist brethren. I distinctly remember missionaries visiting the independent baptist church in which I grew up. I remember them speaking to Sunday School classes, our children’s ministry, and the congregation. They told of the wonderful things that God was accomplishing on the mission field. People gave, in part, because they made a personal connection with both the missionary and the mission. When I joined the SBC, I rarely heard from the missionaries and evangelists. Instead, I read bulletin notes and occasionally heard a plea from the pulpit to give money when we took up a collection for Annie Armstrong or Lottie Moon, neither of which I knew anything at the time. We could benefit tremendously by intentionally keeping our congregations informed about SBC life, particularly concerning foreign and home missions.

I think many of our folks, especially younger Southern Baptists, share the confusions that I had prior to seminary. They don’t know what it means to be Southern Baptist. They haven’t heard anything about Southern Baptist History. They don’t know what Southern Baptists do. No wonder they view the SBC as irrelevant. I hope that Dr. Lawless’ Letter encourages our younger leaders to become engaged with the SBC, capturing the Great Commission vision which has defined the convention. I hope that we capture that vision and keep it before our congregations as we cooperatively reach out to world in dire need of Christ.

Technorati Tags: Great Commission, SBC, Southern Baptists, Missions, Evangelism, Dr. Chuck Lawless

Few things are more heartbreaking than the sexual or physical abuse of a child. Unfortunately, children are being victimized with alarming frequency across our country. No longer do we just have to worry about the scary stranger. Our news media is flooded with reports of children being abused by parents, teachers, family friends and neighbors. We would hope that our churches are safe havens for our children, but this isn’t always the case. In fact,just as there are those that gravitate toward activities such as local recreation league sports to find their victims, there are also those who volunteer with children’s and youth ministries to perpetrate on their victims. Every time I hear a news story about a child being victimized while in the care of a church, I wonder what, if any, safeguards were in place. It is imperative that churches develop policies and procedures to protect children in the care of the church. This is vitally important for several theological and practical reasons.

• Children Were a Priority for Jesus – Most are familiar with the account of Jesus’ interaction with children and his sharp rebuke of his disciples as he says “Allow the little children to come unto me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. ” (Matt. 9:14 MKJV) This paints a vivid picture of our Savior’s tender heart for the innocence and simplicity of children. As the church of Jesus Christ, carefully guarded ministry to children should be a priority.

• The Abuse Of Children Angers God – In a vivid example found in Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2, Jesus states that it would be better for a perpetrator against children to be drowned in the sea with a millstone hung around his neck. To have one’s very life taken is preferable to the coming wrath of God incurred for offending against a child.

• The Reputation Of Christ Is At Stake – In Proverbs 22:1, we are told that “A good name is rather to be had than great riches.” When wealth is lost, it can be easily restored. No matter how good a name is, it can be destroyed in moments and possibly never recovered. As the representatives of Christ in the community, churches should take special care to guard against the possibility that Jesus’ name might be blemished through their negligence.

• The Church Will Be Held Accountable – There is no excuse for failure to implement measures to protect children. The belief that “it won’t happen here” demonstrates a complete denial of the reality in which we live. There are bad people who prey on children and they are in our churches. To fail to acknowledge this and take action is to open the church to tremendous civil liability. Churches can be sued, not only for what they have done, but for what they have failed to do. It is my belief that God will also hold leadership accountable for willfully failing to protect children under their care.

• Visitors To Your Church Will Decide Whether To Return Based On Their Perception Of The Safety Of Their Child – When my wife and I were looking for a church home, we visited a thriving local church led by a dynamic, doctrinally sound pastor. After our first visit, it was easy to see why this church was quickly growing. We returned for a second visit and then a third with the possibility that we may have found our church home. It was on our third visit that we became alarmed so greatly that we never returned to this church. When we took our daughter to the nursery, we were informed that, as third time visitors with children, we were being added to the nursery worker list. I wanted to grab my child up in my arms and run from the building shouting the absurdity of what I had heard! To allow strangers to, not only access, but care for children opens the door for all kinds of abuse. Churches should be making it especially difficult for offenders to victimize, not easier. The parents that visit your church will make a decision about whether to return based on their perception of the safety of their child.

