LYNCHBURG—On Wednesday evening, Oct. 10, West Lynchburg Baptist Church hosted Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page in a special worship service in what Page called his first visit to Virginia since his election.
Speaking to a crowd—including some from other congregations who had gathered to hear him—Page began his sermon with the story of a golfer who had missed the ball in two successive swings. He had, however, managed to obliterate an anthill next to it. Only two ants survived and one said to the other, “If we don't get on the ball, we're going to die.”
Page returned to this theme repeatedly saying that it applies equally to an individual, a church or a convention. “If we don't get on the ball, we're going to die,” he warned.
Using Luke 13:1-9 as his biblical text, he emphasized that Jesus took issue with a simplistic kind of theology that sees suffering as God's judgment upon sinful people. “Not once, but twice Jesus said “No!” he declared.
He referred to the Scripture passage in which Jesus told a parable of a vineyard owner who had planted a fig tree. After the tree failed to produce fruit, he ordered that it be cut down. “The tree didn't do anything wrong. But it didn't do what it had been planted to do. It had been planted in the vineyard for a purpose, but it failed.”
Referring to his surprise at being elected to the SBC presidency, he said, “My election shows God has a sense of humor. It also shows God's people wanted a change. … God had a purpose for me in winning,” he said.
Michael Cox is pastor of the West Lynchburg Church.