2005:  Significant Changes for Conservative Christianity

Orginally published on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 at 11:25 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Dan Burrell has posted what I thought was a great post on the significant news and changes within the church during 2005.  I especially like Dan's post because it looks at some of the conservative circles of Christianity that I grew up in.  I'm glad to hear that many are making moves, ever so slowly, to become a powerful force in today's culture.

Take a read, and let me know your thoughts... 2005 in Review  (It appears that Dan's Link isn't working... so I'll include his thoughts here.  It's really long, but good!  (NOTE/DISCLAIMER:  I'm not saying that I agree with all of his points and theological comments at all... but I think it's a good synposis of some of the changes happening, even in the most conservative parts of the church.)

As 2005 draws to a close, I've been watching the annual "lists" floating across the media....10 Biggest Stories, 10 Best Pictures, 10 Worst Movies, etc... Just for fun, I've decided to make my own list (which will be neither exhaustive nor thorough) of Significant Stories in Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism in 2005. Agree or disagree, add your comments to this list and let's see what you found significant over the last twelve months.

In no particular order...

1. The Death of Pope John Paul II and Election of Benedict

I don't consider Catholics to be "Christians" from a theologically orthodox perspective (nor should Catholics consider me to be "Christian" from their perspective, I would add), but the world at large is hugely influenced by the so-called Holy See and the man who sits on its throne. Pope John Paul II was inarguably the most influential modern pope ever and in some ways, every time the New Pope Benedict comes out into the limelight, it's hard to recognize him as the current head of the Roman Catholic Church. The significance of Benedict's selection should not be missed as the College of Cardinals clearly chose a Catholic Conservative and hard-liner to continue the legacy of the papacy. Benedict will probably be a transitional pope due to his age, but you can anticipate his continued appointment of conservative Bishops which will keep the Catholic Church firmly committed to its present views regarding issues such as women priests, homosexuality and abortion for many years to come. The death of the Pope gave aware evangelicals an opportunity to teach born-again Christians the clear doctrinal differences between Orthodox Fundamental and Evangelical Christianity and Romanist theology. Sadly, major influential evangelicals like Billy Graham fed the world with hyper-sentimental tripe that would confuse most people into thinking the Pope taught the real truth regarding salvation. Let me be clear, if the Pope personally believed what he taught, he did not possess the Truth necessary for Eternal Life.

2. The "Christmas Service" Controversy

What started as a tempest in a teapot became a full-blown debate as a cabal of megachurches conspired together to announce they would not be holding services on Christmas Day which inconveniently (for them) fell on a Sunday. Some used the excuse that they were holding services on Christmas eve, others declared it a "family" day while others still said that it was to give their volunteer force a day off. For all their pragmatic protestations, both the secular and the Christian media made a big deal out of their decision and some even reversed their decision and held services on Christmas Sunday. Interestingly, the new pastor at Louisville's giant Southeast Christian Church didn't handle the criticism very well and thoroughly lashed out at Christian critics in a public interview. (TODD'S NOTE:  Actually, someone has pointed out that this was Lexington's Southland Christian Church, NOT Louisville's Southeast Christian Church).  Whatever side you were on in this debate, the issues raised were legitimate and exposed a lot about the state of the modern evangelical church.

3. Stephen Jones Becomes Fourth President of Bob Jones University

Bob Jones University is not the type of Fundamentalist school that evokes neutral feelings. People tend to either love it or hate it, fear it or envy it. In a move that continued their historic policy of Jones-family leadership, Bob Jones III, announced his retirement and the elevation of his second son, Stephen, to become the fourth president in the school's history. (Bob Jones, IV, is a respected journalist who lives in Washington, DC working with World Magazine and has made no secret of his lack of desire to enter the family business of school administration.) BJU has taken some pretty hard hits in recent years in the national media and has been largely unable to shake off its general image of being a segregationist school with a strident militancy for fundamentalist matters of doctrine and practice.

Another BJU problem is a perception problem, even among conservative Christians and fundamentalists, that they produce graduates who tend to be hyper-separatists on issues such as music, occasionally intellectually snobbish and at other times cliquish. They have an astonishing level of loyalty among their alumni -- particularly those who are church leaders --, but they have gained a reputation of being condescending toward other fundamentalist institutions and individuals who don't share their views or come from different branches of the fundamentalist bush.

