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This Guy Read My Mind
Posted by Geoff Baggett in Baptist Life, Bible & Theology
Finally … someone has clearly elucidated how I feel as a Southern Baptist pastor. This guy crawled into my head. He read my mind. At last, I know that I am not alone.
Steven McKinnon, a professor at Southeastern Seminary, has written a guest post over at baptisttwentyone.com entitled Third Generation Conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention (Part 1). I had to read it twice. The first time I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The second time I read it I stood up and shouted a resounding, “Praise the Lord!” (I was home alone at the time.)
Dr. McKinnon’s brilliant piece explains the differences in mindset and worldviews among what he describes as the first, second, and third generation Baptists of the conservative resurgence. His emphasis, obviously, was upon the third generation. At age 43 I probably don’t technically qualify for the third generation, but I was something of a late bloomer … called to ministry later in life. So I will claim this generation and worldview as my own. Because it is.
Here are just a few statements that spoke to me and described my heart as a “renegade” Southern Baptist and a pastor.
… third-generation conservatives understand the Gospel to be robust, encompassing ALL of life under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. A limited view of the Gospel in which church people obtain a “get out of hell free” card by saying some prayer seems Gnostic, at best, to these young people. They have come to adopt a holistic perspective in which Jesus is Lord, not just of the believer’s eternal state, but of all His creation.
They have little interest in becoming a pastor in a traditional church, which they associate with self-righteous hypocrisy. Churches, and church leaders, who place more emphasis on whether a man wears a tie in a pulpit (or even has a “sacred desk”) have no appeal to the third generation. The Book is sacred to them, not a piece of furniture.
They do not care whether they are asked to preach at the Pastor’s Conference or at so-and-so’s church.
For these Baptists, the Bible is not a handbook for better living or a sourcebook for the end times. It is, instead, the Word of God, in which and through which God speaks to human beings, revealing Himself and His great plan in Jesus Christ. They go to the Bible to “increase in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:10). This commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture explains why they care more about what a preacher says than what he wears or how he says it.
This generation has learned to read, and read critically. They do not accept explanations like, “it’s correct because it is Baptist.”
Charges of “ecumenism” will not stick, because third-generation conservatives have rejected theological liberalism, neo-orthodoxy, and strict separationism.
And that’s just the beginning. McKinnon has given the boldest, most straightforward description of my generation of Southern Baptists that I have ever read. I beg you. I beseech you. Go and read his post. His insight is deep. His wisdom abounds. There’s enough “meat” in this thing for a barbecue. And it tastes mighty good.
It is my sincere hope that many will read this work (and the coming installments) and gain a greater understanding of this next generation of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders.
Unfortunately, I’m quite sure there will be plenty who will read what he has written and say, “Well,those preacherly folk he describes really aren’t Southern Baptists, at all.”
And that low, slow sucking sound of decline will continue …
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I don’t know what to think of the article yet (haven’t read through it completely), but at first glance, I must say this…
They’ve got an awfully sharp looking website!
For sure. Awesome looking template, huh?
I had McKinion at Southeastern and I appreciate his scholarship in church history. I also appreciate that he has spoken at the [small] Baptist church I grew up in on more than one occasion if I’m not mistaken.
Took a quick read and loved the article. Confirms my pleasure that my son is going to head to Southeastern!
I hope his vision wins the day among Southern Baptists.
Geoff,
After reading the quoted part of Mckinnon’s article, I guess I’m a thrird generational Baptist at 47 as well. I saw nothing in the quote that I do not agree with. What he says here is nothing new to me. So, as an “official BI” guy, what does that say?
I guess I fit into that quote, but I would also say that no Great Commission Resurgence would be a true Great Commission Resurgence without sound doctrine…Bible doctrine. If we dont have sound doctrine, then what kind of Great Commission Resurgence would we have?
3rd Generational Pastor,
David
David,
I quite agree. The problem comes when we blur the lines between sound Bible doctrine and historical Southern Baptist traditions. In my view, and I think in the view of most 3rd generationals, just because SB’s have always done something a certain way does not, necessarily, mean that it is, indeed, biblical.
Now, be honest David … you know you’d like to preach at the pastor’s conference, or at Bellevue. And I know you like wearing that tie.
“I guess I fit into that quote, but I would also say that no Great Commission Resurgence would be a true Great Commission Resurgence without sound doctrine…Bible doctrine.” — volfan
I think the third generation might actually push that [i.e., what you call sound doctrine] back a little bit to “exegesis” before formulating doctrine.
If so, then I could see this making some in the other generations nervous.
Maybe the third generation should be called “show me the exegesis” generation.
I was third generational 15 years ago, have the scars to prove it, and still am at 57.
