From the Southern Baptist Convention Constitution:

Article IV. Authority: While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or convention.

Being the son of a Southern Baptist minister who served many times as an officer of the SCBC, I remember in the early 1960s one Sunday afternoon around the dinner table. Dad had the radio playing, and an Independent Baptist minister was preaching and said, “Well, all the Southern Baptist preachers will be going to their convention this week to get their orders and instructions for the year.” Dad spoke to the radio and said, “Harold, you know that’s not so.”

I have fond memories of the conventions, as I was privileged to attend many of them with Dad. I heard preachers like R.G. Lee and many others. Lee, in his famous sermon, “Payday Someday,” wasn’t afraid to tell someone that if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, you’re going to hell. And neither was my dad. Unfortunately, that idea is not very popular in some churches today.

Which brings me to this: Why do we feel it’s necessary to bash a church that last year alone had over 11,000 people accept Christ as their Savior? Throughout history, God has used many imperfect people — such as murderers, adulterers, fishermen, thieves, etc. — to spread His Gospel. And somehow, through all our imperfections, the Holy Spirit gets through, and people’s lives are changed forever — even on Christmas Eve at NewSpring.

We all must understand that no one is perfect. We have always, and we will always, disagree. However, I do believe God can still use us all in His plan.

One thing Dad always taught me: The devil will always mess with a church or a person that is focused on Jesus. I have found that sometimes the best tool the devil has is Christians.

Terry Hester
Greenville, S.C.