Paul Dean

The Southern Baptist Convention will be held this week in Indianapolis, Indiana. Major issues to be discussed include leadership and the nature of the church. USA Today reports:

“Who will lead Southern Baptists, and just how many members are there in what has long been counted as the USA's largest Protestant denomination? The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, which will bring 9,500 members to Indianapolis next week, promises a contentious election for the presidency, which has the largest field in decades. The six candidates range from conservatives backed by the leaders of the denomination's sharp turn toward doctrinal strictness in the 1970s to younger pastors who take a less hard-line stance and are promoted by bloggers. The winner will succeed Frank Page, who won in 2006 with the help of bloggers. Until then, "it was pretty much cut and dried that one group would say we are supporting this person, and no one else would run," candidate Avery Willis, 74, of Bella Vista, Ark., told Religion News Service. Also on the agenda: proposals to more accurately count membership, which may, or may not, be 16 million.”

Indeed there are proposals to more accurately count membership in Southern Baptist churches to be put forth at the Convention this year. However, the issues run deeper than that. This will be the third year that Dr. Tom Ascol has put forth a proposed resolution on integrity in church membership. The proposal was rejected the first two years (see Dr. Ascol’s explanation via the preceding link) but much discussion has swirled around the resolution this year with other proposals being offered. I am happy to be one of the invited supporters of Dr. Ascol’s proposed resolution on integrity in church membership. From his blog:

“Several pastors, theologians and church leaders have indicated that they intend to support the following resolution and have given me permission to list their names publicly. Among them are, Eric Redmond (2nd VP of the SBC) Phil Newton, Southwoods Baptist Church, Memphis, TN, Darrin Patrick, The Journey, St. Louis, Tom Bryant, FBC Osprey, FL, Tom Nettles, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Joe Thorn, Redeemer Fellowship, St. Charles, IL, Roy Hargrave, Riverbend Church, Ormond Beach, FL, Voddie Baucham, Grace Family Baptist Church, Spring, Texas, Nathan Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greg Welty, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Bill Ascol, Bethel Baptist Church, Owasso, OK, Jeff Noblit, FBC Muscle Shoals, AL, Paul Dean, Providence Baptist Church Greer, SC, Fred Malone, FBC Clintion, LA, Wyman Richardson, FBC Dawson, GA and Tim Brister, Grace Baptist Church Cape Coral, FL”

The discussion generated by the multiple resolution proposals revolves primarily around whether or not we as Southern Baptist leaders are willing to humble ourselves, repent of our failures, and take action steps to work toward maintaining the principles of a regenerate church membership, loving church discipline as prescribed in the Scriptures, and integrity in the reporting of our membership. At the same time, the gospel itself is at stake here.

This is no mere denominational or political discussion. As Tim Bristor noted,

“If we separate the issue of regenerate church membership from the recovery of gospel faithfulness, we are only offering a band-aid cure to a much deeper problem. The gospel will not “surge” out of churches where less than 30% bear any evidence that it is “the power of God unto salvation.”…Regenerate church membership begins with “regenerate”–and if we do not get the gospel right in our churches, we cannot expect to get church membership right either.”

While this is an SBC issue, the implications stretch beyond the bounds of the Convention. As Dr. Ascol affirmed, “My hope is that a healthy combination of the two resolutions will emerge from the committee. For me, that would include, along with the basic affirmations of regenerate church membership and church discipline, three things: 1) a clear statement on the rationale, 2) a clear call for repentance for our past failures in this area and 3) a clear encouragement to denominational servants to be supportive of churches that seek to recover meaningful membership.”

Again, implications for the gospel abound. The debate is no mere academic one. For a complete discussion of the issues, listen to my hour long conversation with Dr. Ascol on the “Calling for Truth” radio archive here.

I have pasted Dr. Ascol's proposed resolution below:

Whereas the Baptist Faith and Message states that the Scriptures are "the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried" (Article 1); and

Whereas life in a local church should be characterized by loving discipline as the Bible teaches in passages like Matthew 18:15-18, 1 Corinthians 5 and Titus 3:10-11; and

Whereas the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and

Whereas those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and

Whereas the ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle as described in Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message; and

Whereas the significance of believers' baptism tends to be lost when churches that practice it fail to exercise loving care for all their members; therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge Southern Baptists to repent of our failure to maintain responsible church membership, and be it further

RESOLVED that we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the widespread failure among us to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18), and be it further

RESOLVED that we plead with pastors and church leaders to lead their churches to study and implement our Lord's teachings on this essential church practice, and be it further

RESOLVED that we encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior's teachings on church discipline, especially when such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

RESOLVED that we commit to pray for our churches as they seek to honor the Lord Jesus Christ through reestablishing integrity to church membership and to the reporting of statistics in the Annual Church Profile.