These are only a few good reasons to develop a plan to prevent child abuse in the church. There are many more reasons than can be listed here.

Here are three of the most important things that a church can do to help prevent abuse

• Know your workers – Paid staff and volunteer workers should be screened. With resources such as sex offender registries and commercial databases, background checks are affordable and easily accessible. There is no excuse for not utilizing these resources.

• Supervise your workers – There are few reasons an adult should be alone with a child, especially a child of the opposite sex.

• Develop written policies regarding child safety and follow them – This protects children, the church and the workers. You don’t have to blaze a new path in this area, there are many churches that have excellent written policies from which you can borrow ideas. Many denominations have standard policies for their churches to use as templates.

While abuse can occur anywhere, even without warning signs, there are plenty of resources out there to help limit an offender’s opportunity. Here are a few links:

The National Sex Offender Public Registry

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Manual- Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Youth-Serving Organizations: Getting Started on Policies and Procedures

10 Steps to Prevent Child Abuse in the Church

Youth and Children’s Ministry Safety Resources from Guideone Center for Risk Management

Safe Kids: Policies & Procedures for Protecting Children in the Church By Blake Caldwell / LifeStream Resources Child abuse scandals in the church shake our faith in our fellow neighbors, and sometimes even our faith in God. We cannot afford to ignore the issue, content to hope and pray that our children will be safe. Rather than waiting until something drastic happens and lamenting about it, churches can take active steps to put safeguards in place for their ministry. This is a manual designed to help churches structure the safest possible environment for their children’s ministry. This manual provides: Forms and procedures to screen volunteers Ideas for structuring the church building to keep nurseries and Sunday school classrooms safe Instructions for training children’s workers Information you must know to identify potential predators Policies for reporting suspected child abuse

Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry By Robert Welch / B & H Publishing Group Your “business” is ministry and your talents are teaching and preaching—but you cannot avoid the administrative tasks required to run your church or religious nonprofit organization. Train your leadership and motivate your staff with this practical guide. Chapters discuss documentation; personnel, financial, and physical resources; risk management; and more. 400 pages, hardcover from B&H.

Technorati Tags: Church Administration, Risk Management, Child Abuse, Sex Abuse, Scandal, Child Safety, Predators, Pedophiles

I don’t watch a lot of television. Not that there isn’t anything on that I’d like to see, I just don’t have the opportunity to watch a lot. I spend more time in front of the computer screen than the television. I take in a lot of news, mostly online so that I can pick and choose what’s relevant to me. Occasionally, I’ll watch the local news if there’s a story on that I want to see. So, unless something is making big headlines, I may miss out on it.

Something has caught my eye recently, not on the television, but in public, and I’ve been wondering how I missed it. I’ve seen several folks reading the same book, Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth. After seeing a third or fourth person walking around with this book tucked in a pocket book or under an arm, it makes you take notice and raises your curiosity a little. I knew nothing about Tolle or his books and I wondered what could be drawing people to him. It wasn’t until encountering some online media concerning the connection between Tolle and Oprah Winfrey that I began to dig for a little more information about why I keep seeing and hearing his name.

I don’t watch Oprah. I never have and probably never will. Even if you don’t personally tune into her show, there’s no question about her influence on American culture. She has a very powerful platform from which to speak and a large segment of our population listens. In January, 2008, Winfrey announced Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth as her book club selection, which undoubtedly helped catapult the book to the top of the NY Times’ bestseller list. This book, subtitled “awakening the purpose in your life” is a modern repackaging of buddhist teaching peppered with christian language to make it more palatable to an audience with a judeo-christian background. Winfrey and Tolle also developed ten online classes, complete with workbooks, newsletters, transcripts, webcasts and podcasts. Winfrey describes Tolle’s book as “one of the most important subjects… presented by one of the most important books of our time.”With Winfrey’s media powerhouse behind him, Tolle has an audience of millions at which to pitch his views. Tolle’s isn’t the first new age media to be catapulted into the limelight by Winfrey. In 2007, it was hard to escape her promotion of “The Secret” another new thought, self-realization vehicle. This is one of the reasons I don’t watch Oprah, but what about the millions who do? Who are they? Who is buying into this new age spirituality? They are regular folk. They are teaching our children. They are sitting in your church pews every Sunday.

