Southern Baptist deacon Robert Bentley has been elected governor of Alabama. While speaking (preaching actually) at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church in Birmingham, he made some comments that set off a windy outrage. During his message he said, “Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior?you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother,” during a Martin Luther King Day service.

We recognize what he was saying. Maybe it’s unexpected to have a politician, especially a Southern Baptist one, give an invitation during his speech but we understand exactly what he meant. He was expressing spiritual unity with his fellow Christians without regard to race or age or any other external characteristic. He was inviting lost listeners to accept Jesus as Savior. It was a commendable message of unity and openness that was appropriate on that day and in that place.

You’d think he’d said it on the floor of the state house. Unbelievers of all stripes pulled out their canned responses to any evangelical comment and affected grief. The head of the Birmingham Islamic Society said, “We don’t want evangelical politicians.” A spokesman for the Jewish Anti-Defamation League accused the governor of treading dangerously close to a violation of the First Amendment, which prohibits establishment of a state church. Former Forth Worth pastor and Southwestern Seminary professor Welton Gaddy, who now leads The Interfaith Alliance and mocks things he formerly professed, warned Gov. Bentley that his title is “governor,” not “reverend.” This for a comment well in the center of his own faith tradition, delivered in a church, during a sermon.

Well, blah, blah, blah. Let’s ignore the silliness for a minute and look at this whole brother/not-brother thing. There is a difference between our relationship with our spiritual kin and those who are our neighbors.

It is a privilege to be the neighbor of a maturing Christian. Jesus set a pretty high standard for that relationship in the story of the Good Samaritan. Paul drew a clear distinction between believers and non-believers in matters of marriage, behavior, and legal actions, but also described himself as a servant to all so that he might gain a hearing for the life-giving gospel. He expended his life in an effort to tell unbelievers the best and truest thing he knew. Paul did this for God but to the benefit of his neighbors and his brothers. Many others have followed his example in doing the most compassionate thing they know to do for those who are not yet brethren. It seems to follow that unbelievers have nothing to fear from a public official who knows God and follows Jesus.

I have a blood brother who is also a brother in Christ. Our relationship is unlike that I have with any other person. We listen to advice from one another, confident that only help and no harm is part of the agenda. We’ve rebuked one another a few times. He’s been a good example to me in many ways. I feel responsible for and to him in a way I’d not feel for strangers. It’s never occurred to me that this special relationship implies that I should treat others as lesser humans.

Tens of millions of us across the U.S. understand what those who professionally despise Mr. Bentley’s personal faith will not hear?a person submitted to one he considers the Lord of all will try to do his best at anything he’s given to do. Such a person will reflect God’s love to those around without regard to race, political affiliation, religion, or demeanor. If he doesn’t, his spiritual brethren will call him out whether the legal authorities do or not.

I thought of that brother/not-brother relationship as I passed a Euless traffic cop today. He was sitting beside the road with a radar gun. If he had pulled me over and I recognized him as a believer, I’d expect him to think of me differently than others he might meet today. I’d expect him to hold me to higher standards of courtesy, respect for the law he represents, honesty, and general behavior. I’d also expect him to write me a ticket if I was guilty of a traffic violation. He wouldn’t apply the law differently to me but he would be a brother who expects the best of me, as I would of him. If he pulls over someone he knows to be an unbeliever, I’d expect him to exalt Christ in the way he handles that contact. Not to preach to him as he writes a speeding ticket but to be an exemplary police officer to the glory of God. What sincere person should be threatened by that?
Gov. Bentley later delivered an “I meant no offense” kind of apology. I wish he hadn’t but I understand his desire to clarify. I was happy to note that he did not apologize for his beliefs, as would be the preference of some.

Jesus called us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. He called on us to show the miraculous power of God in the way we love our spiritual brothers and sisters. He left us with a commission to win, baptize, and teach new brothers and sisters. That call applies to governors as well as preachers, and it applies every moment of every day.

If you believe the Bible and love the Lord Jesus, you want to get the gospel to the nations. You will want others to experience the grace of God too. There are several approaches to get this done. You can give so others may go, you may go or both. Southern Baptists are now making monumental decisions about getting the gospel to the nations. Money and methods are the two factors in the decision. Let’s talk money first.

The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will be addressing several recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force in Nashville Feb. 21-22. These proposals were passed overwhelmingly by the messengers in the Orlando annual meeting last June.