Sign up free for “The Dean’s List,” a weekly news and Christian worldview e-letter highlighting relevant news stories affecting Christians. An editorial by Dr. Dean is included as well as his comments on the highlighted stories. The e-letter is sponsored by "Calling for Truth," a daily, live, call-in radio program co-hosted by Dr. Dean and Kevin Boling. Simply e-mail us at pauldeanjr@juno.com to receive your first issue this week.

To listen live to "Calling for Truth" each day from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Eastern Time, go to www.callingfortruth.org and click on the "Listen Online" button. You may listen to archived shows as well. They are uploaded each day after the broadcast.

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Much can be said in a few words: “the sons of Issachar…had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do (2 Chron. 12:32a).” If the church is to be effective in this rapidly changing world, we must understand the times and know what to do. We find ourselves with a mix of naturalistic and relativistic thought in the public square. That mix combined with the aforementioned rapidity of change highlights unique problems for the church in terms of impact.

Consider the changes we have experienced in a short-spanned digitized age that vast numbers of individuals now take for granted from high-speed internet with e-mail, to I-Pods and I-Phones, to Blackberries with text messaging, etc. Can the church compete with such technological advance? Do the members of this individualistic and self-sufficient culture need any counsel or anything at all from the church? They can even point to research that suggests that texting improves literacy. What do they need other than themselves?

Certainly, saying that texting boosts literacy is like saying that slang boosts grammar. The reality is that texting, which requires brevity and speed, necessarily abbreviates words, sentence construction, and indeed ideas. It leads to an inability to spell, formulate complex sentences, and interact with those complex ideas. The upshot is that literacy itself suffers. Moreover, grammatical standards and the ability to communicate at different levels and in dramatic ways are stunted. It is yet another source that “dumbs down” the language.

And, there are worldview issues involved. An attack on language, whether overt or unintentional, is an attack on communication, reason, logic, education, and thinking itself. It is an attack on cultural standards that flow from a biblical worldview of excellence that is connected to a God of excellence. It is an attack on the believer’s ability to interact thoughtfully with God’s revelation of Himself, both in the general and in the special sense, and on the ability of believers to communicate that revelation effectively.

We are to think God’s thoughts after Him. God has chosen to reveal Himself in a saving way through the written word. The loss of language is indeed the loss of truth: God’s truth. It is the loss of God’s revelation to us and thus it is the loss of our hope. Ultimately, an attack on language is an attack on the gospel and therefore God and indeed ourselves. Without a doubt the church has something to say to this culture.

In this dangerous cultural soup, we need answers. The answer lies not in getting rid of text messaging or technology. These things can glorify God if we think about them rightly. The answer is not social or political activism nor is it the cloistering of ourselves in the Christian ghetto. We need serious minded Christians for serious times. We need what J. Gresham Machen called “intellectual knights.” We need everyday saints who understand the times and know what to do. We need saints who read and think and engage.

My wife commented on our eighteen year old son recently. She quipped, “He might be called into the ministry; he’s a muser, a thinker.” Shouldn’t all Christians be such in some sense? We must be a thinking people. We must learn to think theologically, philosophically, and intentionally in an age of multi-coalescent thought.

Few could argue the church’s increasing decline in relevance. The church is perishing today for a lack of thinking that leads to vitality. We have experience-oriented emotionalism which has no anchor for souls who face tough times; religion-centered liberalism which has no attraction for intellectual, cultural elites; and entertainment-mall-churches which have no draw for the culturally satisfied. However, it’s no time to panic. The church has something the world does not have: a word from God.

We are committed to dependence on God in the area of knowledge. We don’t know anything that God has not revealed to us. Even the scientific method is the investigation of God’s general revelation of Himself in the natural realm. Further, we did not come to this understanding on our own. We have not merely formulated an opinion of what we will be committed to in the area of knowledge like the militant atheist has for example. He has simply made an arbitrary decision to be an atheist rather than a theistic humanist by virtue of his darkened heart. We Christians, on the other hand, have committed ourselves to dependence on God in the area of knowledge because He has revealed Himself and this reality to us. There is a spiritual world of which the secularist knows nothing. Even non-Christian philosophers who believe in the metaphysical fall short of the truth due to the darkness in their hearts. Only regenerate Christians understand this spiritual world rightly. Therein is the church’s power in this culture.

