Hello, church. This will be a different kind of video for us, because you can see that the setting is a little bit different. I am recording the audiobook version of the book that I wrote for the September GIBF meeting in Stillwater. GIBF stands for Global Independent Baptist Fellowship, and I was preaching a sermon called “Contending but Not Contentious,” and I wrote a book to go along with that, which kind of filled in the gaps. I only had the 30-to-45-minute sermon slot, but I had so much more to say than that, so I wrote about a 90-page book to go along with it, and I wanted to record the audiobook version of it to eventually put up on Audible. But we are going to share the entire audiobook here on YouTube for free. So the setting is a little bit different. I am just reading in front of this backdrop here, and it is not the most beautiful video, but I wanted to get the content to you at least. This first video is just going over the introductory section of the book, which actually covers about 30% of the book, and so I think we will break this book into three separate videos and post them over the next few weeks. This first section just goes over my heart for what we have received as the next generation of those who have gone before us. My dad planted our church back in the ’80s, and then three years ago he retired as the senior pastor, and I took over as the pastor of our church. Our church knows that; if you are new to our church, you would not necessarily know that whole story. But I wanted to imagine that kind of a transition in light of the transition Joshua went through at the end of Joshua’s ministry, in between Joshua and Judges. So this book focuses on Joshua chapter 22 and looks at this transition era and this focus on change that they were going into, and just how careful they were about changing. The whole book focuses on that, but this very first section, and what today’s video is about, is that, similar to how Joshua had received an inheritance of a land, I feel like our generation has received something from the previous generation that is really, really special to me as a pastor and as the son of a pastor. So I hope you enjoy this first part. We will release the next part of the book next time. Enjoy.
You are listening to an audio production of Contending but Not Contentious, by Ryan Rench, read by the author.
Preface
The subtitle says it all: a young pastor’s perspective on when and how to fight. I sometimes get the sense from young men that we should stay on mission and never fight. But you have to draw the line somewhere, right? Well, that is a fight. I sometimes get the sense from older men that our generation is too weak to fight, so we will all become apostate. Well, I am more hopeful than that. I believe we can work together and draw firm lines, and I believe we can hold those lines with a godly spirit. That is what I am trying to do, anyway, and I know I am not alone. I am a young pastor and can only offer my perspective. I grew up in a California church planter’s home, graduated from Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, completed a two-year internship with Pastor Wayne Hardy in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and then returned home to work for my dad until he retired in 2021, when I became the pastor. I do not claim to write from any authority or wisdom of age, but I do want to write things to this niche audience that I do not recall seeing in print before. I am not the first person to say these things. I simply wish to articulate some of what I sense are general feelings out there somewhere. They are my distilled thoughts, but not my original thoughts. Anything I have learned I owe to others who have come before me, many of whom I name in this book. This is my perspective on when and how to fight, and by fight I am mostly talking about ecclesiastical separation, although separation into camps before it gets explicitly doctrinal is a much harder discussion. No one has no lines. Andy Stanley says he draws circles, not lines, but even a circle has an outer line. We all draw lines somewhere, and mine might be different from some of my friends’ lines. That is okay, as long as we are clear on how we are drawing those lines and how we talk about those lines. We will get to all that, but first I want to talk about the audience, the purpose, the provenance, and the expectations for this book.
Who Is This Book For?
