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Quotable – Wade Burleson
Posted by Quotable in Uncategorized
“Disagreement is not only the prerogative of individual Southern Baptists – it is the Baptist way.”
Southern Baptist pastor and blogger Wade Burleson, in a recent post on his blog.
**Please Note – The Sunday “Quotable” is simply a quote from someone in Southern Baptist life. Some quotes may be considered by some readers to be controversial. Since the quote is brief, it may often-times be out of context. In all cases the citing of a quote on this blog does not imply that any of the contributors to sbc IMPACT! endorse or agree with the text of the quote, or stand in agreement in all issues with the one being quoted. It is merely cited, without commentary, to stimulate conversation and/or debate.
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I don’t think disagreement is the
Baptist way. I think a better word would have been dissension. That is, not that we have to disagree, but that we have the right to do so and a structure that allows a difference of opinion with respect for others. That seems to be true of Baptist history and I would hope that would be true of us today.
Is this a method of sanctifying sin?
Steve
Brothers,
I believe the quote is not adequately describing Southern Baptist history as a “Baptist way“. While, we do seem to have many divisions of Baptist–Freewill, Northern Baptist, Southern Baptist etc.–we seem to forget the “Baptist way” does not lead new denominations.
I believe the “Baptist way” seems to be dissonance but not discord. Dissonance is merely disagreeing with what has been presented and making that disagreement known. Discord is disagreeing with what has been presented and setting out to destroy any and all things in order to make one’s disagreement become everyone’s agreement. Dissonance has always been the “Baptist Way“, but once the vote has been taken, we either move forward in the direction of the vote or we form another “Baptist Way” with those that were in agreement with one’s disagreement. If dissonance persists after a direction is voted on, then that dissonance moves from a noun–referring to an action–and becomes the verb discord–which is an action–and we all know what the Bible says about “sowing discord among the brethren“. Proverbs 6:19
Blessings,
Tim
Tim, your words are worth a Quotable all their own some Sunday: “Discord is disagreeing with what has been presented and setting out to destroy any and all things in order to make one’s disagreement become everyone’s agreement.”
Personally, I think disagreement as stated in the quote today would depend upon the Baptist. Not all Baptists sit around disagreeing with one another. In fact, most churches I’ve been a part of have only had a small minority who were vocally or disagreeable behind-the-scenes. That’s my thought on this quote today. selahV
tim,
you hit the old nail right smack dap on the head, my bro. good shot!
selah,
i’ve known some of those disagreeable church members. one left a church i was pastoring. she told me one sunday that she would never come back. all i could think of was that old, country song….”thank God and grehhound, she’s gone.”
david
I get a little nervous when anyone begins to tout the “Baptist way” as if that is an ideal to be attained. I’ll take the “biblical way” over the “Baptist way” any day.
Les
It took a lot longer to read through the disclaimer than to read the quote.
Bennett Willis
I also wonder if Paul was sowing discord when he spoke of wrong doctrine in the church(which were many people, he was outnumbered) or when he defended his ministry against those in the church who sought to destroy it.
I also wonder where disagreeing with things that go beyond scripture in some people’s understanding of the passages is sin.
Sister Harriette,
I think that the basic understanding of disagreement has been missed in today’s Baptist life. It used to be that everyone began with the basic assumption that all in the body were seeking the mind of Christ on a matter. Once one begins with that basic assumption then one is moved to express a belief as to the direction that God was leading. If that direction was in disagreement with the direction of the majority, then one either settled in their respective minds that they were the ones missing God’s direction, or they knew God’s direction better than the majority. If the former then one moved forward in unity with the majority. If the latter then one quietly removed him/herself from the body so as not to disrupt the fellowship. If removal is not an option in the mind of the one in disagreement and constant re-visiting and vying for various positions against the leadership moves from disagreement to discord. This latter position has never been “the Baptist way“.
Blessings,
Tim
Bennett,
Too funny. Go back and read last Sunday’s thread and you’ll see why I had to write a novella for a disclaimer.
I tend to think that dissension -vs- discord depends upon which side of the majority you find yourself on a particular issue.
If you’re on the minority side, you tend to think of your vocal protests and efforts at change as dissension and attempts at reformation. But if you’re on the side of a majority and in a position of power, you interpret the exact same actions as discord and sin.
I think it’s all about one’s perspective …
I am sorry. The last sentence does not flow because of the mis-placement of an article.
After the word “disagreement” you should replace “and” with “then“. Thus the last sentence will read;
If removal is not an option in the mind of the one in disagreement then constant re-visiting and vying for various positions against the leadership moves from disagreement to discord.
Blessings,
Tim
Brother Geoff,
Let me fill you in on something that you may or may not know. I do not agree with the IMB new guideline on Baptism. As a matter of fact I believe it to be more legalistic than anything else. Do I believe that my public disagreement will change the minds of the Trustees on anything? No! If I were a Trustee, would my public dissent and open challenge to the policies bring about change? No! As a Trustee, would my issuing a clarion call to all of the M’s result in changing the policies? No! All of these tactics result in people hunkering down in their positions and they begin singing that song I learned in youth group so many years ago; “I shall not be moved.”
There is a system in place and one a position within the system has more opportunity to change the system from inside than one does from outside. When dissent is no longer dissent, is when it come to a point of using innuendo and assigning false motives to those leading. If I remember correctly, when a church votes on something the entire church takes ownership of it. It is the same with the agencies. When the BoT votes on something the entire BoT own the decision.
Blessings,
Tim
Oh, boy, the Wade Burleson world…
I’m not sure I have a right to comment, since I’m not really a Southern Baptist, but you can trust me that I have a big old opinion
Love these quotables. Keep ‘em coming.
“Discord is disagreeing with what has been presented and setting out to destroy any and all things in order to make one’s disagreement become everyone’s agreement.”
Does that include the conservative resurgence?