This is no time to be discouraged. We serve the King and we have the truth. As such, we have the intellectual, philosophical, and practical high-ground in that we have a message of grace, peace, and joy for those who are fearful in the face of population shifts, looming economic collapse, and the prospect of terrorism.

Nor is it time to shrink from battle. The church cannot become like the culture. Neither can it hide from the culture. The church must invade the culture with the only message that is truly life changing and the gates of Hades shall not keep us out (Matt. 16:18). Recently, a layman called the Anglican Communion to quit watering down the gospel and proclaim Christ as the only way to life. There it is: truth, courage, and invasion wrapped in one.

Presently, the world is indifferent to the church. But, in the first century, in a cultural context like our own, a few men turned the world up-side-down. They did so by confronting the philosophical fallacies of their day. They did so by intellectual engagement and they did so with courage and an all out invasion of a pervasive kind as they went everywhere preaching the gospel (Acts 8:4). In light of such, it’s time to get serious about the word. It’s time to be men of Issachar. It’s time to be serious minded Christians in the midst of serious times.

Sign up free for “The Dean’s List,” a weekly news and Christian worldview e-letter highlighting relevant news stories affecting Christians. An editorial by Dr. Dean is included as well as his comments on the highlighted stories. The e-letter is sponsored by "Calling for Truth," a daily, live, call-in radio program co-hosted by Dr. Dean and Kevin Boling. Simply e-mail us at pauldeanjr@juno.com to receive your first issue this week.

To listen live to "Calling for Truth" each day from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Eastern Time, go to www.callingfortruth.org and click on the "Listen Online" button. You may listen to archived shows as well. They are uploaded each day after the broadcast.

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Doing evangelism is a very different dynamic in today’s culture than it was twenty-five years ago. Then, if you were to ask someone on the street if they believed in God, most would say they did. Further, they would know who you were talking about: the God of the Bible. They would have some understanding and even agreement concerning issues of right and wrong; heaven and hell; the reality of life after death; and the judgment.

Things are very different today. As we have moved into a postmodern culture, we have moved into a post-Christian culture. If you put the same question to the average person on the street today, many would say they don’t believe in God. Those who do believe in God would be apt to have a very different view of God than the True and Living God. There would be wide-spread disagreement concerning morality, life after death, and accountability to God. What can we do?

First, learn to think philosophically.

To put it another way, learn to think in terms of worldview. One of the basic dynamics that attends any worldview that is contrary to the Christian worldview is a lack of philosophical justification for it. This dynamic holds true even in the realm of simply knowing something to be true. In other words, the unbeliever has no basis for knowing anything.

When an unbeliever makes a statement concerning God, the world, man, morality, ethics, or any other subject, he asserts it as an absolute certainty. For example, an atheist who believes in evolution may say that God does not exist. However, on his worldview, he has no basis to make such a statement. On his worldview, knowledge is obtained through observation (or the scientific method). His problem is that he has limited knowledge and ability to obtain that knowledge. He does not have the ability to search every square inch of the cosmos to determine whether or not there is a God. On his worldview, he cannot know that there is no God. His statement of certainty is rendered completely uncertain.

At the same time, he may then say that we can’t know or that we don’t know whether or not there is a God. He is agnostic at that point. However, he has asserted a certainty in his mind, namely, that we don’t know whether or not there is a God. Again, on his worldview, he is rendered uncertain in that he does not know whether or not there is some kind of knowledge somewhere that can tell us whether or not there is a God. He has not investigated the entirety of the universe on this point. He has no philosophical or logical basis to make such a statement.

Of course, Christians have a basis or a philosophical justification for their assertion that there is a God. On our worldview, we know there is a God because He has revealed Himself to us. We are not bound to the limits of empiricism/observation. We know that some knowledge is revealed.

At the same time, we can affirm that we don’t know everything, nor, must we. We have an explanation as to why we don’t know everything. In addition to the fact that God’s general revelation takes time to investigate, God has not revealed everything to us: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).”

Second, learn to think intentionally.

