Storm in a Tea Cup

Our American Fundamental Brethren have been at it these last couple of weeks, up in arms about a message preached at a relatively small gathering of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship (FBF) in North Carolina.

The offending sermon took a big swipe at some of a particular theological
persuasion. The message was, on all accounts, not particularly well-reasoned, either Biblically or historically.

In the age of the web, the sermon was made universally available, and later promoted on the preacher’s church website.

Some said that if the message was preached at the speaker’s home church then
no issue. As it was preached however at a fellowship meeting, it raised other concerns, in particular, was the FBF countenancing the contents of the sermon?

The FBF later released a cautious and moderate response that affirmed its
historical and continuing commitment to balanced theology and respect for different viewpoints amongst its members.

To my knowledge, no one has yet been hung, drawn and quartered or had their house fire bombed. Another big achievement these days.

My thoughts about this little incident are as follows:-

1. Every now and then someone shoots themselves in the foot while in the
pulpit. Even good men can make a real hash of things. Christianity however
lives to fight another day. What was shared at a very small gathering has
now attracted massive attention and has given ammunition to some intent on
causing more trouble.

2. Obviously theological error has to be refuted-and, it certainly was. As we would put it in Australia, ‘every man and his dog’ chimed in with their exhortations and rebukes.

3. In one sense, these things have a way of evening themselves out. There will be other FBF meetings that will feature speakers of the theological persuasion that was attacked at the previous meeting.

4. I have been troubled at the response of many young fundamentalists who are asking ‘Why should I join the FBF? What is in it for me?’ The fact is you can’t influence what you are not part of. Nor will you be of much good or influence if you arrange your life around what simply benefits you.

5. I remember attending an FBF meeting in South Carolina in October 2002. It
was on a weeknight and the featured speakers were Dr John Vaughn and Mr Stephen Jones (now Dr Stephen Jones, President of BJU). There would not have been more than 50 people in the audience.

6. For an Aussie listening to superb preaching that night, it astounded me that so few bothered to come. Dr Vaughn must rank as one of the outstanding
fundamental preachers of this generation.

7. The point I make is that very busy and gifted servants of the Lord made themselves available that night in a small country church to be a blessing. They were not there for their own sakes, I can assure you. Yet few of God’s people cared to show up.

8. Perhaps it would be better for some of the younger generation to join something like the FBF who at least take clear stands on Biblical truth and start making contributions. This would however require time, effort, sacrifice and even some hours away from the keyboard. It may be even some years before the younger ones become board members, but sometimes you need to wait (and serve) before your number gets called.

9. We can also learn valuable lessons and apply it to our situation in Australia. Let’s be part of the solution rather than the problem.

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