Every week I want to explain one of the ten points of my contract with Southern Baptists. This is my point number six. It states:

“To support the conservative resurgence and to encourage Southern Baptist schools to continue to retain and to teach Biblical basics to their students.”

I have supported the conservative resurgence in the past and I do today. When I was a missionary in Europe, we missionaries had to deal with the Ruschlikon issue. I strongly supported the idea that our Seminaries on the foreign field teach theology in accordance with the Baptist Faith and Message. In the Ruschlikon case this was not happening. After the European seminary was defunded, I discovered that I had lost many of my good friends that chose to support Ruschlikon rather than our IMB. This did not matter because I felt that principle was more important than expediency.

The conservative resurgence was an important step and I applaud our leaders that led out in this work. Seldom in history has a major Christian movement gone back to its conservative roots. Our conservative resurgence was truly a necessary work.

However that time is behind us and we must not live in the past. We need to find ways to win over many of our fellow Baptists to our positions. I do not see those who disagree with us as enemies but rather as brothers and sisters in the Lord.

After being a missionary to Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa, and to the secularists in San Francisco, I feel that our main enemies are not our fellow believers but rather Islam and Secularism. These are two of our greatest foes. In the future we must find ways to win over others to our position. I would like to visit every University that now carries the Baptist name, or has in the past, to try to help the Presidents of these institutions to understand us better. For me the responsibility of leadership is to win friends and influence people instead of driving them away. I feel that Dr. Billy Graham has been a wonderful model. He is truly a world Christian. He has friendships with Christians from all persuasions but at the same time he was always focused on winning the lost to Jesus Christ. I would hope to do the same. I will not compromise my beliefs but I will do all I can to show friendship to others but at the same time to preach Christ.

To sum up my position, I can say that I support the resurgence but now we need to show the World that Southern Baptists are a proud people that can and will communicate in effective ways our theology and our strong acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Lord of all. As I speak with others I will not be on the defensive but rather on the offensive.

One of my favorite illustrations comes from the world of sports. It had to do with the well known football coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi. It was said that most coaches would look at the defense of the opposite side and try to locate the weakest players and then send the offensive players towards them in the hopes of breaking thought. Lombardi did the opposite. He would locate the strongest players and attack them. Other coaches said that was crazy. “You do not attack their strengths but rather the opponents’ weaknesses.” “Why would you do such a thing?” Lombardi answered: “If you break down their weaknesses then they can replace them and the game continues, but if you break down their strengths the game is over.” You have won. Let us go after the strengths of our enemy Satan with the power of the Holy Spirit so as to win as many as possible to our Lord.