The Great Commission is given to the church. A church is not a New Testament church unless it is seeking to carry out this directive. The Southern Baptist Convention was founded to assist churches in carrying out the Great Commission. The SBC provides a tremendous network for churches to work together in accomplishing this goal.

One of the major emphases of the GCR Task Force was to get more resources to the most unreached and underserved. There are a number of challenges in getting this accomplished. It starts with the individual believer. A tithe is not enough if we are to reach the nations. Giving sacrificially above the tithe will enable us to get to the neediest places. A major culprit in hindering people from giving is debt.

The SBTC Foundation provides stewardship services to the churches. There is a wealth (pun intended) of debt-free courses in the Christian market. Pastors may feel reluctant about preaching on money. In our seeker-friendly environment we shy away from teaching biblical truth about finances. This can be done with the core, the leadership or those who are willing to sign up for a class. Elementary efforts will produce more revenue for the Lord’s work. I encourage you to do something this year. People need to be set free.

The second challenge needs to go to the local church. Cooperative Program percentage giving from churches virtually has dropped in half over the last 20 years. Although there has been a shift to “hands-on” missions, the actual percentage of the average church budget for outreach is small relative to other demands. Hands-on missions is good. It allows church members to experience for themselves the need for Christ around the world. While applauding hands-on going, we cannot neglect hands-on giving through the Cooperative Program. It is not either/or but both/and.

Many churches are in bondage financially because of building notes and other obligations. Expanding church staff might never be called a “bureaucracy,” but sizable dollar commitments must be made to properly care for them. For whatever reason, it seems to take more staff than in previous generations to service a church. Perhaps there is less lay involvement and more of a paid professional concept by laity.

Prioritization of money for missions begins at the local church level. While 10 percent for the Cooperative Program for the majority of churches seems laughable in today’s denominational climate, the CP remains a wise investment. Information about the wide-reaching benefits of the CP rarely gets to churches’ members. Usually pastors are the ones who encourage or discourage participation in the Cooperative Program. Members need to know what God is doing through cooperative giving. Being a part of touching lives together through the CP will stir their hearts.

The third challenge is to state conventions and Old South state conventions in particular. They are being asked to send more to the under-reached in our nation and beyond. The convention model that worked well for almost 100 years has to change for this to happen. Institutions are worthy of our support when they are doctrinally accountable. State conventions can be contributors but cannot be sustainers. Once, schools and human-care ministries depended heavily on state convention support. In most cases the percentage of budget coming from state conventions for the institutions is minimal. Some state executives are attempting to push more resources out of the Old South but it is difficult. Each institution has a loyalty base. Another difficulty is Baptist inertia. “We ain’t done it that way before” is the mantra that hinders innovation.

SBC President Bryant Wright has called for a radical reprioritization of the Cooperative Program. My understanding of his call for CP reprioritization centers on the Old South state conventions. Yet the challenge goes to the national CP budget allocation too.

How will this reprioritization look? Moving more dollars to the International Mission effort seems to be the desire of many Southern Baptists. This is a worthy cause. Conversely, the pie can only be sliced so many ways. Who will receive a reduced amount? Currently, the Executive Committee is being asked to shift 1 percent to IMB.

Will the seminaries that train our missionaries and church leaders be asked to do their work with fewer dollars? Can we really afford to take the small amount of money from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission when they speak for traditional marriage, the life of the unborn and our constitutional freedoms? Will the North American Mission Board reorganization allow some shifting of funds to IMB?

What is the answer to make more funds available? Simple! Church members give more, churches participate at a higher percentage through the Cooperative Program, state conventions send on more to the SBC. By making the pie bigger for everyone we can accomplish what we want to do without major changes in funding our SBC entities. Getting the gospel to the nations can be done without destroying our efficient and biblical network.

Since we have solved the money issue (tongue in cheek, smiley face), let’s move on to the method of “getting the gospel to the nations.” This rallying cry may mean something entirely different from what most Southern Baptists have in mind.

Let me mention some things I think it doesn’t mean. I don’t think getting the gospel to the nations means we are to abandon our efforts to reach our nation. I don’t think getting the gospel to the nations means that ministers are not to be adequately trained theologically. I don’t think it means we mute our voice in the public square or end our ministries to those stricken by disasters.

I think “getting the gospel to the nations” means more than simply presenting the gospel message to an unreached people group. There is a difference between a gospel presentation and carrying out the Great Commission. When I talk about “getting the gospel to the nations,” I am talking about the Great Commission. Jesus calls upon the church to make disciples, which includes gospel proclamation, baptism and teaching the converts to observe the scriptures.

