SBC President Candidates: Questions 5-8

Editor's note: This is one part of three articles with Q&A's posed by Baptist Press to all six candidates for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The other parts of the Q&A and associated articles can be viewed via the Related Coverage links.

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Related Coverage SBC president hopefuls from South to West complete Q&A SBC President Candidates: Questions 1-4 SBC President Candidates: Question 9

5) Regenerate church membership: To what extent do you see regenerate church membership as a significant concern in the Southern Baptist Convention?

WAGNER: If by this question you mean that every member of a Southern Baptist church should be saved, then I do not see why this question even comes up. Of course, one of our basic concepts is that our churches are made up of regenerate believers. We are not pedo-Baptists that allow children to become members with their families. Our membership is for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

COX: I believe it is a growing concern and rightfully so. Every church should be concerned about those on their roll who never attend. Each church knows what its like to have a "bragging membership" and then a "reality membership." I believe that some of our greatest evangelistic fields lie within the rolls of our congregations. Every church should have initiatives that are focused on reaching out to the membership that does not attend with the hopes of sharing the Gospel or reclaiming them to their fervent walk with Jesus Christ.

HUNT: Regenerate church membership should always be a concern. It was a concern in the early 1900s with Southern Baptists and it should never be less than a major concern. We ought to be overwhelmingly concerned that we are making a clear presentation of the Gospel, making sure that the people that we present the Gospel to understand that the only way to Christ is through repentance and believing the Gospel.

WILLIS: Unregenerate church membership must be a concern for us when less than half our members attend church on a given Sunday. Our shallow evangelistic methods and poor follow up and discipleship have added many people to our rolls whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The larger question is what we do about it. Several groups are presenting resolutions to the SBC this year to address this concern.

PURYEAR: Regenerate membership should be a huge concern for every church. If we are adding members to our churches who have not been regenerated, that is, born again, then we have a real problem. As I see it, one of the foundational assumptions of a congregational polity is that the congregation is being led by the Holy Spirit. Unregenerate members do not have the leading of the Holy Spirit, therefore they can only view issues through a fleshly perspective. Ultimately, I believe an unregenerate membership leads to strife and division in the church. I thank God that Tom Ascol has been working diligently to bring this issue to our attention for the past two years.

DRAKE: The Bible says repent, remember and return to our first love. As much as we can, we need to make sure all our members are saved and on their way to heaven, not just members.

6) Calvinism: Do you see any reason for non-Calvinist Southern Baptists to be concerned about a renewed emphasis on Calvinism in some Southern Baptist churches and seminaries?

WAGNER: The time is ripe for us to select a "World Christian" as the president. I do not hold that I am the only candidate who is one, but we need to see who our enemy really is. It is not the other Christians who have accepted Jesus, but rather secularism, Islam, cults, the New Age movement, etc. Let us quit fighting among ourselves and join in together to bring more people in the world to a saving knowledge to our Lord. In my book "How Islam Plans to Change the World," I see Islam as very large threat to all Christians in the world. This is our enemy, not other Christians.

Once again, another answer to your question. I see no reason to be concerned about the rise of Calvinists in our midst. I am not a Calvinist, but I can have a wonderful fellowship with my fellow Southern Baptists who are.

COX: This question has been posed to me in many different ways, such as one question, "Is there room in the SBC for those who hold to Reformed theology?" My answer to this issue of Calvinism is: There has always been room, so it seems, in Southern Baptist life for Calvinistic theology. There has always been an ebb and flow of Calvinism. At times it will gain strength and then it weakens. Every few generations, there seems to be a resurgence of Calvinistic theology with a healthy discussion of the sovereignty of God and the view of the responsibility of man. I believe, until Jesus comes, there will always be some form of Calvinistic theology that flows throughout the convention. However, the only concern I have is with a new form of aggressive Calvinism that seems to be causing concerns in some of our churches today. As soon as it was known that I would be nominated, I began to receive e-mails from lay people across Southern Baptist life with concerns about this new form of aggressive Calvinism that is coming into their congregations. Evidently there are pastors accepting churches, never raising the flag that they are a Calvinist to the pastor search committee. They are called to the church and begin to teach their view and it is bringing great strife to some of our congregations. That concerns me. I feel pastors who hold to Calvinistic views ought to be up front with the congregation that is calling them, just as pastors who believe in "whosoever" ought to be up front to those congregations who hold to Reformed theology. I also believe pastor search committees must be thorough in their responsibility to investigate more, so they can have a reasonable understanding as to what their new pastor believes before they issue a call to him. There is mutual responsibility on both the pastor's part and the congregation's part in dealing with this issue. With that said, some of my friends are five-point Calvinists. At times we have discussions. They do not change me. I do not change them, but we have love and respect for one another. I believe there is a place for genuine discussion and understanding in dealing with the Calvinistic theology in our convention.

