Friday, Feb. 8, 2002
Historic Baptist missions in jeopardy
International Mission Board (IMB) president Jerry Rankin precipitated an agonizing choice for many missionaries with his recent letter urging them to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message statement. It means they must either give up their historic Baptist convictions that "we have no creed but the Bible" or they must give up their calling.Veteran missionaries who have been on the field for years "signed on" with the IMB under different requirements. They voluntarily expressed their theological beliefs but were not forced to sign a man-made creed. Their beliefs have not changed - the rules have!
A confession becomes a creed when others determine the beliefs one is forced to sign.
It has never been clearer that the fundamentalist leaders have changed the very nature of the Southern Baptist Convention. Our charter states that the "purpose of the Southern Baptist Convention is to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of Southern Baptists for the propagation of the gospel at home and abroad." Their highest priority is not missions. It is doctrinal conformity.
This is a determinative time for all authentic Baptists. We need the prayers of faithful Baptists everywhere to determine how we can be supportive to missionaries who represent our historic convictions.
We must not lose the very heart of the Gospel and the distinctive missions commitment of our heritage. We must find a way to be true to both. The IMB no longer provides that option.
R. Keith Parks
Richardson, Texas
(EDITOR'S NOTE-Parks is a former president of the IMB and the retired coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Global Missions program.)
Write a Tar Heel Voices letter
Advertising | Mast Head | History | Staff | Classified Ads |
Place An Ad In The Biblical Recorder Classifieds
Subscribe To The Biblical Recorder
Change Your Biblical Recorder Subscription Address
Send A Tar Heel Voices Letter
Copyright (c) Biblical Recorder Inc.
|
|