Peter Witkowski Ecclesiology

Beyond the Numbers: A Biblical, Baptist Framework for Evaluating SBC Presidential Candidates

The conversation around what qualifies a man to lead the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) needs to expand beyond the pragmatic consideration of church growth metrics. To discern whether a man is qualified to lead the SBC, messengers should evaluate his faithfulness in pastoring his local church well, looking at the four elder responsibilities outlines in Dr. John Hammett’s book Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: preaching, pastoral ministry, oversight/leadership, and character. In other words, those who aspire to lead the convention well should show the messengers that they pastor well.

Where the Discussion Has Been

For the last few decades, the messengers to the SBC have placed great value on how much a candidate’s church gives to the cooperative program (CP) and on how many people his church baptized. Consequently, the candidate who led his church to give $500,000 to CP and to baptize 300 people is deemed more faithful than the pastor who led his church to give $5,000 to CP and baptize 3 people. Though messengers will at times judge men on percentages instead of gross numbers, allowing for variation in congregational size, the basic principle remains. Faithfulness has been measured numerically.

A Better Way

Such measurements arise from the convention’s rightful focus on missions. Giving and growth stats do reveal something about a man’s ability to exercise oversight as an elder and pastor. But they do not reflect the full scope of a pastor’s leadership or reveal how he will respond to the theological challenges that the convention and its president will face. To gain that insight, messengers must look beyond the giving and baptism stats and burrow into their Baptist roots. They must examine the man’s preaching, pastoral ministry, oversight/leadership, and character.

Preaching

Since the well being of every local church and the convention depends on its obedience to the Scriptures, messengers should acquaint themselves with a candidate’s preaching ministry. Dr. Hammett writes, “It is primarily by the means of his preaching and teaching that the elder exerts the influence of his leadership in the congregation.” If messengers want to know how a man will lead the convention, they should listen to some of the president’s sermons. Podcasters and the members of the evangelical press, and pastors at round tables should ask questions that draw out the candidate’s view of preaching. Is he an expository preacher? Why or why not? How does he go about preparing sermons? Does he see men and women responding to the preaching of the gospel in his church? How many people are being baptized?

And since the ordinances or sacraments support the proclamation of the gospel acting as a visual, corporate sermon, messengers should be curious about the man’s practice of the sacraments. Does he believe in spontaneous baptism? Why or why not? Does he practice open communion? Why or why not? Moreover, if podcasters, members of the evangelical press, or messengers find questionable teaching in his sermons, they should share their findings with the candidate and give him opportunities to clarify. The messengers should familiarize themselves with a presidential candidate’s preaching ministry.

Pastoral Ministry

Messengers should try to understand the man’s pastoral ministry. As Hammett notes, pastors are called, “to protect the sheep (163).” Through public teaching and private counsel, they should show their congregations how to identify sin, repent of sin, and how to counsel and help those trapped in sin. They also must guard their local congregation from theological error. As Dr. Albert Mohler notes, “Error must be confronted, heresy must be opposed, and false teaching must be corrected.

To discern the candidate’s practice of pastoral ministry, podcasters, the evangelical press, and messengers should ask the candidate about his counseling practices and about how they have gone about confronting theological error in their churches. Do they believe in biblical counseling or more integrated approaches, and why? How do you facilitate discipleship of your members?

This category also leads into questions about the candidate’s practice of church discipline. As Southern Baptist church father, J.L. Dagg noted, “When discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it.” Does the pastor seeking to lead the SBC lead his church to discipline men and women who refuse to repent of their sins or their theological error? And if so, what sins and errors and how? Does the Baptist Faith and Message shape his pastoral ministry? What theological and practically errors does the SBC face and how would you address them?

Oversight and Leadership

The pastor is called to give “overall administrative oversight and leadership to the church (164).” Or to quote the Baptist Church Father Edward T. Hiscox on pastors, “Their duties and services have mainly reference to the spiritual interests of the body, though they properly have the oversight of all its concerns.” At this point, questions about a candidate’s church budget become relevant. How much does his church give to the cooperative program and why? How does he lead his church to maximize its budget for kingdom expansion?