Only the ignorant sniff at their academic standards and they are definitely in the top tier of academically-challenging fundamentalist and evangelical institutions. Over the years, however, their recalcitrance to openly acknowledge their absurd (if not sinful) positions on matters like segregation, inter-racial dating and other "old South" cultural views wrapped in the guise of Christianity has ostracized them and limited their influence beyond the conservative fundamentalist movement. Within the movment, they have a significant need to build some bridges that they previously seemed to enjoy burning. It is quite possible for them to restore their standing as the "World's Most Unusual University" in a good way with some creative fence-mending and dialogue with those outside their shrinking world. Stephen Jones represents an opportunity for a "new face" on BJU which could maintain their historic fundamentalist orthodoxy while distancing the institution from some of the stereotypes they have so richly deserved in the past.

A coming transition in a similar institution, Pensacola Christian College, (arguably one of BJU's fiercest competitors for fundamentalist Christian students) continues to be handled in a ham-handed way by founders Arlin and Beka Horton. After their first hand-picked successor fell out of favor (Greg Mutch), he was summarily made persona non grata by PCC and Matt Beamer took many of his responsibilities and looked to be the next heir apparent. However, in recent months, Beamer no longer seems to have the profile one would anticipate for the next President of PCC. Anyone even vaguely knowledgeable about the world of PCC and Beka Books knows that control is the name of the game administratively for the Hortons. In a positive way, it has helped them keep control of their life's work and to build an incredible ministry with stunning resources. On the other hand, they are totally out of touch with the struggles that real people working in the real world and even in real ministry must handle on a daily basis. If PCC is around to serve another generation of college students, it will become increasingly important for the Horton's to step back and allow a new leader capable of independent thought and administrative autonomy to start leading the transition. It will be interesting to see if the Horton's are capable of permitting such a transition to the next generation of leadership in their important school and publishing empire while they are still alive. (In the interest of full disclosure, I hold a graduate degree from PCC.)

4. Death of Adrian Rogers and Retirement of Jerry Vines

Adrian Rogers was truly one of the great fundamentalist voices in the Southern Baptist Convention. His elegant leadership, his firm convictions and his genteel personality become the public face of the conservative revolution that reclaimed the SBC in 1980 when he was first elected to the Presidency of the convention. Pastor of the historic Bellview Baptist Church in Memphis which once was led by the late, great R.G. Lee, Rogers succumbed to cancer shortly after retiring from the pastorate. He was one of the greatest leaders in Southern Baptist history.

Jerry Vines announced his retirement from the Senior Pastor's position at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL. His former co-pastor, Homer Lindsey, passed away a few years ago and thus, a new generation of leadership will be in place at 1st Baptist in a matter of months. Jerry Vines, again a former SBC President, is one of the most powerful and influential pastors in America and his presence will be missed across evangelical and fundamental Christianity.

5. Megachurch Pastoral Shuffles

In the last year or two, several major megachurches' pastors have either retired, left the pastorate or reduced their leadership within their churches. Rick Warren is an infrequent presence in the pulpit of Saddleback Church now that his "Purpose-Driven" empire has given him international influence. The pastor of Southeast Christian in Louisville retired this year. Bill Hybels is no longer the teaching pastor at Willow Creek and is instead focusing on the Willow Creek Association. It will be interesting to see how these massive churches handle the transitions of such iconic leadership in the coming months.

6. Directional Shift in Tennessee Temple University and Southwide Baptist Fellowship

Tennessee Temple University is the grand-daddy of local church colleges in fundamentalist Christianity. Founded by Lee Roberson, it was once a massive presence in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the late 70's and early 80's, thousands of students flooded it's campus. After a very rough transition upon Roberson's retirement, the college began to plummet in enrollment. Located in a declining area of Chattanooga, students fled to other schools like Pensacola Christian and Crown College located just a couple of hours away. Dr. David Bouler eventually took over the leadership reins and has struggled mightily to carve out a nitch for this historic school. Enrollment continued to suffer and the leadership of TTU sensed that part of their problem might be an overly-narrow constituency. In a breath-takingly ambitious re-alignment, Bouler hired Danny Lovett from Liberty University to be the new college President and began building bridges to fundamental Southern Baptists during 2005. The result was a new spirit and a new direction for the church and the school and enrollment has begun to climb again.

