Editorial for November 17, 2005
By Jim White
Like a healthy church fellowship, after the benediction of the Baptist General Association meeting dubbed “Connect:
2005,” people stood in the sanctuary and talked. They were in no hurry to leave. The afterglow was unusual for a BGAV annual meeting which, because of the number of messengers, usually is convened in a convention center. What was responsible for the general sense of well-being during and after the meeting?
Perhaps the Hylton Memorial Chapel setting was responsible. It had the warm feel of a well-appointed modern church sanctuary complete with beautiful stained glass.
Perhaps it was the complete absence of controversy that prompted the good feelings. Rancor has a way of spoiling even the most spiritually-minded events.
Or perhaps it was the way John Upton, executive director of the BGAV, and Eddie Stratton, its treasurer, alternated missions and financial reporting to set the stage.
It could have been the humorous and thought-provoking theme interpretations of the Bluefield College drama team and the vignettes by their directors Charles Reese and Rebecca McCoy-Reese that tipped the scale.
Could it have been the signing of a covenant between Virginia Baptists and Indian Baptists represented by Kunjumon Chacko and Sabu Thomas? That was inspiring!
Maybe the innocent enthusiasm of the Korean Children's Choir or the challenge of Dr. Billy Kim, pastor of the Central Baptist Church of Suwon, South Korea, and former president of the Baptist World Alliance, created the worshipful atmosphere.
Might the secret ingredient have been the meticulous planning done by the Program Committee and by Paige Peak, Joyce Journey and their cohorts? Every element was carefully designed to facilitate the likelihood that we would all connect with God and each other in this “Connect 2005” gathering.
Without a doubt, each of these elements played a substantive role in creating the energetic, enjoyable, and inspirational connections in the meeting. But those who attended will point to one other source as a great contributor to the overall effect: Dr. Fred Craddock's sermons.
In some ways, Craddock and his style were unimpressive. He is short and joked about having to lower the microphone to mouth level. He never raised his voice; he didn't need to pause mid-sermon to mop his brow. In fact, he didn't move from behind the wide pulpit. He neither threatened the first three rows with a slobber shower nor walked on six inches of his britches legs in the fervency of his delivery.
What he did do, however, left his listeners in awe. He broke the bread of life and provided a feast. Speaking eloquently in carefully crafted sentences without once looking for help from notes, he wove together strands of biblical insight, theological truth and ecclesiastical issues into a tapestry of hope.
His pattern was to appeal to an obscure phrase in a passage of Scripture and empower it with reason and scriptural illustrations until it spoke forcefully to the needs of our time. For example, no one who heard him will forget the image of Jesus being content to wait in line to be baptized. The Son of God humbly waiting his turn speaks to the nature of God, he asserted. God's nature stands in stark contrast to the “pushing to get ahead” tendency in human nature.
In his second sermon to the assembly, Craddock referred to Christ's arrest in the garden. In rebuking Peter for drawing his sword and amputating an adversary's ear, Jesus said “Don't you know I could pray and the Father would send more than 12 legions of angels to rescue me?” He could have, but he didn't. Again and again Craddock drew examples from Scripture to demonstrate how God could have acted with righteous anger but chose not to. Craddock emphasized our tendency to misuse our power while God chose instead to exercise restraint. Real strength, he said, is often refraining from using your power against another even though the action may be justified: When you could, but you don't.
In his final message, he chided Christians for self-centered praying and asserted that prayer that agonizes in conversation with God over weighty issues is often lacking in our prayer closets. Craddock proclaimed this kind of praying to be the most important aspect of discipleship. He suggested that we abandon perfunctory pleas for luxury items. “Lord, help our pee wee team to beat the Dairy Queen team” doesn't begin to fathom the kinds of prayers Jesus prayed, he noted.
The synopses offered above cannot begin, however, to capture the spirit and power of this gifted preacher's messages. As it is impossible to describe in words the interplay of instruments and melodies in a great symphony, so the interplay of ideas and recurrence of themes in his sermons are impossible to communicate in writing. Craddock passed the ultimate test of good preaching. He left us deeply appreciative of his communication skills, but even more, he left us awed by the goodness and greatness of God. He called attention, not to himself, but to the Lord.
Those of us who attended the 2005 annual meeting of the BGAV will long remember it for the delightful contribution each part offered the whole in producing the overall effect. But all these aside, if the Spirit had not moved among us our efforts would have been futile. In the final analysis, what caused Connect:2005 to be such an inspiring event? Simply put, as we made ourselves available, the Lord connected with us.
For those of you who missed it, there's always next year!