GCRTF concern

Winston Churchill said of the Royal Air Force during World War II, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” As I read the report from the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, my thoughts are “Never have so few who (on average) give so little to the Cooperative Program made changes that affect so many.” The task force wants us in only one year to accept changes that may do more to harm the Great Commission than it will to help world evangelization and discipleship.

I know that we need revival and renewal and repentance, but do we have to accept the entire report without time to think, pray and discuss what this report may do if it is enacted? As a young pastor in 1979, I went to Houston and embraced the conservative resurgence. Men like Adrian Rogers, W.A. Criswell, John Bisagno, Jerry Vines and others led us through changes that took more than a decade to accomplish. We need to pray and seek God’s will for us as individuals, churches, associations, state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention. The majority at Kadesh-barnea chose not to do God’s will, and they spent the next 40 years wandering in the desert until they all died. We need to know God’s will before we attempt to do God’s will.

Mike Shaw
Pelham, Ala.