What is a Pastor?
During Her Confirmation Hearing, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Infamously (Or Famously, Depending Upon Your Political And Ethical Persuasions) Could Not Nor Would Not Answer The Question, “What is a woman?” Instead, she quipped, “I’m not a biologist.”
Well, the Credentials Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention recently answered the question, “What is a Pastor?” by essentially saying, “We’re not theologians.”
Before I proceed, let me lay some backdrop. For several years now, pastors, scholars and church members within the SBC have been debating the role of women in the Church. More specifically, they’ve been debating whether or not a woman can serve as a Pastor. This controversy was stirred to the boiling point a few years back when the world-famous Beth Moore began bragging publicly about preaching from SBC pulpits on Mother’s Day. Many other women were emboldened to “come out” and also brag about their own preaching in SBC churches. This revelation shocked many in more conservative SBC circles, whose naivety was obliterated swiftly. Add the election last year of SBC President Ed Litton, who was known to sometimes “co-preach” with his wife, and we should have all known we have a problem in the SBC. Courageous pastors like Tom Ascol, Tom Buck, Voddie Baucham, Jeff Noblitt and David Miller had been telling us Southern Baptists for at least a decade or more that this liberal, feminist agenda had indeed slithered under our SBC tent. And a growing number of SBC churches had been snake bitten!
So, when world-famous Saddleback Church led by Pastor Rick Warren publicly ordained several women as pastors last year, it was considered a “bel weather” matter by those of us in the SBC who believe, as Christians have for nearly two millennia, that the Scripture is crystal clear on the office of pastor being reserved for only men. We also believe that the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BFM2000) is clear in its affirmation of this biblical principle. A motion was made at the 2021 Nashville Convention that Saddleback be investigated for potential disfellowship for being clearly out of line with the BFM2000. Such a motion is referred, then, to the Credentials Committee, which is tasked with looking into these matters and then making a recommendation to the messengers the following year. Messengers arrived in Anaheim a few weeks ago eagerly anticipating the Committee’s recommendation.
Imagine their shock when they heard the Credentials Committee Chairwoman (that in itself is indicative of a lack of biblical wisdom on the part of the SBC, but I will save that for a future post), recommend that yet another task force or committee be appointed to determine what the BFM means by the word “pastor.” She did this after doting on how gracious and kind Pastor Rick Warren was in his dealings with the committee, then trying to explain that some in the SBC think the gifts of pastor and the office of pastor are different, and others think that so long as the lead pastor is a man, other pastor roles may be filled by women. In other words, Rick Warren got to the committee! His graciousness and kindness won them over and softened them up so that whatever biblical convictions and courage they had melted away. But the issue at hand was simple – is Saddleback in conformance with the BFM’s statement on the office of pastor being reserved for only men or not? Did the Committee consult with any of the scholars who actually wrote the BFM2000 that was overwhelmingly adopted by the messengers that year?
Well, apparently not! Because Dr. Albert Mohler, who did help write the BFM2000, had to hustle to a microphone to make a strong rebuke of the Credentials Committee’s cowardice. Dr. Mohler rightly pointed out that everyone who crafted the BFM was clear on what they meant by the word “pastor” and so were the messengers who endorsed the statement of faith. He then lamented that if the SBC has to appoint a committee to ascertain what every word of the BFM means, we are going down a dark road to nowhere. I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Mohler, and would only add that if we do go down such a road, it’s very clear what’s next . . .
And what does the BFM mean by the word “man” and “men” and “woman” and “women?”
Doctrinal compromise in the God-assigned roles of men and women in the home, church, and society, lies at the heart of every denomination that ever turned left into the limping lane of liberalism. And the limping lane of liberalism leads only to a loss of the biblical gospel, a lack of genuine New Testament churches, theological obscurity, and pragmatic pomposity. Don’t take my word for it.
Ask the UCC, the UMC, the PC-USA, or the Episcopalian denominations. They’ve already traveled this road, and are now ordaining anyone, regardless of sex, gender-identity, and lifestyle into the pastorate. Their so-called “churches” have become nothing more than pawns of the Democratic Party agenda rife with Marxism and social programs that demand forced redistribution of wealth and forced equality of outcomes. The gospel of a bloody Savior nailed to a tree for the very wickedness they now endorse and ordain long ago left their buildings.
So, if the SBC gets this issue wrong, Ichabod.
And, at least two prominent leaders in the SBC got to a microphone in Anaheim to seemingly speak for the side of Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. Dr. Adam Greenway, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and once Dean at Southern Seminary under Dr. Mohler, offered an amendment which more or less seemed to endorse the idea put forward by the Credentials Committee. And Dr. Todd Benkert, PhD from Southern Seminary, argued for not disfellowshipping churches over this issue. After all, he claimed, many SBC churches do not agree to the BFM’s position on the Lord’s Supper. (For the record, I think his claim here is quite dubious.) Either way, it’s smoke and mirrors. It does appear obvious that key leaders in the SBC want us to not debate this issue, and certainly do not want us to hold SBC churches accountable in this matter. To which I respond, “Then why bother having a Statement of Faith?” Why have the BFM if it doesn’t at all define the acceptable parameters of our gospel cooperation? We might as well start planting churches with the Methodists, then. This desire for a “big tent SBC” (one of Dr. Greenway’s favorite expressions) is leading us into the doctrinal no-man’s land of sloppy pragmatism and lack of any genuine biblical accountability.
If this long, black, left-leaning train is not stopped soon, count me out.
Pastor Tom Ascol stepped to a microphone and reminded Southern Baptists that not only is the BFM clear in this matter, but far more importantly, “We have a Book.” And that book is clear. Indeed.
“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control” (1 Tim 2:11-15).
These words are clear, if words have any meaning at all. The Apostle Paul’s argument, please note, is not rooted in the culture of his day and time (which liberals try to assert). Rather, he roots this principle in creation (Genesis 1-3). In other words, this principle of male headship is foundational to human society. And this principle is maintained throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
Tune in to next week’s post, and we’ll take a longer look at the Doctrine of Headship, particularly as it pertains to the office, the task, the gifting and the role of Pastor.
by Keith McWhorter