Benji, I concur. That has been my experience where younger SB’s want Chapter & Verse, but don’t stop there. They want context and historical perspective as well. These guys tend to be very energetic in that regard.
Also, the best commentary I’ve seen on Tradition can be found here: http://www.despair.com/tradition.html
good article.
Geoff,
I guess I would say that Dr. Mckinnon misses a lot of SB Pastors in his article. He does hit on some of them, but his analysis misses a whole lot of Pastors out there…young and old…who are not bound by so-called Baptist traditions, but who also hold to sound doctrine.
I really dont see this as a generational thing, as much as I do a discerning thing. I know a lot of young Pastors who care very much about sound doctrine…who arent ready to throw sound doctrine to the wind in some ecumenical, evangelical dream.
In fact, rallying around the essentials of the Gospel sounds good, but the second tier doctrines are important to us staying true to Scripture. Not Baptist traditions. But Scripture.
David
Rick,
I think it is great that you are seeing the younger generation so hungry and “thoughtful” in their approach to Scripture.
Maybe we could put everything under the umbrella of biblical theology [i.e., whole Bible theology] rather than systematic theology as the best way to express it.
I think where the older SB’s went wrong is that they jumped straight from inerrancy to confessionalism [I think] while bypassing doing biblical theology before they got there.
Kind of like jumping from step 1 to step 3 and thus skipping step 2.
Rick,
Speaking of confessionalism, here is what I think from a Baptist history perspective–a broad one.
1. The 1646 London Confession sets the theological tone for Baptists.
2. The 1689 London Confession replaces the 1646 and sets the theological tone for Baptists.
3. The New Hampshire Confession replaces the 1689 and sets the theological tone for Baptists–and that is where we are today. We live under the shadow of the New Hampshire confession.
I think it is time for Baptists to set another tone that replaces the New Hampshire Confession.
I think it would be a blessing for the Biblical Theology that Presbyterian Geerhardus Vos Fathered to blossom in the Southern Baptist sphere.
I think it would be great for Southern Baptist Biblical Theology thinkers like Thomas R. Schreiner to come together to form another tone setting confession of faith that allows biblical theology to inform the formation.
Benji,
I think you have something. Before I had a chance to learn my systematic theology (Sr. Bible class at Inter-City Christian H.S.) I’d already learned the pragmatics through Youth Group at church which challenged me to lead an authentic Christian life free from pretension and hypocrisy. At least that was the goal we aspired to – to recognize fake spirituality and seek to eradicate it in our lives. While I was at church learning to beat the denominational drum and dot the theological i’s and cross the distinctive t’s, I was still coming down from the high of a shared worship experience the night before at a Christian concert with kids from a wide range of evangelical denominations. The disconnect was obvious.
It seemed that I faced a desperate choice – denominational conformity or spiritual authenticity. The third generation says, “No. We don’t have to sell our souls for denominational conformity. We CAN be authentic and still be theologically rigorous.” It’s nice to see the Devers and the Driscolls, while charting very different paths from one another, also charting paths that retain the theological distinctives that make us Baptist.
I had a brief flirtation with the Emergent folks, but it did not take long before I realized that these were well meaning folks who seem unwilling to state ANYthing with a voice that even implies any kind of certainty. I take that back, one thing they ARE certain of is that Driscoll is not Emergent(TM) and this tolerant bunch of open-minded guys made it pretty clear that their tent wasn’t quite big enough for the likes of him. Tony Jones documents this in his book The New Christians for those who are interested.
I don’t think confessionalism is the way to go, however, if that is where we stop. I think we’ve seen where that sort of thing leads to and the rampant schisms of the 1800′s only emphasizes the fact. The Whittsit Controversy is just one incident highlighting the fractious (rather than unifying) trend confessionalism alone leads to. Rather, a Baptist Confession should serve as a definition rather than a demarcation, a drawing force, rather than an exclusionary one. And most importantly, a guide to praxis, not a substitute for it. Ultimately, that is where the theological rubber needs to meet the road – the point at which our confession becomes our profession, not just what we say, but what we do.
I trust this is where you are heading with your suggestion that we need a new confession. We need something that goes beyond intellectual assent to actual theological practice.
Rick,
I appreciate your thoughts. I’m having a hard time getting my thoughts together:). Here goes:
1. I basically lean towards the idea that Baptists have over systematized the Scriptures in the areas of both soteriology and ecclesiology at maybe different points in their history. If so, then I think there has been unnecessary division as a result of this.
2. I believe a thoughtful biblical theology approach would make over systematizing the Bible less likely.
3. I think the historical context the older conservative SB’s earlier found themselves in made them feel as if a lot of things were unstable. Hence, I believe there was a strong desire within them for structure. Hence, I believing going rigidly confessional amongst some was attractive in 2,000.
