{"id":1551,"date":"2011-02-02T05:00:30","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2011-02-02T05:00:30","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T12:00:30","slug":"nambs-new-church-planting-bus-whos-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=1551","title":{"rendered":"NAMB’s New Church Planting Bus: Who’s Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his best-selling book, “From Good to Great,” <\/em>author Jim Collins explains the leadership principle known as “First Who, Then What,”<\/p>\n

“Those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus.\u00a0 They always think first about “who” and then about what.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the new NAMB, it appears that the “right” people are being invited to get on the bus and the “wrong” people are being ushered off the bus.\u00a0 Apparently the old adage is true:\u00a0\u00a0“out with the old (all non-church planting related\u00a0ministries) and in with the new (church planting).”<\/p>\n

Ever since the\u00a0(increasingly divisive)\u00a0GCR\u00a0was passed last summer in Orlando, the new NAMB\u00a0bus was being assembled.\u00a0 The GCR\u00a0report and recommendations laid out clear guidelines\u00a0for the\u00a0specs of this new bus.\u00a0\u00a0In September, Dr.\u00a0Kevin Ezell, who had limited experience in riding in older models of the NAMB bus, was called upon to\u00a0not only drive the new bus but to oversee its construction.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0new NAMB\u00a0bus is almost finished, ready for its maiden voyage.\u00a0 Dr. Ezell\u00a0has begun to\u00a0lay out the map for where he wants to drive the new bus.\u00a0 And, he’s also issuing tickets and assigning seats to the riders of the new NAMB\u00a0bus.\u00a0 All those who used to ride on the bus — State Conventions, local Associations,\u00a0and their non-church planting related ministries\u00a0— will probably not be invited to ride on the bus.\u00a0 Because of the GCR’s\u00a0unambiguous guidelines and the desire to implement those guidelines, it appears that most, if not all of the seats on the new NAMB bus will be occupied by church planters, many of them fresh out of Southeastern or Southern Seminary (a few\u00a0token seats\u00a0maybe reserved for the other four seminaries).<\/p>\n

The interior of the new bus has been loaded with everything that\u00a0the chosen riders\u00a0could ever want.\u00a0 It’s got the latest innovations\u00a0and gadgets for a modern culture\u00a0— after all, nothing good is old or is it nothing old is good.\u00a0 I forget.\u00a0 Many of the riders will be young and enthusiastic, searching\u00a0for the destination that God has called them to.\u00a0 There maybe a few older riders (those that didn’t “take” early retirement) that are still allowed to ride on the bus.<\/p>\n

But, in order to ride, there must be fuel in the gas tank.\u00a0 Because of the faithful and generous Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong gifts\u00a0of the SBC’s established churches, the riders of the new NAMB\u00a0bus will have much (if not all) of their church planting expenses paid for.\u00a0 That is\u00a0as it should be.\u00a0 However, when the driver of the new NAMB bus and some of\u00a0its riders appear to convey the message that only church planting passengers are worthy of seats on the bus, the friendly relationships\u00a0that once existed may be in danger of further strain.\u00a0 It’s one thing to ask long-time passengers to scoot over to make room for new passengers.\u00a0 It’s quite another thing to be told to get off the bus entirely!<\/p>\n

Does everyone need to make room for the up and coming generations?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Do we need to re-prioritize\u00a0where people sit on the bus?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 But sadly,\u00a0 it appears that NAMB (and many within the SBC establishment)\u00a0continue to morph\u00a0into what so many churches — large and small — have become:\u00a0\u00a0a place where youth is encouraged and almost idolized and where\u00a0older\u00a0generations\u00a0are often discarded (sent into retirement)\u00a0like an\u00a0yesterday’s newspaper.<\/em><\/p>\n

For those who think I’m being too harsh, ask yourself how many churches in the SBC have been split, destroyed or\u00a0“radically reprioritized”\u00a0by pastors who come in and tell the church folk that they haven’t done it right for the last\u00a030 years.\u00a0 The new pastor\u00a0comes in like a bull in a china\u00a0shop and immediately sets about to make sure that\u00a0“his” church is done the\u00a0“right” way, even if relationships\u00a0are destroyed in the process.\u00a0 The new pastor tells those who haven’t already left<\/p>\n

\u00a0“If you don’t like “my” vision, then you can get off the bus (leave).\u00a0 If you buy into the\u00a0radical overhaul that I’m trying to accomplish in my first six months (with absolutely no creditability or trust built up) — then by all means stay.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some stay, but sadly, many know when they are not wanted and simply move on to another church.\u00a0 I know\u00a0Godly men and women\u00a0and churches where this has happened.\u00a0 If you’ve been in SBC life over the last 20 years, you most likely know of such instances or perhaps have even experienced the sadness and pain personally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a sad commentary on Southern Baptist life that this radical reprioritization — at\u00a0all\u00a0levels — has become\u00a0the modus operandi for so many within our Convention.\u00a0 From some of the largest, most well-known churches in the SBC to so many of the smaller, out-of-the way churches that no one has heard of to many of our\u00a0entities and agencies,\u00a0new and young is in.\u00a0 Out-dated and old is out.<\/p>\n

There are thousands of churches that have been decimated by pastors who forced <\/strong><\/em>their vision on people who were not ready, but who could have been\u00a0led<\/em><\/strong> to move into the future.\u00a0 The danger for Southern Baptists in the days ahead is similar.\u00a0 Instead of experiencing a true Great Commission Resurgence (which is first spiritual and then organizational), we may see the SBC decimated by “leaders” who forced their vision on people who were not ready, but who could have been led into a bright and exciting future.<\/p>\n

The radical reorganization\u00a0and reprioritization\u00a0happening within NAMB and the greater SBC will not be without its consequences.\u00a0 Some good things will happen — people will get saved\u00a0who may not have otherwise heard the Gospel.\u00a0 Some will be used of God in a mighty way that they did not expect.<\/p>\n

However, there will be others who will be left standing by the side of the road, having been told to disembark, that there is no longer any room on the bus for them.\u00a0 Planting new churches is needed.\u00a0 But so is reaching college students on our secular campuses.\u00a0 And reaching children through our Vacation Bible Schools and Back Yard Bible Clubs.\u00a0 And reaching students at camp.\u00a0 Not all of these involve church planting.\u00a0 Some involve discipling\u00a0Christians who will be about the Great Commission — which is evangelism AND discipleship.<\/p>\n

Maybe I’m naive.\u00a0 At 44, maybe I’m over-the-hill and old-fashioned.\u00a0 Call me whatever you want, but I think there is a better way.\u00a0 Instead of designing a new,\u00a0cool bus that could only accommodate church planting, why not build a bigger, better bus that could carry not only church planting\u00a0(hey, even put them at the front of the bus) and evangelism,\u00a0but could also carry church revitalization\u00a0and discipleship?\u00a0 I seem to think both kinds of riders are included in the Great Commission.\u00a0 In the end, that kind of\u00a0re-designed bus will get Southern Baptists a lot further than the brand new model being assembled in Alpharetta!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his best-selling book, “From Good to Great,” author Jim Collins explains the leadership principle known as “First Who, Then What,” “Those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,24,35,37],"tags":[433,3383,583,691,728,3392,868,3393],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooperative-program","category-great-commission-resurgence","category-religion","category-southern-baptist-convention","tag-gcr","tag-great-commission-resurgence","tag-kevin-ezell","tag-namb","tag-north-american-mission-board","tag-religion","tag-sbc","tag-southern-baptist-convention"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-p1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}