ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — One of Southern Baptists' most prominent African-American leaders responded Aug. 30 to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's rationale for partially censoring a chapel sermon he preached there a day before.
In an open letter, Dwight McKissic told Southwestern President Paige Patterson that, while he does find the president's stated rationale for banning the sermon “fair and affirming of all parties involved,” he nevertheless believes it is “inconsistent with views attributed to you, views you've written, and [the views of] other outstanding Baptist scholars, theologians, and preachers.”
McKissic, a new Southwestern trustee and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, delivered the Aug. 29 morning chapel sermon at the school, in nearby Fort Worth. In it, he recounted how, while a Southwestern student in 1981, he had an experience of speaking in a “private prayer language” that he believed was evidence of the Holy Spirit helping him communicate with God. McKissic said he has continued to have such experiences.
He also offered criticism of a policy, recently established by trustees at the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, that would ban the appointment of missionaries who practice such private versions of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues.
The school refrained from its normal practice of placing a recording of the morning chapel sermon on its website — which it does immediately following chapel services — on orders from Patterson's office. In the early evening hours, school officials released a statement saying they made the decision because McKissic had criticized actions by the trustees of a sister SBC institution, and because seminary leaders “reserve the right not to disseminate openly views which we fear may be harmful to the churches.”
Recordings of the sermon are still available for purchase directly from the seminary.
McKissic's letter, written in response, said he respects the seminary's decision, but nonetheless regrets it.
“With regard to the 'public criticism of the actions of a sister board,' the IMB policy regarding missionaries who practice a private prayer language is a public policy [emphasis his] that is in direct contradiction to what many noted Baptist scholars and preachers believe about the practice of a private prayer language,” McKissic wrote. “My statement was designed to cause the students to critically think about whether or not the IMB policy lines up with Scripture, not to criticize the IMB.”
He continued, “Because I said nothing during my message that contradicted the Bible or the 2000 “Baptist Faith & Message” [the SBC's doctrinal statement], I fail to see how my comments are viewed as outside of the Baptist mainstream. I do believe that banning the free distribution of my message on the school website is a form of unnecessary censorship that is most unusual considering the fact, again, that many Baptist scholars and leaders…have expressed views similar to mine.”
McKissic cited Baptist preachers and theologians, including evangelist Billy Graham, IMB President Jerry Rankin, and current SBC President Frank Page.
He also offered further criticism of the IMB decision, which bans new missionaries who practice a private prayer language. It has proven controversial within the denomination.
“Just as you suspect that most of the faculty and trustees at SWBTS do not believe the Bible affirms a private prayer language, the leading evangelical African-American churches in America, including black Southern Baptists, would affirm the practice of a private prayer language by those who are so gifted by the Holy Spirit,” McKissic said. “They would certainly not invoke a policy denying freedom of a gifted person to practice a private prayer language.”
He continued: “The practical effect of the IMB policy is treating adults as if you have authority over their private lives and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, beyond the boundary of Scripture. For those of us who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, I find it difficult to understand how we can hold that view and at the same time disregard or deny tongues or a private prayer language as a valid spiritual gift.”
McKissic quoted from several Baptist scholars who offer biblical support for private speaking in tongues, including a quotation from Patterson's April 6, 2006, chapel sermon at Southwestern.
“What do we conclude? The apostle Paul clearly said, 'Do not forbid to speak in tongues.'” McKissic quoted Patterson as saying. “It would be a mistake for evangelicals to forbid others to speak in tongues.”
Because of the controversy that the subject has caused in Southern Baptist life in recent years, many bloggers critical of Patterson and others in the denomination's elite cadre of leaders have paid close attention to McKissic's comments.
Tulsa, Okla., pastor Art Rogers, who runs the 12 Witnesses blog (twelvewitnesses.blogspot.com), said that McKissic had “set off the political equivalent of a nuclear device” in a post shortly following the sermon. On Aug. 30, he said he distrusted the seminary's stated rationale for suppressing distribution of the sermon.
“I believe they refused to post it on their website because it put them in the position of hosting someone who is undercutting the expressed views of Dr. Patterson and others concerning the issues now under discussion at the IMB. They now find themselves in a worse position, having to suffer the accusation of censorship,” Rogers said.
Rogers and other Southern Baptist bloggers also accused the seminary of hypocrisy for citing McKissic's criticism of a sister SBC agency's policy as a reason not to distribute his sermon. They noted Patterson's involvement in the distribution of a Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor's “white paper” criticizing Rankin and the IMB. Prior to going to Southwestern, Patterson served as Southeastern's president.
“If SWBTS is governed by such a principle, which would indeed be a good one, then why did Dr. Patterson, as president of SWBTS, circulate to the IMB board of trustees Dr. Keith Eitel's now infamous white paper called, Vision Assessment?” Rogers asked. “You may recall…that this paper undermines Dr. Rankin and the overall vision of the IMB as it currently stands. Talk about a violation of this policy!
“You may note that the paper was written in 2003, when Dr. Eitel was at SEBTS. It was circulated, however, under the letterhead of Dr. Paige Patterson, as President of SWBTS.”
Southwestern Seminary officials, contacted for comment on McKissic's letter and the bloggers' hypocrisy charge, did not respond immediately.
McKissic, in an Aug. 29 interview with an Associated Baptist Press reporter before the seminary issued its statement saying it would limit distribution of his sermon, said he didn't know it would cause a stir. He also said he didn't believe Patterson had a problem with him or his view of tongues. “He has not in any way indicated that he has issues with what I have to say,” he said.
He noted that he had lunch with Patterson and his wife, Dorothy, following the chapel service. “I love Dr. Patterson, Dr. Patterson loves me, we had rich fellowship today,” he said. “If they had a problem with it [the sermon], they didn't utter it to me at all.”
McKissic is one of Southern Baptists' most prominent African-American leaders. He has served as president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Pastors' Conference. He also has been at the forefront of efforts, on both state and national levels, to pass laws banning gay marriage.
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