Bouler's influence in the Southwide Baptist Fellowship has been integral to a fresh direction in that movement as well. SBF experienced a small schism in 2004 when about 20% of the voting membership decided that they wanted a more conservative fellowship that did not include non-Independent Baptists and was firmly committed to such positions as KJVO and using only old hymns and gospel songs in worship. The splinter group formed the National Baptist Fellowship and held their meeting the same week as the SBF. There was a fresh spirit in the SBF fellowship and there are reports that the current direction toward a more relevant and cutting edge fellowship remains in the works.

(Again, in the interest of full-disclosure, I was a key-note speaker at last year's Southwide Baptist Fellowship. You can hear or watch my sermon, "He's Better Than This" at my website.)

7. The Emerging Debate over Emergent Churches

Many within evangelicalism don't know what to make of the so-called "Emergent Churches". Led by poster-pastor, Brian McClaren, these churches specifically target postmodern younger people. No one can argue that they don't understand the culture and aren't effective communicators to this generation. At issue is whether or not they are watering down the gospel and orthodox doctrine in their effort to be relevant and cutting edge. The jury is still out as to their long-term viability, but many are reaching the conclusion that Emergent Church philosophy and doctrine needs to be scrutinized by those who hold to historic fundamental doctrine.

8. Two Words -- Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen's rock-star popularity has made him the world's most well-known preacher. It is reported that his TV show is on continually somewhere in the world 24 hours a day. Osteen's movie-star good looks, his Barbie-doll wife and a positive message that emphasize style over substance have given him guru status among groupies. Sadly, Osteen rarely misses an opportunity to "soft-sell" the gospel. He doesn't use terms like sin and hell and sacrifice and focus instead on a repackaged "power of positive thinking" that smacks of Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller. Predictably, mainstream evangelicalism seems to be afraid to question his orthodoxy and in the process, many are being lead astray to a prosperity theology that is missing the concept of taking up one's cross and following Jesus at all costs.

9. Two More Words -- Rick Warren

Since Rick Warren's mega-hit book, "The Purpose-Driven Life" gave him untold riches with which he can fulfill his wildest ministry dreams, Warren seems to have developed a messiah complex. He, like megastar author, Bruce Wilkinson, before him, headed to Africa to do what he could to salvage the dark continent. While not questioning his motives, Warren has now started building alliances with theological liberals, Catholics, liberal Anglicans and other groups declaring them part of "God's family." This disturbing trend again has been largely ignored by the evangelical media who seem to fear leaders of such influence. Of course, the refusal of many fundamentalists to recognize that some of his methodology and strategic vision is sound long ago gave up their right to question his current direction with any credibility.

10. Hollywood Notices the Religious Right

After the huge success of "The Passion of Christ" -- Hollywood has now started to actively court the Religious Right by offering special deals and previews on their movies that have more of a family-friendly theme. "Racing Stripes", "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other movies have active recruitment drives aimed at conservative Christians. Many pastors are excitedly joining the parade as a way of encouraging movie makers to give families more conservative fare. Others consider aligning with Hollywood promoters the equivalent of becoming Hollywood Whores and want nothing to do with the industry at large.

11. Ralph Reed's Tarnished Halo

Ralph Reed -- former head of the Christian Coalition, who is seeking high office in Georgia has had a couple of embarrassing revelations this year. His alignment with legalized gambling organizations in neighboring Alabama and his promotion and partnerships with the Abramahoff scandal in Washington have taken some of the tarnish off the (cliche' alert) "boyishly good-looking" Reed. Reed is one of the most extraordinarily effective conservative lobbyists and administrators in the world, but his careless associations are raising some eyebrows in the Conservative Christian political organizations.