4. I think the historical context the younger generation of SB’s find themselves in might make them feel a tension between instability [in society and the family] and over restriction [in the denomination].
5. I think the seed of inerrancy was laid for the younger generation and what we have now is the fruit of that seed.
6. I believe Biblical Theology seeds have been laid in the past and are continuing to be laid for the younger generation in the present. I think the more mature fruit of these seeds is yet to come, but I think you can trace the root of this back to Vos.
7. I think how tight or loose or whatever a confession needs to be can be a complex and tricky discussion, but I think it probably needs to be discussed anyway.
8. I definitely think our faith needs to be lived out instead of having some false sense of superiority that we have finally “arrived” because we can sign off on some confession.
9. If biblical theology blossoms in the SBC, then I think it could bring unity.
God Bless,
Benji
Good thread of discussion.
I like the idea of a new confession. All of us as believers need to know what we believe, why we blieve it and be able to give statements on how we arrive at the conclusions we have. All the mentioned must be based on scripture, of course. I have been slipping statements about knowing what you believe and why you believe it in sermons a lot lately. Too many people are not sure why they are in the church they are in or why the do the things they do. It’s just the way they have always done it.
It pleases me to see a shift toward conservative Bible teaching (sticking to the text, in context and line by line teaching). This seems to be taking place in churches of all sizes and having leadership of various age groups. Preaching and teaching the scriptures line by line forces the teacher and listner to cover doctrines they might otherwise skip. This also causes the pastor to be real. If we have held a view for years and the exposition of the scriptures change our thoughts and belief we can tell the congregation it has with clear explanation on why. What a example for showing how to search the scriptures. This recently happened to me as I am preaching through Three different books. Matthew (Sunday Morning) Revelation (Sunday evening) Exodus (Wednesday night).
I think the beauty of a true Southern Baptist Church is the fact it is autonomous, but in agreeent with the overall doctrinal statements of the convention. It can give to missions as agreed by the congrgation (another attribute of a Southern Baptist Church).
Brett
Geoff,
Much in your post with which I agree. I will take issue with a few things.
If you don’t want to wear a coat and tie on Sunday morning, that doesn’t worry me a bit. Whatever works for you, your church, and your community. What does bother me, is the disdainful attitude some then have toward those who do wear a coat and tie. They end up having the very same judgmental attitude of some of those they condemn.
Why associate traditional churches with hypocrisy? Is there no hypocrisy in contemporary churches?
Some say, our generation doesn’t care about being invited to speak at the evangelism conferences. I then hear some of those same folks criticizing the state conventions and national convention because they don’t have their kind of speakers. If they don’t care to be invited to speak, why complain when they don’t have any of their group speaking? Also, I think many would be surprised at how often 3rd generation conservative speakers and singers are being invited to lead in prominent SBC forums. I’ve seen over and over a good mix of young and old, traditional and contemporary in singing and preaching at our conventions. But, for some reason, many of the 3rd generation conservatives don’t notice.
As long as you believe the fundamental doctrines of the faith, and the Baptist Distinctive doctrines (both those fundamentals and distinctives are biblical), I have no problem. Way back in the middle of the Conservative Resurgence, I and others were saying, be conservative in your theology, but we can live with you being liberal in your methodology.
David R. Brumbelow
David,
The words were Steve’s. I just agreed with most of them. And remember, he is speaking in generalities … rather broad strokes.
In referencing the “third generation” SB’s, I believe that he is most accurately referring to the “anonymous” pastors and leaders, not the well-known celebrities that managed to get invited to stuff (because they ARE well known and celebrities).
And not all minds and voices in the SB discussion today would agree with your welcoming of the newer generation being “liberal in methodology.” Far from it, in fact.
Geoff,
. Every now and then I get innovative.
We may not disagree that much after all. I can live with (most) of your liberal methodology if you can live with my conservative, outdated, traditional, old-fashioned methodology
By the way, I’ve never been invited to preach at any of the influential SBC platforms either. That is probably for two reasons. One, they have so many preachers from which to choose. Second, the others are probably better preachers than I
. So I am also one of those anonymous preachers, as are most SBC pastors whether young or old.
You make a good point that Dr. Steven’s comments were general. Mine were pretty much meant to be general as well. Frankly, sometimes I think that when the dust clears, we (most all of us Southern Baptists) find it surprising on how much we agree.
David R. Brumbelow
David,
Agreed. But our history seems to show that we don’t really stop fighting long enough to let dust settle. We need a battle, even if we have to fight amongst “our own.”
Geoff,
I guess we’re(Southern Baptists) all rebels with a cause!
David
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