I wrote this book with four groups of people in mind: the previous generation, my generation, the next generation, and friends who would disagree with me. I cannot please everyone, but I hope each group hears my heart. The previous generation: if I were in my dad’s shoes, I would not want some hotshot youngster blazing in and messing everything up. I have already seen that movie. I want my dad’s generation to see how we think through change. I never want to be ten years past a bad decision and just say “oopsies” when the fruit ripens. I cherish the inheritance of my mentors and plan to move forward with it to the glory of Christ. To my generation: I want to give my generation a book that compiles some of our discussions in one place and provides a biblically sound, reasoned alternative to many of the other voices out there. Hey, at the very least we will have something to argue about. The next generation: I have such a heart for the next few stages of the next generation. That includes the men immediately following me. I am burdened for the men just a few years behind me, most of whom are associate pastors right now. Within the next few years they will be working through some of the very things I just came through, and since they are so fresh to me, I want to help those men while I still remember what it is like to be in their place. Recent Bible college graduates: I have a huge desire to give an ear to those who are just entering the ministry. So many graduates are on fire for Jesus, but in the first few years away from the Bible college bubble, they start to rethink some of their positions. That is not necessarily bad, as they are trying to make their college convictions their own convictions, but there are a few topics on which they need space to talk things out. I desperately want to be a help to this crowd, and I wrote this book in hopes of connecting with them more deeply. Gen Alpha and beyond: the church culture my kids will grow up under is going to be far different from my dad’s or from my upbringing, so I want this book to influence decisions that will affect my kids and grandkids. I must be thinking now about what seeds our church is planting for the next generation. This book is also written to my friends who disagree. The last group I had in mind when writing this book was my friends who disagree with my perspective, perhaps because of an offense suffered, or an encounter with a disagreeable person, or because of a theological disagreement. Either way, we are not in the same circles, as we say. Well, I call them my friends because people who are one or two steps away from me are not my enemies. I worked on the tone of this book with this group in mind. It seems that these kinds of topics are not always discussed with a kind, reasoned tone. I am okay with drawing a line and sticking with it; we all have to do that. But sometimes these discussions devolve into angry tirades, name-calling, and prideful outbursts. Well, this only hurts the cause of Christ, and I want the Holy Spirit’s fruit to be evident even in the tone of something potentially disagreeable. I love my brothers who disagree with me. Many of them have their minds already made up and may write this off as something they used to believe, but I hope at least one or two thoughts will cause them to pause and reflect a little extra.
What Is the Purpose of This Book?
Ideas and feelings are funny things. It is not until we wrap them in words that they finally take shape and are then analyzed and poked and reshaped. My main purpose is to articulate many of the conversations I have had since entering the ministry in 2008, but I also want to convey a good spirit that is characteristic of my friends. I want people to say, “Yes, that is what I have been trying to say, but I never had a way to say it.” We throw words around like direction and slippery slope all the time, but it is more than that. Regarding my tone, I do not want it to be said that it was handled in a dismissive, abrasive, condescending, or insulting way. Intellectual snobbery goes both ways, and I do not want to be exactly what we are accusing them of. I want the previous generation to be able to say, “I believe this next generation is willing to take a stand. Maybe not the same way as we did, but I like the direction they are headed.” I want the next generation to say, “These men can hold strong positions without being ugly about it. That reminds me of Jesus Christ, and I want to be like that.”
Where Did This Book Come From?
I started this as a booklet to accompany my sermon at the September 2024 GIBF meeting in Stillwater, Oklahoma, but it grew into a short book instead. The conference theme, Next Generation Contenders, fit with a Joshua series I had preached at our church, but I had more content than one sermon could cover. Since God uses both preaching and writing in powerful ways, I wanted to pair the two to help bring the Bible home.
What to Expect
This book is broken into three main sections. The introduction: this chapter sets up what we are trying to protect for future generations and uses the language of Joshua, describing today’s Independent Baptist movement as our inheritance. Part one, when to fight: this is going to be the largest section of the book, with several chapters talking about what kind of change is potentially good versus potentially bad, and showing how history carries some biblically principled weight in that discussion. Part two, how to fight: these two chapters highlight the need for us to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our discussions, particularly with those who disagree with us. The tone of the fight is arguably as important as the content of the fight, perhaps more so, considering the next generation. This final chapter concludes with a word to each target group and a reminder of what we are fighting for. Following part two are my closing thoughts of thanks to the previous generation and how I have framed this book, as well as an appendix that shares my thoughts on the GIBF, the Global Independent Baptist Fellowship. I am eager to minister for a long while with you. Let’s contend for the right things in the right way. God bless you.
