Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee focused on the moral slide of American culture as he headlined the June 9–10 Southern Baptist Pastors Conference in Houston.
The single most important role for pastors is to feed and lead God’s sheep and be prepared to bleed for them, to make sacrifices for God’s church, said Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor.
“Jesus is talking about good food, biblical food,” Huckabee noted, lamenting that “we are living in a time of biblical ignorance.”
“People who attend church, especially young people, have an extraordinary lack of biblical depth,” he said. “According to recent surveys, the kids who grow up in our evangelical churches do not really know the biblical definition of marriage, and that really does concern me.
“We need to be clear that, when holy matrimony is formed into an unholy pretzel, twisted into perversion — and when the military and the Boy Scouts become test labs for social experiments — we need to be very clear that, male and female, [God] created them,” Huckabee said.
Pastors also must “lead the sheep,” and that includes equipping and empowering church members to live Christ-like lives, Huckabee said.
The biblical model of leadership is seen in biblical marriage, Huckabee said. The purpose of a father and mother is to create the next generation, and then train them to become the replacements who are no longer dependent upon their parents, but who can have and train children who are independent themselves.
“Feed them, lead them. And then it’s important that we’re willing to bleed,” Huckabee said, noting pastoral ministry requires personal sacrifice. “The toughest question of all is: Are we willing to pay a price? Are we willing to take a risk?”
Clarifying that the hope of America is not in the next election, Huckabee said, “I would never suggest, ever, that you would turn your pulpit into some political podium. But I would urge that the pulpit would be a powerful, prophetic and purposeful punch in the gut to a culture that is ungodly and unholy.”
Regarding evangelicals’ stance on social and moral issues, Huckabee said some in the Republican Party are saying “that maybe we need to dial it back a little bit when it comes to issues like the sanctity of life and the holiness of marriage, and maybe just ease off.”
The crowd erupted into sustained applause when Huckabee said, “Well, I’ve got a news flash for the GOP: I plan to take my last ride in life on a white horse, not on an elephant and not on a donkey. And I will stick with the Word of God. And if the party, any party, goes a different way, I stick with Jesus. I believe He is forever.”
Along with Huckabee’s reminders to stand strong on moral and ethical issues, pastors also were encouraged to stick with their ministry during difficult times.
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, said affliction will come but God will provide the strength to make it through it.
Preaching from Psalm 34, Luter said even King David, who was considered a man after God’s own heart, faced affliction.
“In just a few short verses, David has gone from divine preservation to human persecution,” Luter said, noting that no one in ministry is exempt from hardships.
However, “when it looks like you’re about to go under, God can put a ‘but’ in your situation,” Luter pointed out. “Your affliction is temporary. … But always remember pastors and pastors’ wives, this too shall pass.”
Preaching from 2 Timothy 4:9–18, Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church, Arden, N.C., acknowledged that many clergy are burned out or stressed in their ministry.
“You are going to be lonely, tired, angry and impatient at times,” Frank said. “I have a question for you, though: ‘Is ministry still worship for you?’
“[A]re you in awe of Jesus and are you allowing God’s message of salvation to change you daily?” Frank asked. “When Paul looks in the mirror, he sees not a pastor or a church planter, but who Christ is and what Christ has done in his life.”
John Bisagno, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church, Houston, urged ministers to focus on four areas so they will finish well: moral issues, money, people and a realistic understanding of success in ministry.
Moral issues — Bisagno told ministers to guard their eyes, love their wives and maintain correct priorities.
Money — Follow Matthew 6:33 in seeking first the Kingdom of the Lord before anything else, Bisagno said. Specifically, he said not to touch church money, to have no “shady” dealings with the church credit card and never to discuss the amount of an honorarium or salary.
People — Bisagno challenged pastors to be wary of “the legalists … faithless … doubtful and … self-appointed church bosses.” He counseled pastors to remember their commonality, avoid their discouragement and not to respond combatively. Instead, listen closely and lead wisely, he said.
Priorities — Keeping priorities in the correct order is vital, Bisagno said.
Matt Carter, pastor of Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas, also picked up on the moral theme, challenging pastors to love their wives and family well.
“We want to be known as men who are not only making an impact in our ministries,” Carter said, “but we want to be known as great husbands and great fathers.”
Balancing family and ministry as well as leadership and preaching also garnered extra attention via panel discussions, and Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, related statistical information to urge Southern Baptists to reclaim salt-and-light ministries and churches.
Preaching from Matthew 5, Stetzer, lead pastor of Grace Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., said salt “preserves,” “creates thirst” and “needs to stay salty.”
Southern Baptists were growing in the 1950s at an annual rate of about 3 percent. In the 1960s that slowed to 2 percent and then gradually to less than 1 percent in the 1990s.
Since 2000, Stetzer said: “Our growth rate is now our decline rate. This is a 50-year trend.”
Stetzer said when he first started talking about this in 2003, people got angry and wrote articles criticizing him. Now, he said, “We are tracking that trend line like a Baptist tracks a buffet line.”
If the trend continues, he said the SBC will be declining at 2 percent a year by 2027, and by 2050 will be down to 9 million members, the same number as in 1960.
Others speaking during the Pastors Conference were Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, Calif.; Rodney Woo, pastor of International Baptist Church in Singapore and Tim McKenzie, president and founder of On Every Word.
Gregg Matte, pastor of First Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, served as president of the Pastors Conference.
In related news, new Pastors Conference officers were elected during the meeting:
Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church, Arden, N.C., was elected president. Former Alabama Baptist pastor Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., was elected vice president, and Alex Himaya, pastor of theChurch.at in Tulsa, Okla., was elected treasurer.
(Compiled from BP, ABP stories)
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