Questions about his church’s worship services and leadership structure also prove relevant at this juncture. Does his church have multiple services? Why or why not? What does his church’s leadership look like? Does he have elders, a deacon board, or a leadership council and why? How does his church go about selecting leaders? Does he believe that women can be elders or pastors or functionally serve in that role?

Character

Hammett notes that the pastor is called to “serve as an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:3).” As Benjamin Keach noted in 1697, a pastor was to show himself “a good Example in Conversation, Charity, Faith, and Purity.” Any man who desires to lead the SBC should possess a character that is above reproach. Those who do not should not be leading their local church much less the convention.

Podcasters, the evangelical press, and the messengers should ask the candidates if their lives are above reproach. They should work through the lists of pastoral qualification found in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3. Do you manage your family well? How do you go about caring for your wife and children? Are you self-controlled?

These questions should not be asked from a heart of accusation but from a heart of affirmation. Questions that dig into a candidate’s life should reveal diamonds of faithfulness that encourage the messengers regardless of their tribal affiliations. If such questions uncover coal, the fault lies not so much with the one asking the questions as with the one answering them.

Final Thoughts

I am calling for an expansion of the dialogue around those nominated to be the next president of the SBC because I long to shift the debate over the SBC’s leadership from the squishy edges of pragmatic, convention politics to the hard edges of the biblical truth. I suspect questions about preaching, pastoral care, oversight, and character will reveal far more about how someone will lead the convention than giving metrics, or one’s SBC tenure, and thoughts renewal strategies. I long to see men elected to SBC office not because they have the right pedigree or politics but because their churchmanship proves they are competent to lead the SBC. In short, I want to see men elected because they faithfully preach the gospel, practice biblical pastoral ministry, give godly oversight, and display righteous character.

Peter Witkowski Apologetics, Discipleship

Young Men Don’t Surrender to Madness of Gambling

Young men do not allow the gambling platforms targeting March Madness to drive you into the madness of sports gambling and prediction markets. They promise that their platforms will transform your sports knowledge into the cash needed to live out your fantasies and to provide for your family. They encourage risk which appeals to your impulses to lead while promising you security which appeals to your more rational side. Even if you lose that first bet, many apps will refund your bad decisions with in-app credits. In other words, follow the adrenaline and pursue the cash because you have nothing to lose…well, almost nothing.

The Spiritual Cost

In reality, the apps will cost you your soul. Life is not found in securing quickly gotten fortunes but in obedience to the word of God. Jesus calls young men and all others not to lay up “treasures for yourself on earth…but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be (Matt. 6:19-21).” The faithful man pursues not wealth that perishes but holiness, which last for eternity. Those who get this wrong – even if they attain wealth – will lose their contentment, their happiness and their soul. King Solomon warned his sons to be wary of covetousness and greed warning them, “Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors (Prov 1:19).”

No Work Around

Now some young men will seek to squeeze past Jesus’ teachings with appeals to altruism. They gamble not for themselves but for others. They are placing those $500 bets because they want to buy a new home for their wife or to free their parents from the oppressive weight of their student loans. They are not pursuing greed for greed sake but for the sake of loving others.

Though such ideas glimmer with propriety, they still reside outside the bounds of Scripture. To gamble is to earn income apart from work. When the young man receives his gambling payout, he has not produced one of those widgets from economics 101 or any other good or service. He has not created a pizza for his neighbor, produced a report that helps his company adjust their production numbers, or transferred the knowledge of the multiplication tables to his third-grade class. In placing online bets, young men seek gain apart from all those things…apart from the hard work of studying books, twisting bolts, and crunching numbers. Though our society glorifies such ill-gotten gains, the Scriptures warn young men to avoid that which costs them nothing. Proverbs 20:21 proclaims, “An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.”

