SBC vs. Independent

I do not think anyone is claiming the IFB isn't mission minded in general. Just some have shared that in certain areas that they seem to be less mission minded than others.

 

Oh I am sure there are areas where both SBC and IFB are not as mission minded. I am thankful for the good news I heard recently from out in Africa. My former pastor is the one who was arrested for inciting a riot.. basically he led a few muslims to the Lord while street preaching or something and was thrown in jail. All eyes were on this trial because it would be a landmark decision. By the grace of God, my former pastor and his friend were releleased. The SBC folks out there were really pushing and pulling, praying for this decision to work out for the Lord and it did.
Sorry about the attitude. I am just upset to hear when someone says the SBC or IFB do not win souls, train, etc. I just get upset with it. We can nag and fight with each other, but according to my pastor, once the missionaries get overseas, the majority of them know they are on the same TEAM regardless of whether or not they are SBC of IFB.
Unfortunately, I know of one mission team out there, not baptist, or pentecostal for that matter... sad... what happened was there was a dropping off of Bibles and tracts on some pallets. For some reason, the receiving church did not have any place to put them or transport them. Another mission group was close by and had the necessary temporary storage room for the Bibles and literature but REFUSED to allow them to be stored in the shelter. (!!!!!). Blows my mind, really, I wish we could all agree that our calling to spread the Gospel does put us on the same team, in a sense.

 

Well, in one area anyway. :smilewinkgrin:

 

I was raised and saved in a Southern Baptist Church. My father was a So Baptist deacon, and I joined an IFBC about 6 years ago when I got tired of observing the So Baptists fighting over things like teaching evolution and other issues that should NEVER be argued. If you believe the Bible, you don't believe in the THEORY of evolution. Period. And I love the King James Bible, I don't want to go to a church that uses any other translation. The IFB church I go to is like the So Baptist church I grew up in USED to be.....which is a very liberal church now, sadly.

The local Southern Baptist church hosted a rock concert not too long ago.
What a disappointment!!! Hard to call that "separated from the world", don't you agree? :jesus:

 

fortunately, I had an extra Superwide Broad Brush so folks could paint Southern Baptists.

 

I'd be very careful pushing a broad brush like that, because it can be pulled back the other way to show what is wrong with IFBs.

By "rock concert" do you mean actual rock, or CCM?

The fact is, there are good SBCs as well as IFBS, (and of course those like me.... ABCs):tongue3: :love2: :wavey:

 

AMEN! I have had a very similar experience. And not just in one SBC in one town, or even one state. I have experienced what you are talking about in no less than 5 towns and two states. All SBC's I have visited or attended for a short while are liberal theologically, socially, and politically. And the best they can do when it comes to missions is a very weak campaign for Lottie Moon once a year, (begrudgingly it seems.) And let's not even get on the Bible issue! It appears from my experience that SBC has embraced the charismatics and all they espouse with the exception of the tongues issue.
This is why I am IFB. As a kid growing up in SBC, it used to be like the IFB I am with now. Sad, very sad.

 

Someone get him the broom please...

 

Yes, my SBC church just wrapped up our Lottie Moon Christmas offering. I sure am glad to be done with missions for another year. Now we can get back to what really matters, like teaching evolution and scheduling rock concerts.

:BangHead:

 

To speak to just the OP.....

the main issue really is separation. Yes, you can honestly say that there are some very good, solid SBC churches still out there. And you can also say there are some wacko IFB churches out there. However, the fact that there are wacko IFBs doesn't affect me, because I don't share in supporting their missionaries.

As has been pointed out, the only ties between SBCs is the Cooperative Missions Program. That's a problem to us IFBs because if we were SBC and giving our monies to the Cooperative Program we wouldn't have any say over which missionaries were supported and which were not. Even if we had a vote, that still would not be the final decision. Since there ARE liberal churches within the SBC my local SBC church would not know where it's own missionaries stand....they could be from any SBC church existing along any line of the spectrum.

As it stands, the IFB churches can support or not support any single missionary that they choose. And this is the way we want it.

 

To see people call the SBC "liberal" is so funny. It is like a Snickers Bar telling the Peanut Brittle it doesn't have any peanuts in it.

 

Why attend a church you have such obvious love for...

It is much better to get on a board and bash em...

Goodness.

 

I was kidding by replying along with the silly SBC stereotype expressed earlier. I thought it would be obvious, but I guess I was wrong (as usual).

Our church is heavily involved in missions year round, including one or two missions trips per year and direct support of several missionaries on top of CP giving. We are also trying to figure out how to get more involved in local outreach/ministry. If we weren't active in missions I would go somewhere else.

And for the record, we do not teach evolution, nor do we host rock concerts. But we did have Andrew Peterson in for a Christmas concert in 2005, so I'm sure someone will be offended by that.

 

oh, my apologies then.

 

Nah, it's my bad. I know better than to be so sarcastic on line. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution, if New Year's resolutions are biblical. I guess that's another topic though.

 

Hey bapmom,

SBC churches are free to do that too if they want. Our church sends money directly to certain missionaries and we support the CP as well. Some SBC churches give little or nothing to the CP.

 

ok, but whatever, if they give nothing to the CP, and the CP is the only thing tying them together..........then why do they consider themselves part of SBCdom at all?

(just friendly questioning is all.....)

 

I do not think the CP is the only thing tying them together. The SBC is the national convention but there are also state conventions and local associations that SBC churches can belong to and help support even if they do not give anything to the CP. Some churches give to and support certain SBC organizations and personnel, or they do not want their money going to certain other SBC organizations and personnel, so they bypass the CP.

It may also be that some churches are SBC just because they always have been and it really doesn't mean much to them apart from the tradition. Others just may want to be part of the largest Baptist denomination. That seems silly to me but there are people who think that way. Anyway, there are several reasons that a church might choose to associate with the SBC but not give to the CP.

 

Actually, it doesn't make much diffrerence which church they come from. Every missionary candidate undergoes a stringent doctrinal examination. They must sign the Baptist Faith and Message, a solidly conservative statement of Baptist beliefs. And if I'm not mistaken they must hold to the inerrancy of scripture.

That's no guarantee; a candidate might simply lie about what he believes, and sign anything under false pretenses, but it's still a pretty good screening system.

This is not to say the SBC way is better than the IFB way, but I want to make sure the SBC way is properly understood.

 

The Baptist Faith and Message from 1963 was a little bit more loose than the new one. When I was in seminary they made us write all kinds of essays about the Peace Committee Report, etc. It was a big deal. Even with the new edition of the BF&M, it still leaves some room for doctrinal differences and so forth.
One thing you must understand is that the Baptist Faith and Message is NON-Credal. It is a Confession, not a creed. Professors had to sign it and when we get into class, you find they are as skilled as Slick Willie when he was caught being a bad boy.. "I didnt have improper relations...""""".. etc. Rationalization is a good tool for some folks.
I personally prefer the IFB way because we get some guys coming into church that believe the same as we do but dont seem to have the burden, and therefore, we may not support the person. You cant sit there and say the SBC way is all wrong or the IFB way is all right.. that is not how it is. I praise God for the mission minded people in the SBC and IFB world.