For the American church, this means a great deal. We have a serious problem if Oprah Winfrey can equate God, life, conciousness, and universal energy as one and the same and people who call themselves Christians swallow this garbage. I have neither the space nor inclination to identify and address all of the aspects of New Age thought that are being pitched to us on a daily basis, nor do I believe that other ministries need to spend much time dissecting and attacking popular culture and thought. The problem for the church isn’t a lack of people attacking errant teaching. The problem is that there is a lack of clear and concise teaching of Christian doctrine. Those who call themselves Christians do not know what they believe or why because they have been taught a watered-down version of Christianity that looks no different from the latest self-help books. Tolle and others of his strain hold such power over our people because they are, as Scripture describes:

…children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive
(Eph 4:14 KJV)

and

they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
(2Ti 4:3-4 KJV)

They know nothing of the righteousness of God or the depravity of man. They are not taught the consequences of sin or the reality of Hell. They are taught “love thy neighbor” divorced from an understanding of love defined by the sacrificial death and hope found in Jesus Christ. We suffer from weak leadership that has lost faith in the sufficiency of Scripture. Our churches are in desperate need for a return to the advice that Paul gave to Timothy as he prepared to lead the church. Paul says:

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
(1Ti 4:13-16 KJV)

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
(2Ti 4:2 KJV)

No fancy programs. No gimmicks. No new plans or formulas for growth. Paul emphasizes the importance of faithfulness in teaching and applying sound doctrine. He urges us to belief in the sufficiency of Scripture and conformation of our churches and lives to the teaching of God’s Word.

Here are some resources worth considering:

Here We Stand!: A Call from Confessing Evangelicals for a Modern ReformationBy P & R Publishing The church in sixteenth-century Europe needed a reformation. Martin Luther precipitated what we call the Reformation with his famous declaration, “Here I stand!” Is the evangelical church of today equally in need of a reformation? Yes, proclaim eight evangelical leaders: David Wells, James Montgomery Boice, Michael Horton, Sinclair Ferguson, R. Albert Mohler, Gene Edward Veith, W. Robert Godfrey, and Ervin Duggan. “Because of our love of Christ, his gospel, and his church,” they affirm in a document called the Cambridge Declaration, “we endeavor to assert anew our commitment to the central truths of the Reformation and of historic evangelicalism.” Evangelicals “have abandoned the truths of the Bible and the historic theology of the church, which expresses those truths,” writes coeditor Boice. “We are trying to do the work of God by means of the world’s “theology,” wisdom, methods, and agenda instead.” Here We Stand! calls churches to return to the authority of the Bible and to apply it faithfully in their worship, ministry, policies, life, and evangelism.

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the GospelBy Mark Dever & Paul Alexander / Crossway Books & Bibles Pastors Mark Dever and Paul Alexander provide a model of a biblical church in this resource for pastors, elders, and others interested in the vitality of their church. This highly practical book proposes an attitude of complete reliance on and submission to the Gospel in building a healthy church.

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Expanded EditionBy Mark Dever / Crossway Books & Bibles Some churches are thriving, while others are barely surviving. What distinguishes a healthy community from one that’s ailing? In this expanded edition of his classic study, Dever identifies nine marks that set a vigorous, biblical congregation apart, including expository preaching, biblical theology, concern for discipleship and growth, biblical church leadership, and more. 287 pages, softcover from Crossway.

Technorati Tags: Eckhart Tolle, New Age, Christian, Doctrine, Scripture