To the subject of evangelism in this culture: we must pray for courage. Here I am asserting that we must pray for a certain kind of courage: a courage that most of us don’t have for any number of cultural reasons. We must pray for courage to ask a simple question of those with whom we dialogue: why? In other words, when we hear someone make a statement that is contrary to the Scriptures, we can, and indeed must, if we are to open doors for witness, ask the simple question, “Why do you believe that?” When it comes to questions concerning God, morality, ethics, religion, origins, and the like, the answer will have no basis on a non-Christian worldview.

Here are some sample questions: why do you believe spanking is wrong? Why do you believe homosexuality is not sin? Why do you think there are many paths to salvation? Why do you believe embryonic stem-cell research is a good thing? Why do you say there is no absolute truth? Why do you think pre-marital sex is okay in certain circumstances? Why do you believe in evolution? How do you know the sun will come up in the morning?

Any number of questions will do. The unbeliever will have no philosophical justification to believe or know anything. He will attempt to justify his answer or knowledge apart from God, something he cannot do logically. Without God’s perspective, one’s view of spanking is relative. Without a commitment to God’s truth, one’s opinion concerning multiple paths to salvation is arbitrary. Without a biblical worldview, one cannot know for certain the sun will come up in the morning. On an evolutionary worldview, it may not. Random chance is foundational.

It is at that point that we can point out that the Christian worldview is the only worldview that makes sense of our experience or knowledge in any one of these areas. God is the one who tells us what to believe about spanking, homosexuality, how to be saved, embryonic stem-cell research, truth, pre-marital sex, our origin, and the laws of nature in effect until Christ comes. As we engage in worldview dialogue, we then segue into the gospel and call for repentance of sinful thinking and a commitment to Christ even in the area of knowledge. “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3).”

Third, learn to think practically.

Thinking practically on one’s feet may be the most vital skill one can develop. If someone says he doesn’t believe in absolutes, simply ask him if it would be okay for you to take a key and run it down the side of his car? He will no doubt say “no” and therefore express a belief in absolutes as far as he is concerned. Learn to press a person’s statements to their logical conclusions. Learn to demonstrate the flaws in a person’s statements with practical illustrations, particularly ones that affect him. Be gentle and winsome, but press forward.

Because God has placed us in a relativistic world, we must spend some time learning to think philosophically. A few simple tenets will take us a long way. Of course, we will need courage to gently engage others. Asking the simple question “why” is a natural way to advance a conversation. We will have to come up with creative ways to make people see their inconsistencies. We must then pray that God will be pleased to open their hearts to Him as we point them to Christ as their only hope.

Sign up free for “The Dean’s List,” a weekly news and Christian worldview e-letter highlighting relevant news stories affecting Christians. An editorial by Dr. Dean is included as well as his comments on the highlighted stories. The e-letter is sponsored by "Calling for Truth," a daily, live, call-in radio program co-hosted by Dr. Dean and Kevin Boling. Simply e-mail us at pauldeanjr@juno.com to receive your first issue this week.

To listen live to "Calling for Truth" each day from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Eastern Time, go to www.callingfortruth.org and click on the "Listen Online" button. You may listen to archived shows as well. They are uploaded each day after the broadcast.

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Back in the seventies Styx recorded “The Grand Illusion.” In the title track by that name, the lyrics portray the pursuits of this world and the promises offered thereby as a grand illusion. According to the song, as all of us follow the world’s siren call it seems as if we’re under a spell and we really cannot figure out who we are. Oddly enough, the message has merit as far as it goes and should be pondered by each one of us.

The world constantly exerts varying pressures upon us to which we respond in such a way that we are constantly conformed to it. In the face of that reality, the apostle John gives us a sobering warning: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 Jn. 2:15).”

Not long ago, a major evangelical pastor declared: “Christianity as a set of beliefs doesn't work for me. At the same time, I acknowledge the need for ritual and celebration in my life and find fulfillment and joy in many traditional practices. I light candles and ask for the prayers of the saints…These disciplines...do not require me to believe literally in angels and the Virgin Birth.”

A statement like that should be understood in light of what the Bible says. This pastor talks about celebration, fulfillment, and joy. But those things in his life come from religion. He loves religion but not Christ and those are two very different things. His affections are on this world and not on Christ. The problem is that we can love the world in so many ways that cause us to reject not only salvation but the true joy and peace to be had in a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Love for the world can be obvious or subtle and we must be very careful to examine our hearts in this regard on a regular basis. How subtly we can be taken in by the grand illusion that the world has what we need in whatever it’s form.

We battle Satan, our own flesh, and the world. Note John’s further words: “For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world (2:16).” We are deceived into thinking that something is from God when it is not. This is an especially rampant problem in the American church as our culture propagates “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” as good in so many ways and venues.

