BaptistLIFE Online

By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director, COO, Editor of BaptistLIFE

Bob Simpson, BCMD Associate Executive Director, Editor of BaptistLIFE

If the definition of “Christian” starts with “following Jesus” and emulating all that He did, then a brief look at the record of some of the things He did is in order. Even a cursory examination of his daily life as an adult reveals much about His heart as it relates to the poor, sick, racially divided, socially disenfranchised and forgotten people of His day.

Jesus intentionally went to Samaria to talk to the woman at the well. This was an overt act of love in the face of major racial and social barriers. He responded in love to the ten lepers and healed them from the disease that had rendered them social outcasts. When He heard the words, “Alms for the poor” or “Son of David, have mercy on me,” He responded by addressing both their physical infirmity and their spiritual poverty.

At the end of his gospel, John writes, “Jesus did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” I don’t know if we will ever know about those things. But if they ever could be known (maybe in heaven) I have a hunch that we would see an overwhelming preponderance of Jesus’ touches given to the “least of these.”

That passage of scripture from Matthew 25, “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these…you have done it unto Me” answers the question as to whether the poor matter to Jesus. Would those acts be defined as overtly Christian? In a denomination that openly acknowledges that it doesn’t know how to reach inner cities or poor, why is it that ministries who try to work with the “least of these” have to defend themselves to the same systems that have failed these populations over and over again?

Jeremiah 22:26 says, “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is it not what it means to know Me?” Perhaps the skeptics and critics of ministries to the poor need to rethink what “overt Christianity” looks like. It always starts with living like a king…the King, Jesus Himself! Doing what He did.

David Phelps, the former tenor for the Gaither Vocal Band, is one of my favorite singers. He has written a song that provides the best context for what I am trying to say. The song is entitled, “Live Like A King.”

My thirst for the things of this earth
Isn’t quenched by diamonds or pearls.
One Man lived the life that I want
He’s the One they said ruled the world.

Though He only wore a crown of thorns
And He never owned a thing.

This King did the strangest of things;
He befriended the sick and the poor.
There was no one too wrong, too right,
Too black, too white for Him to love.
He built no walls, left no unopened doors.

Though I could croon a million other tunes
There is just one I want to sing.

I want to be stronger, I want to be wiser
I just want to make every move be the one He’d want to see from me
There’s just such power, such healing power
In every word that He said, in every deed that He did.

Let’s live like a king…the King! Maybe God is allowing the current economic crisis in America to remind middle class suburbanites that many of us are only a couple of house payments away from homelessness or poverty. Maybe it’s a test of our stewardship…money, time… and attitude toward those less fortunate than we. Maybe it’s time to become more overt in doing what Jesus did!

By Bob Simpson, BCMD Associate Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, Editor of BaptistLIFE

Bob Simpson

Lately I’ve thought a lot about the legacy I am currently crafting that will some day be left for others to judge. It is my sincere hope that when they read it, one thing will be obvious… I tried to live my life in such a way as to be a positive influence on any and all that came my way. Have I been perfect at it? No, of course not. But I firmly believe that the preponderance of the evidence will show that I succeeded at it more times than I failed.

Influence… what exactly is it? Some think of it as manipulation. The dictionary defines it as “the capacity or power of persons to be a compelling force on or produce changes in the actions, behavior, opinions of others.” One way to look at it is to think of it as a tool that can be used for either good or bad. I can use a hammer to build something in my home, which would be a good use of a hammer. Or I could use the same hammer to vandalize all the car windows on my street…a bad use of a hammer.

Influence, with the help of the Holy Spirit’s power, can be life changing in nature. I mention the work of the Holy Spirit because, as Jesus said in John 15:5, “without Me, you can do nothing.” To me, the ultimate influence is what the hand does within the glove. A glove is useless without the influence of the guiding hand.

The presence of a person makes a difference. It influences. That’s why Paul wrote to that very conflicted church in Corinth and reminded them, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple (sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?”

While I think we believe this theologically, I’m not sure how practically we believe it. It becomes very practical when we fully grasp that He goes everywhere we go. He sees everything we see. He hears everything we hear. He’s a part of everything we do. Now that’s influence!

Jesus calls each of us to be influencers. He wants us to influence everything in our lives in a positive way. He wants us to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime by leveraging all the influence we have with everyone we come in contact with. He even promised His presence as we do it.

Wow! We can learn so much from Him, the master influencer. Maybe that’s why people He encountered often dropped everything and followed Him immediately.

By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director, COO, BaptistLIFE Editor

Bob Simpson, BCMD Associate Executive Director, Editor of BaptistLIFE

I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of the SBC’s Great Commission Task Force.

While Southern Baptists will vote their wishes at its national convention in Orlando in a few weeks, it is clear that the role of state conventions has been surveyed and highly evaluated during the past year.

It has caused me to take inventory of just what would happen if, for any reason, state Baptist conventions should suddenly just go away.

How would the following things get done for Baptists who live in, say, Maryland and Delaware? It’s a great question!