HUNT: I am not overwhelmingly concerned about Calvinism. I am concerned about hyper-Calvinism, simply being defined as those that take election to the point that they feel that the Gospel should not even be shared with the whole world. I, personally, believe that the Gospel is for "whosoever." I trust that Calvinists, and those who love Jesus of other persuasions, would come together for the common cause of making Jesus Christ known to the nations. There is plenty of room for all of us in this Baptist family.

WILLIS: We should be concerned about any Southern Baptist that does not feel the responsibility to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone. Salvation is a work of our sovereign God, but God uses humans as His instruments to share it with the world. As a convention, we have never made Calvinism a point of fellowship or cooperation. Calvinists are welcome partners in our Great Commission task. Our point of concern should be with anyone who diminishes our responsibility to make disciples of all nations.

PURYEAR: Since I am a Calvinist, I don't see why any non-Calvinist should be concerned about the reappearance of Reformed theology. Many of the original leaders of the SBC were Calvinists. I think those who fear Calvinism have an unfounded view that Calvinism leads to a reduced emphasis on evangelism and missions. What some are calling Calvinism is actually hyper-Calvinism. Hyper-Calvinism says that we should not evangelize or preach the Gospel to the non-elect. I do not know of any Calvinist in the SBC who holds to that position. We are called to preach the Gospel to everyone and most Calvinists whom I know in the SBC are very passionate about evangelism and missions. I think rather than worrying about Calvinism impacting evangelism and missions, we need to find out why 51.5 percent of our churches do not support missions either financially or through prayer support. The problem in our convention with evangelism and missions is not Calvinism, but the apathy of our churches to engage the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ.

DRAKE: I am not a Calvinist, but I see no problem for those who wish to understand Scripture that way. We have a lot more in common than we do in difference.

7) The IMB trustee guidelines governing baptism and private prayer language in appointing missionaries: Do you think their action was needed and appropriate?

WAGNER: A simple answer: No, I do not think that their action was needed or appropriate. We have lost some wonderful missionaries because of this decision. We already have the Baptist Faith and Message document. It has served us well. We do not need to add to it. I know much about this action at the IMB, and I feel that there was too much political reasoning involved in the decision. We as Baptists need to put politics aside and get back to our main task of winning people and making them disciples.

COX: The trustees have a great responsibility to the Southern Baptist Convention for the stated objectives of the International Mission Board. The board's main objective is presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to lead individuals to a saving faith in Him and result in church-planting movements among all the peoples of the world. The trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to see that the board's objectives are being met in concert as to who we are as Southern Baptists. At any time issues arise that would be contrary or questionable to the doctrine and practice of Southern Baptists as stated through our Baptist Faith and Message 2000 or contrary to Holy Scripture, they must as trustees deal with these concerns. Therefore, I believe the trustees acted in line with their responsibility, and their action on the issues of baptism and private prayer language was appropriate in keeping with the doctrinal integrity as to who we are as Southern Baptists.

HUNT: I am not sure that I fully understand all that the IMB trustee guidelines have said, however, if a person has received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and has been baptized by a minister who embraces the Gospel and the Scriptures as we do, their baptism should count in our churches. If James Dobson desired to become part of First Baptist Church Woodstock, I would not require him to be re-baptized. Concerning the private prayer language: If, indeed, it is private, it seems as though we really don't have an issue to deal with. When a person chooses to become more Pentecostal in their convictions and beliefs, our concern then becomes that of what they are relating to the people on the field. That should call for proper action.

