THE BUSTER BLOG

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I know that the Southern Baptist Convention met last June in Birmingham, Alabama.  So, why am I just now expressing concerns about some of the decisions made there or comments preached?  Well, I’m not “just now” concerned.  I’ve spoken about some of these on a couple of other occasions.  I’m just NOW speaking up loudly and in writing about those concerns.

First, I really do want to love our new Southern Baptist Convention President.  Well, he’s not “new” as such since he’s now serving us in his second year as President.  I speak of pastor J. D. Greear.  Pastor J.D. is pastor to a multiple campus church in North Carolina.  He has an international daily radio program.  He is a prolific author.  Far be it from a little ole small country church pastor such as myself to stand in judgment of him!  (BTW, I’m NOT standing in condemning judgment of anyone or any church at all!  For a fuller explanation of this, please read my defacto introduction to this blog post that is on the front page of this web site. PLEASE!).

BUT, like myself, we pastors all alike have to stand responsible for the words we preach publicaly.  IF I have misunderstood brother J.D., or if he meant something entirely different from what I have understood, I stand ready to correct myself and post his response here.  I HAVE written him both on Messenger and by snail mail asking these questions I have about his words.  I’ve addressed all of this to him directly so that he might give me a response that I might better understand him.  He has, for whatever the reasons, chosen not to reply to my inquiries at all.  (Hence the, “I’m just a don’t-matter-much-smal—country-preacher” comment from earlier.  I obviously don’t matter enough to respond to).

OK.  My problem with brother J.D.:  He preached a sermon wherein he addressed two of the more pressing matters before us today socially, Abortion and Homosexuality.  About homosexuality he said, If we are to be true Gospel believers, we must become, “fierce defenders of the rights and dignity of the LGBTQ community....”

First of all, as a TRUE GOSPEL BELIEVER, I can NEVER become any kind of “DEFENDER” of the RIGHTS of the LGBTQ agenda in this world today!  My Bible says that for a man to lie with another man as he would with a woman, is a “Abomination” to the Lord!  I will NEVER become a defender of a man or a woman living out something in their lives that will condemn them to hell! (Paul says basically the same thing in the First Chapter of Romans, relating it as well to a woman giving up the “natural relations” of a her body with a man for a woman.). Homosexuality is a sin (in that same sermon he called it a sin only once, calling it at other times a “mistake”).  It is a sin......Period.  And I feel that this pastor who has a huge church membership of college students is fudging on what the Bible actually says about “Gay” rights so as to not run off that huge number of attendees.  Now I just assigned to him a motive and I shouldn’t have done that.  But one can only wonder why this otherwise, seemingly Biblically sound man of God would say something like this!  There are NO Biblical grounds where it would be sound to say that we are to become “fierce defenders of LGBTQ rights” and dignity!

In that same sermon, he spoke on ABORTION.  While he seems to take a stance against abortion, he addresses two groups of abortion supporters that raised a similar flag of concern for me.  First, speaking to women who have had abortions, he stated that he didn’t want to judge them and didn‘t want to be too hard on them, but to be ”supportive of them”.  I have used similar language myself.  BUT IN CONTEXT with the rest of his statements regarding this social ill, it sounds as though he is truly refusing to condemn the act of abortion that they committed.

He also addressed “Members in our congregation” who are workers in “those clinics” (meaning abortion clinics).  He stated that he knew that those workers didnt’ go into that “work” with ill will toward anyone but that they took those positions, “to serve others”.  He ended that sentence with a statement of support of them in that desire to “serve others”!

Brother J.D.:  Any form or act of homosexuality is NOT to be defended, fiercely or otherwise, according to the Bible, the Word of God!  Those who struggle with same sex sin should be prayed for and witnessed to just like we would any other sinner, but the end action desired by them is repentance, plain and simple.  NOT DEFENSE of them or their actions.

And workers at abortion clinics: While they may have gone into that work innocently but have since gained a horrified spirit regarding the work they do, they must know that what they do is NOT ”service” to anyone except Planned Parenthood of America’s bank accounts!  They need to repent of their participation in those clinics and immediately remove themselves from the premises! That’s the ONLY Biblically sound stance for a pastor to take toward any of his members that work in abortion clinics.

In fact, I could never allow into good standing a church member in my church who is an active employee of an abortion clinic!  But this obviously doesn’t bother you since in the same sermon you announce that you have had on your staff an active homosexual as well.

Any man who has these positions on these two issues in our society today, should have NEVER been voted in as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention!  Again, I am not condemning him.  He is a Reformed Baptist as well, of which I am not and regret greatly the resurgence of Reformed theology within the Convention.  But that theological position isn’t the same kind of wrong that his positions on the LGBTQ community and Abortionists is.  

When you think of the fact that the position of the Presidency of the Convention has been held by such formidable men of God as Adrain Rogers and Steve Gaines, I’m just appalled that we elected a man who preaches the absolute demand that we stand for these social ills and those who commit them as he has!

Again, IF I am completely wrong in my understanding of brother J. D.‘s positions, I stand ready to humbly correct myself and will grant to him space HERE to state those corrections.  Though I can’t seem to get him to respond to my inquiries, I will keep this commitment.

NOW, this past summer, the Messengers to the 2019 SBConvention passed a resolution that I have since come to understand more fully, and I am even more sickened by.  But this post has become too long already.  I WILL ADDRESS RESOLUTION #19 FROM THIS PAST SUMMER’S CONVENTION IN ANOTHER BLOG POST WITHIN DAYS.  PLEASE STAY TUNED!

For The Master,

Buster Wilson