Pewboy: What in the world is going on at the International Mission Board these days?
Altarego: Uh, I've heard some rumors, but why don't you tell me what you mean exactly?
Pewboy: Well, first off, the Southern Baptist Convention told the IMB trustees last summer to investigate the charges made by one of their own members that they were manipulating the process of trustee selection, allowing other agency heads to influence their work, and generally not being fair. Now, call me crazy, but if they were guilty of those things do we really think they would suddenly decide to be open about what they've done? See what I mean?
Altarego: Well, I think I follow you. You're saying that people may have a hard time trusting their report because even if they are honest and above board their integrity has already been questioned?
Pewboy: Actually, I think it's worse than that. It seems that they can't even agree that an investigation was made, so what could they possibly be reporting? Some trustees say it was done and at least one, Wade Burleson, the one who recommended the investigation in the first place, says it wasn't done. If you can't trust trustees, who can you trust, I ask you?
Altarego: Hmm. That does seem to be a dilemma. Apparently, IMB president Jerry Rankin has confirmed that an investigation committee was not formed and no investigation was made since investigating such matters is not the mission of the IMB. Still, trustee members have maintained that an investigation was made. So you think you can't trust the trustees?
Pewboy: Well, remember this was the same bunch who said that all new missionaries could not use a private prayer language, never mind that IMB president, Jerry Rankin, uses a private prayer language in his personal devotionals. Not only that, in justifying their action, they said that the Apostle Paul clearly said that prayer should be only in words that are understood. When I checked, the Bible it doesn't say that at all! And, don't get me started on their statement that no one could be appointed a Southern Baptist missionary unless their baptism was by a church that believes in once saved always saved.
Altarego: So, you have an issue with the IMB trustees, then?
Pewboy: I didn't set out to have an issue with them, it's just sort of turned out that way. But, not just with the trustees, maybe.
Altarego: What do you mean by that?
Pewboy: Well, think about what the IMB just did in deciding not to give money to the Woman's Missionary Union. I just don't have a good feeling about that.
Altarego: Say more about that.
Pewboy: Well, last summer at the SBC the big boys recommended that the WMU accept their invitation to surrender its status as an auxiliary to the convention and become a part of the convention. One of the fellows recommending this said that they wanted the WMU to come into the convention because they loved them. Well, to us pew sitters, it seemed less about love and more about control, so the convention voted against it.
Altarego: That's right. The convention is made up of the messengers from churches. These messengers have every right to support or reject recommendations made to them. What's the problem with that?
Pewboy: Oh, that's not the problem. The problem is this: now, all of a sudden the IMB has decided it won't send money to the WMU anymore. It seems like they are playing hardball like some giant corporation or something.
Altarego: Well, things are not always as they appear. Besides that, you should know that the IMB pays back to the WMU every cent it spends promoting the Lottie Moon Offering.
Pewboy: So you're telling me that the IMB is generous enough to pay the WMU back all the money they spend trying to get Southern Baptists to give money to the IMB?
Altarego: Yes, that's right.
Pewboy: Well, that's certainly big of them. How much money does the IMB expect to come from the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering?
Altarego: The IMB anticipates that almost 52 percent of their $288 million budget will come from the Lottie Moon Offering. You have to consider maybe there is a good reason the IMB made the decision to cut out the funding it has given to the WMU. Maybe it's purely a business decision based on a shortage of dollars. Maybe they needed the money somewhere else.
Pewboy: I've thought about that. But the IMB got more money than ever from the Cooperative Program last year. To me it doesn't seem to be about money it seems to be about control. My Bible says to avoid the appearance of evil, and it looks pretty evil if they are holding back money because WMU won't let the SBC control it. It looks like the SBC and IMB are saying, “If we can't get our way, we'll take our money and go home. If the WMU gets hurt, it serves them right. They should have played ball with us.”
Altarego: You really think that?
Pewboy: All I'm saying is that's how it looks. Even if the IMB had a good reason to hold back the money, this was not the year to cut funding because of how it would appear. I would have expected Enron to act like that. But I have had higher expectations of the International Mission Board, though. I mean, the WMU promotes the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that funds a major part of the IMB's work. And, to show its appreciation, the IMB cuts funding to the WMU. How's that for biting the hand that feeds you?
Altarego: So, you are ready to write off the IMB?
Pewboy: Of course not, let's not forget the missionaries out there who are working for Christ day in and day out giving little thought to bureaucratic politics. But, I do wonder this: since the WMU has always taken up the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and owns the name, what would happen if they would decide to give part of next year's offering to the IMB and part of it to somebody else?
Altarego: Surely you can't be serious!
Pewboy: No, probably not. But, my point is this. Southern Baptists can demand that their agencies conduct themselves with Christian decorum and in the spirit of the Christ we serve, or they can let the agencies play political hardball like secular corporations and the government. If that happens, whether baptism occurred in a church endorsing the perseverance of the saints and whether an individual Christian practices a private prayer language will be the least of our concerns. In fact, it seems to me that IMB trustees could do with a little more private prayer—in any language. Southern Baptists must demand truthfulness from those who serve on committees and in agencies and be able to trust trustees.