First of all there would be no dedicated, talented, and highly motivated BCM/D staff to take all the calls and inquiries that come from our churches. I’m always amazed at the constant flow of requests that our BCM/D staff receive for information, resources, training, consultation and expertise. While no organization is perfect, I am positive that all of the BCM/D staff are both focused and motivated in their desire to help Maryland and Delaware Baptists in churches of all sizes and ministry styles. While your church may not need BCM/D right now, scores of others are calling every week.

Secondly, Baptists in Maryland and Delaware would lose an excellent advocate for ministers and their families. The ministry in our time is very stressful.  Your state convention is totally committed to supporting all of our pastors and their families. A short list would include “Ministers & Mates Annual Retreat,” ministers’ wives events, financial assistance for professional counseling for all members of a pastor’s family, leadership training, coaching and mentoring and regular prayer support, just to name of few.

Thirdly, our churches would lose an invaluable source of tax, non-profit, human resource, and church treasurer expertise that our finance team provides. Whether in the form of annual seminars on specific tax-related issues or just the daily resource to answer the myriad of questions that our constituents ask, this relatively low-profile resource is becoming increasingly significant to our church leaders. In an ever-changing world of tax and corporate law, this would be a huge loss to our churches if the state convention ceased to exist.

A fourth area of loss would be church multiplication in Maryland and Delaware. While no one denies the vast pocket of lostness that exists in our two states, there is often a debate about the best way to impact that lostness. At best our present churches (numbering over 500) are not even keeping up with the population growth.
There are still multiplied millions of people in Maryland and Delaware that don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior. The role of a state convention is to stimulate the planting of new churches strategically across the two states. Without it will some churches plant other churches on their own? Yes. But historically, it will not produce the kind of church planting movement that is needed.

For the past ten years, this state convention has intentionally advocated for, provided resourcing to (both human, strategic, and financial), and developed within a nationally acclaimed system of assessment, support and ongoing coaching for church planters. We are currently assisting, on average, nearly 30+ new church starts annually.  These run the gamut of ethnicity. That means that over the next 20 years, we could actually plant more new Southern Baptist churches than now even exist with the BCM/D! That potential would most certainly be lost or severely truncated if there were no state convention.

[Editors Note: This month, David Jackson, BCM/D missionary for church multiplication, said we have started 20 new church plants since the beginning of 2010. In the nine years Jackson has been at BCM/D, we have never had 20 new plants this early in the year. One of the new plants is our first Cambodian work ever in BCM/D!]

Though I could really go on and on, let me mention one more part of our work together that would be sadly missed if our state convention went away. That would be the supply, interim, and church/minister relations aspect of BCM/D. Every Sunday, a BCM/D staff member walks into a church and ministers to a congregation that is hurting either by the loss of a pastor or some other set of stressors. This can run the gamut from overt church conflict to just providing pulpit supply during the interim between pastors.

Admittedly, these are not the stories covered by “BaptistLIFE” or other media. But when the history of Maryland/Delaware Baptists is fully written, it will not fail to note the incredible impact of the godly men and women both on that state convention staff and/or trained by them who gave their time, expertise, and spiritual coaching (not to mention their love) to many, many congregations in need of some measure of help for a temporary time.

I could keep on making a significant case for the value the state convention. You, of course, would expect me to do so. I know that no organization is perfect. I recognize the need for continuous evaluation and improvement in all of us. But I just can’t imagine what it would be like for Baptists in Maryland and Delaware if suddenly there were no state convention…no BCM/D.

I just don’t want us all to wake up someday and mourn the loss of something so significant to Kingdom advancement in our region of the country. Hopefully we won’t ever be in the position of understanding what we have only after it’s gone!

Bob Simpson

By Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director, Editor of BaptistLIFE

There’s a country song written by singer/songwriter Mac Davis that goes “I thought happiness was Lubbock, Texas, in my rear view mirror…” With apologies to Lubbock, I am glad to have the 2009 finally in my rearview mirror. I broke most of the rules of “pacing one’s self” over the past 4-6 months. I admit it. I did what I have advised and even preached to others that they should never do. I worked at a frenetic pace and did not even take the usual time off to re-group. Admittedly, some of it was self-induced by my having taken on more “projects” in my life than I should have. Some of it was just unfortunate timing for me professionally. Sometimes it just comes at you in waves and patterns that are not always in your control. But, nevertheless, I was wrong to let myself get into that position.

I am pretty efficient most of the time juggling the complexity of what is my life. Most people who know me well tell me that I am multi-talented and very gifted in numerous disciplines. I recognize that. Often, though, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to prioritizing things. Part of my nature is to do it all and do it all with excellence. But the last several months even I got to the point of feeling like I was drowning. Frankly, I didn’t like the feeling. It made me commit to simplifying my entire life as I moved into 2010.

