S.C. pastor calls Southern Baptist 'fat-cats' to action

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

GREENSBORO - The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) cannot afford to rest at ease as a "cushy denomination" of lazy church members, Donald Wilton told the group's annual meeting.

"We are fat-cats," said Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C. "Just look at us.

Wilton delivered the annual convention sermon soon after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to the assembly. He told the Southern Baptist gathering he greatly admired Rice, but he also reminded them they owed ultimate allegiance to God alone.

"I'm going to submit to you that as believers in Christ Jesus, we are not even of America," Wilton said. "We march according to a different drumbeat. Ours is not the Constitution of America; ours is the constitution of the Almighty God."

To that end, Wilton said, God is most pleased when his people depend on his grace. He used the example of King Solomon's work on the Jerusalem temple to illustrate that point, claiming four main issues in Solomon's work directly relate to Southern Baptists today.

"The Bible tells us we can ask of the Lord, and he'll give to us," Wilton said. "Southern Baptists, I mean to submit to you today that it's time for us to wake up as a denomination. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work and become the soul- winners that we claim to be. God has given us our marching orders."

Wilton told the group that nothing more important exists than unobstructed access to the "heart of God himself." To gain that access, Southern Baptists have "serious forgiving" to do between leaders, pastors, and congregants, he said.

And time weighs heavy on the work toward that unobstructed access, Wilton added.

"We've accomplished great things, not just with regard to people, but with regard to ourselves," he said. "We are one cushy denomination. The issue of unlimited time is something we need to sit up and take note of. I do not believe we have unlimited time."

Ask for God's presence to do work in the limited time he provides, Wilton said, Southern

Baptists must remember that they, like Solomon, have experienced "God's undeserved presence."

Wilton described his work with renowned evangelist Billy Graham and told how much Graham's humility impressed him. Leaders need to have humble hearts and be willing to listen, he said.

"Some of us have become so important we strut even while we're sitting down," he said.

Should Southern Baptists forget to humble themselves before Christ, Wilton said, they'll face the consequences of "unapologetic warnings" issued from God. Solomon faced the same warnings.

Planning for the future has value, but Baptists must carefully adhere to God's command or face the consequences - such as the lack of a new generation of believers, he said.

"It's all very well for us to make decisions for us today for the future, but we must ask God to ... visit the generations of the future," he said. God said, "Be careful, because if you don't, I will cut you off," Wilton said.

Many conflicts in church today center around three points, Wilton said, and church policies should not be built on any of them - confusion about absolute truth, matters of personal conviction and matters of personal preference.

For all the warning, Wilton said, the good news is that potentially dire conditions can leave believers to look to Christ for leadership.

"I submit to you today, my beloved friends, that it leaves us where we need to be - right there at the foot of the cross," he said.