David Sills in his book “Reaching and Teaching” points out there has to be a balance between reaching and teaching. Making a disciple is more than getting a person to accept Jesus. Measuring discipleship among a formerly unreached people group is difficult to say the least. The idea has been proposed that once a people group has 2 percent reached with the gospel, it is time to consider moving on to the next unreached people group. I think that declaring a people group reached is more complex than a theoretical sociological benchmark.

The methodology of getting the gospel to the nations is contested. Some believe we should use the bulk of our resources in evangelizing micro-people groups who have never heard the gospel. While presenting the only Savior, Jesus Christ, to these precious souls is a mandate, how we proceed is a matter of differing missiology. Eschatology (study of last things) should not be a determiner of Southern Baptist missiology.

For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow?of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth?and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ?Philippians 2:9-11

FRISCO?”Jesus Christ is Lord!” taken from Philippians 2:9-11, is the theme of the 2011 Empower Evangelism Conference, scheduled Feb. 28-March 2 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

The annual conference will feature a wide array of speakers, including pastors Jack Graham, Kie Bowman and Johnny Hunt, best-selling author and apologist Lee Strobel, and “Total Church Life” author Darrell Robinson. Musical guests include Babbie Mason, Charles Billingsley, and Jason Crabb, as well as choirs and orchestras from Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin and Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.

“The Empower Evangelism Conference is designed to inspire and motivate followers of Jesus to be more zealous about the Great Commission and the Great Commandment of our Lord,” said SBTC Evangelism Director Don Cass. “You will be blessed by great music, dynamic testimonies, and great preaching that will lead us to refocus on the Lordship of our Savior.”

The Women’s Session will begin at 1:30 on Monday afternoon, Feb. 28 at the Frisco Convention Center (in the Embassy Suites Hotel across from the Dr. Pepper Arena) and will include speakers Dorothy Patterson, Angela Thomas and Pam Tebow, as well as music from Babbie Mason.

In addition to Graham, Bowman, Hunt and Strobel, other evangelism conference speakers are Texas pastors Chet Haney and Clark Bosher, Danny Forshee, New Mexico pastor Todd Cook and Ken Ellis of the North American Mission Board.

For more information on the Empower Evangelism Conference, visit sbtexas.com/evangelism or call the SBTC’s evangelism department toll-free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC).

FRISCO?The Women’s Conference on Feb. 28, preceding the Empower Evangelism Conference, will feature renowned vocalist Babbie Mason, popular women’s speaker and author Angela Thomas, Pam Tebow, mother of the Denver Broncos’ Tim Tebow and a former missionary to the Philippines, and Dorothy Patterson, professor of theology in women’s studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The conference will be held across the street from the Dr. Pepper Arena, site of the evangelism conference sessions, in the Frisco Convention Center at the Embassy Suites.

Mason, the daughter of a Baptist pastor, often accompanied her father, the late George W. Wade, as he preached at home and at churches across the Great Lakes states. She has sung at Billy Graham Crusades worldwide, Carnegie Hall, for Presidents Carter, Ford and Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, comedian Bill Cosby, and NBA great Michael Jordan.

Thomas is the best-selling author of numerous books including “Do You Think I’m Beautiful” and “My Single Mom Life.” She is Bible teacher and storyteller and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dallas Theological Seminary.

Tebow is a member of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., and the mother of Bronco’s rookie quarterback and Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow. The two were featured in a highly publicized pro-life commercial that aired during last year’s Super Bowl.

Patterson, the wife of Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson, is a theologian in her own right, having authored or contributed to numerous commentaries and scholarly articles. Her books include “The Family: Unchanging Principles for Changing Times,” and “A Handbook for Parents in the Ministry: Training Up a Child While Answering the Call.”

When Fortune magazine compiled a list of the “50 Biggest Mob Bosses,” Michael Franzese came in at number 18, five behind the notorious John Gotti. His autobiography, “Blood Covenant,” tells his story of mafia involvement as part of La Cosa Nostra and ultimately, his conversion to Jesus Christ.

He has been featured in Vanity Fair, on “The Jim Rome Show,” PBS’ “All Things Considered” and in Sports Illustrated.
Franzese will share his testimony on Monday evening, Feb. 28 during the opening session of the Empower Evangelism Conference at Frisco’s Dr. Pepper Arena.