Thanksgiving Fishing

November 20, 2007. At Dale Hollow Lake on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the temperature was in the 70's, the sun was radiant, and I was in a bass boat (not mine, btw) that cost more than my first house and would do 70.

My Brilliant Friend, Jim Scott Orrick

My life has been intertwined with my childhood friend, Jim Scott Orrick. Our dads went to college together. We were born months apart, went to Boone's Creek Baptist Camp together, attended the same Bible conferences with our parents, and even stole girlfriends from one another (at least, that's how he remembers it). We were both youth pastors in Lexington in the early 80's, both married beautiful blondes, both attended Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in the late 80's, and both ended up with PhD's and teaching at Southern. Jim is one of the most gifted men I know. He can write music, poetry, and can preach the stars down. I love to hear him preach, teach, or sing.

But until now, I had no idea he could rap.



Boyce College, you are blessed!

The Kentucky Baptist Convention 2007

I have never attended any Baptist convention quite like this year's KBC. Not only did we never require a ballot vote, as far as I could tell every vote was unanimous. I nominated Dr. Bill Henard, pastor of the Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington and my colleague on the faculty of Southern Seminary, to serve as president, and he was elected unanimously by acclamation. Dr. James Castlen, Director of Missions of the Three Forks Association as well as former FMB missionary to the Phillipines and professor at Clear Creek Bible College was elected First Vice President by acclamation. Rick Reeder, Director of Missions of the Caldwell-Lyon Association (where my father is a frequent interim pastor and pulpit supply) was elected as 2nd Vice President, also by acclamation. We passed all resolutions by unanimous vote as well.

Are Baptists allowed to get along this well?

Kudos to Darren Gaddis, one of the truly great young pastors in the SBC, for his great job as president this year. I loved serving with this man. I also very much enjoyed last night's Past Presidents' Dinner. The living history of the KBC was written in the lives of the men in that room. What a special moment when we all gathered around Darren and prayed for him and for our convention. I relish those moments.

Three years ago when I was nominated for President I told the press that one of my goals was to heal some wounds that still existed between the KBC and Southern Seminary. I am happy to say that we now enjoy a healthy symbiotic relationship between Southern and the KBC like there was in years past. Today the current First VP, Kevin Smith, presided over much of the meeting. Not only is he a colleague at Southern, but his office is next to mine. Chad Fugitt, 2nd VP, is a fine young pastor and one of my former students at Southern. Dr. Russell Moore was a member of this year's resolutions committee. Earlier this year Dr. Albert Mohler was the featured speaker at a major statewide Baptist Campus Ministry event. Now the 2007-2008 President is a PhD graduate of Southern and a member of the Billy Graham School faculty. I have preached in chapel at Georgetown College and the University of the Cumberlands, and in March I will preach in chapel at Campbellsville University. All that once seemed unthinkable, but now it seems normal.

I am grateful to the Lord and to Kentucky Baptists for the spirit that I see in our state. We need to continue to reach out to each other, but I believe we are learning to trust each other, be honest with one another, and work together for the glory of God and the spread of the gospel. I am grateful that we have avoided the kind of disputes, squabbles, and even lawsuits that have plagued other states. To God be the glory!

Millennials and the SBC

Last night CBC's 60 Minutes ran a fascinating piece about Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 1995. Though geared toward their impact on corporate America, I could not help but notice parallels to the current tensions and lines that have been drawn in the SBC. Guys like me, who grew up admiring and emulating the Adrian Rogers and Jerry Vines generation, are stunned by what we often perceive as the disrespect and demands of members of a younger generation who haven't really accomplished much yet. Our jaws drop in disbelief when a guy who failed at a church plant and unabashedly advertises on his blog that he is now looking for a pastorate also feels entitled to publicly criticize successful pastors and denominational leaders and demands a place at the table of leadership. We don't get it when the very ones who are so quick to criticize are themselves so whiny--and sometimes vindictive--about accepting it. Several times I have heard megachurch pastors express shock that though they have been used of God to build great churches, they suddenly feel marginalized and irrelevant in SBC life.

