John Greening’s Statement on Cedarville University

The following is the statement concerning Cedarville University that John Greening, GARBC national representative, brought to the messengers during the Conference business meeting on Thursday, June 29, 2006.

We find ourselves as a family of fellowshipping churches in a dilemma with no easy answer. I accept as part of my role as national representative having to occasionally labor through challenges like this with the Council and the constituency. I must admit that the ACTS vision I shared with you earlier is the proactive agenda about which I am most passionate.

Here is the dilemma as I see it—on the one hand, there are those within the Association who view the endorsement of Cedarville University by the Ohio Southern Baptist Convention as either a non-issue for the Association or a relationship to embrace. On the other hand, there are those that view the SBC endorsement and involvement as a relationship that does not fit the profile of those with whom we network. Each side on this matter feels deeply about its view. Unfortunately this dilemma is creating a climate in which we who are such good friends and ministry colleagues seem to be at odds with each other.

The issue has been categorized by many as a debate over primary versus secondary separation. In response to the messengers request at last year’s Conference, the Council labored to draft an excellent statement on separation. It won the unanimous support of the Council. I trust it will win your ringing support. In my estimation, the statement represents the Biblically-balanced approach to this subject that has marked our Association’s heritage. It is impossible for an honest student of the GARBC
to escape the reality that separation has been a major component of our identity. In an age of religious inclusivism and worldliness, I urge that we recommit ourselves and our churches as we have repeatedly done throughout our Fellowship’s history to Biblical separation—from sin and error and unto holiness and truth.

It is important to emphasize that separation is not a synonym for mean-spirited distemper and small-mindedness. On one occasion when Paul was addressing the subject of separation with the Corinthian church, he introduced his call to purity with these magnanimous words in 2 Corinthians 6:11–13. “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.” That is gracious big-heartedness and must always be the manner of a separatist.

When the announcement was made that the Ohio Southern Baptists had endorsed Cedarville, the SBC became a new constituency of the school. This opened the door to a growing relationship with the SBC as a whole, which was actively promoted by the University. The problem was this action placed the GARBC in a no-win situation. If we treated the relationship as a non-issue or embraced the new relationship, then those who disapproved of it would see the GARBC as party to the decision. If we communicated disapproval of the decision, then those who saw no problem with it would think that was an unconscionable act of narrow-mindedness.

We are all aware that there has been a well publicized conservative resurgence in the SBC. Those who have led the resurgence are to be commended for their efforts. There are individual SBC churches that are endeavoring to take a stand for truth and a historic Baptist position. Not withstanding, it is obvious the SBC is a work in progress. For example, the decision by the trustees of the SBC International Mission Board to no longer permit tongues to be practiced as a private prayer language by missionaries is a good step forward, though it did not win unanimous support and the sitting president of the mission has been grandfathered in though acknowledging that tongues has been a continuing practice of his for thirty years. The newly elected SBC president describes himself as a conservative inerrantist yet he has issued a call for more open dialogue on theological issues. A fifteen-foot statue of Billy Graham was unveiled two weeks ago at the SBC meeting in North Carolina. We praise the Lord for many who have come to faith in Christ through Billy Graham’s preaching. However there is no one in evangelical circles who has done more to blur the lines of distinction between Evangelicals and Catholics than Billy Graham. GARBC leaders have been outspoken critics of his cooperative form of evangelism for decades. There are significant differences between the GARBC and the SBC that cause me to not want to gradually get drawn into a relationship with the SBC through an agency. By maintaining our distinct Regular Baptist identity, we have the greatest ministry platform from which we are able to make a contribution for truth within the harvest field of this world.

We are an Association of sovereign Bible-believing Baptist churches. There is no centralized authority that intrudes into the operations of any local church. Each church within the fellowship makes its own decisions about whom and what it will support. That is one of the hallmarks of our Association’s polity. However the Association as a whole must set parameters that define our playing field. Those parameters are defined by our statement of faith, the operational principles and practices delineated in our constitution, and by our organizational policies. In its day-to-day operations, the Association needs to make decisions about advertisers, exhibitors, and Talents For Christ sponsors. The parameters create a playing field for our Regular Baptist Ministries. Therefore we come to a discussion about those parameters today.

Cedarville’s announced partnership has led to increasing involvement with the SBC as evidenced by speakers, board members, SBC meetings hosted at the school, and the president attending a SBC church. That is a broader set of parameters than those of the GARBC. There is a wisdom principle I have heard since my early years in our Fellowship. It finds its origin in the Mosaic Law related to real estate and was later included in Proverbs as a general wisdom principle to follow: “Do not move the ancient landmarks which your fathers have set.” When you change the boundaries, you change your identity. It may appear in the short-term you are making gains, but in the long term you jeopardize your organizational integrity.

It is the position of our constitution that a church’s dual affiliation with both the GARBC and the SBC is not permissible. Many years ago the possibility existed for a merger between the GARBC and the Conservative Baptist Association. In the end, that merger did not take place because the GARBC and the CBA did not share the same view on separation. The preponderance of documentation from our past in the form of resolutions, literature items, Baptist Bulletin articles, and messages is weighted heavily toward not changing the boundaries of our playing field.

When a sovereign church recognizes the Biblical basis and value of interdependence among churches of common faith and voluntarily chooses to fellowship with other churches, it must exercise a humble spirit of cooperation. Now that’s a whole lot easier to say than to do. It is no longer just about “me;” it’s now about “we.” Fellowship means to have and hold things in common. As I have moved around our Association over the past ten years, I have seen the common doctrine that unites us. We are one in faith. Our Association does not have the problem of theological differences that characterizes many other groups. We should celebrate this reality of doctrinal agreement. Many groups of churches are being divided by serious doctrinal deviations. We are diverse in how we do ministry. Churches are different, and to a certain extent regions of churches are different. Within our Fellowship we must not just think in terms of our individual preferences but rather what is good for the group as a whole.

The Association is my family. I remain committed to this family. I ask that you remain committed also. It is my counsel that we retain the parameters that have characterized our Fellowship throughout its nearly 75 years of existence. Those parameters have given us our identity, protected our doctrinal purity, and granted us an influential platform for global ministry. I urge that we throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the ACTS vision—every church in our Fellowship Active in international outreach, Caring for sister churches, Training for intentional ministry, and Speaking out for truth. This is the heart and soul of the GARBC.