The Truth in Crisis

The dramatic controversy that has recently rocked the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), America's largest Protestant church with 14.6 million members, provides valuable insights and warnings for the future of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A penetrating analysis of the causes of the turmoil in the Southern Baptist Convention is found in the recent book, The Truth in Crisis, by James J. Hefley. The book provides an illuminating case study of a church struggling with issues strikingly similar to those currently emerging in the Adventist Church.

Hefley makes a heroic attempt to present the facts on both sides of the issue. In the process he "hangs out the dirty laundry" of his own denomination and exposes himself to criticism from both sides in the controversy. He does not hesitate to report facts that are embarrassing to both sides. In taking such a risk he does his own denomination, and other denominations, a great service, believing as he does that members can make intelligent decisions only when the truth is known, as painful as that may be.

The latter group is called "moderate" because it has stopped short of full-blown, classical liberalism, though it has accepted many of the findings and methods of modern critical scholars. So the struggle is between two factions of self-perceived "loyal" Southern Baptists, each promoting a different orthodoxy around which the Church should unite. Both sides appeal to the Southern Baptist heritage, the one group to the theology and the other to the ecclesiology of the founders. Both are right, says Hefley. Both sides accept the "slippery slope" theory. Conservatives fear slippage into liberalism and secularism, while moderates fear slippage into fundamentalism and loss of mission.

Each group has a "core of activists seeking to enlist partisans and gather votes to attain clearly defined ideological and structural goals" (p. 14). The conservatives are of the justifiable opinion that the moderates represent a deviation from what the Southern Baptist Convention historically has believed. The moderates believe they represent progress in their attempts to make the Church more relevant to contemporary life and press for "unity in the midst of diversity."

Moderates promote loyalty to the church and its institutions, while conservatives promote loyalty to doctrine and object to supporting programs that violate conscience. Apparently moderates demand total liberty when it comes to doctrine, but they decry such liberty when conservatives choose to support independent missions and programs; they suspect conservatives of disloyalty. The views of both groups influence attitudes toward most issues faced by the denomination.

The Political Landscape

Hefley reports that moderates "tend to be more active in denominational affairs by attending meetings and serving on committees and boards. Conservatives, until 1979, spent most of their energies in evangelism and building strong local churches. Conservatives are now paying more attention to the denomination. Moderates are striving to be more aggressive in their churches" (p. 17). In other words, when they became alarmed at the direction the moderates on the powerful boards of agencies and seminaries were leading the denomination, the conservatives became more involved in the political life of their church. That involvement led to the formation of pastors' associations and independent publications through which conservative concerns and views could be expressed and shared with the constituency. However, such publications "have now come to be regarded as nuisances and obstructions to the kingdom advance... when the editors criticize agency policies and practices.... Interestingly the independent papers on the moderate side, who support the agencies, have not been so denounced by...agency heads [administrators] who have rebuked conservatives" (p. 149).

Educational & Social Divides

The author points out that more moderates than conservatives are seminary graduates, but that the desire for seminary training on the part of conservatives is on the increase, especially on the doctoral level. Moderates usually join local ministerial associations while conservatives tend to be more separatist and exclusive. "Moderate preachers tend to gravitate to educated and affluent university-type Southern Baptist congregations where tolerance of diverse beliefs is a virtue. Conservative ministers are more likely to serve churches of the middle class. Moderate pastors feel at home in churches which are accommodating of theological and life-style diversity. Conservatives are in churches which expect their pastors to take strong stands on Biblical doctrine and perceived social evils" (p. 18).

Many moderates support leftist causes at home and in Latin America and are sympathetic to politicians like Ted Kennedy and Gary Hart. They tend to be human rights activists and are generally amenable to the ordination of women. Conservatives support "peace through strength," anti-abortion legislation, a public school prayer amendment, and are opposed to the ordination of women on Biblical grounds. There is an obvious "contrasting alignment of conservatives and moderates on national social, moral, and political issues" (p. 24).

Ministry Approaches & Results

Conservative pastors are more aggressive, energetic, and innovative in their outreach while moderates work through denominational channels and programs. The results show up in baptisms. There appears to be a linkage between strong Biblical theology, aggressive evangelism, and church growth. Observes Hefley: "Rarely will a moderate concede that preaching style, church programs, and theology might be factors" (p.19). The fact that many of the strongest evangelistic churches, whose pastors are conservatives, give smaller than average percentages of their total budgets to what is called the Cooperative Program of the denomination, may indicate lack of confidence in programs designed by agencies whose boards are heavily influenced by moderate members.

It is no surprise that the moderates who have been in power condemn the conservative uprising as nothing more than a drive for power. While recognizing the extreme gravity of the situation, each side blames the other, and many have given up hope for any kind of resolution or reconciliation.

The Role of Media

Hefley devotes one long chapter to an investigation of the role denominational media have played in the controversy, and concludes: "Overall, with the noticeable exception of The Indiana Baptist, state news journals tend to reflect the tilt in most agencies to the status quo of 'unity amidst diversity' which moderates are desperate to maintain.... Right or wrong, the denominational media tends to defend these agencies against those who are disturbing the corporate peace" (p. 199). Access to the church press on the part of conservatives has been only through letters to the editors.

The battle has been fierce. Both sides have been guilty of character assassination, the spreading of misinformation, and raw power politics. Many of those not involved in the controversy wish it would go away as it interferes with God's work. Others fear involvement would jeopardize their employment or position, fearing perhaps that they will end up on the wrong bandwagon and have to pay a price.

Looking to the Future

No one knows what the end will be like in the SBC controversy as "the murmur in the denomination has swollen to a roar" (p. 163). It may even be too late for loving reason and trust to prevail. There is talk of a gloomy future for the SBC in an acquiescence to the moderates. Some are forecasting schism. Many are fearful about the future of Baptist educational institutions, citing the loss to secularism of such places as the University of Chicago (founded by Baptists) and Vanderbilt University (founded by Methodists).

Moderates see nothing to be concerned about, but conservatives are worried by the "many similarities between beliefs and practices of SBC moderates and their counterparts in the more liberal mainline denominations" (p. 204).

The Truth in Crisis reveals that, together with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Southern Baptist Convention has been able seriously to resist, if not halt, the trend away from a conservative Biblical theology that has plagued much of Protestantism since the turn of the century.

On the basis of the facts he has uncovered, Hefley appears to be sympathetic to the conservative cause in the SBC, but that is not bad unless the reader is of the moderate persuasion.

The Peace Committee

In attempting to find a compromise which both sides can accept, a Peace Committee was established, with membership representing both groups and neutrals. This committee has given conservatives some cause for rejoicing by concluding that the fundamental issue is theological, and that the concern for sound doctrine is aimed at the institutions. The committee is concerned over the impact that diversity [pluralism?] may have in seminary classes, the production of curriculum materials, and leadership roles.

Perhaps this is what can be expected in a denomination in which leaders and thinkers no longer listen to each other. The solution may lie not in advocation but in prostration, in the Biblical method of repentance and confession.

Potential Futures

The book concludes with insightful scenarios of what might happen if SBC conservatives gain unquestioned control of all agency boards, if the moderate "unity amidst diversity" and neo-orthodoxy prevails, or if the see-saw power struggle continues. Hefley notes the missions statistics of other mainline denominations that have gone the way of theological moderation and/or liberalism between 1960-80. That trend has resulted in a drastic decline in missionary outreach! For example, the Lutheran Church in America, of which this reviewer was once a member, experienced a 70% decrease in missionaries during those two decades. The SBC would likely experience a similar decline if it should follow their example.