Moreover, the mindset of gain that chases wealth apart from work has, either knowingly or unknowingly, embraced a hope that runs counter to the hope of Christ. Those who chase easy money believe that money can heal their heart and wash away their sins. They think their earnings will lead to less stress, which in turn will lead to better test scores or to a better relationship with their young wife. But such hopes will always disappoint for they lead away from the light of Christ. Jesus warns: “If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness (Matt 6:22).” As Jesus concludes in Matthew 6:24: “You cannot serve God and money.”

Even if you win your millions, you will ultimately lose. The influx of cash will not change, but exacerbate the selfishness that led you to waste m and to fight with your parents or your bride. You will just do so wearing nicer clothes or living in a nicer home.  As Jesus notes in Matthew 16:26: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

The Financial Cost

And most of you will not gain the whole world. The gambling and prediction market apps can afford to refund that first loss because they know an overwhelming majority of bettors will never ultimately win. According to a study from the University of California only 4% of gamblers earn a net profit.

The other 96% lose their hard-earned money. A U.S. news report found that the majority of gamblers (66%) wager $100 or more a month and that 27% wager $500 dollars or more a month. Those losses often reverberate through the gambler’s life. More than 30% of online gamblers carry debt because of their bets.  A quarter (25%) of them have missed a bill payment because of their bets and a quarter (25%) of them now worry that they have become the slave of the app that was supposed to liberate them from financial troubles. In short, those apps will happily cover the young man’s first loss because they apps know that the odds of that the young man become a lifetime loser are in their favor. This is why those running the apps can afford a suite at the Super Bowl and their clients cannot.

Flee the Apps

Young man, flee from gambling apps and prediction markets that seek to entice your souls. Though the apps promise you the glories of this world, they will not give – but take. What Solomon says of the adulterous woman in Proverbs readily applies to the gambling apps seeking to get space on your phones, “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword (Prov 5:4).” Young man do not follow the gambling apps to your earthly ruin and to your spiritual death. Close your ears to their cries, do not give them access to your phone, and do give them your hard-earned money. Flee from them.  

Determine now to acquire wealthy justly and honestly through the godly means of hard work. Slowly and faithfully expand your bank account through plumbing buildings, producing reports, and earning degrees and certificates that will lead to more opportunities for more promotion and gain. As Proverbs 13:11 notes: “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” Gain wealth little by little.

Godly Adrenaline

Lastly, prove your manliness not through foolish risks shaped by ill-gotten gain but through taking biblical risks shaped around a love of the Lord and others. Endure the teasing of those who mock you for passing on the next adventure so that you can save for your first apartment or home. Embrace the possibility of rejection and pursue and then marry a godly woman. Then, invite the challenges and blessing of children into that marriage. Risk becoming more involved in your church and bearing the burden of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Venture past the limits of social convention and share the gospel with a coworker and lovingly confront a friend over his sin. Take a chance and pursue political office to promote the flourishing of your neighbors. In other words,  chase the adrenaline rush that comes with securing heavenly and avoid those that will fade with the playing of “One Shining Moment.”

Final Thoughts

Young men, the betting apps and prediction markets are calling to you. Guard your life and soul. Do not surrender to the madness of ill-gotten gain which leads to death. Layup for yourself treasures in heaven.  

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

The Love of Counsel: A Key to David’s (and our) Effective Leadership

Under the guidance of divine providence, King David achieved great political success in part because he valued the wise counsel of others. David’s love for wisdom kept pace with his heroism. The man who rose to fame through the slaying of giants and armies was just as approachable as he was brave. He valued the counsel of women, prophets, and common soldiers.  In other words, to lead well like David, pastors and elders must listen to and heed biblical counsel irrespective of its source.

The King Who Listened Well

The first person to gain an audience with David was Abigail, the wife of Nabal, the man David was marching to kill. After providing David and his army with food whose previous lack thereof had precipitated David’s spat with her husband, Abigail reminded David of the Lord’s faithfulness. She pleaded, “Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live (1 Sam 25:28).” David quickly recognized the rightness of her cause and abandoned his lust for vengeance that would have prevented him from reaching the throne. David understood that Abigail had been God’s mouthpiece. He praises her saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand (1 Sam 25:32-33)!” David rose to power through the godly counsel of wise women.