Introduction: It Is a Fight For, Not Against
These days the rah-rah spirit is alive and well. Ask three protesters why they are angry, and two of them will say, “I do not know. I just like yelling.” Well, in a book about fighting, I talk very little about fighting. Our Baptist forefathers got into one-sided fights that looked like this: “Agree with us.” “No.” “What? Burn him at the stake.” And that was it. Following the Lord put them at odds with the world. Although this is not a book about martyrdom, it is about the spirit of strongly held beliefs. Martyrs had things they were willing to fight for, and, if the powers were against them, well, to die for. They held their beliefs strongly enough that it eventually pitted them against others. While we will likely not face martyrdom in America, our beliefs will inevitably bump into others’ beliefs. How we define those beliefs and how we handle that conflict is what this book is about. Our fight is not as much a conquering campaign as in the book of Joshua. Many of our Baptist forefathers fought some hard battles, drew some clear lines, and even gave their lives for truths that we now take for granted. Instead, our fight is more like the end of Joshua, where the tribes had to settle down and settle in. They had to fight to keep the land in doctrinal unity. Inhabiting the land proved to be a harder fight than conquering the land. Fighting for the land, Israel switched from fighting against the Canaanites to fighting for their nation. This was a noble fight. Today some people yell at everyone else and call that a noble fight. Well, they are not contending; they are contentious. They love to fight. They itch for a fight. They are bored without a fight, so they go pick a fight, in the name of Jesus, of course. But I would rather not be like that. I would like to be someone who fights for, not against. If I end up against something, it ought to stem from fighting for something greater.
What Is a Fight?
To clarify, our fights are not with swords or guns. Our fights might be a social media blast, a sermon on a national platform, or an article or book. Sometimes it is a movement-wide split or splinter. I am not a fighter by nature, but when I see someone fighting for a good cause, well, I can link arms and join in. Some lines are an easy agree-to-disagree. Others are not so easy, because we have seen where they might lead. Those are the fights this book is exploring.
Israel’s Inheritance
Sometime during the generation after Joshua, Israel lost sight of what it had and turned away from God. True to His Word, God brought judgment. By Judges 2, Israel had already begun to lose it all. I believe our movement is biblically literate enough to understand that we are not Israel and that their fight has no direct relation to us as Christians. But if the Old Testament is given for our example, I see in Joshua 22 a spirit of spunk that they should have kept, a fighting spirit we should not lose today.
Our Inheritance
Our generation has inherited a land flowing with milk and honey. In many ways we have it easy compared to our Baptist forefathers. We have the Scriptures in our language and a rich heritage of theological thought to draw from. We stand on the shoulders of men who fought the broader fights so that we have the luxury of squabbling over the minutiae. It is obvious now that they did not do everything right. Hindsight is always so clear, and it can make us a bit arrogant, can it not? To me, their problems are not really a problem, as long as I can learn from them. I prefer to focus on what they did right, and I want to preserve that. This era we are living through is incredible. More on how we got it later. First, let me express some of my favorite things that we have inherited from previous generations.
My Favorite Inheritance
Pastor Wayne Hardy made a video with Heartland Baptist Bible College called “A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry,” in which he said that we all get our philosophy from somewhere. Today’s fruit is a result of yesterday’s seed, and we cannot change methodology without changing the philosophy. Since the power of God comes from obedience to His Word, even the methodology matters: preaching, distinct music, confidence in God’s Word, and a ministry style similar to their fathers’. This is our inheritance, and this is what I love and want to keep.
Biblical Preaching
I absolutely love Bible preaching. I love doing the preaching, hearing the preaching, studying for the preaching, and talking about preaching. I love that our movement loves preaching. As I understand it, things were not always this way. Pastor Sam Davison’s expositional style came about not because he was taught it in a classroom, but because the cowboys in Stillwater said, “Pastor, I believe what you just preached. I just do not see it in the text you read at the beginning of the sermon.” In setting out to prove them wrong, Brother Sam helped pioneer a whole new style of passionate Bible preaching, not just passionate preaching from the Bible. I love that. I was taught from the beginning to trust the Word to do its work in a church and in people’s hearts, and I can honestly say that I rest in that trust every week. I preach my heart out, and I try my absolute best in the study. There is nothing I work harder on every week. But I know it is God, through His Word, who changes people’s lives. A friend of mine who has been pastoring several years longer than me recently read a basic Bible study book and said something like, “This book changed my preaching.” I reflected on how privileged I have been to be raised in a Bible-preaching church, to be trained in a Bible-preaching school, and to have been surrounded by Bible-preaching men. I think the kind of Bible preaching we have grown to expect is sometimes taken for granted. I sure did. I love that we can trust God to use the line-by-line, powerful exposition of Scripture to bring spiritual fruit in His church, and I love that when we say expository preaching, it does not automatically mean dry and boring commentary. Our preaching is thrilling but not sensational. It is moving, but it is the biblical content more than the personal stories that reflects the power of God.