Clearly, this is not your father's SBC.


Morley Safer and the guys at CBS filed the following report:

Stand back all bosses! A new breed of American worker is about attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, "millennials." There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can take your job and shove it.

Corporate America is so unnerved by all this that companies like Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, Disney and scores of others are hiring consultants to teach them how to deal with this generation that only takes "yes" for an answer.

The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first.

Just ask Marian Saltzman, an ad agency executive at J. Walter Thompson, who has been managing and tracking millennials since they entered the workforce.

"Some of them are the greatest generation. They're more hardworking. They have these tools to get things done," she explains. "They are enormously clever and resourceful. Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible. It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired. How dare we come in, anyone over 30. Not only can't be trusted, can't be counted upon to be, sort of, coherent."

Saltzman says today's manager must be half shrink and half diplomat.

What are some of the do's and don'ts in speaking to the generation of young workers?

"You do have to speak to them a little bit like a therapist on television might speak to a patient," Saltzman says, laughing. "You can't be harsh. You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."

Faced with new employees who want to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday, companies are realizing that the era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is as dead as the three-Martini lunch.

"These young people will tell you what time their yoga class is and the day's work will be organized around the fact that they have this commitment. So you actually envy them. How wonderful it is to be young and have your priorities so clear. Flipside of it is how awful it is to be managing the extension, sort of, of the teenage babysitting pool," Saltzman tells Safer.

All of which has led, as you'd expect, to a whole new industry -- or epidemic -- of consultants, experts they allege, in how to motivate, train and, yes, sometimes nanny the extraterrestrials who've taken over the workplace.

Mary Crane, who once whipped up soufflés for the White House, now offers crash courses for millennials in, well, the obvious. "As to the tattoos just make sure they stay covered up within the office, especially if you are going to be meeting clients," she advises her clients.

"It's a perfect storm we have created to put these people in a position where they suddenly have to perform as professionals and haven’t been trained," Crane says.

Basic training, like how to eat with a knife and fork, or indeed how to work. Today, fewer and fewer middle class kids hold summer jobs because mowing lawns does not get you into Harvard.

"They have climbed Mount Everest. They've been down to Machu Picchu to help excavate it. But they've never punched a time clock. They have no idea what it's like to actually be in an office at nine o'clock, with people handing them work. And oh, by the way, possibly asking them to stay late in the evening, or their weekends," Crane says.

She maintains that while this generation has extraordinary technical skills, childhoods filled with trophies and adulation didn't prepare them for the cold realities of work.

"You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up," Crane says.

"To what extent are you having to tell the boomers, the bosses, the 50 to 60 year olds, 'The people who got to change are you guys, not them?'" Safer asks.

"The boomers do need to hear the message, that they're gonna have to start focusing more on coaching rather than bossing. If this generation in particular, you just tell them, 'You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this.' They truly will walk. And every major law firm, every major company knows, this is the future," Crane explains.

It's a future of sweet talking bosses, no more "Pay your dues just like I did." If this generation knows anything, it's that there are more jobs than young people to fill them.

"I believe that they actually think of themselves like merchandise on eBay. 'If you don't want me, Mr. Employer, I'll go sell myself down the street. I'll probably get more money. I'll definitely get a better experience. And by the way, they'll adore me. You only like me,'" Saltzman says.

So who's to blame for the narcissistic praise hounds now taking over the office?

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow covers trends in the workplace and points the finger at the man who once was America’s favorite next door neighbor: Mister Rogers.

"You have got a guy like Mister Rogers, Fred Rogers on TV. He was telling his preschoolers, 'You're special. You're special.' And he meant well. But we, as parents, ran with it. And we said, 'You, Junior, are special, and you're special and you're special and you're special.' And for doing what? We didn't really explain that," Zaslow says.

"But isn't this generation, particularly of middle class kids, really quite special? Aren't they, in some ways, much better than your generation, certainly mine," Safer remarks.

