Much of the SBC world is still reeling this morning from the news that Executive Committee President Frank Page resigned yesterday due to moral failure. I won’t rehash the details here, but you can read Dave Miller’s post from yesterday here. It includes a link to the Baptist Press story.
I love the great hymn Come Thou Fount. The whole song is great, but I have some favorite lines.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Those are the words in my mind and on my heart today. If Frank Page can wander, so can you. So can I.
It’s why I chose to read from Proverbs 5 this morning in my devotional time with the Lord. While we do not know the specifics of Page’s moral failure, perhaps we all should remind ourselves of these important words today.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen closely to my understanding
2 so that you may maintain discretion
and your lips safeguard knowledge.
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey
and her words are smoother than oil,
4 in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood
and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps head straight for Sheol.
6 She doesn’t consider the path of life;
she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
7 So now, sons, listen to me,
and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her.
Don’t go near the door of her house.
9 Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others
and your years to someone cruel;
10 strangers will drain your resources,
and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.
11 At the end of your life, you will lament
when your physical body has been consumed,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and how my heart despised correction.
13 I didn’t obey my teachers
or listen closely to my instructors.
14 I am on the verge of complete ruin
before the entire community.”
My intent here is not to comment on the passage but to heed the warning and exhort you to do the same. None of us should presume that we cannot fall. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).
Brothers, lets pray for Frank Page, his family, and whoever else may have been involved in his sin. And let’s pray and watch out for ourselves, that God would give us the grace and strength to endure to the end.
Oh to grace, how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter
Tie my wandering heart to thee.
“Those are the words in my mind and on my heart today. If Frank Page can wander, so can you. So can I.” We can and do. We know his sin is wrong because we know our sin is wrong. Adam got kicked out of the Garden for disobeying a dietary law: “Do not eat…” We all fall way short of the holiness of God. The way of the cross for Jesus was a path where He took our sins upon Himself. The way of the cross for us is a path where we walk in daily repentance for those… Read more »
One of my favorite hymns and that line has always resonated with me. Thanks Adam.
I’ll be highlighting that hymn tonight actually in our “great songs of the faith” series I’m doing on Wednesday nights.
Good word, Adam.
Adam,
Thanks for sharing this. A helpful and healing word for the SBC family.
I am a bit surprised by the lack of response from SBC leaders to Dr. Page’s announcement. I am certainly not calling for condemnation as he appears genuinely repentant. However, I would expect some leaders within the SBC to acknowledge this loss for the SBC and perhaps suggest ways to respond appropriately.
Dr. Patterson’s open letter was well done.
https://swbts.edu/news/releases/open-letter-southern-baptists/
But until the EC says more, I don’t think anyone has enough facts to characterize it fully, except to feel sad that Frank found himself in such a position of distress.
Thanks, Jon. Dr. Patterson’s leadership and words are precisely what the SBC needs.
It will be good to know if this is not a workplace situation or involving a subordinate. Prayers for healing. Transparency will be needed.
I don’t know any details. If there was something like that, it might come out. Honestly, I’m nervous even talking about it. Just about every statement I’ve made gets attacked. I wrote about my concern for Dr. Page – who is a friend, and this lady just jumped all over me because I was disrespecting women! She was nuts! Listen, Frank was my friend and this absolutely broke my heart. I cried – literally – over this the day it broke. I do not know any of the details and so I don’t have the same personal angst over the… Read more »