In his book Everyday Talk: Talking Free and Naturally About God with Your Children, Jay Younts points out that the world is hostile but presents itself as wonderful source of pleasure and fulfillment. It is not what appears to be. Satan is its ruler (under the sovereignty of God) and those who don’t know Christ have no idea they are ruled by Satan. They feel as if they are directing their own lives and that they do as they please. Because of this deception, the world is attractive to them.

The truth is that we must be on our guard because the enemy is aggressively out to deceive us. This issue becomes all the more important when we consider our children and the reality that the enemy wants to deceive them as well. Satan’s attacks are subtle. For example, what some consider to be benign entertainment is no such thing. Every thing we see or hear comes from one of two worldviews: a Christian worldview or a non-Christian worldview. Too often Christians miss this reality. Equally problematic is the fact that those who understand such a dynamic often feel that filling one’s mind with such things has no effect upon them or that they can counteract the effect with a heavy dose of God somehow.

These notions are both ignorant and arrogant and are part of the grand illusion. The battlefield on which we as Christians wage war is the mind/heart. We are constantly told to “renew our minds” as Satan, the world, and our own flesh war against our souls. If we do not see our lives as a battle nor understand where the battlefield is, we have lost already. Our minds are corrupted daily with the constant onslaught of ideas contrary to God. Without a constant renewal of our minds we are unable to put-off the sin that so easily entangles us and put on righteousness.

This grand illusion is propagated in so many ways. Again, Younts points out that the world says that personal peace can be found with financial security, that sexual activity should not be restricted to marriage, and that the most important thing in life is to feel good about oneself. The world says to our children that the object of faith it not important but what is important is that we simply have faith. Such a subtle nuance is more often missed than not in the minds and hearts of young people (and adults as well).

Christians must remember that we have a different allegiance because we are subjects of a different kingdom. God’s kingdom and Satan’s are opposed to one another. We are in a cosmic battle. For us at a personal level, that battle comes down to one of loves. What do we love: Christ or the world? Do you love the things of God or the things of the world? Remember John’s words and be sober minded here. Do not be deceived.

What about our children? If I walk into my son’s bedroom and all I see on the wall are posters of worldly things and worldly people, the tone of his claim to love Christ should ring hollow at that point. It is not that I can judge his heart. But, it is time to have a talk. What is it that he really loves?  The true believer increasingly hates the things God hates and loves the things God loves.

Too often we reject the truth for fear of being equated with some form of legalism. There is no doubt that legalism kills and we must reject it as much as we must reject libertinism. But, it is not legalistic to say that filling one’s mind with images contrary to God is not only sin but destructive. Because of our flesh, we do not have the ability to fight off the resulting influence of such a steady barrage of the mind. In fact, our flesh loves such. And even if we could regularly take such a barrage unscathed, who among us is willing to say that God is ambivalent about the issue? These are the very things God hates. These are the very things that put Christ on the cross. These are the very things for which Hell exists.

So, what must we do? What if you know you are not supposed to love the world and you do not want to but you have a heart that is divided? Scripture sets forth the solution: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2a).” The sense of what Paul is saying could be better rendered: “stop being conformed to this world.” We are constantly being conformed to this world. Paul says stop. How? “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In other words, don’t buy into the grand illusion that the world is where our joy is. The only way not to be deceived is to find one’s joy in Christ and that comes by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit as we renew our minds through a constant examination of our heart and worldview as we place them under the microscope of Scripture.

In the end, contrary to the lyrics penned by Styx, we won’t have to wonder who we are because we will have realized that we cannot make the grade on our own and that the world’s grade is not what we’re after anyway. It is Christ who has made the grade for us and we know who we are as we pursue Him by grace. We will have overcome the grand illusion in Him.

Sign up free for “The Dean’s List,” a weekly news and Christian worldview e-letter highlighting relevant news stories affecting Christians. An editorial by Dr. Dean is included as well as his comments on the highlighted stories. The e-letter is sponsored by "Calling for Truth," a daily, live, call-in radio program co-hosted by Dr. Dean and Kevin Boling. Simply e-mail us at pauldeanjr@juno.com to receive your first issue this week.

To listen live to "Calling for Truth" each day from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Eastern Time, go to www.callingfortruth.org and click on the "Listen Online" button. You may listen to archived shows as well. They are uploaded each day after the broadcast.

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