SEOUL, Korea (ABP) — While the Southern Baptist Convention has voted to cut ties to the Baptist World Alliance effective Oct. 1, many Baptist leaders in the United States have pledged to continue to support BWA.
That fact was evident during the recent BWA General Council meeting in Seoul, Korea — the alliance's first global event since the SBC's action in June.
Only one of the SBC's 17 voting members of General Council attended the July 26-31 meeting. But among the other Southern Baptists participating were state convention executive directors, national Woman's Missionary Union leaders, Baptist college administrators and professors and retired SBC agency employees.
Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was one of the high-profile Southern Baptists at the Seoul meeting. He preached during a Friday evening evangelistic rally that attracted more than 4,000 participants. Preaching a fervent evangelistic message, Wade told the crowd, “Jesus is our only way between the heart of sinful man and the heart of holy God. He died on the cross that he might bring us to God.”
Jesus Christ “did not run away from death, but he embraced the cross that he might bring us to God,” he added. “When you come to see Jesus, you come to see God as he truly is.” Highlighting Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Wade urged listeners, “Come to Jesus tonight. He will bring you to the God who loves you and will never let you go.”
Wade's straightforward message stood in stark contrast to SBC leaders' charge that BWA “no longer efficiently communicates to the unsaved a crystal clear gospel message that our Lord Jesus Christ is solely sufficient for salvation.”
Wade's views echoed those of BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz, who told General Council members, “Let me be very clear that as Baptists we believe that Jesus Christ is our only way of salvation. There is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved.”
Introducing BWA's five-year “Living Water” global evangelization strategy set to begin next year, Lotz added, “That's who we are as Baptists. That's why we come together. We're a missionary movement.”
Wade, a member of BWA's church renewal workgroup, said he remains deeply committed to the work of BWA. “On a personal level, I have been so blessed over the last four years witnessing the courage and faithfulness of our Baptist brothers and sisters who live in such trying, even dangerous places and who have been and are faithful to the gospel of Christ,” Wade said. “I am inspired by them.”
“The Baptist World Alliance offers Baptists around the world a fellowship in which to celebrate our fidelity to Jesus Christ, our passion for people to know him and the richness of our Baptist distinctives,” he added.
Wade isn't the only state Baptist executive director speaking out in support of BWA.
David Waltz, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey, noted that his convention's administrative committee adopted a resolution earlier this year urging SBC and BWA leaders to seek reconciliation.
“I was very disappointed personally at the action that was taken” by SBC messengers, Waltz said. “I continue to hold out hope that we may soon be reconciled and back with the BWA just as the SBC recommended.”
Although SBC leaders declared they are still open to reconciliation, it is likely to be only on their terms. The SBC study committee's nod to “restoration of fellowship” declares: “We pray for the day when the BWA will return to the faith on which it was founded and which has been historically held by Baptists for centuries. We pray for the restoration of fellowship that such a return will bring.”
Highlighting BWA's perspective, General Council members adopted a resolution citing regret over the SBC's decision “to withdraw from the world Baptist family, resulting in loss of unity and a compromise of the worldwide testimony of all Baptists.” The resolution expresses hope “for a future reconciliation and renewal of SBC membership.”
Despite the impasse, Waltz said his personal involvement in BWA “has given me a great appreciation for the faithfulness of Baptists around the world. I have often been humbled by the price other Baptists have had to pay to remain faithful to Christ.”
Waltz, a member of BWA's freedom and justice commission, added, “I hate for Southern Baptists to be cut off from those experiences and to miss the opportunity to learn and grow from our Baptist brothers and sisters around the world.”
Wanda Lee, national executive director of the SBC Woman's Missionary Union, was the only one of the SBC's 17 voting council members who attended the July meeting in Seoul. Janet Hoffman, national WMU president, also participated.
Citing WMU's commitment to continue working in cooperation with the BWA Women's Department, Lee said, “The women's department is an auxiliary to BWA just as WMU is an auxiliary to the SBC.”
Noting that WMU helped establish the BWA Women's Department in 1911, she added, “For us to not participate in prayer with all the women of the world is unthinkable.
“When you look at the world climate in which we live,” Lee said, “Baptists need to speak with one voice in regard to religious freedom, separation of church and state and on behalf of those who have no voice and are persecuted.”
Roy Edgemon, who retired in 2000 after 23 years as a discipleship leader with the SBC's LifeWay Christian Resources, is chairman of BWA's Christian education and literature workgroup. Edgemon, a former missionary to the tiny Japanese island of Okinawa, recalled the spiritual impact of helping sponsor a trip for area pastors to the 1970 Baptist World Congress in Tokyo.
Noting most of the pastors attending the 1970 global conference came from places “where they were always in the minority,” Edgemon said, “When they realized they were part of something so huge, they were never the same again.”
“To me, that is the essence of BWA. It is the fellowship of like minds and like hearts,” he said. “I wish every Southern Baptist could hear the stories of their fellow Baptists and the suffering and triumphs they've gone through. … When they are in BWA, it is a healing fellowship.”
-30-