He then ended his life as he began listening to the counsel of another woman, Bathsheba. When she learns that Adonijah is attempting to supplant Solomon on the David throne, she with the help of the prophet Nathan made David aware of the coup. Spurred to action, the now well-aged King David quickly reaffirms his commitment to Solomon, declaring, “‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day (1 Kg 1:30).” King David then orders Zadok the priest to anoint Solomon as king in accordance with God’s prophetic word. The faithful leader will recognize and heed the wisdom of God that flows through his sisters in Christ.

Secondly, David listened to the prophets in his life. When David seduced Bathsheba and then killed her husband Uriah, the Lord dispatched the prophet Nathan to rebuke the unrepentant king. After being cut to the heart through Nathan’s story of a rich man stealing a poor man’s one sheep and then learning that he was the thief, David grasped his sin and repented. In 2 Samuel 12:13, David proclaims, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Though consequences of his sin would follow him, David maintained his kingdom through God’s mercy because he heeded the wise rebuke of the prophet.

Lastly, he listened to the wise counsel of the lowly and even the foolish. Though the soldier in King David longed to join the fight against Absalom’s revolutionary army, the king did not go to battle because he heeded the counsel of his troops. They reminded the king that his death would bring an end to their cause and to the Davidic kingdom. The Scriptures report, “But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city (2 Sam 18:3).” David deferred to the wisdom of his men and replied, “Whatever seems best to you I will do (2 Sam 18:4).” In so doing, he avoided the fate of Absalom who went to battle, died in battle, and saw his revolution and monarchy come to a quick end.

Though his troops proved victorious, David would once again need the wisdom of others to keep his kingdom. When King David heard of Absalom’s death, he mourned so loudly that his troops’ victory procession turned into a funeral. In God’s providence, his general Joab, a murderer and often unfaithful man, saw the looks on the troops’ face and rebuked David for his excessive sorrow. If left unchecked, David’s grief would have produced a political dynamic that would have been “worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now (2 Sam 19:7).” Again, David heeded the wise counsel Joab offered him. The Scriptures report, “Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate (2 Sam 19:8).” David left his grief and the crisis was avoided.

The King Who Listened Too Much

But the counsel must always be infused with Scripture and Scriptural principles. Counsel for counsel’s sake proves no more edifying than solitude for solitude sake. David suffered great harm when listening to the foolish counsel of Joab. Using a story, the general convinced King David to suspend justice and to allow Absalom to return from exile. Because of this advice, Absalom managed to gain the power and influence needed to bring about his revolution. Had David executed Absalom for Ammon’s murder, 2 Samuel would have been much shorter and happier. In other words, the validity of one’s counsel rises and falls in accordance with its adherence to the Scriptures and Scriptural principles.

New Covenant Leaders Listening

Though the people of God no longer abide under the Davidic covenant, the principle of heeding wise counsel irrespective of its sources should be heeded by those pastors and elders that lead the new covenant people. The wise elder or pastor will value the biblical counsel of others. He will not assume that he always knows best, recognizing that God conveys wisdom through his spouse, the men and women in his church, his fellow elders and pastors, and even at times (especially about non-biblical matters) even through unbelievers. Whenever a pastor or elder encounters counsel infused with biblical principles, the new covenant leader should listen and apply the counsel he has received. When his wife encourages him not to speak so rashly and unkindly to others he should heed her, repent, and change his ways. When his fellow elders rebuke him for posting a foolish comment on social media, the pastor should take it down and ask for forgiveness. When church members encourage him to rest and take a sabbatical, he should heed them. And when the unsaved but gifted electrician warns him that the church will burn down unless the wiring is replaced, he should heed him. The wise pastor – and by extension Christian – will welcome the wise counsel of others. As King David’s son Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11:14, “in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” May God give us all the grace to listen well.