The future of Southern Baptist work in North America is so important that I cannot ignore comments attributed to pastor Kevin Ezell (newly elected president of the NAMB), appearing in an article by Bob Allen, writing for Associated Baptist Press and printed in the Oct. 2 issue of The Baptist New Mexican.
In that article, Dr. Ezell is quoted as saying to his church on Sept. 12 that those who have been critical of his selection are “bloggers who live with their mothers and wear a house coat during the day.” To me, comments such as that are not only inappropriate for a man elected to such a position, but, perhaps worse, could lead to divisiveness among Southern Baptists at a time a unified voice of evangelism is so vitally needed across our continent.
It is revealing that two of our state Baptist editors were vocal in their opposition to his election, and perhaps that is part of what Dr. Ezell is responding to. If so, his comments are even more questionable. Certainly, we all want to trust the search committee to have been faithful in trying to discern the Lord’s will in choosing Dr. Ezell, and Dr. Ezell himself in being totally forthcoming in his discussions with the committee. Somehow, his church’s pattern of mission giving seems to be out of sync with the mission of the NAMB, and doesn’t build a lot of confidence in his leadership for NAMB when coupled with the astounding statement quoted in the same article, in which Dr. Ezell said “the search committee viewed his congregation’s emphasis on direct funding of missions – as opposed to funding through denominational channels – as an asset and not a liability.”
We certainly need to pray for Dr. Ezell and the continued work of the NAMB. For me, I must say that I am very uneasy about the future of the NAMB under Dr. Ezell’s leadership.
What do you think? Click here to send a letter to the editor addressing this or another subject.