June 2, 2008
To view the signatories and sign the statement click here.
When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38 HCSB
The undersigned are former trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB) who desire to express unwavering support for the work of the IMB, its staff, and administration. We acknowledge and commend the obedience and commitment to God’s call of the more than 5,000 dedicated brothers and sisters who have been appointed, sent, and supported by Southern Baptists to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Also joining us in signing are concerned pastors, ministers of missions, and other Southern Baptist leaders who enthusiastically support our IMB missionaries through their praying, giving, and going.
As former trustees, we experienced the awesome responsibility of overseeing such a massive missions enterprise. We understood the importance of our fiduciary responsibility to the charge given by the Southern Baptist Convention to see that “all missionaries appointed by the Convention’s boards must, previous to their appointment, furnish evidence of piety, zeal for the Master’s kingdom, conviction of truth as held by Baptists, and talents for missionary service” (SBC Constitution). We can say with assurance that the process of candidate approval has been fair, thorough, and complete, producing a dedicated, well-trained missionary force.
It is with this understanding that we express our concern over the restrictions which have been put in place in the form of additional “guidelines” concerning a missionary candidate’s private prayer life and baptism. Our conviction is that these guidelines stray far beyond the parameters set forth by our denominational confession of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM 2000 - a statement that we affirm as conservative Southern Baptists as the standard for IMB missionaries).
We strongly disagree with the action of the IMB trustees regarding their new requirements for baptism. This new policy has placed the board in the position of dictating to local churches what constitutes a legitimate Christian baptism. With the intense specificity required by the new IMB rules, the churches from which potential Southern Baptist missionaries emerge are now subject to extra-biblical management practices which undermine the authority of the local church. Baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the biblical mandate, and all those who give testimony that they have been baptized in this manner need not be forced to be re-baptized in order to obtain an appointment with the IMB. We believe that the BFM articulates a robust doctrine of baptism that is sufficient to help churches make such determinations on their own.
We are disturbed that the guideline on private prayer language, an issue that is not even addressed by the BFM, has led to the intrusive scrutiny into the sanctity of the personal prayer closet. Many faithful brothers and sisters who are members of Southern Baptist churches differ on this issue as they seek to live out their lives in obedience to Christ. The Bible at no point raises this issue to a matter of primary doctrinal importance, thus it should not disqualify any godly missionary candidate for service with the International Mission Board.
We are alarmed at the reports of the rejection of otherwise worthy candidates and reports of individuals who will now not even bother to apply to their own denomination’s missions organization, lest these guidelines disqualify them.
We are dismayed that one of the results of the implementation of these guidelines is the loss of valuable, faithful IMB personnel.
We call on Southern Baptists to hold the entities of the SBC accountable to the direction of the convention’s churches, not the churches to the sentiments of their entities.
With no anecdotal evidence from the field of wide-spread charismatic practices within our missionary family, and acknowledging that Southern Baptist churches are competent to judge the biblical nature of their members’ baptisms, we strongly urge Southern Baptists to seek the removal of these controversial and superfluous guidelines from use in the candidate approval process.
Each day, we are all made painfully aware of the scope of the lostness of our world. We agree with the words of our Lord that, indeed, the harvest is abundant. We also, with great sadness, agree with His assessment that the workers are few. The task seems daunting. So many lost; so few workers. There are good, loyal Southern Baptists who see the multitudes also, and just as Christ did, feel compassion for them. Let us as Southern Baptists not purposefully turn away any qualified worker who has heard and obeyed the call to “Go.”
To view the stories of those affected by the guidelines click here.