The King James Bible
I love the Bible, and I love the King James Version of the Bible. A few popular YouTubers nowadays are slightly more rah-rah about it than me, and video reels of pastors saying, “I use this Book to correct the Greek,” are cringy at best. But those are not me, nor are they most of the people I know. Most of us love, and I mean love, our Bible. I love that I have a settled Word on which I can rely. I have read a lot on the topic of our King James Bible, both for and against it, and I like what one young pastor told me: “When I saw that some of my former mentors were now vocally against what I was taught, I started to rethink my positions from the ground up. I tried to prove myself wrong, but when I searched it out for myself, I was more convinced than ever before.” I know the arguments against our position. They are convincing. Am I allowed to say that here? But are they convincing enough for me to switch my position? No. For me, the faith I place in God’s Word is akin to my faith in Christ. I trust my Bible completely. Note, I do not say I place my faith for salvation in the object of God’s Word. My salvation is through faith in Christ, but the gospel ties that faith to the veracity of the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” I completely trust the King James Bible. I love it. I love that we love it. I am so thankful that we have inherited a Word that others gave their lives to bring us.
Truth-Saturated Congregational Singing
My favorite music at our church is the congregational singing. To me, nothing beats it. Our choir is incredible for our size of church. We are not large, but our choir rises up to the challenge and makes beautiful music, and I love our choir. But to me the congregational singing is better. My wife has a beautiful singing voice. I love her singing, and often she can communicate the Word through song better than I can through preaching. Her solos in our church are better than the best singers in town, maybe the world. But I still believe the congregational singing is better. We have kids’ choirs that will melt your heart, and trios that warm your soul, and instrumentalists who would even impress a deaf man, but I still say the congregational singing is the premier music in our church, and I would not have it any other way. Why? Well, let me tell you. Congregational: I love that congregational singing is, well, from the congregation. I went to the Disneyland of megachurches, more on that later, and looked around during the congregational singing, and almost no one was into it. If I am being generous, maybe 20% of the people were mouthing the words, and almost no men were involved. Maybe it was an off day for them, but I love that in our church we sing. This is what I see in most churches like ours: enthusiastic participation from everyone, not just a team up front. Truth-saturated: I want our music services to be saturated with the truth, so that one cannot help but be drawn to another kingdom. We sing a mix of hymns, anywhere from the Reformation era to the more recent revivalist era, as well as a few modern songs, but I like the doctrinally rich ones the best. I am convinced that truth produces the best emotions. In contrast, I am still bitter that Old Yeller manipulated my emotions and forced me to cry. Although music is inherently emotional, I never want worship to seem targeted at emotions. Crying or getting chills because of the bridge of a song carries less weight to me than crying about the truth of the gospel. Our church ministers to Marine recruits at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, and the chapel services are led by a Christian organization that uses all the popular songs of the day. The Marines link arms, sway back and forth, and sing at the top of their lungs. Some of them cry. Afterwards we preach the gospel, and dozens of them are saved. People may argue that the music opened their hearts to the gospel, but in my experience the emotions from the song service are less about the truth and more about the music. To me, that is backwards. I personally do not express my emotions very often, but get me thinking about what Jesus went through on the cross, and I will tear up every time. I believe it deeply, and that is the difference between truth-based emotions and emotionalism. Music is inherently emotional, but when it becomes sensationalized, it starts to feel earthly and sensual, which just means of the senses, as in James 3:15: “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” I love our movement that puts truth first. We do not have to rely on lighting, a soft mood, the perfect bridge, or just the right buildup to “insert Holy Spirit here.” The plain truth can move hearts just fine, and I love that even in the style of service we can help create that appetite in God’s people.
Developing an Appetite
You like what you listen to, so whatever style of music you prefer is an acquired taste. When people listen to secular music, their appetite will be for music that sounds similar. Coming into a church that exclusively sings hymns is quite a culture shock. I get that hymns are not popular, but that is a feature, not a bug. We are singing about another kingdom, and it is not of this world. I do not believe we are missing out on something by not jumping immediately to what is new. I love our music, and I find it to be the most satisfying music in the world. Not every song we sing is a ten out of ten every time, but the gain of the overall congregational singing involvement that we have is a net profit, in my opinion. Sure, we might be missing out on a few good new songs for a few years, but I have found plenty of old songs new to us that bring all the freshness and depth we would want, but without the potential weaknesses. You like what you listen to, and I would like our people to learn to love doctrine-rich sacred music. One of the best ways I know how to do that is to keep the hymns as the premier music in our church.