WILLIS: The current Baptist Faith and Message is the product of the Conservative Resurgence and is a solid consensus document. I think it is sufficient to guide us in our relationships and our work. We don't need to go beyond the BF&M confession to where there is not a doctrinal consensus.

PURYEAR: I do not agree with the implementation of these policies. The SBC as a whole has not stated a position on these doctrines, therefore I view these as non-essential doctrines and as such, should not be used as doctrinal policy for any SBC board or agency.

DRAKE: Yes.

8) The role of the Baptist Faith and Message: What do you see as the proper role of the Baptist Faith and Message when it comes to governing SBC entities and employees?

WAGNER: I personally feel that we are blessed by having the BF&M and we do not need to add more to it in working with employees of or agencies. I do, however, believe that each administration and board of trustees should have the right, in looking at their situation, to add other requirements as they see fit. I would be very careful in adding much to the document that all of us as Southern Baptists have approved.

COX: Let me first say that I hold the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 in high regard. It is our confession of faith as Southern Baptists. I hold it dear to my soul because it shares with our convention what we believe. In regards to this question, I believe it should be considered for any policy and procedure that any group of trustees consider establishing. With that said, I want to make this statement clear. The Baptist Faith and Message is just a confession of our faith. In no way does it address all we believe as Southern Baptists. As trustees carry out their fiduciary responsibilities, they should do so with our confession of faith in mind. However, we must understand that the Baptist Faith and Message should never be seen as a document that covers everything. There is only one document that is sufficient and that is the Holy Scripture, nothing else. There are issues our trustees must deal with in each of their agencies that are not necessarily covered by the Baptist Faith and Message. Therefore, the document they should all turn to is Holy Scripture. With that said, I want to remind us that we are blessed as Southern Baptists with a tremendous trustee system. Good, bad or indifferent, it has worked for us over all these years. I believe we ought to trust these godly men and women to do their jobs. If we as a convention cannot trust them to deal with issues that arise in our agencies with the counsel of the Word of God, then we as a convention have the privilege of electing new trustees. I trust them in making policies and procedures to look to the full counsel of the Word of God and consider our Baptist Faith and Message 2000. But Holy Scripture must be our maximal document.

HUNT: I believe that the Baptist Faith and Message is a wonderful Baptist confession. It has served us well for a very long time. There will probably be times where what we have to deal with, as a denomination, would be considered a gray area concern as it pertains to how the Baptist Faith and Message could speak to it. May this serve as a reminder that we should prayerfully consider, and have deep convictions, about those who serve in our entities so that we can trust them, as our brothers and sisters, to lead us aright, and that the trustees of these governing entities would be such men and women, elected by our Southern Baptist Convention, that we trust their hearts to do that which is right concerning the areas that possibly the Baptist Faith and Message will not speak to.

WILLIS: I addressed the sufficiency of the Baptist Faith and Message as our conservative consensus in the last question. However, as a Convention we have given trustee boards the right to set additional guidelines and policies for their work in their specific contexts. You are addressing an issue voted on by trustees elected by the SBC. As a former IMB administrator, I do not think it is appropriate for me to rule on these policies that the IMB trustees made after a three-year study, including a requested review by the convention. We should trust the trustees and we have a process in place as a convention to address those concerns when needed. I think if there was ever a need for us to focus on a lost world and revival in the SBC, America and the world, it is now.

PURYEAR: I am on record as supporting the Garner Motion from last year's convention, which called on the trustees to abide by the wishes of the Executive Committee which stated that the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is a sufficient guide for establishment of doctrinal policy. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is a consensus statement of the essentials of what Southern Baptists believe. I do not think that any SBC board or agency should make doctrinal policies which have not been addressed by the convention as a whole.

DRAKE: We need to get back to the entire message, not just the parts we like. Our founding Baptist fathers spent a lot of time and prayer putting this together, and even though it is not Scripture, I believe it is of God. It needs to govern our entities and employees.