"Well, except, when we were younger, you had a piano teacher who expected you to practice your piano and work hard at it, and the parents expected it. And now, the parents say, 'Have fun, learn the piano, practice a little bit.' So, there's not the expectations that they will achieve and work hard," Zaslow says. "It's not the same work ethic."

Zaslow says that the coddling virus continues to eat away even when junior goes off to college. "I heard from several professors who said, a student will come up after class and say, 'I don't like my grade, and my mom wants to talk to you, here's the phone,'" he says. "And the students think it's like a service. 'I deserve an A because I'm paying for it. What are you giving me a C for?'"

Today more than half of college seniors move home after graduation. It's a safety net, or safety diaper, that allows many kids to quickly opt out of a job they don't like.

"There once was, if not shame, a little certain uneasiness about being seen to be living at home in your mid 20s, yes?" Safer asks Mary Crane.

"Not only is there no shame with it, but this is thought to be a very smart, wise, economic decision," Crane says.

"Well, that would suggest that they probably had pretty happy childhoods," Safer says.

"And who couldn't be happy when you're growing up in a world where there's no failure?" Crane points out.

And dear old mom isn’t just your landlord; she is your agent as well. "Career services departments are complaining about the parents who are coming to update their child's resume. And in fact, you go to employers, and they're starting to express concern now with the parents who will phone HR, saying, 'But my little Susie or little Johnny didn't get the performance evaluation that I think they deserve,'" Crane says.

"Our parents really took from us that opportunity to fall down on our face and learn how to stand up," says Jason Dorsey.

Dorsey and Ryan Healy both make a living advising their fellow 20 some-things on how to cope with work. Healy started a Web site for that purpose and Dorsey has written two how-to books for them. And while Dorsey admits his mother picked out his suit for his interview with 60 Minutes, his generation is not going to make the same mistakes their parents made.

"We're not going to settle. Because we saw our parents settle," Dorsey says. "And we have options. That we can keep hopping jobs. No longer is it bad to have four jobs on your resume in a year. Whereas for our parents or even Gen X, that was terrible. But that's the new reality for us. And we're going to keep adapting and switching and trying new things until we figure out what it is."

And figuring it out takes time. Sociologists tell us most Americans believe adulthood begins at 26 or older and that having witnessed so many sacrifices by their parents to achieve middle class security has had a huge impact. Family and friends are the new priorities, while blind careerism is beginning to fade.

"We definitely put lifestyle and friends above work. No question about it," Dorsey tells

Both Dorsey and Healy feel that that's pretty much the way one should look at life.
"I remember my dad getting laid off and all these things growing up. And that's 'cause they sacrificed for the company. Well, the first knee jerk reaction from me is I sure don't want to do that. I'm going to be in it for me and I'm going to make it work," Dorsey says.

"Where does this fantasy about 'I'm going to find the dream job' -- there's no such thing as a dream job. I mean, a few of us like me happen to have it. But where does this fantasy come from?" Safer asks Dorsey.

"I think we were told when we were little, 'You can be anything you want.' And then they went on and on and told us this," he replies.

"Big lie, right?" Safer asks.

"Big goals are great. Selling a fantasy that everything's going to be perfect and peachy is not," Dorsey says.

"I also think from, when you're in your early 20s and you're really not responsible to a family of kids, this is the time to find the best job, the best career. You know, what you really want to do," Healy adds.

And more and more businesses are responding, offering free food, fun and flexibility to keep their employees happy.

Online shoe retailer Zappos.com has found that the best way of keeping employees is giving them what they want. Actual work actually happens, despite goofy parades, snoozing in the nap room, and plenty of happy hours.

Motivational consultant Bob Nelson says companies like Zappos will avoid a looming demographic crisis. "It's harder to get people. There's gonna be fewer of them to get. And if you want to keep them and get the best out of them, you sure better know what presses their buttons," he explains.

Nelson, known in the trade as the "guru of thank you," believes that the teeniest rewards pay big dividends, regardless of age. And boss-abuse gets even bigger dividends.

"I've worked with managers that have, if we make this goal, they'll shave their head type thing," Nelson says, laughing. "Or they'll be in the dunk tank at the summer picnic. When a senior manager's willing to do that is, it says we're all in it together."