Enduring
For me, one of the most convincing arguments for favoring old hymns over modern music is the hymns’ endurance. I can appreciate a new song, but I am never quite sure if it will last. Only time will tell, and new things do not have time behind them. Time is not the only factor, but it is a big one for me. If our movement is built only on new songs, there is little to connect one generation to the next. I am concerned that some churches create an appetite for new things by always catering to the new. Sure, they include the old hymns, but those are not typically the songs that hit. “The hymns are quaint, but let’s get to the good stuff” is the sense I get from some blended services. Picking up a book full of old songs reminds me of a statement in Joshua: “What mean ye by these stones?” The hymns themselves become a teaching opportunity for each new generation that comes along. The Psalms did that. Granted, they were new for one generation, but they were sung on repeat and have endured to today. I am not equating the text of hymns with the inspired text of Scripture, but I do believe the methodology is fitting. Music styles change too. When I was a teen in the late ’90s, we could already hear the difference from ’80s music, and some of the coolest worship songs were already embarrassing to sing. They were too ’80s. Pegging a song to a decade’s style means it will not likely endure. That may not be a problem for some people, but I am glad to be a part of a movement that feels little need to reinvent itself for each new era. Even our music expresses the transcendence of God and His Word through time. Pastor Hardy tells the story: “At my graduation at Baptist Bible College, a youngish pastor’s kid thanked his dad for giving him the freedom to change his methodology every 10 to 20 years. I leaned over and told my friend that I was thankful for a father who gave me a methodology that did not have to be changed every 10 to 20 years.”
Depth of Theological Thought
I liked the book God Sings, with all the normal disclaimers, for many reasons, but two points stood out to me from the author, Douglas Bond. First, most hymn writers were theologians first and musicians second. I am not overly critical of the content of many modern songs. I have analyzed them, and most of the lyrics are just fine, great even, but to me they all start to sound the same. I realize that many of the hymns are equally guilty, but when Bond steps back and broadly analyzes both groups, old hymns versus modern songs, as a general rule the hymn writers of old were more biblically deep, and the truths of the Scriptures saturated their songs more fully. Entire books debate this topic, so we will not settle anything here, but as a general rule I tend to agree. I appreciate the thought-provoking writing of old and find that modern people can stretch their thinking, especially when the language is slightly more difficult. The second point that stuck out to me in the book God Sings was Douglas Bond’s understanding of poetry as one of the most powerful tools of communicating. I had never appreciated poetry as richly as I do now, and many of the older hymn writers understood poetry to be more than merely rhyming words. Overall, while some of the revivalist-era hymns are not particularly deep, many of the nineteenth-century hymns and beyond have endured predominantly because of their scriptural depth.
