Three-Way Times Two?
It looks like the SBC presidency and 1st VP is going to be very interesting this year. Yesterday, Baptist Press announced that Fred Wolfe will be nominating Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, AL, for 1st VP of the SBC. If the reporting is correct, this means that there are three candidates for the position: Keith Fordham the evangelist, Mark Dever the "neo-Calvinist," and Jimmy Jackson the ___________ (I am waiting for the ABP reporter to come up with a new term for him). While the air has been cleared that Dr. David Dockery is not in the running for the SBC presidency, there is still the question whether or not there will be a third candidate nominated before the convention meeting. I have heard from multiple sources that there will be (and a strong conservative at that). It looks like we could see three conservative candidates running for the two highest positions in the SBC. And they say the SBC ain't political . . . I am only wondering who the Ross Perot of the SBC is.
posted by Timmy Brister at 6/03/2006 05:55:00 AM
3 Comments:
The three candidates for 1st VP might be a good thing for Dever. At least he can be assured of all of the Calvinist vote, which is growing controversy by controversy.
6/03/2006 11:08:00 PM
Yeah,
I agree. I kind of know Jimmy Jackson being that I have heard him preach several times and been to his church (I lived about 20 miles from his church for about half my life). He seems like a really great guy, and his church is committed to missions and all, but I do not think there is a trace of Calvinism in him at all. Being that his church is another megachurch and that Fred Wolfe is nominating him, I wonder how that comes across. What I mean is the growing disdain for nominees and those who nominate them being from the "big dogs" of the SBC.
6/04/2006 05:02:00 AM
Phoebus,
I don't think it is so much that those of us who are Calvinists are only willing to vote for fellow Calvinists (vote the "party line" as you have called it), but I believe it comes down to trusting these men who are influenced by the same people we are influenced by. For instance, it would be much easier for me to support man who was an SBC pastor educated at SBTS in the last few years and lists John Piper as his favorite author than a man who was educated at SWBTS in the 80's and lists John Elderidge as his favorite author. I tend to look at God from the perspective of the former rather than the latter, leading me to believe this former man would make better decisions than would the latter.
In the end, the SBC is so big we can't know the character of every man running for an SBC office. Each of us hopes that those who see the Bible or God in the way we do would be the best leaders. I mean, isn't that why we have choices in the first place. It shouldn't be a surprise that I would support someone that I agree with soteriologically, knowing that the belief in that one doctrine naturally brings about a worldview that is more in line with mine than someone who does not consider himself a Calvinist.
I am sure that if I had intimate knowledge of two candidates' characters and ministries I would support the one that I believe would most glorify God in that position, but unfortunately things are not that cut and dry. I hope you will see that it is not a matter of making Calvinism THE issue, but rather a matter of trusting what we know and can agree with.
6/06/2006 12:52:00 AM
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