For a time after the
Memphis summit and the publication of the
Memphis Declaration, I considered adding my name to those who were not there, but wanted to publicly affirm their agreement with the document. But I never reached a sense of peace about the document, and so I have not added my name. I have concluded that I will not do so.
My unease about the document stems from several factors. For one, I have not been a pastor for very long (since October of 2005), and I believed that during the seven years I spent as a youth and music minister, I should focus my attention there, as God had placed a man in authority over me who would give an account to Him for how the church participated in convention affairs. Also, as I read the eight points of the document, while I recognized that the things repented of were very real to those who crafted it, I felt no real sense of conviction in my spirit on the majority of the points. Bart Barber, in his blog Praisegod Barebones, has extensively critiqued the eight points of the Memphis declaration, and I largely agree with his assessments, so I will not spend time here criticizing it myself. Please read each of Bart’s posts on the subject.
But perhaps the greatest sources of my unease are the fact that we don’t know who all of the participants were, and of those we do know, the blogosphere contains many examples of speech I find inconsistent with the declaration’s stated intent.
If you have been reading this blog for very long, you know my feelings on anonymity. I believe that part of the price, and also the great blessing, of participation in public debate is being held accountable for the content of your words. There were thirty that met in Memphis, but only twenty signed the document. It is impossible to give proper weight to anonymous posts and comments on blogs, and it is impossible to know how the declaration was shaped by looking at an incomplete list of those who did the shaping.
As to inconsistent speech, I want to give here some examples from one of the main organizers of the Memphis meeting, Ben Cole. Ben is pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and I have communicated with him my distaste for the rhetoric that has appeared under his name on various blogs.
Item 5 of the Memphis Declaration reads as follows:
We publicly repent of having turned a blind eye to wickedness in our convention, especially when that evil has taken the form of slanderous, unsubstantiated accusations and malicious character assassination against our Christian brothers.
Therefore, we commit ourselves to confront lovingly any person in our denomination, regardless of the office or title that person holds, who disparages the name of our Lord by appropriating venomous epithets against our brothers and sisters in Christ, and thus divides our fellowship by careless and unchaste speech.
Below are some examples of what I consider to be “careless and unchaste speech.” All of these are from Pastor Cole, submitted as comments on various blogs:
Predicting the defeat of Ronnie Floyd, before the announcement that Frank Page would be nominated:
Ronnie’s petulant children converge on SBCOutpost to gloat.
We must remember not to return the act when they walk away from Greensboro with a mouthful of crows feathers.
When challenged by another blogger about this rhetoric:
Petulant children was the phrase that came to mind. I was reminded of the “see I told you so” or the “my daddy can beat up your daddy” kind of playground antics from our childhood.
I can be petulant too. It’s not a character assassination. It’s an adjective to describe how ridiculous that kind of banter can become.
But thanks for the caution…honestly.
And … I hope we don’t get to the point where some are “allies” and others are “enemies.” I’m confident that’s not what you meant, but I’m trying hard not to develop an “us” versus “them” mentality. We may end up with Ronnie Floyd as convention president for a year. We may have to swallow our pride and confess that our aspirations for the future of the SBC were overreaching or too aggressive. Of course, there is one positive angle to a Ronnie Floyd Presidency.
The Brothers Caner have already published their history of the SBC presidents. Nobody will have to read about the Floyd years a century from now. Of course, that assumes that people will be reading the Caners’ stuff anyway. Maybe I’m assuming too much.
And you know what they say about that…
Three minutes later, having had time to consider this blogger’s challenge:
By the way…
“Petulant” is defined as “characterized by temporary or capricious ill humor.”
I think “Way to go Dr. Mohler” and “tic.tic.tic.tic.” is a classic example of petulance. “Children” is a way to refer to one’s disciples. Read The First Epistle of Saint John.
I stand by my words on this one.
Responding to some good-natured ribbing on the blog of one of his church members:
Easy Dorcas.
You know I can use the rod just as well as I can the crook.
Come to think of it. God has used lots of crooks in my life. Most of them had seminary degrees.
On the same blog, a drop-in on a post that allegorically described his soon-to-be-started blog:
I believe I’m supposed to sign on here and say the following words:
“Get ready to die you son-of-*****.”
True Grit is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Some of these examples are less egregious than others, but I believe that all could be characterized as “careless and unchaste.”
I don’t mean to paint all the Memphis signatories with a broad brush. I believe they have the best of intentions and that they all want our convention to be the best it can be for God’s glory. But the inconsistency of behavior, combined with the partial anonymity of the group and some other, less important factors, leave me unable to affirm the document.
I agree with most, if not all, of the stated goals of those participants of whom I know, but I am afraid that the current tactics being used to accomplish those ends may be doing more harm than good.
Posted by Wes Kenney 
Posted by Wes Kenney 
Posted by Wes Kenney 