Sing with Understanding
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul makes the case for the entire congregation to be others-focused instead of selfish with their Holy Spirit giftings. A huge problem in the church was that the selfish people could edify themselves, but no one else could understand what was going on. Paul’s correction was that everything be done to edify the body. Well, this is only possible through an understandable message. One example of understanding is through singing, in 1 Corinthians 14:15: “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” At our church we work at thinking about the truth in a few unique ways. Music is not filler: viewing the music as more than just filler means we approach it meaningfully. The congregational singing is our time to give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name, Psalm 96:8: “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.” So we sing many songs in a row to express our praise to God. The Bible does not lay out an order of service for us, but I love the thinking men of our movement who have challenged me to purposefully arrange a service around what each part of the service means rather than by tradition. I know Baptists are supposed to sing, pray, sing again, take the offering, make announcements, sing another song, and then go through the typical order of service, but not doing what you are supposed to do is fine too. Music is a beautiful tool God gives us to praise Him. Singing every verse: for some reason, the first, second, and last verses of a song are all some churches sing, but I appreciate a group of churches that loves the truth of the songs enough to stay with the flow of thought the original songwriter intended. With most songs, we sing every included verse, and we have discovered some hidden gems in plain sight. Hymn stories: our bulletin includes a paragraph of background for each hymn of the service. Understanding where a song came from helps us understand how to sing it to the Lord even better. Taking time to explain the words: we have great song leaders who have full liberty to stop and help the congregation think about a song. We moved our service times to allow for longer services, primarily so we could worship the Lord in singing better. Displaying the words for instrumental songs: our offering time is dedicated to worship, not chitchat, reading the announcements, or scrolling through your phone. After a short video on giving each week, we pray, and then the piano plays a song while the offering trays are passed. We print the words of the offertory song in the bulletin each week, and our tech team displays the lyrics of the song on our screens while the piano is playing the tune. This keeps the focus on the truth of worship rather than on the skill of the pianist. We also display lyrics on the screens for instrumental music. This focus on content has only enhanced our worship. Choir sabbath, congregational singing month: we take one month per year to focus on congregational singing. I have taught through a few different series to help our church understand the importance of congregational singing, and even provided some basic vocal training, ear training, and music notation training to help us sing our best to the Lord. We compile our own songbook with songs that are not in our hymnal and include much of the information that is not commonly known. The best music in our church is our congregational music, and taking a month off of music practice is a relief for the singers who serve so faithfully in the music ministry every week. Hymn of the month: we choose one hymn, often a new song, to sing every Sunday morning for a month. By the end of the month, we are past learning the tune, and the message of the song can sink in.
Reverence in Worship
Lifting God high: I grew up with the practice of bowing our heads and kneeling during prayer meetings, but it was not until Dr. Dave Hardy highlighted the Bible’s teaching on worship that we started to bow regularly as part of our church’s worship service. Now I see everything we do as worship. Worship is what God wants: “for the Father seeketh such to worship him,” John 4:23: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” Yes, God desires for people to obey the Ten Commandments, to fulfill the Great Commission, and to earnestly contend for the faith, but why? Well, a strong argument can be made for worship being at the heart of all creation. We were created to glorify God, and we are eternally saved to glorify Him eternally. Yes, God sent His only begotten Son to save sinners, but even that was a part of God’s eternal plan to glorify Himself. I love having a preeminent focus on God and our relationship to Him through Jesus Christ. I want the Bible to help people live a victorious Christian life, but I never want it to merely be about a good life. I appreciate a movement that keeps God as the ultimate end of all we do. Our ultimate purpose is not building churches, gaining crowds, or even helping people. While all are worthy goals, our focus is all about God, and I love that. A respectful appearance: I try not to overemphasize our appearance, but on a national level, and even on a global level, clothing is standardized to reflect a level of importance. This is changing, and clothing standards in society may eventually become a relic of the past, but at least for now, on the national level, we connect a social value to an event or office and expect everyone’s appearance to match. Granted, at the local level the discussion is different. We applaud missionaries for adapting to their cultures, for example. Local cultures might supersede national cultures for the gospel’s sake. But I appreciate a movement of churches that still maintains a distinction in appearance, whatever the local culture. Guests should be able to walk into church and sense that “God is in you of a truth.” In other words, there is something different about this place. I do not believe appearance creates this transcendence; the Holy Spirit does that. But appearance can influence it. Our appearance communicates and influences our beliefs.
An Emphasis on Holiness
With God as the focus, His attributes are what we ought to reflect as Christians. In The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer makes the point that God Himself is not segmented into attributes. They are distinctions we make for our understanding. God is all of His attributes, all at once, perfectly and completely, in every way and all throughout. No part of Him exists in phases or without all the rest of Him. So He is always perfectly just, always perfectly loving, always perfectly good, and so on. Never is there tension in the nature of God, like we might think. However, in studying the attributes of God, it helps us to break apart His revelation and see what He says about each aspect of Himself, so we have separate studies on His love, holiness, and sovereignty, for example. What seems to happen over time is that each generation emphasizes a few of God’s attributes but rarely strikes a perfect balance. If one generation highlighted God’s holiness and wrath, the next generation emphasized God’s grace and love. I appreciate a movement that still wants to express the holiness and wrath of God without apology, yet has the love and grace of God to keep a biblical balance. As our American culture grows increasingly secular, the holiness of God will feel more and more out of place. A secular culture may appreciate a loving God, however they define love, but a holy God will always be against their unholiness. I love that my closest friends still want to reflect God’s holy nature.
