A Contract With The Southern Baptist Convention - Part 1

A CONTRACT WITH SOUTHERN BAPTISTS

Seven Non-Negotiables Necessary for Revitalization

Baptists Must Be . . .

Based in Humility - A necessary foundation - 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 51:16-17; Matthew 18:4, 23:12; Philippians 2:1-8; James 4:6,10; 1 Peter 5:1-6

It couldn't be clearer: God resists the proud! Our denomination, our leaders, our pastors, our churches . . . we're all guilty of believeing that we are God's gift to the world. We arrogantly believe that we have a corner on the truth and unfortunately for us, "The Truth" (Jesus) seems to have left the building. "What is the source of your quarrels and conflicts?", James asks (4:1). "You lust and do not have . . . you are envious and cannot obtain . . ." (v2). The conclusive answer to James' question about conflict is: "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (v6). Our arrogance is no less than an offence to God. We must humble ourselves doctrinally and acknowledge the very real possibility that we may not know it all. How about attempting to humbly listen to those with whom we differ? We just might learn something new about a God who is far greater than our ability to comprehend. We must humble ourselves relationally and begin to serve each other rather than competing. We need to discover the joy giving to each other and submitting to the will of those that we may consider inferior. We must humble ourselves corporately and consider the reality that we are not the only ones God chooses to use. This may be a surprise to some but . . . The "Kingdom of God" is bigger than "The Kingdom of Baptists". We must humble ourselves spiritually and confess our lack of maturity. We must repent of focusing on primary leadership positions and pushing and shoving our way to the head table. "'Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus . . . He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5,7).