So… I am in the process of slowing myself down. I have made the following commitments to myself which I hope will also be of help to you:
(1)    I will try hard not to let myself get into that condition again.
(2)    I will take what I learned (and felt) and apply it directly to learning to say “no” more often in the future.
(3)    I will stay focused on resisting the professional “creep” of doing more and more beyond my capacity.
(4)    I will make time for re-fueling and re-freshing.

I know my strengths and I know my limitations. This year I have learned that I just can’t do it all. But when I operate within my strengths, I am so much more effective both personally and as a minister.

But now I need to stop staring in my rearview mirror and get focused forward once again. I don’t know whether any of this makes any sense. But I feel better having mused it over. 2010 is a fresh new canvas for me to see if I really learned my lesson. I’ll keep you posted!

Bob Simpson

By Bob Simpson, BCMD Associate Executive Director and Editor of BaptistLIFE

In his latest book, A Simple Christmas, former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, talks about Christmas being a natural transition. He says, “Christmas is, in many ways, a milestone that marks various parts of our year. We will put things off ‘until after Christmas’ or commit to get something done ‘before Christmas.’ Christmas is also the time when you catch up with many people in your life – family, friends, neighbors – whom you might not have spoken to in a while. It’s a time to reflect on life – what you’re doing, what you’ve done, and what you hope to do.”

For me the time of reflection will have to wait. I have been so busy this Fall that I have actually said, “I can’t wait for Christmas to be here!” When I say it, I am immediately reminded of my Mom’s admonition to me a child not to “wish my life away.” I know in my heart she was right. But my present reality flies in the face of her wisdom.

Let me explain. Here at our office we have been renovating part of the building and preparing to move our support staff over to that newly renovated part. It is a messy, dirty, trying process. I literally can’t wait for it to be over. Some have equated it to being pulled through a knothole! Everywhere you walk there is fresh paint and drywall dust. Each new day brings more change and revision to initial plans. There are thousands of details and little time to keep them sorted out. Though all was carefully planned for, most days it feels like things are out of control.

How I would love to blink and it would be Christmas. I’m sure that Mary must have felt this way as she and Joseph made their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem on the back of a donkey. She must have felt that things were not working out like she had planned. Even their overnight accommodations that first Christmas night were not exactly what she had imagined for her son. But it marked the beginning of some very exciting days to come. First the shepherds came. Then there was the appearance of the star over the stable. After that the Magi came. And the miracle of her newborn son was the icing on the cake. And the Bible says that Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Everything in me wants to press “fast forward” and move past the next several weeks until Christmas. But I am beginning to feel like I need to hang in there and ponder it all as it happens. To miss the lessons of the journey as they unfold would be tragic. The best things in life come when we don’t rush through them. So I am learning to “ponder” the present. It is something I haven’t always done well, but I am committed to doing it this year! Why not join me?

Bob Simpson

Bob Simpson, BCM/D Associate Executive Director/COO, Editor of BaptistLIFE

I meet with a group of peers from time to time just to fellowship and gain insight from them. They, like me, have the title “Associate” in some part of their professional job description. In a sense all of us are subordinate to someone. The Bible has many examples of strategic partnerships among leaders and subordinates. They include Moses and Aaron, Paul and Silas, and Mordecai and Esther to mention a few. These relationships rise and fall on the ability of the two leaders to figure out how the second chair leader can best be empowered to provide maximum influence while submitting and serving the main leader effectively in that relationship.

In contrast to the above Biblical examples, where leaders were ‘joined at the hip’ for purposes of Kingdom advancement, there are many examples in history where this “second chair” kind of relationship was difficult to forge. For example, it was a given for John Adams to succeed George Washington as president of the United States. After all, Adams had been the first vice-president of the country. But, unlike Washington, Adams was not a naturally great leader. He was a lawyer and an intellectual who made his greatest contribution before he became the vice-president. He devoted himself to the cause with fierce integrity and matching intensity to help the nation’s first president. He condemned the Stamp Act of 1765, was one of the first patriots to embrace the idea of independence, vigorously fought for the acceptance of the Declaration of Independence, and gained further distinction as he successfully represented the young nation in the courts of Europe.

But by the time of the nation’s first political election in 1798, Adams, respected but not popular, only received 34 of 69 votes. Subsequently, he spent the next eight years ‘leading from the second chair’ and continuously in the shadow of the ever popular and commanding figure of George Washington.

In their book entitled, Leading From The Second Chair, Mike Bonem & Roger Patterson define such leadership in five distinct bites: “A subordinate…whose influence…with others…adds value…throughout the organization.” Being number two is often misunderstood and regularly unrecognized. But it is a highly valuable factor in the success of most everything I can think of. It’s certainly true in business, non-profit organizations, in politics, in churches, and even in marriages.

All of us are subordinate to someone. That’s just the way life works. Even Jesus, though co-equal with the Father, submitted Himself in order to carry out the plan for our redemption. His example, as always, is one for us to emulate. Philippians 2 reminds us: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant…”

May God help us all, as we are “second chair” to someone, to do it with joy, humility, purpose and wisdom in order to add maximum value wherever our “chair” happens to be located!