The Hunger Games is popular now, but Baptists and other Christians have always worked toward feeding the hungry with their food pantries, and monetary gifts to those in need.
A few years ago, Baptist General Convention of Texas’ executive director Randal Everett declared war on hunger in Texas and called it Texas Hope 2010. In 2008 they began praying for the hungry, and for lost souls.
That was a safe initiative. All Christians want to feed the hungry and save souls.
You don’t hear anything about it anymore. There is no way you can wipe out hunger in Texas. More people lose their jobs, grow old, have more children, make bad decisions, and more and more people move into Texas. Churches continue as they always did and feed who they can, usually people living in the zipcodes they service.
In 2004, the people behind the Jesus Film Project took on the ambitious goal of mailing a DVD of the Jesus Film to every home in America. Baptist General Convention of Texas was recruited to help distribute the movie, hoping that the more people who heard about Jesus would make a profession of faith, and become Christians. Some were sent out in many states, including Texas, but I never got one. Did you?
Feeding the hungry and saving people are what Christians do. Nobody should be surprised that we will go to extraordinary lengths to take care of people.
They are safe initiatives.
The New Baptist Covenant, led by Jimmy Carter, which met for the second time last November has as its theme Releasing the Captives, helping the oppressed. Jimmy Carter is a proponent of women’s equality. Yet Mr. Carter himself said that they would not deal with the hot-button issue of the role of women, and linked it in the same breath with homosexuality.
The Associated Baptist Press report noted that Carter said “hot-button issues like the role of women, homosexuality, abortion, the death penalty, separation of church and state, peace versus reliance on military action, predestination and speaking in tongues are important, but they become an ‘abomination’ when they are allowed to divide the body of Christ.”
Releasing the captives (those who have had unfortunate situations in their lives, either through their own device, or circumstance) is a safe initiative.
If you are ready to move beyond safe initiatives, join us at the CBE Houston Conference at the Heights Church of Christ on April 27-28, 2012. Just a few more days. God only knows what will happen, but we know that God uses people. Will you be one of those people God uses to get the beyond the safe initiatives, and help the hungry, the lost, the captives who are bound by restrictions against them based simply on the fact that they were born female?
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
There are many sayings that get thrown around so much that people start taking them for granted as legit., e.g. role of women is a hot button issue that divides the church. Sounds reasonable? Not if you put on your analytical cap, which is missing from most people’s heads. The church is currently divided into 2 camps: men have their roles (seemingly innocent word used for sinister purpose) and women their roles (subservient, but equal, or so they claim, with a straight face). Shirley and others who believe that men and women are one in Christ want to break down that division. To accuse us of dividing the church is like the Taliban accusing the Peace Corps for violating human rights.
As for lumping women’s issue with the issue of homosexuality, think. Homosexuality is a moral issue, being a woman is not a moral issue.
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Carter is seeking a big tent Baptist group, one that will include the SBC. Unfortunately, that means it must go to the lowest common denominator.
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I had written one of the coordinators of the event months before the conference and asked them specifically to make a bold statement supporting women’s equality. They assured me that they would speak on women’s equality (did not say they would make a bold statement). But they didn’t. And then Carter came out with this slap in the face. The oppressed are sitting in the pews each Sunday.
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As far as I can tell, if you reverse engineer the “abomination” phrase, I think he is referring to the SBC adding in comp doctrine into the BFM. That is what clearly resulted in a separation, as the so-called conservatives took control of the SBC. However, it does come off as tarring everyone with the same tar.
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“dividing the body of Christ”: since when are different convictions “dividing the body of Christ”? People confuse the body of Christ with the institution called church. So the institution can write the Danvers Statement & 80+ guidelines (Wayne Gruden of Biblical Manhood/Womanhood fame & his followers) for what women “Can” and “Cannot” do in the “church”, and if you don’t want to go along, you are dividing the Body of Christ? What a bold claim! It is reducing the Body of Christ to man made rules, regulations and interpretation of God. You see Jesus Christ in all this?
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Unfortunately, this “let’s not cause division” attitude always favors the status quo, right or wrong. If the status quo is wrong, there comes a time when division must be caused or what is right will never prevail. Particularly when, as Mabel says, the status quo is itself dividing the Body into “Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female,” expressly against the intentions of Christ.
I cannot agree with Carter on this. The role of women is not like the other issues he has named, in that it’s about justice or injustice, whereas most of the others are about doctrine.
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“Unfortunately, this “let’s not cause division” attitude always favors the status quo, right or wrong. If the status quo is wrong, there comes a time when division must be caused or what is right will never prevail.”
Amen! well put!
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In fact, division may well be the only way ahead. There is nothing spiritual or holy about living in servitude. Christian love is not about offering women to be walked over, but it may mean walking away from abuse.
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You are right. In Texas we have a story about the battle of the Alamo. Travis drew a line in the sand and said that whoever is with me, cross over to this side.
Fellow citizens and compatriots; I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual Bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country. Victory or Death.
William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt. P.S. The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.
Travis
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Congregations should follow what they see as their calling. If that leads them to make decisions and act in ways that are contrary to that of the broader church it is up to the broader church to judge an appropriate response. If the congregation is expelled from the community, there are other communities that will welcome them.
Just about every value of conservatism is eventually left behind, so where is the spirituality in defending ideas that will erode and fade. It is far better to be aiming for improvement in our theology and social stances. If Southern Baptists are still clinging to fears arising from civil rights, then it is bound not be an inclusive community for quite a while yet.
Of course, leaving a community is a traumatic time, but things need to be weighed up. Do we continue to suffer the abuse of women or do we aim to include women in every aspect of our worship community? Where do we stand? Would Jesus stand by and value community above the individuals or minority groups (in this case, a majority group).
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