12. Growing Schism Between Progressive and Old-Path Fundamentalist Factions
Within fundamentalism, there appears to be a growing schism about the future direction of Independent Baptists between those who see the movement in decline and holding to archaic issues that are best left to local churches and those who see every secondary separation issue as a reason for taking a stand and even breaking fellowship.

In the progressive camp would be some parts of the Baptist Bible Fellowship, Southwide Baptist Fellowship, the GARB churches who support Cedarville University and a small, but influential cadre of thinkers within those associated with BJU, PCC, Clearwater Christian and even Central Seminary. This group generally does not hold to a firm KJVO position, have a wide variety of musical styles, tend to be open toward more innovative methodology and are willing to dialogue and partner with others outside of the Independent Baptist movement but who stand for the historic fundamentals of the faith. Many of the "movers/shakers" of this group are middle-aged and younger, but are quietly being encouraged by older "heads" such as John Rawlings, Al Janney, Jerry Falwell, Gary Coleman and others.

In the "Old Path" camp would be those who align with the Sword of the Lord, KJVO positions like Horton's and Ruckmans, music purists from the Garlock and BJU worlds, and the old "Hyles" sycophants. In addition, newer leadership like Paul Chappel and Jack Schaap seem to be working feverishly to align with Crown College's Clarence Sexton and disgruntled former TTU alumni to establish a beach head of influence. Many within this segment of Independent Baptists still look fondly backward to the days of iconclastic leadership and mass evangelism methodology (like the bus ministry and street preaching) that were in vogue during the 1970's. They trace their identification to men like J. Frank Norris, Jack Hyles, John R. Rice (who actually didn't hold many of their positions), Lester Roloff, Bob Jones, Sr., and other flamboyant and powerful personalities. They often hold in disdain the use of technology in worship (screens, soundtracks), cooperation with non-Independent Baptists, accreditation of colleges and universities, praise and worship music and "deeper life" (expositional) preaching. They believe progressive Independent Baptists are compromising by working with conservative Southern Baptists, not holding to a narrow view of dress and conduct "standards" (ie...women wearing slacks, percussion instruments in church, blanket disapproval of all movies/videos, etc...) and rejecting some of the "easy believism" methods of evangelism popular in previous generations.

These two camps have several veins and they aren't necessarily allies within each camp, but are just generally headed in the same direction. Similar schisms are to be found in the GARB, the BBF (which split a few years ago) and other groups.The International Baptist Network has formed and aligns progressive independent Baptists with conservative Southern Baptists and their first meeting is scheduled for April, 2006.This schism is just beginning to play out and no one knows where it will lead, but clearly there are significant shifts taking place within the most conservative portions of Christianity.

13. Christian Response to Hurricane Katrina

Even the media can't ignore the huge response that Christians have made in reaching out to hurting churches and families in the devastated regions of the Gulf Coast. Big ministries and small are pouring millions of dollars and thousands of man hours into rebuilding and helping the battered residents effected by Hurricane Katrina.

14. Emerging Emphasis on Poverty and Disease Among Christians

More churches are joining in ministry that deals with issues like famine, homelessness, poverty and AIDS. Long dismissed as mere "social-gospel" humanitarianism that dilutes evangelism, fundamentalist Christians have begun to awaken to the Biblical commands of feeding the hungry and helping the hurting and noting that evangelism doesn't have to be ignored in the process.

15. Re-Evaluation of How Missions are Done

Even the mission boards are having to deal with the growing divergence of philosophy and methodology in fundamentalism and evangelicalism today. Piedmont Baptist College just announced it is discontinuing its aviation program due to the absence of need for missionary pilots within fundamental mission agencies. The rise of the internet, the ease of transportation, the independence of individual missionaries, the rise of national training and missionaries are all causing major shifts in how missions agencies are approaching their Great Commission tasks.

I realize that some of my stories and comments are probably going to cause some to shake their heads. I'm just calling them as I see them. I invite you to use the comment section to add your own list of top stories or trends or to comment on the ones that I've noted as well.

I've tried, to some extent, to be neutral on the stories, but if you don't feel like I have been, feel free to offer your perspective.

In any case, it is a great time to be part of the Family of God in the world today and there is much about which we can be excited in the coming year.

What do you think?

Todd

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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