The Local Church
When I was growing up, one of the key teachings I remember hearing so much about was the doctrine of the local church. I did not fully realize why it was so important until I saw how everything in the New Testament revolves around the church. Christ gave the church the authority to fulfill the Great Commission, and then gave local congregations the authority to remove people from the communion of the church if they continued in unrepentant sin. The two ordinances fit best in a local-church ecclesiology. Further, the local church is the only practical place I can see a Christian fulfilling much of what the New Testament teaches: missions, the Great Commission, exercising spiritual gifts, ordaining and experiencing the biblical offices, and doctrinal unity and separation, to name a few areas. I think many evangelicals would generally agree with many of the same local church teachings we emphasize, yet in their writings they seem to favor the catholic, or universal, interpretation of the church far too often. I, too, know the passages that speak of the church in an institutional sense, but these are rare. The vast majority of references to the church are talking about the local church. Starting from that standpoint helps us understand the whole Bible in a deeper and more practical way.
Humble Men of Character
The Global Independent Baptist Fellowship is a fellowship of pastors, and I like what one person said: “It is the only place I know where mentors become friends.” I have been around the circles that overemphasize the pastor, cheering for him, mentioning him in every service, prayer, and conversation, doing whatever he says, but that always struck me as prideful. The men who mentored me were humble men of character. In contrast to past issues, I believe our generation has received a powerful example from the men who came before us.
Family Balance
We were repeatedly warned about the errant philosophy of the past that said, “You take care of the church, and God will take care of your family.” When a generation of PKs, preachers’ kids, rebelled, the next generation took note and made some good changes at home. I grew up in a home where Dad never missed his day off, and we took yearly family vacations. Those two areas created a culture of work-family balance in our home that I have always appreciated. Instead of teaching us sports or other hobbies, my dad taught us to be handy, so our time together was spent on projects around the property. I love my upbringing and would not have it any other way. God was first, family was second, and neither seemed to suffer. That was a good balance, one I strive for today.
Addressing Issues Biblically
I am bothered when scandals are swept under the rug in the name of protecting the church. I think the previous generation saw too much of that going on in Independent Baptist churches, and I appreciate friends who are willing to face church issues today in a godly way. Our church has experienced situations that required law enforcement, but I would rather suffer a black eye for exposing the sin than for hiding it.
An Emphasis on Souls
Finally, I love the heart for souls that has been passed down to our generation. The men of the past built great soul-winning churches, had a heart for personal evangelism, and never let a conference go by without a lot of soul-stirring preaching on soul winning. If I am weak in any area, it is in soul winning, but that is no fault of the previous generation. They were passionate about seeing people saved from sin, and the longer I go, the more burdened I am to see people saved. In fact, I have never been more passionate about seeing people saved. I still have a long way to go; I believe we all do. I am encouraged about the many great steps forward in all the areas we have mentioned. Our inheritance has taken major steps forward in many areas, but I sense that we may have taken a step backward in our passion for soul winning. God help us to move forward in our inheritance, never losing the pioneering spirit of the past.
Settling In
Inhabiting the land was a different kind of fight than conquering the land. The generation after Joshua was settling into the blessings that God had given them, and God wanted them to be sure they remembered where they had come from. He knew they would have to battle an entitled spirit and fight to remember where they had come from. In Joshua 24:13-14 He says, “And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.” I believe we have a heritage that is precious, and if no one speaks up, it may not be here for very much longer. I love what has been passed down to us, and I want to keep it. To me, it is worth fighting for. I am not fond of the way some of my brothers pick fights, but I also get it. If we can approach this with the right spirit, our positions are not only right but can bring good. The rest of this book talks about when and how to fight.
Well, that wraps up the first part of the book, the introductory chapter, and next time we will lead into what the fight looks like and what it is that we are actually, quote-unquote, fighting about. I hope that is a blessing to you. We will release the future videos in the next couple of weeks, and I hope you enjoy them. You can purchase the entire book on Amazon as a Kindle download or as a physical printed book in paperback or hardback, and we have it available at our church as well. But God bless you. We will see you in the next video.
