Last night I had a dream that a friend from Church of the Cross and I had to go to group counseling for cynicism (I know, dreams are sometimes unbelievable). We ended up in a group discussion on this huge sectional couch, and of course, I got stuck sitting right on the inside corner, trapped in with nowhere to go. After the group-talk, the leader began to close us in prayer. No sooner did he start praying than the woman next to me started flailing, moaning, swinging her arms and head and praying very loudly in tongues. As the leader’s prayer increased in intensity, so did the woman’s flailing until she knocked my glasses off. My friend and I began to laugh uncontrollably as only someone in cynicism group counseling who had just had his glasses knocked off by a flailing tongues lady could. We got kicked out of the group cynicism counseling.

Many of you have seen the recent Baptist Messenger piece “Ten Leaders Who Will Shape the Future of the SBC in 2010.” I don’t know about you, but this list fascinates me. Here is a list from within a wing of the Southern Baptist Convention seeking to understand who is currently shaping the Convention and will continue to do so in 2010.

Much of the list is predictable, featuring names any such list should have: Johnny Hunt, President of the Convention, Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary, David Dockery and Ed Stetzer. I was quite disappointed not to see Matt Chandler listed. But, perhaps more surprising were two names that were mentioned: Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll. Keller is a Presbyterian and Driscoll is a controversy (to the SBC that is).

This list raises the important question of what exactly it means to “shape” the SBC. What does it mean to carry influence? This question is particularly important with the listing of Mark Driscoll. The description of Driscoll is not exactly flattering:

Though Driscoll did not attend the recent meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, he was mentioned more times from the floor of the Convention than perhaps some who were there. While he has been criticized for his public view on the use of alcohol and his former use of profanity in the pulpit, he remains a strong influence on hundreds of pastors through his vast media outlets. The Acts 29 Church Planting Network also operates under his leadership. Many Southern Baptist church planters are now affiliated with the Acts 29 Network.

The key sentence here is: ” While he has been criticized for his public view on the use of alcohol and his former use of profanity in the pulpit, he remains a strong influence on hundreds of pastors through his vast media outlets.” The writers here are taking every pain to distance themselves from Driscoll while admitting that he has a fair amount of sway in the Convention.

How is it that Mark Driscoll is going to help shape the Southern Baptist Convention in 2010? The Baptist Messenger makes it clear that someone outside your immediate sphere can influence what happens inside your sphere. The list almost begrudgingly gives Driscoll a place at the table. Please allow me to speculate for just a moment (after all, it is my blog): The Southern Baptist Convention is afraid of Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 Church Planting Network. There, I said it.

Imagine having imagined yourself as the bastion of conservative doctrine and the champions of outreach for years. Imagine those beliefs cauterized into a world of staunch tradition, formalism and pseudo-holiness wrapped in legalism. Now you have an idea of what the SBC has been wrestling with since the “Conservative Resurgence.” Now imagine a group of young men who take theology every bit as serious as you do, and probably more but who also practice contextualization and throw away the legalism-wrapped pseudo-holiness of silly rules on alcohol (Colossians 2:16-23, etc.). Many of these young men seem to be making strides where you have been making losses, yet they don’t fit any of your cultural conceptions. They don’t look like you, they don’t dress like you, they don’t sing music like you, they don’t talk like you and quite frankly, they make you a bit uncomfortable, so they must be doing something wrong and we’d better figure out how to regain our position so despite our misgivings with these guys (Driscoll), we’d better at least look at what’s going on and make some serious changes, but doggonnit, we’re going to subtly try to discredit these guys and distance ourselves from them all the while.

Mark Driscoll made this list because the flies in the face of so much that is wrong with the SBC while affirming so much of what is right with the Convention. SBC leadership has not understood the nuances of what is really happening and in the process, they are alienating an entire group of younger pastors, many of whom, not wanting to be lone rangers, find a home in Acts 29. Acts 29 has repeatedly made overtures of cooperation to the SBC, who has spurned every attempt, driving out many of the very people it needs to truly survive and adapt.

Mark Driscoll made this list, quite simply because most of the Southern Baptist world has no idea what to do with him.

What do you think?

Next to my desk, I have several small stacks of books. One of them is my “to-read” pile. Another is a frequently used resource pile and another one is simply several of the books I read in 2009 that have yet to find a permanent home on the shelves. I know it’s a bit quirky, but often, when I start typing fast, I turn my head one way or the other. Don’t ask why, that’s not the point. The point is that, I’ve looked at that pile of read books a lot lately.

Though the authors and viewpoints are varied, there is a general theme running through many of the books I read in 2009: something is wrong with modern, American Christianity. This doesn’t come as a shocker to many, but it is, nonetheless, interesting. What percentage of new “Christian” books each year are variations on this same thing? Though maybe in different tunes, everyone seems to be singing the same song: something is wrong. And yet the song goes on. I don’t remember the last book I read that said that we were getting things right and doing well, do you?

But let’s be honest, it’s easier to point out what’s wrong than it is to be part of the solution. After all, how do you turn a freighter, slowly, right? How do you right hundreds of years of consumerism, democratization, and performance-mindset? How do you compete with the NFL, Mickey Mouse and porn for your people’s attention? Everyone has an idea but few of those idea are simply to the point: preach the Word and love the people. You don’t try to “compete” with the megachurch down the road that spends millions of dollars on a youth building and thousands of dollars on sets they use for a month at the most because you don’t have that kind of money and you wouldn’t spend it on those things even if you did. You don’t try to outplay their band because they have “professional” musicians. You don’t try to outclass their speaker because he’s had the best marketing training money can buy.

If the Gospel truly is the “power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16) and if Jesus meant it when He promised that not even the gates of Hades would prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18), then maybe we could all save some trees and at least admit that there’s a problem. Everyone seems to agree on that. But the fact that so few people agree on the solution, and in fact, that many actually propose the problem as the solution shows just how jaded we’ve become.

I recently preached from Acts 13 and I was struck by the fact that after Paul and Barnabas preach in the synagogue, we’re told in Acts 13:42 that “As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.” Wait, what? You mean the people were actually moved by the Gospel? They actually wanted more? Paul and Barnabas didn’t have to up the ante on their light show? They didn’t have to get that choreography down and get the coffee brewed just right? People wanted more of the Truth about Jesus?!

Now there’s a novel concept. Maybe we should try that. But just with a little more pizazz, right?