Jesus' disciples once came up to him and proudly informed him that they saw a man driving out demons in Jesus' name, but they told him to stop because "he was not one of us." It must have been quite a blow to their inflated sense of self-righteousness when Jesus didn't give them the pat on the back they felt they deserved. Instead they got rebuked.
I guess I'm of the generation that is post-denominational. I pastor a church affiliated with the local Baptist Association, we're affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the Southern Baptist Convention. We affiliate with other churches for the sake of missions. I don't agree with everything that these entities do (anyone who says he agrees 100% is lying), but doctrinally I line up with them closer than I would any other faith group. I also realize that the day of large denominational structures are coming to an end. In about 15-20 years, I feel that we'll be seeing less and less of the local Baptist Association, state convention, and national convention.
There are many external factors for this. But a large internal factor is the main cause of this. There is a bad case of "One of Us" Syndrome. I see this more in the Southern Baptist Convention than anywhere else. The criteria for doing anything in the Southern Baptist Convention is unreal. You are judged according to whether you'll sign a statement agreeing to an uninspired document, your church must give so much to Cooperative Program missions, and apparently now, you have to be in the circle of people associated with the GCR task force.
I could write more about this, but just thinking about it makes me sick. The Southern Baptist Convention is bleeding and no one seems to be asking the question as to why. If your goal in life is to have an ineffective ministry, just take a lesson from the current Southern Baptist Convention. Become more inclusive and try to stop those from doing ministry that you should be partnering with.
Do I sound ornery today?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Who Needs Them?
I don't understand where the talk of dissolving the Big 12 Conference started or when it started, but it has been all the talk the past few days and seems to have come out of nowhere. Personally, I don't understand why you would dissolve a powerhouse conference like the Big 12. It makes about as much sense as dissolving the Southwest Conference years ago. I also don't understand why Colorado and Nebraska leaving the conference would make the Big 12 start bleeding other schools. The conference can certainly go on without them.
Here is my proposal. I've been reading that this is all about maneuvering to get the University of Texas. The Pac-10, the Big 10, and the SEC all really want Texas in their conference because of the big money that comes with it. If I were the Athletic Director of the University of Texas (he can switch jobs with me for a day if he would like to), I would say enough. Nobody wants to be that naive little rich kid who only has friends because he has a lot of cool toys. Texas doesn't need any of these other conferences. What stinks is that these other conferences don't really want any of these other Big 12 schools. All they really want is Texas. But these other schools are getting caught up in it. Poor Baylor is going to be left in the dust. Let's form a Texas Conference. We can do it! Let's have Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU, TCU, Rice, and Houston. Yes, it's the old Southwest Conference without Arkansas (the way it always should have been). Let's make an unofficial and unwritten agreement with all Texas high schools that their athletes can only go to Texas Conference schools. The Texas Conference will dominate, annihilate, and destroy all other schools in the nation. Alabama will definitely have to take another cheap shot on the Texas quarterback in order to have any chance of winning another National Championship.
Texas can do quite well on its own. Let's keep all of our money and resources right here south of the Red River. Say no to these other money-hungry, stab-you-in-the-back conferences and tell them we don't need them.
Here is my proposal. I've been reading that this is all about maneuvering to get the University of Texas. The Pac-10, the Big 10, and the SEC all really want Texas in their conference because of the big money that comes with it. If I were the Athletic Director of the University of Texas (he can switch jobs with me for a day if he would like to), I would say enough. Nobody wants to be that naive little rich kid who only has friends because he has a lot of cool toys. Texas doesn't need any of these other conferences. What stinks is that these other conferences don't really want any of these other Big 12 schools. All they really want is Texas. But these other schools are getting caught up in it. Poor Baylor is going to be left in the dust. Let's form a Texas Conference. We can do it! Let's have Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU, TCU, Rice, and Houston. Yes, it's the old Southwest Conference without Arkansas (the way it always should have been). Let's make an unofficial and unwritten agreement with all Texas high schools that their athletes can only go to Texas Conference schools. The Texas Conference will dominate, annihilate, and destroy all other schools in the nation. Alabama will definitely have to take another cheap shot on the Texas quarterback in order to have any chance of winning another National Championship.
Texas can do quite well on its own. Let's keep all of our money and resources right here south of the Red River. Say no to these other money-hungry, stab-you-in-the-back conferences and tell them we don't need them.
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