All that togetherness comes together every year at the Motivation Show in Chicago -- with acre upon acre of coaches, consultants, knickknacks and fancy stuff -- rewards for a job well done, and reminders to work harder.

"You think this would help motivate people to work harder?" Safer asks a masseuse.

"Oh it does," the masseuse says.

But for sure, there is an almost evangelical fervor about this work philosophy -- no stick, all carrots. And believe it or not, all this prodding, praising, peddling, cajoling and psychobabble is worth $50 billion a year in business. Ain't America great?

Where else you find free back rubs for the deserving worker bee. What’s wrong with a happy workplace and taking your time to grow up?

"Could this be that everything is being delayed so that adolescence ends at 30 say and middle age starts at 60 say?" Safer asks Jeffrey Zaslow.

"You can hope that's the case. But, while we're having this delayed adolescence, are we getting behind as an economy and as a workforce, because we're just all playing computer games at work while we wait to grow up?" he replies.

For all the complaining, Dorsey and Healy believe their generation will transform the office into a much more efficient, flexible and yes, nicer place to be. But until then, a message to bosses everywhere: just don’t forget the praise.

"We want to hear it and truly we'd love for our parents to know. There's nothing better than Mom getting that letter saying, 'You know, Ryan did a great job. Yeah, I just wanted to let you know you raised a fantastic son,'" Dorsey says.

"Send it to grandma, too," Healy adds, laughing.

The Most Important Business at the Recent IMB Meeting

Contrary to what a few (out of 16 million Southern Baptists) people believe, the most significant item of business conducted by the IMB at the Springfield, Illinois, meeting was a comprehensive set of principles to guide IMB missionaries in their efforts to contextualize the gospel. Though I cannot discuss any particular missionary context because of personnel security concerns, I am happy to fulfill my responsibility to speak positively of and interpret our IMB policies.

First, a little background is in order. Missiologists categorize churches in indigenous cultures as on one of 6 "Christian" levels. I will paraphrase the C1 to C6 levels, though I do not know who originated these. For my informal purposes, however, I will let my disclaimer that these are not original with me and the note in the affirmations below be as close to attribution as I will come. Furthermore, for security purposes I will not use the name of any particular religions or deities, and I encourage anyone else who writes on this subject to exercise the same care. We dare not raise the ire of any particular religions who might then target missionaries or movements.

A C1 church is typically a church that is completely out of touch with its surrounding culture. It may be Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, but it functions like an island in its own surroundings. Exhibiting a huge cultural chasm, a C1 church uses language and symbols completely foreign to its surrounding community.

A C2 church is much like a C1, except this traditional church makes some effort at using the "insider" language of its culture. It is still much removed from its surrounding context, but some linguistic adaptations have been made.

A C3 church employs insider language and contextualizes its forms of worship and expression and may include "neutral" forms like folk music, artwork, and the ethnic dress of that would be recognizable by those in the surrounding culture. While a C3 church may include non-traditional forms of worship, etc., these elements are filtered so that the "religious" elements of the surrounding culture are removed. The purpose is to be true to the essential elements of the gospel while simultaneously making local people as culturally comfortable as possible. A c3 church may meet in a church building or a more religiously neutral location. Significantly, C3 believers call themselves "Christians."

A C4 church is similar to a C3, but it might use biblically permissible forms that are native to the local religion. Architecture, art, or geometric patterns, for example, that come from the local religion or its adherents might be present or used. These churches are often comprised entirely of converts from the local religion. Though believers in C4 churches are highly contextualized, adherents of the surrounding religion usually don't see them as still following the indigenous faith, and C4 believers identify themselves as followers of Jesus the Messiah.

C5 believers remain legally and socially a part of their indigenous faith, even though they have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. They reject parts of their original faith that are incompatible with the Bible, or else the reinterpret them, but many of them still participate in the corporate worship of their original indigenous religion. They typically refer to themselves as members of their religion who are also followers of Jesus.

