One stated purpose for SBC Voices is to give Southern Baptists a forum for sharing their opinions. A friend once quipped. “If you gather four Southern Baptists into a room, they’ll express five opinions.” Well, this post provides you with an opportunity to share YOUR opinion. You’ll find below five matters that I’ve been contemplating, and I would like to know what you think. For several years I served as the Teaching Pastor at Central Baptist Church in Crandall, Texas. Our beloved senior pastor, Charlie Wilson, often said, “Now, in my humble but accurate opinion.” So, let’s hear your humble, accurate opinions.
Preaching the Cross at Easter
When I was a pastor, I felt torn about what to preach at Easter. On Easter Sunday, should I preach the cross or the resurrection? You might say, “Preach the cross the Sunday before.” Of course, that’s possible, but that’s Palm Sunday. I wanted to preach on the Triumphal Entry on that Sunday. If my church had a Good Friday service, I could preach the cross on Friday and the resurrection on Sunday. But, alas, we did not have a Good Friday service, and I was left with a dilemma—cross or resurrection on Easter. I compromised by alternating—preaching the cross one year and the resurrection the next. What do you suggest?
Voters’ Guides
My understanding of federal election law is that churches are supposed to be nonpartisan and refrain from endorsing any candidate for political office lest they lose their nonprofit organization status. (Parenthetically, this seems to apply to predominantly White churches, but not to predominantly Black churches. Some of them do endorse candidates and without penalty.) As a pastor, I did not endorse any candidate from the pulpit; rather, I encouraged my members to educate themselves and vote. I did provide the voters’ guide prepared by Kentucky Right to Life. We did not pass those guides out, but I did tell my folks that the guides were available. On a personal note, I will never, ever vote for a candidate who supports abortion. Back to my question, what do you think about providing voters’ guides?
Personal Giving Records
Of course, my church kept personal giving records so that we could provide a tax statement to our members each year. I did not peruse the members’ giving records. I did not want to think good or ill of them, based on their giving. A dear pastor friend discussed this with me. He insisted that it was good for the pastor to know what the members gave. He believes that is an important measure of their spiritual maturity, and the pastor should inform himself. What do you say? Do you agree with him or me?
Public Invitation/Altar Call
I am of an age to regard the standard “walk the aisle” invitation at the end of the sermon as standard operating procedure. I believe it’s important to give folks an opportunity to respond. On the other hand, lots of younger pastors (and now most are younger than me) dislike the public invitation. They believe it was much abused. They prefer to point people toward a counseling room or to ask them to approach a pastor or counselor after the service. Of course, Rick Warren used response cards, which the staff followed up during the next week. Which is your preference?
Sinner’s Prayer
There is an ongoing discussion about the use of the “sinner’s prayer.” One of my PhD students is writing his dissertation on this. For many years, it was regular practice to present the plan of salvation and then invite the person to repeat a prayer the witness uttered. This was/is a short prayer that expresses repentance and faith. The objection is that some raised the sinner’s prayer to a magic formula or incantation. Personally, I don’t see the problem with the sinner’s prayer. I’ve been in ministry now for 56 years. Lots of folks I witnessed to stated that they did not know how to pray to receive Christ. So, I would say, “That’s ok, just repeat this prayer after me.” I asked them to pray aloud so I could know that they actually prayed. Practically speaking, I don’t know what else to do. So, Voices readers, what do you say?
A Personal Appeal
My dear wife is still mired in her addiction to Starbucks. If anything, it’s getting worse. There are four Starbucks within close proximity to our home. The baristas at all four know “Miss Barbara” by name. I’ve appealed for help with this problem on Voices in the past, but no one has responded. Is there any hope or help for me? (For myself, I’m too frugal to pay for Starbucks. I can get a senior coffee at McDonald’s for 76 cents, plus tax.)