C6 believers worship Christ secretly, perhaps due to fear of death or persecution, but they typically do not witness or identify themselves as followers of Christ. They purport to be and are seen as adherents of their indigenous faith.

IMB missionaries have to wrestle with all the issues that come with contextualization. We obviously are not trying to make western Christians, but biblical disciples. Separating cultural Christianity from biblical Christianity is sometimes a difficult task, but separating Christianity from the essentials of the gospel is a deadly task. Along the way we encounter linguistic issues like how we should refer to God in a receptor language, especially if the generic word for God coincides with a particular religion's name for its deity.

As a result of working through these issues, the IMB affirmed the following principles. These principles were voted on in a plenary session and are therefore public.

We affirm that the Bible is the only infallible text that exists. It is appropriate to evaluate all other books by the Bible. We encourage our personnel to search the Scriptures daily to see whether the principles presented by any text or teacher are true (Acts 17:11). Content that is in accord with biblical truth should be embraced. What is contrary to sound doctrine should be rejected.

We affirm that there is a biblical precedent for using "bridges" to reach out to others with the Gospel (Acts 17:22-23). The fact that Paul mentioned an aspect of the Athenians' idolatrous worship was not a tacit approval of their entire religious system. He was merely utilizing a religious element of their setting (an altar to an unknown god) to connect with his hearers and bridge to the truth. Similarly, our personnel may use elements of their host culture's worldview to bridge to the Gospel. This need not be construed as an embracing of that worldview. It should be noted that Paul not only used their system to connect, he also contrasted elements of it with the truth. Our evangelism must go beyond bridges to present the whole unvarnished truth of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

We affirm an incarnational approach to missions that is bound by biblical parameters. Following the example of Him who became flesh (John 1:14), it is appropriate that our personnel continue to tailor their ministry to their setting. The Apostle Paul likewise embraced this approach, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22b). We advocate the learning and appropriate utilization of language and culture. Constant vigilance is required lest contextualization degenerate into syncretism. (In John Travis' spectrum of contextualization, C-4 wold be the extent of indigenization acceptable for IMB personnel ["The C1 to C6 Spectrum." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 34 [4]:407-408].) Where linguistic categories and cultural mores are deficient, these must be challenged and corrected with biblical truth.

We affirm both the sufficiency and unique nature of biblical revelation (2 Timothy 3:14-17). We deny that any other purported sacred writing is on a par with the Bible. While reference to a target people group's religious writings can be made as a part of bridge-building, care should be exercised not to imply a wholesale acceptance of such.

We affirm the need to be ethically sound in our evangelistic methodology (2 Corinthians 4:2). Becoming all things to all men n an incarnational approach does not necessitate an ethical breach. Jesus instructed his disciples to be as "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16). We are to be wise in our bridge building. We are to be armless in our integrity as we hold forth the word of truth.

What It Means

These principles represent a thoughtful, prayerful, and well-reasoned response to difficult missiological issues. Our missionaries are free and even encouraged to contextualize the gospel, but not to the point where it is unrecognizable. We are not free to misrepresent ourselves and claim to be members of a religion or sect other than Christian. Our missionaries can use the normal words of a receptor language, including their word for "God," so long as they theologically pack that word with the person of God revealed in Scripture. In the same way that I would explain to a Mormon that the God they believe in is different than the God of the Bible, so our missionaries should work toward that goal, even as Paul did on the Areopagus with "theos" in Acts 17.

Long after issues of personality and procedure have faded from memory, these principles passed by the board will continue to provide a significant guideline for personnel on the front lines of proclaiming the gospel.

The Well-Tempered Cleric

When one is elected to the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one enters the rotation to address the faculty in a formal setting, cleverly called the faculty address. I came to Southern in 1997, was elected to the faculty in 1999, and finally, in 2007, I had my turn to address the faculty. Robed in my academic regalia, I mounted the birdcage pulpit of Broadus Chapel, and gave my address, The Well-Tempered Cleric: Balance in Ministry.

If you are so inclined, you may listen to it here. Warning: you will learn a great deal about Bach, but perhaps even more about me.